A Lovely Year of Finishes

So I've never done this linkup, but here's a great September WIP that needs to get finished!

I have had "The Laura" quilt quilted for MONTHS now, and it just needs the binding on it.  Such a simple task, but one that has just not happened.  Think I can finish it by the end of the month?  I'd better, since I'm bringing it to her wedding on Oct 5!

Finish-A-Long, 2nd Quarter

Ok - I didn't join in the first quarter, but I have a pile of WIPs that need to get cranked out this quarter...  More than I like to have sitting around!  I was going to post a list in my craft room, just so I can see them all in one spot, but I thought that was too old-school.  And I am, well, a technology addict...  so here they are, blogged:

1. The Laura
The other two quilts turned out so nicely - the top is finished, I just need to baste, quilt and bind...  Here's the binding, top, backing.

2. The First Schoolroom Quilt
This top is finished - again, "just" baste, quilt and bind.

3. The Second Schoolroom Quilt
I don't know if we'll really use both in the schoolroom - maybe one will be given away, who knows, but this one is in pieces.  Finish the top, baste, quilt and bind.

4. The Birthday Bags
Each year, for my nieces on my side, I pick a birthday present theme and give them all the same thing.  Last year, it was stuffed horses.  This year, it's a customized library bag (complete with a new book inside and some little trinkets).  The March girly already has hers, but the April, July, August and October girls are in pieces...  that will be so lovely to have those in the gift closet, ready to go.

5. Catch up on the Sugar Block Club
Okay, I admit it.  I am so stinking intimidated by paper piecing.  I know that tons of people just love it, and that if I just try it, it probably won't be too bad.  But I allowed myself to get derailed in February because of the paper piecing.  I have to say, though, opening this box and getting a look at all those completely gorgeous fabrics made me itch to jump back in.

Other projects to do this quarter, but that haven't actually been started so they don't count towards the FAL:

6. Friendship Bag Swap
This swap on Flickr looked so cool the first round that I jumped in to join the second round.  Everyone makes a version of the exact same bag and fills it with goodies for their partner.  That's due by May 6th (if I'm shipping internationally).

7. Fabric Basket Swap
This one's similar - make a fabric basket and include some goodies.  That's due May 15th.

The Pretty Little Pouch Swap just opened after I signed up for these two - and since it's due May 13th, I just can't imagine trying to get quality work done and racing to finish three swaps simultaneously, especially with a wedding and whatnot in the first week of May.  Bummer!  Guess I'll have to wait for Round 8 on that one.

8. Sort charms for girls' bed quilts
I won a contest at Southern Fabric recently which allowed me to go ahead and get the remaining charms I needed for the girls' quilts!  As I'm making three quilts, each of which needs 280 charms, I need 840.  Do you know how many that is!  Sheesh!  But with the 231 I just got from them, I'm done.  Phew.  But now comes the "oh but I want that one" debate...  I have to make sure that my "the universe revolves around me because I'm the oldest" six year old doesn't win every debate.

9. Cut and prep my Noteworthy quilt
This one's just for me.  I absolutely adore Noteworthy, and used my Christmas money to get as much of it as I possibly could.  LOL.  I'm planning an hourglass quilt, where each square is a charm and a solid (one of three solids: blue, mustard and gray).  The red stripe is for the binding, and there's two blue prints in there just for me.  There's an orange print at the bottom for backing.

10.  Plan two different projects
I've won both these stacks lately - I've been on a lucky streak! - and need to figure out what to do with them.  Doesn't that second stack just glow?  I thought that was a great photo to end this pic-heavy post with!

A good nap's work

Sundays seem to be my best working days. The house is quiet... Everyone else is napping. The Alyssa is quilted! Just needs binding and a label, then a trip through the washer and it's done. That feels GOOD!

On to basting The Kelly.

The Laura: The Top

Since Laura's not going to be at the bridal shower in *less than two weeks,* I might not finish basting, quilting and binding by the March 4th deadline...  so here's a picture of the whole top.  See in the corner?  That's the other two tops.  I finished three tops in one afternoon.  That feels SO GOOD.

Alyssa's and Kelly's will have the same back, while Laura's back will be totally different - it will fit her personality, according to her maid-of-honor, yet another cousin.   So up next?  Piecing the backs!

The Alyssa: The Top!

It feels so good to see the top done! Here's just a hint...

The Kelly: The TOP!!

I am pretty behind; just finishing this today, but the top is finished! Here's a sneak peek...

The Alyssa - Week 4

So I think of all the blocks so far, the one on the right here is my favorite.  It's Kona Expresso, Coal and Celery.  If there's a Starburst quilt in my future, and if it's solid, it might just have these colors in it.  I do have those little HSTs that were leftover from the geese in the corner blocks, so I was planning a mini for my craft room - so even if it takes me a while to get around to a Starburst for me, I'll still have a reminder of these three quilts and these three cousins in my craft room!

Linking up to Happy Quilting!

The Laura - Week 4

Well, here it is Sunday night at bedtime yet again, and I'm racing upstairs from the craft room, with my camera-phone in hand, ready to share with you what I've been doing this evening.  Nothing like making a deadline, eh?

Here's Laura's.  I had hoped to get all twelve blocks finished this week, but a couple of days of not feeling well and a big project that my Mister and I needed to do together...  and I'm pretty darn pleased that I got eight out of the twelve finished!  All four of Kelly's, two of Alyssa's and these two of Laura's.

Linking up to Happy Quilting!

The Kelly - Week 4

I'm assembling the blocks one-quilt-at-a-time, so here's the Kelly!  I am completely in love with these blocks, and definitely see myself making one for me sometime!  Possibly with a dark background - I am completely captivated by the ones I see in flickr with black or navy backgrounds.

Linking up!

The Kelly - Week 3

I finally found a place in my craft room where I can get pretty close to the right colors in photos.  When my husband and I designed the space, we put in a "wrapping station," which is basically a cabinet with a small counter on top.  He did a lovely job finishing a butcher block top... isn't it beautiful?  But it has a direct light above it - so if I put my project on the cabinet and stand on a chair to take a picture from above, I have tons of light on my project...  this is as close as I'm going to get to replicating the colors, I think.

That doesn't mean they won't occasionally be blurry, though.  Oops.

The Alyssa - Week 3

Now that I've seen each block in its pieces, I can't wait to get started assembling them!  This weekend brings a birthday and a Big Football Game, so I'm not sure how much sewing I'll get done - but even a little will be wildly exciting.

The Laura - Week 3

Oh my gosh.  I am so excited about this week's assignment!  I've never really done traditional blocks before, so flying geese fit into the category of "intimidating simply because I've never tried them."

This method was so easy!  Thank you so much, Melissa, for your clear instructions...

The Laura: Week 2

Laura's not actually going to be part of the what-I-thought-was-a-triple-shower.  Oh well.  She's an accountant who can't get away in March, so we'll have her shower later.  I'm still going to persevere and see if I can't get all three quilts done before the deadline.  In case something has to slide, though, the quilting and binding of her quilt might just wait until AFTER the shower for the other girls.

The Alyssa: Week 2

Alyssa is one of the sweetest girls I know...  I'm so happy for her!  I was twelve when she was born, and babysat for her as a newborn - it's kind of hard to imagine that she's going to be a Mrs. in a few short months, but she's grown into a lovely woman.  Her color palette expands a bit, but it's still fairly muted.

The Kelly: Week 2

Phew.  Not much to say...  but it's finished.  I am loving the muted neutrals that Kelly's palette called for!  There's just a touch of lavender, teal and celery (not nearly as bright as the iPhone photo in fake light makes it appear!)

It might be kind of late on a Sunday night...

But gosh darn it, I finished!  Sheesh - trimming 192 half square triangles kind of took all day.  I'm really looking forward to sewing again!  Although I am dangerously close to running out of white thread.  Since that's pretty much the only thread I use, I usually have plenty of it on hand...  but three quilts simultaneously is using it up faster than usual!

I am thinking about going outside my box a bit and quilting these in either a taupe or a light gray thread.  Since the majority of the quilt is going to be white, this would be really outside my comfort zone, as I don't like my free motion quilting to be a focus...  but since all the girls are really into muted color schemes, adding a bit more neutral might help.  And I don't really think I've got the time to be switching thread colors when I get to the stars!  Since the color choice for the sashing is still up in the air (I'm debating using different colors for each quilt), the thread colors will come later.

But I digress.  The point of this post is to heave a great sigh of relief that I made it before the deadline!

Want to see the only way that I'm staying organized these days?  I cut bits off the selvage of all my colors and made a chart...  It is so helpful!!

One hundred ninety-two

Do you know how many half square triangles are in three Starburst quilts?  192!  That's a lot...  They still need to be ironed open and then trimmed, but here they are so far!

And purely for kicks - here's a picture of the way my craft room floor looked when I was cutting these apart:

Isn't my helper sweet?

Keep on sewing, keep on sewing...

I'm plugging away at my three Starbursts - I hope to be done today (phew, that would be fantastic) with this week's assignment, but I have been having a great time watching the photos come into flickr.

I finished my pouch for the Sweet Pouch Swap.  It might be hard to package this one up, since I'm so pleased with the way it turned out!  Now I just need to gather up some sweets and possibly sew up a little extra something to stuff into the pouch as well.  I'll make sure to take lots of pictures so I can post once my recipient has received it.

As a result, I'm contemplating a little "non-Starburst"sewing, and think that I'll probably join in the Triple Zip Along.

It would be fun to make a pouch for me!

I complete my January block for the Sugar Block Club, and am so pleased with the results! I handed a stack of fat quarters to my husband and asked him to pick 4, and to tell me where they went.  This is a project for the family, after all!  My plan is to do two blocks a month, but that is put on hold until the Starbursts are done...  until then, I just want to get my monthly assignment done.

The Laura: Week 1

(Note: I am making three separate Starburst quilts, and Melissa graciously allowed me to count them separately towards the giveaways.)

Laura is marrying into the family, and she's just the sweetest thing you could imagine!  Her style is still mostly "fresh out of college" but she has a gray couch and loves zebra print.  Just wait until you see the backing fabric that's on order!

Now these colors actually are fairly close to reality.  Punches of color, lots of neutrals...  those blues are much more muted, though.

The Alyssa: Week 1

(Note: I am making three separate Starburst quilts, and Melissa graciously allowed me to count them separately towards the giveaways.)

Alyssa's decorating style is "just out of college eclectic with a tendency towards earthy neutrals."  LOL.  So here's what I have for her:

I played a bit more with color here, but ugh, you can't tell.  It looks like a crayon box exploded.  I need to work on my photos, that's for sure.