TGIFF - Retreat Bag

Welcome to Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday (TGIFF).  TGIFF is the opportunity to share your finish from this week.  You can find out who is hosting each week by heading over to the TGIFF blog.

Have you ever procrastinated with finishing a project?  A project that could be completed in an evening?  I started this large Retreat Bag back in November at Sewtopia Nashville.  I was going to add the outer pockets and straps, but I didn't have enough of the orange Ruby Star Society print for the pockets.  I thought I could make it work, but when I started assembling the bag, I realized I probably couldn't make it work.  

I put the bag aside because I didn't want to "waste" the fabric.  I knew it wouldn't work, but I wanted it to work.  So I've been procrastinating all these months, but finally decided it was time to finish.

I love it!!  I've made several small Retreat bags, but this was my first large one.  There's so much room inside.

It's time for you to link up your finishes from this week.  Please visit a few of the link ups to get some inspiration and to share some quilty love. ♥

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

WIP Wednesday - Star Pulse Bonus HST Quilt

Did you know that you can make a bonus HST quilt using the Star Pulse pattern by Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl?

You can see my version of Star Pulse here.  The bonus quilt is about 33 x 41 inches.

Adding some background fabric squares to the bonus HSTs gives a striking design.

I'm linking up with:

Midweek Makers @ Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss @ The Inquiring Quilter

Star Pulse Quilt Along

Did you sew along with Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl for her Star Pulse QAL?  It's a great pattern with lots of variations.  I made the throw size with a single background.

I used Kona Black for the background, along with Meringue, Cactus, Chartreuse, Bluegrass, Bahama Blue, Lagoon, and Lapis.

I love this pattern!  I will take some time to figure out a quilting plan.

TGIFF - Sunny Days

Welcome to Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday (TGIFF).  TGIFF is the opportunity to share your finish from this week.  You can find out who is hosting each week by heading over to the TGIFF blog.

I'm slowing making my way through my long list of quilt tops that need to be finished.  This is Sunny Days -- a pattern by Sandra @ Musings of  Menopausal Melon.  I already finished Blue Skies.

I did an all-over loop stipple in a variegated thread.  I used my favourite Hobbs Heirloom Premium 80/20.

I had this yellow/grey/black polka dot in my stash, and I added an orange binding.

The quilt finishes about 40 x 49 inches.

It's time for you to link up your finishes from this week.  Please visit a few of the link ups to get some inspiration and to share some quilty love. ♥

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

WIP Wednesday - Star Rays QAL

Earlier this year, I participated in a QAL with Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs using her Just Two Charm Pack Quilts book.  Cheryl's book was released last year, and I already made Process Flow.  There are a lot of great patterns in the book.

I made Star Rays for the QAL using Kona Breakers and Quicksilver, with the star points pieced with Alison Glass fabrics.  The quilt finishes 65 x 75 inches.

The fabric placement for the star points was random for a scrappy finish.

This joins my long to-do list of tops that need to be quilted.  I need more time to decide on a quilting plan and thread colour.

I'm linking up with:

Midweek Makers @ Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss @ The Inquiring Quilter

TGIFF - Two by Four Quilt

Have you been to a Sewtopia event?  I've attended five events (2018 Boston, 2019 Seattle, 2022 Palm Springs, 2023 Nashville, 2024 Milwaukee) and will attend my sixth event this November in Anaheim. 🌞  It's a great opportunity to meet new people, connect with friends, go on a shop hop, and enjoy dedicated sewing time.

Each participant receives six fat quarters from Windham Fabrics.  The challenge is to make something using only Windham Fabrics.  I made a quilt for the Milwaukee event.  Note to self for future:  It's not a great idea to travel with a quilt with limited luggage space. 😬

I used the Two by Four tutorial to make my quilt using my 2023 and 2024 Sewtopia challenge fabrics.  Due to delayed shipping time, we don't receive our fabrics here in Canada in time to make something, but this year, we received our fabrics in plenty of time.  🎉  But in my excitement of being able to participate, I made a quilt that was far too big for travelling (59 x 60 inches).

For a quick finish, I did an all-over loop motif in orange thread.

This quilt doesn't have a home yet, so it might become my new sofa quilt.

I'm linking up with:

Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday @ The Not So Dramatic Life

Finished or Not Friday @ Alycia Quilts

Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation

Brag About Your Beauties @ From Bolt to Beauty

Friday Foto Fun @ Powered by Quilting 

WIP Wednesday - Luminous Layers QAL

I can't believe it's been two months since I've written a blog post.  Where does the time go???

I sewed along with Sandra @ mmmquilts for her annual free QAL.  This is my version of Luminous Layers.

I made a few modifications to the pattern so that all the small centre stars were identical and changed the background around the middle star so that it blended into the large outer star.

I need to come up with a quilting plan.  But there's no rush as there is a long list of other quilt tops that need to be finished.  LOL

I'm linking up with:

Midweek Makers @ Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss @ The Inquiring Quilter

TGIFF - A Finish by Dena

Welcome back for Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday.  TGIFF is the opportunity to share your finish from this week.  You can find out who is hosting each week by heading over to the TGIFF blog.

Unfortunately, we didn't have a host for this week.  So my good friend Dena agreed to showcase her finish from this week.  She does not have a blog, so I'll share her photos and her commentary.

I started this mini in a Carolyn Friedlander workshop in Halifax at last year's Quilt Canada.  Carolyn encouraged us to use individual elements of her pattern to create our own layouts.  I used only Carolyn Friedlander fabrics.  My mini finishes at roughly 12.5 x 24 inches.

I tried match stick quilting for the first time.  I used Decobob thread by Wonderfil Speciality Thread, and there are a few lines of glittery quilting using a silver Gutermann thread.

This quilt will be on display at the Maritime Modern Quilt Guild quilt show in April.

Head over to Instagram to share some quilty love to Dena for her great finish.

It's time for you to link up your finishes from this week.  Please visit a few of the link ups to get some inspiration and to share some quilty love. ♥

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Project Quilting 15.6 - Irish Chain

Season 15 of Project Quilting -- hosted by Kim @ Persimon Dreams and Trish @ Quilt Chicken -- has come to an end.  There were weeks when I wasn't confident that I'd be able to make something, but I am pleased that I completed all six challenges this season.

The final theme was Irish Chain.  I decided to make a drawstring bag, using my favourite pattern, Lined Drawstring Bag by In Color Order.  I made the Project Bag size.  However, troubles followed me from start to finish.  Firstly, I was making it mere hours before today's deadline. 😉 I miscalculated the placement of the Irish chain block, and I didn't have enough fabric to fix it because I was using scraps.  So the bottom half of the block got cut off when boxing the corners.

And when I boxed the corners, I cut wrong.  And I cut the ribbon too short.

But it's finished by the deadline!  And although not a perfect bag, it will hold things.

Stay at Home Round Robin Quilt Parade

Did you enjoy sewing along with the Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR) hosted by Gail @ Quilting Gail?  It's time to link up your finished quilt (or quilt top).

I used three solid fabrics:  Kona Nightfall, Torch, and White.  It finishes around 56 inches after quilting.

I used a variety of free-motion quilting motifs with a light orange thread.

I had planned to do some big stitch quilting elements in the centre, but I couldn't decide on a plan.  I can always add it later.

You can see my weekly updates:

• Centre block
• Round 1
• Round 2
• Round 3
• Round 4
• Round 5
• Round 6

Make sure you link up your finished quilt here.

Thanks to my SAHRR host bloggers for another great QAL.

• Gail @ Quilting Gail
• Wendy @ Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life
• Emily @ The Darling Dogwood
• Brenda @ Songbird Designs
• Kathleen @ Kathleen McMusing

TGIFF - Bags for a Friend

Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday is being hosted here again.  TGIFF is the opportunity to share your finish from this week.  You can find out who is hosting each week by heading over to the TGIFF blog.

If you would like to host TGIFF in 2024, click here to sign up.

I wanted to make a thank-you gift for a good friend and decided on something practical.

I love the Open Wide Zippered Pouch tutorial.

My other go-to bag tutorial is the Lined Drawstring Bag.  I purchased the pattern to make other sizes.

I hope she likes these bags.  And I hope I remembered correctly that purple is her favourite colour.  

It's time for you to link up your finishes from this week.  Please visit a few of the link ups to get some inspiration and to share some quilty love. ♥ 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Romance Garden Fabric Blog Hop

Sherry @ Powered by Quilting is hosting a blog hop for her new signature Island Batik fabric line -- Romance Garden.  This is a great collection of pink, green, and purple fabrics.

I made a baby quilt (48 x 48 inches) using a modified rail fence pattern to showcase the great prints.

The colours are vibrant and bright.

Head over to Sherry's blog post to enter the giveaway and to see all the bloggers participating in the blog hop.

I keep the quilting simple -- an all-over loop motif using light green thread.

TGIFF - Project Quilting 15.5 - Wearables

Welcome to this week's edition of Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday.  TGIFF is the opportunity to share your finish from this week.  You can find out who is hosting each week by heading over to the TGIFF blog.

If you would like to host TGIFF in 2024, click here to sign up.

Have you been sewing along with Project Quilting?  This week's theme is Wearables. 😮  What to do?  What to do?  I finally decided on an apron to hold my scissors, etc. while using my longarm.  I found a tutorial to make an apron using a pillowcase.  I was skeptical, but with limited time this week, I thought I'd give it a try.

I love this apron!!!  I can't wait to make another one.

I recommend folding up 6 inches.  I had to make a little adjustment after the first fold because 8 inches was too much for my pillowcase.  Instead of making two pockets, I made three.  I used a piece of plastic-y webbing because I didn't want to put too much effort into this apron in case I didn't like it.

It's time for you to link up your finishes from this week.  Please visit a few of the link ups to get some inspiration and to share some quilty love. ♥ 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

2024 Stay at Home Round Robin - Round 6

It's the final round for the Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR) hosted by Gail @ Quilting Gail.

Round 6 was chosen by Kathleen @ Kathleen McMusing -- letters and/or numbers.

I added a 4-inch finished Kona Torch border, with Nightfall cornerstones.  I decided to take creative license, and my "letters" will be quilted into the border.

I still have a wavy border, which made the top end up being 57.5 inches.  I gained 1.5 inches from the designed 56-inch quilt but managed to steam/quilt it flat.

I had a quilting plan for the centre of the quilt, but didn't know what to quilt in the outer borders.  I ended up doing an all-over loop motif.  I was having a lot of thread issues over the weekend, to the point that I skipped several sections of quilting.  I'll have to go back and quilt those sections.

My "letters" are my name quilted in the bottom corner of the quilt.

Make sure you link up your round 6 with Kathleen before Sunday night to be entered in the prize giveaway.

The parade for finished quilt tops (quilted or not) will be March 18 hosted by Gail @ Quilting Gail