November Goal -- Dee's Wall Hanging

It's nearly 11:00 at night on the 7th of November, and I need to set my ALYoF goal for this month before midnight.  It's a good thing Hubby reminded me or I would be popping up in bed in the middle of the night remembering, then realizing it was too late.  

I started this little art quilt for my sister's new apartment back in April.  It's about time I finished it.  

I need to keep this short and to the point and get myself to bed.  I'm not normally up this late!

I'm linking up with Fiber of All Sorts and their November Goal Setting Party. 

October's Goal Met - Eloise's Baby Quilt

Another goal met.  Hooray for me!  Even with that "inconvenient" broken arm I'm 9 for 10 so far this year.  My goal for this month was to make a baby quilt with brights and lots of pinks.  I had everything cut out and organized and was getting ready to spend a few days in a motel in St. Louis by myself, so I took my machine with me and planned a mini-retreat -- for one!  I set up my machine and got busy.

In the short time I was there I had a doctor appointment and a birthday party to attend, but I did get most of the blocks made and started putting them together.  The bed made a decent design wall.

This quilt needed something fun for the backing so I stopped at Hancocks of Paducah on my drive home and got a Robert Kaufman print by Valori Wells called "In The Bloom" and some batting.

I think the fabric designers are making the selvedge edges even prettier than they once did since quilters are using them for so many projects.  Look at these  cute flowers.  So much more interesting than just plain old dots!

When I got home, I cut out the hearts.  Instead of appliquéing them onto the top, I just zigzagged around them after it was quilted.

Hmmm, I don't know how I got those two yellow strips so close together that they made an upside-down "T."  So much for moving carefully from the design wall to the machine.  A little too random looking for me!

I had thought to make the binding scrappy or from the backing fabric, but after auditioning both options I didn't like the way either one would look, so I made a bright aqua flange first.  Another Robert Kaufman fabric, this one by Patrick Lose.  What is it with me and flanges lately?  

I'm so happy to have completed another sweet baby quilt for another precious little one.  

Baby Eloise Beatrice is sure to love it! 

I am linking up with Fiber of All Sorts and their ALYoF October Finishes Party.  My goal was #48 and my finish is #43.  

I'm also linking up with Quilting is More Fun than Housework.  

September Goal Met - Liam's Baby Quilt

This month it was touch and go, but I finished my September A Lovely Year of Finishes goal with a whole day to spare.  Whew!  I was beginning to think I should have set a simpler goal - maybe just make the top and not the entire quilt.  

This quilt was not on my Projects List for the year until my sister asked me to make a baby quilt for a special friend.  Baby's room is navy and grey so I chose a Herringbone pattern from a website (Newly Woodwards) I found through Pinterest.  She shares an excellent tutorial there. 

Normally I trim off all the dog ears from my half-square-triangles on my cutting board, but I trimmed them this time as I sewed and let them fall onto the floor. I just had to take a picture. 

I almost always press my seams open for more precise piecing. 

I actually remembered to use the double pinning method when I sewed the rows together so the corners of my HST's match well.  It helps to pin on each side of the seam when your design is graphic and you have high contrast pieces.  

I've only done straight-line quilting once before, and it was on a quilt with lots of prints so it didn't show up as much as on this quilt with all solids.  It is a lot harder than it looks! The walking foot helped, but it's far from perfect.  

Last night I got to sit and relax while stitching down the binding.  Ahhh, my favorite part.

So Baby's quilt is done and my goal is met.  I am a happy girl.

I am linking up with Fiber of All Sorts for their ALYoF September Finishes Party.  

August Goal - Yet Another Baby Quilt!

It's time to set my August goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes.  This is an easy one -- another great-nephew will be making his arrival very soon, and his quilt is still not finished.  I made a good start on it and blogged about it in this post.  Now it has the final borders added, and I'm thinking it looks pretty cute.

Piecing the backing was kind of interesting.  As usual I used up the leftover fabrics from the front, and at first I was satisfied. 

I decided it needed a little more yellow so I set about inserting a strip through the middle of the dark blue Batman fabric.  I removed a 5" strip of the Batman fabric and added a 5" strip of blue and yellow fabric.  BUT, when I went to re-sew the seam there was a big gap. And, the left side of the backing was now longer than the right side.   How does that happen?  That is not possible!

It just does not make any sense!  I measured and measured, and the strip I removed is the exact same size as the strip I added.  I just don't get it!  I took the rest of the (now) oversized section apart and removed a piece of the other Batman fabric then restitched it all. I will never figure this one out.  BUT, if it can happen, it will happen to me!

The important thing is that the whole thing is basted and ready to quilt.

My goal for this month is to hand-quilt and bind this quilt and get it to baby when he arrives.  Wish me luck!

I'm linking up to Fiber of All Sorts for their August Goal Setting Party 

July Goal for ALYoF

After barely being in my sewing room at all for the last nine weeks I am more than ready to get in there and do some serious sewing!  

Aidan has been very patiently waiting for his Golden State Warriors wall hanging, so that has to be my A Lovely Year of Finishes goal for this month.  I had the team logo enlarged some time ago and bought the fabric for it, too.  

Last week when I visited a new (to me) Local Quilt Shop I bought some fusible web so I'm ready to go. 

And the best news is ......

..... I got to take off my sling!  WooHoo!!!!!  

This month I am going to sew and sew and sew some more.  Starting with Aidan's wallhanging.  After all, doesn't a cutie like this deserve the quilt he asked for?

I'm linking up with the July Goal Setting Party at Fiber of All Sorts. 

April Goal for ALYoF

It's already time to set my April goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes.  I've been careful not to make my goals too easy this year, and so far I'm three for three.  It feels good to get things done.  This month's goal is a big one with plenty of work and when finished it will be another UFO checked off the list.  It's time to finally finish the Quilted Village!  

I just completed the center portion of the quilt and got all the houses attached.  

The center turned out to be quite a challenge because it was way too small.  I ended up having to figure out how to add borders without ruining the look.  I added flanges to some of the borders to make it more interesting, and now I think it's just perfect. 

This week my focus was to finish hand embroidering all the birds.  

Now it's ready to baste.  My goal for April is to finish this quilt.  I need to baste, quilt, and bind it. 

I'm linking up to the Goal Setting Party at Fiber of All Sorts.   

March Goal -- DONE!

March's ALYoF goal turned out to be a lot of fun.  Once I made up my mind about what to make for the fundraiser it went together fairly quickly.  After prepping all the reds in my stash and cutting squares, the sewing was easy.   Adding the stars was a new experience for me.  Even though I've made quite a few appliqué quilts I've never done raw edge appliqué before.   I like how it turned out.

I used a stipple design for the quilting and learned that working with red on red is almost as much "fun" as working with black on black.  I was thankful for the good lighting in my sewing room!

I pieced the backing as I often do, using all the red & white prints I had in my stash, which wasn't very many, and a red with stars print.

  






















A lot of love went into this quilt.  I hope it raises a large amount of money for the child in need.  That's why I'm naming it "Wish Upon A Star."

I'm linking up with the Finishes Party at Fiber of All Sorts.  

February Goal -- Done!

February is a short month, but it's really not THAT much shorter.  Why then, is it so difficult to get anything done?  I was starting to think I wouldn't accomplish my goal this month, but here it is two days early, and I'm done.  I told you in this post what my goal was for ALYoF -- 12 pillowcases.   

Having a snow day helped.  We got a record 8.1" of snow here in Huntsville, Alabama so it's a good day to sew. 

I made some last week .....

..... I made some yesterday .....

..... and I made some today.

That makes twelve. 
















Not only have I made my goal for February, but I used up a lot of stash, and I have something ready way ahead of time for retreat in June. That's a first for me!

I am linking up with the Finishes Party at Fiber of All Sorts.  

Hoping for Another "Lovely Year of Finishes"

A new year, new motivation, new goals.  I didn't complete as many of my goals as I would have liked in 2014.  Sometimes it was because I set a way-too-complicated goal.  Sometimes it was just that life got in the way.  It is time to start again.  I am setting as my goal for January -- Finish this quilt. 

I started it in 2011 when a friend of mine had a 50th Birthday Party/Quilt Retreat.  She chose the pattern and I shopped in my stash.  (I can't convince Hubby that this means it didn't cost a penny!)

The pattern is called "Root Beer Float" by Hyacinth Quilt Designs.

The blocks were fun to make.

It didn't take all that long to put together.  I even made the binding ahead.

I really have no idea why this ended up in the UFO stack.  It just needs to be quilted and the binding put on.  So that is my goal for January.  

I am linking up with Fiber of All Sorts for the Lovely Year of Finishes January goal setting party.