Q4 Finish Along Goals

I've been suffering from serious quilters block over the last few months.  I blame this:

Yes, you have seen this before - it's Sand and Sea Glass, the block of the month project from (now defunct) Traditional Pastimes.  I have quilted the easy parts of this quilt - the sashing and borders.  I've started quilting the blocks, and I'm not having any fun.  And, I've got it in my head that I have to finish this one before I can enjoy starting any others.  I don't even like this quilt any more!  But I WILL finish it!  I will!  And, so, I'm putting it on my list for one more quarter.

You've also seen this one - another one I'm hesitant about.

This is Scrapitude, and it's still at the flimsy stage.  How to quilt it?  On the one hand, it's scrappy, so an all over pattern would be fine.  On the other hand, there are some nice white patches in there that could do with some custom quilting.  Decisions, decisions!

This one is new.  (I managed to push the quilters block aside for a bit.)   I won this pattern,  Sunrise, from Carolyn Friedlander, through  a giveaway on Modern Sewciety.  I spent some pleasant hours this summer, with easy paper piecing, and have started quilting.

This is baby sized.  The quilt ends at the teal border - what shows as white outside that is just batting.  I only have the white parts to quilt yet.  I'm actually pretty pleased with the quilting so far.  Just when I start to fall into despair (see Sand and Sea Glass, above), I look at something like this quilt, and I see that I HAVE improved my quilting.  I'll never be Angela Walters, but I'm coming along!

I also put together this one, in the early days of spring - hoping to have a nice table runner by summer. This is a Thimbleberries pattern that was kitted in more modern fabric. It's still a flimsy:

And - in for a penny, in for a pound - I might as well throw in these two once more:

 Maple Sugar, above, and Aqua Stars, below.

So, that's it.  List everything, I say, and perhaps I'll finish a few.

My list:

• Sand and Sea Glass
• Scrapitude
• Sunrise
• Watermelon
• Maple Sugar
• Aqua Stars

Linking up to the Q4 FAL at The Littlest Thistle

Finish A Long Q3 is Here Already

I have been strangely quiet about my Finish A Long (FAL) finishes for Q2.  Well, maybe not so strange.  I did not finish one thing on my list!  For goodness sake, this quilters ADD has got to me!

But, hope springs eternal, so here are my goals for the third quarter:

/Sand and Sea Glass

Yes, this baby is on the list again!  I do have the sashing and borders quilted, but that's the easy part.  I am procrastinating meticulously planning the rest of the quilting.

The little Eye Spy baby quilt has yet to be quilted, trimmed and bound.

These are going to be 4 placemats and a table runner. I've actually got borders sewn on them to make them the right shapes, but no photos of that.  You can use your imagination.

You've seen this one before. I think I did put the border on this quarter, so that's progress. It needs to be quilted too.

And this next one, you haven't seen before.

This is called "Maple Sugar".  It has one more border to go.  I took the picture in really poor light - the colours are much more luminous than they appear here!  It is a pattern by Toadusew, and it has gone together SO nicely!

So, there you go - 5 goals.  In for a penny, in for a pound, right?

FAL Second Quarter Goals

After my complete FAIL last quarter (when I only had two goals), I've decided to list more goals this quarter, in the hopes that something will pique my interest enough to get finished.

Goal Number One:
Of course, it has to be Sand and Sea Glass.

This one is soooo close to being done.  I've got the sashing and borders quilted, and have to figure out decide how to quilt the blocks.

Goal Number Two:
Aqua Stars

It has to be quilted - but I actually have some ideas about how I want to do it.  Surprise!

Goal Number Three
Table Runner and placemats

I dug these out from where I stashed them away when I didn't want to work on them last quarter.  They just need to be quilted.  (I think I'm detecting a pattern here!)

Goal Number Four
This is a new one.   I've had the fabric and pattern for this quilt for several years.  It is called Maple Sugar.

The pattern is by Toadusew. The photo doesn't do it justice - it is striking!  I don't know why I haven't jumped into this project before.

Goal Number Five:
No photos yet, but I've started stitching together a baby quilt using charm squares.  Weeks Ringle had a simple pattern in this month's American Patchwork and Quilting.  (You can see it here.  I don't know if it is appropriate for me to copy their photo.)  She didn't use charm squares, but it seems easy enough to modify. (Famous last words?)  I'm using brights - eye spy type charms.

So, five goals to get working on.   I'd better get on it!

Linking up to She Can Quilt for the Finish A Long.

More March-A-Long

One more report for Darla's March A Long, over at Scientific Quilter.  Her challenge is to do something quilty for at least 15 minutes a day throughout the month of March.  Here's what I worked on this week.

Sunday:

I started quilting Sand and Sea Glass.

Monday:

Still quilting (I'm really slow).

Tuesday:

I pulled out this quilt.

I started this, ohhh, about 6 or 7 years ago.  The pattern is called Aqua Stars.  I had it on my Finish-A-Long list for most of last year, and didn't do any more than take this photo.  But, it is time to get this DONE!  It has a piano key border, and I started sewing that together.

Wednesday:

Sewed more piano keys.

Thursday:

Switched it up today - back to quilting Sand and Sea Glass.

Friday

I finished the Aqua Stars top!  Yay!  The border was a bit of a challenge.  I had to fudge a bit to make sure the piano keys fit evenly.  But, it worked out.  No waving borders!

Saturday:

I thought I'd check out Craftsy today, and lo and behold - they had the April BOM block up already.  So, I had no choice but to work on that block.  This one was more challenging, with templates and curved piecing.    I have done both before, so it didn't scare me.  And Laura had some very good tips.  Here is the block:

I'm linking up with Scientific Quilter for the March A Long.