Q1 2019 FAL Goals

Q1 (January-March 201) Finish Along Goals: 

1. Game On! Bench Pillow  - just fabrics, supplies, a pattern & a dream...
2. Spoolin' Around - blocks are finished, lots more to be done...

3. Crazy Quilt Pillow - only 4 out of 6 blocks are started; none are finished...

4. QAYG Reversible Quilt - all blocks are sewn together (last Q's progress); onto the rows & borders...

5. Asian Sidelights - just fabrics & a pattern, but it will be a quick finish once the fabrics are cut...

6. Farmer's Wife - blocks are finished & ready to be set...

7. Dancing 9-Patch - blocks are finished & need to be framed...

8. Christmas Quilt (for Nancy) - quilt needs to be mended or completely redone; maybe starting over...

9. Selvage Spools - about half of the blocks are made or at least started...
   
10. Dresden Quilt Workshop Quilt Along - top is a flimy (last Q's progress); needs to be quilted...
    
11. Good Fortune - Clues 1-4 finished; fabrics pulled for the rest of the top...
    

Last year, I only completed 12 of the quilt projects I had listed on my Q1-Q4 2018 lists.

  As usual, I'm hoping to make more progress this year and this quarter!  I really want to!

Linking up to the 2019 Finish-A-Long hosted by Julie at her blog That's Sew Julie.

For fun stuff happening today in the blog-o-sphere, check out the link-ups on my sidebar!

~ Heather

And the winner is...

Diane D. Knott's Strip Quilt Secrets blog hop has come to an end and it's time to draw for a winner.  Drum roll, please....

And the lucky winner is...

Wendy Reed!

Thanks for the tip, Wendy!  I've been reading, recently, about the potholder method of making a quilt and I'm eager to try it out...it's on my someday bucket list!

For fun stuff happening today in the blog-o-sphere, check out the link-ups on my sidebar!

~ Heather

Splendid Sampler 2

So often, I just can't resist a quilt along!  But last year, as cute as the Splendid Sampler is...I really just didn't want to put the effort into the long-term, 100 block quilt.  I just had too many other things I really wanted to do.  Then came Splendid Sampler 2, and Judy, the co-manager of our local quilt shop asked me to make a display for a year long sew along (she asked me to make Splendid Sampler last year and I declined several times).  This year, for some reason, I caved.  And I'm glad I did.

I learned a lot making this quilt.  First, each block is designed by I different quilter, each with his/her own way of creating it.  I got a ton of practice with several techniques that are either new to me or skills that I don't have the chance to use often.  Below, I have included photos of the blocks before they were set into a flimsy (using A Splendid Quilt Setting) and quilted.

Speaking of quilting, I'm an edge-to-edge pantograph girl!  I'm highly unlikely to do any custom quilting and only freemotion from the front of the machine on occasion.  The bulkiness of some of  these blocks posed a challenge for pantographing, but after just a bit of ripping back, I got it all quilted with a relatively dense design.

Splendid Sampler 2

Designer:  Pat Sloan, Jane Davidson & friends

Size: 84.5 x 84.5"

Featured Fabrics:  The Good Life by Bonnie & Camille (Moda) & coordinates

Quilting:  Love, Peace & Happiness (Patricia Ritter)

Quilting Thread:  Fil-Tec Glide (Super White)

Batting:  Quilter's Dream Select - White

Linking up to the 2018 Finish-A-Long hosted by Leanne at her blog She Can Quilt.
Checking this project off of as my 2nd finish on my Q4 FAL list.
For fun stuff happening today in the blog-o-sphere, check out the link-ups on my sidebar!

~ Heather

Dresden Ohio

It was amazing!  I had been working on this Dresden Ohio quilt and then, Susan posted it as the block of the week for her Dresden Quilt Workshop Challenge!  I had so much fun working on this quilt, and I'm having lots of fun working on the DQWC, too, even if I am lagging behind a bit!

I started Dresden Ohio with a set of 3 kitted up fabrics (1 yd each) that were gifted to me by my friend, Vicki.  Thanks Vicki!!!  I only added 2 additional fabrics into the mix:  the green-grey (star points) and the olive green that forms the Dresden centers.

I finished quilting this little beauty back in October.  That goes to show how behind I am in blogging all of my finishes...I've got sooo many more I still want to post!

I even had enough fabric left over to make the backing (after I found another 1 yd cut of the smaller flower print in my stash).  I just sliced a chunk off of the yard piece, inserted the strip of larger floral between the 2 pieces, and sewed is all back together.  And in the end, I had just enough of that larger floral left to make a hanging sleeve!

Dresden Ohio

Designer:  Suzn Quilts (Susan Marth)

Size: 41x41"

Featured Fabrics:  Olivia by Michele D'Amore (Benartex)

Quilting:  Bubble & Curl (Jessica Schick)

Quilting Thread:  Fil-Tec Glide (Pink Lemonade)

Batting:  Quilter's Dream Orient

Linking up to the 2018 Finish-A-Long hosted by Leanne at her blog She Can Quilt.

Checking this project off of as my 2nd finish on my Q4 FAL list.

For fun stuff happening today in the blog-o-sphere, check out the link-ups on my sidebar!

~ Heather

Blog Hop: Strip Quilt Secrets

Today is my day to host the Strip Quilt Secrets blog hop and I'm so excited!  If you've already got a copy of Diane Knott’s book Scrap Quilt Secrets, then you know she creates some really fun designs in bright, cheerful colors that use up lots of the scrappy stash!  If you haven't been introduced to Diane's designs, then you're in for a real treat and I can't wait to show you how I decided to dive into Strip Quilt Secrets...

I started with this...a scrap basket full of selvages!  Can you believe I have 3 more baskets this full of selvages?!?!  I've been collecting them to make Diane's Gift Baskets quilt (found in her book Scrap Quilt Secrets), but I should have known she would have a selvage pattern in this book, too!  

Selvage Spools, pieced & quilted by Diane D. Knott

Paging through the book, I found the technique section titled "Piecing Alternatives" and it instantly captivated me.  I decided to dig right in to my selvages and start working on Selvage Spools!

I decided to dig right in to my selvages and start working on Selvage Spools! decided to piece my selvages on phonebook paper with a 1.5 stitch length (Bernina) to make the paper easier to remove later.  Diane does not actually use the paper, She just sews selvage to selvage!  I just did it to give myself a size guide to shoot for (and I like the stability it gives for strip piecing).

Diane points out great reasons to start collecting and using selvages, for example, all of the fun motifs - just look at those cute little pies on Brenda Ratliff's fabric instead of 4 plain dots!

And, those clovers from the well known Kansas Troubles Quilters fabrics or the how about the pretty writing on the Betsy Chutchian fabric!

Well, I guess color dots can still be fun when they have as many different shades as the edge of this halloween fabric! Speaking of the selvage edge...I'm wondering how Diane dealt with the long, fringy bits.  I decided to give some of my fabrics a bit of a haircut, while I left some "all nat-ur-al"!

3 selvage blocks trimmed to size

I left the phone book paper on the back of my blocks until I trimmed them up to size and then peeled it right off.  Then came the part I dreaded...mitered corners!  In the hundreds of quilts I've made, I've only ever mitered corners twice (and the pattern I used didn't help teach me how to do it, so I never tried again)!  

1/4" marks on the Bernina 97D Patchwork Foot

Have you ever noticed the little notches on the left side of your machine's presser foot (mine is a Bernina Patchwork Foot 97D)?  Did you know that they mark where your needle pierces the fabric (green arrow), 1/4" behind the needle (pink arrow) and 1/4" in front of the needle (yellow arrow).  These marks are a great help in knowing exactly where to stop for mitering these corners!

I had ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEM mitering the corners of my selvage spool blocks with Diane's instructions.  They went right together, just how she said they would!  Her instructions were great!

Wash Day, pieced by Diane D. Knott quilted by Cheryl Ashley-Serafine

And...they were so great that I decided to sew up a bunch of my scraps as leaders/enders as I went along using her instructions for making strips for blocks in Wash Day, another quilt featured in the Piecing Alternatives section!

Just pushing the tiniest of scraps through the machine after each block from my main quilt and building strip sets.  Then I started sewing those strip sets together to begin making my block.  So far, so good, but this is definitely a VERY long term project!

Here’s the rest of schedule for the blog hop (don't forget to go back and visit those you may have missed):
All week long - Diane D. Knott, Butterfly Threads Quilting
Friday January 4 – C&T
Saturday January 5 – Tanya
Sunday January 6 – Val
Monday January 7 – Lori
Tuesday January 8 – Heather <= That's ME!!!
Wednesday January 9 – Audrey
Thursday January 10 – Susan

Now, since you've read all they way through, here's the part you've all been waiting for...please leave a comment telling me some of your scrappy or strippy quilt secrets and maybe even a favorite pattern to make with them!  Leaving a comment will enter you for a chance to win a signed copy of Strip Quilt Secrets (sorry, due to rising international postage rates, this raffle is for U.S. residents only).  I will choose a winner, at random, on Sunday, January 13th.  All winners of the the blog hop will be announced here and on Diane's blog!

For fun stuff happening today in the blog-o-sphere, check out the link-ups on my sidebar!

~ Heather