TGIFF - Stash Bee HST Quilt

Welcome to Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday being hosted here on the East Coast of Canada.  We have lots of snow here in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia; however, the temperatures have been very mild this week.

This finish is my February OMG goal.  It's about 54-inches square.  I had to wade through knee-high deep snow to get these photos.

I had planned to do something different with the quilting, perhaps some dot-to-dot quilting, but I couldn't figure out what to do.  As I was searching online, I came across this triangle all-over quilting motif.  I have done a similar box motif here -- which coincidentally, was my February 2016 OMG goal.

I finally gave in and used my IKEA Nummers fabric which I have been hoarding.

This is also one of my FAL 2017 Q1 goals.

If you have a finish this week, make sure you link up here:

An InLinkz Link-up

Also consider linking up with:

Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Finished or Not Friday @ Busy Hand Quilts 

Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation 

WIP Wednesday - Christmas QAL

Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts is hosting the Have a Jolly Little Christmas quilt along.  I was late starting because I couldn't find any white tone-on-tone fabric for the background.  Who knew finding a nice white fabric would be so difficult.  As I circled my LQS for the third time (after having already been there two weeks previous and having visited three other stores), I found this grey snowflake fabric.  Although I don't like snow, I thought it was a great choice for a Christmas quilt.

The first block was Stockings.  I used Kona Chinese Red, Lipstick, Jungle, and Pesto.

12.5 inches

And then came the Mittens.  I used Kona School Bus and Carrot.

12.5 inches

And the most recent block is a Bow.  I used Kona Red and Chinese Red.

12.5 inches

It's not too late to join the fun.  Lorna shares a new block tutorial every two weeks.

I'm hosting Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday this week, so make sure you stop by on Friday to link up your finishes.

Linking up with:

Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts
WIP Wednesday @ The Needle and Thread Network

Midweek Makers @ Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss @ The Inquiring Quilter

Celebrating 3 Years of Fun, Friendship, and Finishes

It's hard to believe it's been three years since I started my blog -- February 21, 2014.  I have met so many wonderful people, made new friends, and have had a lot of fun on this journey.

I've played along with mystery quilts and blog hops, designed two quilt blocks (and one was published in The Quilter's Planner 2016!!), tried new patterns, learned new techniques, and tried things I never imagined I would (and you know paper piecing is at the top of that list).  😊

GIVEAWAY!!!   I'm in the beginning stages of planning a trip to Sangam (a Girl Guide World Centre) in India in 2018 to celebrate my 50th birthday.  Leave a comment telling me a place you have always wanted to visit.  I'll randomly draw at the end of the day Saturday, February 25, 2017.  The prize is two patterns from Jaybird Quilts.

Thanks to everyone who has commented on my blog (and thanks for following), given me great advice, and generally supported me in this adventure.  Here's to another great year!!

TGIFF - MQG Swap

I signed up for the first-ever Modern Quilt Guild swap and decided to make Mini Rebel by Libs Elliott.

The 2.5-inch HST's weren't too bad.  But then came the 1.5-inch HST's...oh my, they were tiny...and I started to question my sanity.  But I kept going.

It took me a while to decide on a quilting plan, but in the end, I went with my first instinct -- diagonal.

Kona used:  Coal, Silver, Pomegranate, Carrot, Tomato, Black, and Berry

Mini Rebel finishes at 18-inch square and has been mailed off to my partner.  I hope she likes it.

If you have a finish this week, consider linking up with:

Thank Goodness It's Finish Friday @ A Quarter Inch from the Edge
Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Finished or Not Friday @ Busy Hand Quilts 

Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation 

WIP Wednesday - Paper Piecing Pattern Testing

A guild mate was looking for pattern testers for her gemstone paper pieced patterns.  Still not sure why my hand went up.  But here we are, four weeks and four patterns later.  You can find Andrea's patterns and quilts @ 3rd Story Workshop.

These are 12.5 inches at the moment.  I'm not sure how I'm going to quilt them, but they will likely end up as wall hangings.

This is Emerald Cut.

And Teardrop Cut.

This is Round Cut.

And finally Princess Cut.

The patterns are well written with lots of information, directions, and photos.

The only tricky part was all the tiny pieces.  Some of my seams don't line up precisely -- it was hard with the many sections.

Now time for a break from paper piecing.

Linking up with:

Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts
WIP Wednesday @ The Needle and Thread Network

Midweek Makers @ Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss @ The Inquiring Quilter

Scraptastic Tuesday - Drawstring Bags

I love the drawstring bag tutorial by Jeni @ In Color Order.

A fellow Girl Guide leader has been awarded one of the Royal Bank of Canada's Make 150 Count grants to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday.  It is a service-based grant to inspire youth to make a change.  Guider K's project is related to poverty and will be creating 50 Birthday Bags.  The bags will contain everything to throw a birthday party -- children should be able to celebrate a birthday despite their family's financial circumstances.

I decided to help out and make some bags to hold all the birthday items (cake mix, can of frosting, birthday candles, balloons, birthday hats, streamers, and a birthday card).  A few of my guild mates have offered to make some bags as well.  So I dug through the larger pieces in my scrap bag -- here are two of the five bags I've made so far.

I need to step up my sewing production this weekend.  I'm not sure I'll be able to make 50 bags before the end of February, but I'm going to try my best.

Linking up with:

    

TGIFF - Wind Farm

You may recall Wind Farm -- a new pattern from Leanne @ Devoted Quilter.  You can read about my progress here.

And here is the finished quilt.

A simple stipple in navy thread, avoiding the gold appliqued sections.

A light coloured backing to soften all the blue on the front.

I enjoyed making this quilt.  Now it patiently waits for the arrival of a baby.

If you have a finish this week, consider linking up with:

Thank Goodness It's Finish Friday @ Lisa in Port Hope
Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Finished or Not Friday @ Busy Hand Quilts 

Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation 

WIP Wednesday - Meadow Mystery QAL

A finished quilt top -- my Meadow Mystery.  The QAL hosted by Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs has been ongoing since last summer, and the final piecing instructions were released last week.

I have a confession to make.  I've been calling the green fabric Chartreuse since the beginning of this QAL.  I was wrong...it's actually Cactus.  How did I make that mistake?  Don't tell Robert Kaufman -- don't want to lose my Kona Nerd Badass status.

I had hoped to add a border or two -- this finishes around 61 inches -- but I don't have enough fabric.  I was working from my stash, but I do have enough Cactus to do the binding.

Now to make a plan for the quilting.

Linking up with:

Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts
WIP Wednesday @ The Needle and Thread Network

Midweek Makers @ Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss @ The Inquiring Quilter

February's One Monthly Goal

Time to link up with Patty @ Elm Street Quilts for February's One Monthly Goal.

And it's time to get my Stash Bee 2016 HST quilt finished. The snow is back....sigh....

I'm not sure how to quilt this.  I don't want to do an all-over quilting motif.  Any suggestions?

The wind picked up and started blowing the quilt around.  Spring can't get here fast enough.

What are you working on this month?  If you have a goal, consider linking up with One Monthly Goal.

TGIFF - Another Sew Together Bag

I finally got around to making my second Sew Together Bag (my first one is here).  You can get the pattern from Sew Demented here.  I use the pattern in conjunction with the tutorial over at The Quilt Barn.

I really didn't like the handles that are created by the zipper, so I didn't do that on this one.  Not sure if I like this better, but I'm going to give it a try.

I used this fabric for the inside because the colours matched, but somehow I missed that there were cats on the fabric.

Some colour for the pockets.

There wasn't a lot of sewing this past week, so I'm hoping to spend some time in my sewing room this weekend.  If you have a finish this week, consider linking up with:

Thank Goodness It's Finish Friday @ Summer Lee Quilts
Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Finished or Not Friday @ Busy Hand Quilts 

Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation