FAL Q2 2013 The List

I thought I was going to have to scrape 3 potential finishes together for this coming quarter of the awesome Finishalong, but turns out I have 5 things already on the go; how did that happen!?

So without further ado, here's what I am linking with Leanne and all the other FALers...

1.  Marcelle Medallion...

It's coming on a treat, and now I can see why everyone else's seemed to come together so speedily - it's addictive!

2.  Stitch Tease Quilt...

I have received my wonderful top back; we are awaiting delivery of all the tops with their rightful owners before blogging, but getting this finished shouldn't be too difficult.

3.  Siblings Together Quilt...

I have all the fabric, the batting and a plan, so no excuses!

4. Hexie Bag

Again, the hexie panel is sewn, the bag fabric is ready for cutting; I have been pondering leather handles or not... probably not, but that's my slacking excuse.

5.  Aeroplane Bag

I've already got the big zip, printed out the pattern pieces and decided to quilt-as-I-go, although I stumbled on some Amy Butler home dec in the bottom of my stash which may get used instead... time, as they say, will tell.

So that's my 5.  Do-able?  I hope so! 

I am not going to mention all the other things that will be started and hopefully finished in the next 3 months too, such as Retreat swapsies, pay-it-forwards and the Patchwork Please makealong, because, well, that would just make me panic!!

Have you set yourself up declared your intentions yet?

FAL Q1 2013

Now I know I needn't go into too much detail on the whys and wherefores of the Finishalong, as it does appear that pretty much everyone I know is either linking up and/or has heard me, or someone else mention it previously, but I am really pleased to be linking up again.

I have linked up my Q4 2012 finishes already; I didn't write a whole new post, as I had finished all 7 items on my list back at the end of November, and blogged about them here.  How did you get on?  It was my best quarter ever for finishes.

Linking in 2013 with the new hostess with the mostest, Leanne, I know for sure that she will continue the successes encouraged by awesome Rhonda throughout 2012.  Thank you Rhonda for getting this brilliant ball rolling!

Leanne has a calming influence in my frequently hectic and emotional existence, so I am thrilled that she will be there, making things better, keeping a level head and encouraging us all.

I did joke after Christmas that I better start a few projects just so that I could make a list, which was kind of true.  Like many of us, Christmas Makes were the be-all and end-all of the last couple of months, so once the gift-giving was done, I was free to start new projects again.  And start I did.

So here are my four for the first quarter...

1.  #scrappytripalong

I have 6 blocks to finish, and I love it so much already.  As soon as I have ordered some more batting and backing, there will be, I hope, no reason not to get this beauty all sewn up.

2.  Sizzix Commission

I have two quilts to make for Sizzix by the end of the month; I have batting and backing for these (grr!), and the top of the first one completed already, and they HAVE to be done, so I will be putting the pedal to the metal on these soon.

3. A hexie project

I know, a bit vague.  I have started basting a bunch of lovely hexies which I trimmed from the mini-charms sent to me by this lovely lady; I have a couple of ideas, but want to see them all hexed up before I commit!

4.  Brit Bee 2 - Diamond Nipples

This one is kind of out of my hands for the immediate future.  My block is made, but once the others head back my way, I am not one to hang around and will get those mega-blocks made into another BB smasher.  Well it's a plan!

So there we have my hopes for Q1, and I am sure I will start, and maybe finish a load more and have a bigger list in Q2!!

FAL La La La La, La La La La!

It is the last day of November, and I want to skip over the dire week I have had making-wise, and the fact that I was sorting through kids' stuff from 8am to 3.30am today, only stopping for 10 minutes to feed the bloody mess-makers.

However I can't let this month go without celebrating the fact that I have finished all 7 of my fourth quarter Finish Along items already!  I had the feeling that my Retro Flowers marked the final project, but Rhonda's post earlier in the week made me check...

• Finish my Mouthy Stitches swap tote and keyring, and wrap up the swap with the lovely Susan and Cindy.
• Finish a currently secret commission for Sizzix - all will be revealed before the end of the year I think/hope, but it is almost done and has to be mailed this week - hence everything else has been on hold.  (I think today is the last day you will find the link for my Winter Warmers on Mollie Makes ).
• Make my contribution for the Travellin Pic Stitch blog hop - currently under wraps, but all basted.
• Finish my something Tula Pink for Sara's linky, all cut and ready to sew and stuff!
• Finish the Christmas something for a tbc blog hop - again under wraps, but pieces are cut and waiting in line, patiently. (The Sizzix Christmas Quilting Blog Hop pillows).
• Finish the Thank You gifts for Susan and Trudi for snapping my quilt at FoQ, I've completed the embroidery already;
• ...and finally my Retro Flowers Quilt!  I really want this one finished, really really I do!  And I really really did!

Here they all are...

So into December we go, with a million and one other things to start, finish and contemplate, hoping to end the year with a clear slate; well you never know, 'tis the month of miracles after all!

Little Thank Yous

Two of my secretive makes arrived with Susan and Trudi over the weekend.

I embroidered these a couple of weeks ago, taken from Aneela's Little Stitches book, and didn't really think through what type of gifts I was going to make with them; thank goodness inspiration struck...

I used Anna Noodlehead's Open Wide pouch tutorial and Pezzy charms, that's how teeny they are.

It is a great tutorial, I had a little bit of random with the sticky-out zip-end but they turned out nicely, so much so, yesterday I made another, a huge one, but that's for another day.

So that'll be my first 100% completed FAL tick too; my Mouthy Stitches tick will come after mailing and mama-ing are complete, and the Sizzix project upon 'publication' - not bad for the first week!

The Fourth Quarter!

Here we go again - the final Finsh-Along list of the year, and this is a big one for me!

In the third quarter I omitted the things I had to do; I don't know why, but if I did the same this quarter it would be pretty empty!

So here goes...

• Finish my Mouthy Stitches swap tote and keyring, and wrap up the swap with the lovely Susan and Cindy.
• Finish a currently secret commission for Sizzix - all will be revealed before the end of the year I think/hope, but it is almost done and has to be mailed this week - hence everything else has been on hold.
• Make my contribution for the Travellin Pic Stitch blog hop - currently under wraps, but all basted.
• Finish my something Tula Pink for Sara's linky, all cut and ready to sew and stuff!
• Finish the Christmas something for a tbc blog hop - again under wraps, but pieces are cut and waiting in line, patiently.
• Finish the Thank You gifts for Susan and Trudi for snapping my quilt at FoQ, I've completed the embroidery already;
• ...and finally my Retro Flowers Quilt!  I really want this one finished, really really I do!

There will be a load of new makes in this quarter too, what with it being Christmas, and having all the birthdays in November, so now I have written it down, I am feeling rather scared!

I think I will need more than luck this time!  I'm going for a lie down x

In the words of Meatloaf...

Two out of three ain't bad!

Blimey, how did it get to be that time already!?  As quarter 3 of Rhonda's Finish-Along draws to a close, I can confirm that I managed to finish up two projects out of the three I had hoped for back here.

i) The Mystery Quilt...

Yay for de-constructing and re-constructing and finishing my longest overdue bit of makery.

I only just blogged about it here, but if your retinas can take another look at all that yellow-ness, here it is...

ii) Retro Flowers Quilt...

Well this is a demi-fail, not yet completed, but I did progress from just 4 blocks made at the start of the quarter, to all 16...

This will be on the list again for the 4th quarter for sure.

iii) Spring Carnival mega-cushion...

I love this finish.  It is big, squidgy, in use daily and all mine!

I am not going to show(off) all the other things I have made along with these over the summer months, but there have been at least 9 quilt blocks for others, 11 purses, 2 bags, 1 mini-quilt, 2 cushions, 2 full quilts and some embroidery.  Add to that a lot of 'starts', and I am not too put out by the slowly blooming Retro Flowers.

Oh... and I finished the mega-block this afternoon.  Sneaky peak...

How did you fare?

Ding Ding Round 3 in the FAL...

Well it's my turn to lay my virtual cards on the virtual sewing table and tell you what I hope to achieve in the third quarter of 2012.

Now as this spans the summer holidays, I am going to average my time out as just a little less productive than usual, as despite being off work, I will have constant 'companions', time away and who knows, maybe the chance to crack on with the 4 novels, (to read, not write), I have sat on my bedside table!

So I am going to go with my big three...

The Mystery Quilt, which has gone a bit more mysterious - I want this one DONE!!!

My Retro Flowers - I love everything about this too much to let it fester in pieces...

...and my Spring Carnival mega-cushion...

I also have my In The Frame Purse package and Brit Quilt Swap mini to complete this quarter.  But as I have to finish these, they don't really count; I only have myself to answer to for the 3 above unless I commit to the FAL, and my days of being lenient are over!

Linking up with Rhonda and the gang, how about you?

Finish-along Q2 Report

It's FAL link up time!

Well this has swung round quickly, too quickly for me to be able to tick off all my, albeit short, list!

I posted back here my top 5 hopes and dreams, but I only managed to complete 3.

i.  Hexie Cushion - yay!

ii.  Mystery Quilt - No - but it now looks like this...

... some progress has been made in that it now consists of 100 4.5"squares, but not a finish; I feel the longest-running carry-over happening here!

iii.  Stained - huge big yay for this one!

iv.  Retro Flowers - this got sidelined in all the pre-Retreat/post-Retreat making, but I will get this one finished soon...

v.  The final FPPFTT - oh yeah!

In my defence I did complete a tonne of new stuff, so I am not going to be too hard on myself, and I already have a batch of other things to add to the Mystery and RFs for Q3.

How did you get on?

5.4.3.2.1!

Over the last couple of days I have been working on the final FPPFTT piece, the rocket, and turning said rocket into a cushion for dear son.

He chose the colours when he got back from my parent's on Wednesday; OK, he was given a rather limited colour palette it has to be said.  Anyway snatching a few hours here and there, I got it made, saving the binding until last night, for the perfect sewing end to the week.

I admit this is not my finest paper-piecing, sorry Katy; I used all Klona, and I think on such small pieces its' stiffness is its', or rather my downfall; pressing was not so effective; some of the seams mismatch because of it, but not enough to raise complaints from the recipient.  I didn't have to unpick any seams, so I am pleased with it for that reason too.

I added some craters to the moon, a few stars and a planet just to break up the solids...

Simple envelope back; 16" cushion pad and ready for lift off!

This is number 2 out of 5 on my FAL list - so I have beaten the last quarter already in less than a week!

Next mission, finishing my Retro Flowers background cutting; this involves concentration, and over the last fortnight with the house full of kiddies, this has been seriously lacking!

I've also started pulling fabrics and cutting the linen for my FQ Retreat swapsies; I am heading down the Zakka Style route; so maybe more on that tomorrow, unless anything unexpected and totally exciting happens in the meantime!

Happy Saturday everyone x

Sorted...

I only have one scrap box, and it contains way too many small and probably rather unusable little offcuts, but it has been getting to the point where it was hazardous and pointless to dive into.

So being the end of the holidays, I had the bright idea of enlisting volunteers for the job...

OK, so they thought sorting into colour order was a brilliant idea, then buggered off pretty quickly after tipping everything all over the floor, but hey, it was a start.  I finished up with bags of separate colours and feeling rather tidy and pleased with myself, for about five minutes.

I can't actually find anything in there now!

I have also managed another finish on my FAL list, but that will have to wait until tomorrow for a photocall.

The house is clean, the chocolate has pretty much gone, and summer uniforms are ready in the wardrobe, so here's to a relaxing weekend before going back to the grind x

FAL a La La La!

Time to link up with Rhonda's Finish A Long Q2 before I get stuck into the chocolate again...

I have a double roll-over from Q1 with my Hexi cushion...

... and the Mystery Quilt is still haunting me!

I thought I better chuck a couple more into the mix.  OK, so one of these will be a guaranteed finish, as I am almost there.

My Stained is up at the top of my 'big makes' list just now, and will hopefully be done and dusted this week, the quilting has begun...

And I have just started my Retro Flowers Quilt, and this is not one I want dragging on; I want it to be finished, like yesterday!

The final goal is the last FPPFTT block...

I finished the rest, so I want to complete the course; just like anti-biotics, if I want to get better, I can't give up before the end!

So that's my 5; however I also have a lot of things that I've not even started, like my FQ Retreat swaps, Katy's Stitch Tease block and I can't bring myself to think what else right now.

Today though, is typical bank holiday, it's pouring with rain and perfect for sewing, every cloud and all that xxx

Finish-along - First Quarter!

Crikey, it was only when I typed 'first quarter' that it struck home how far into 2012 we are already, phew!

So back in the grey, cold times of January, I posted my Finish-along hopes and linked up with Rhonda.

I know I only chose three things, and as it turns out, I only finished one... but it was a great one!

This quilt adorns our bed, and just because I haven't mentioned it in about a week - I LOVE IT!

I did finish piecing the hexies though...

And I did do some sashing on the Mystery Quilt...

So I guess they can carry over into the next quarter.

In my defence, I have made a lot of other things in the last 3 months; these were my January and February mosaics, in case you doubt my commitment to my art!

March has shaped up quite nicely too, but you'll have to wait until Sunday for that; I am trying to cram in another finish or two before then; although my atrocious hand stitching on my Fat Quarter Retreat name tag may just mean a couple of days of frustration!

Thanks again to Rhonda for trying to rid me of my WiPs; unfortunately I think I have more now than ever!  How have you done with your finishes?

F-ing Friday!

I am linking up today with Rhonda and the first quarter mid-term Finish-along and Thank Goodness It's Finally Finished on a Friday... got all that?

Back here, when the New Year was still, um, new, I laid out my first quarter hopes for some long hoped-for finishes...
i) My Brit Bee Constellation quilt,
ii) My Mystery Quilt top, and
iii) My Pips Hexie Cushion.

Well I think you might have noticed that I managed to get the Constellation completed, I've harked on about it enough!  Ooh look, here it is again...

I love this quilt so so much, it is on our bed keeping us cozy each night, and it is just such a joy to have finished.

The Mystery Quilt has moved on a teeny bit; I sashed all my blocks, played about a bit, then popped it all back in a box, a couple of times...

OK they really do look in need of a bit of a press, sorry!  I hope to get this all finished by the end of the quarter.

And during this weeks' ballet lesson, I managed to complete the hexie panel, which I now need to turn into a cushion cover, pronto...

I am going to have to get myself a new half-hour hobby for those dreaded lessons!

So there you go, I have had some success, and not forgetting that I have made a tonne of new stuff too, and started others things which may well end up featuring in the second quarter.

How have you got on?  You can't beat that 'finished feeling' eh!

Well I have to get my Mouthy Stitches parcel all wrapped up this evening, more on that tomorrow after I have laid out all 900 or so pieces that I cut for my Stained quilt, as I know for sure I mislabeled some, and possibly forgot to cut a couple of the others, oh it was a late night!