One Monthly Goal - February Finish

Do you participate in the One Monthly Goal (OMG) hosted by Patty @ Elm Street Quilts?  I find it helpful to keep focused on finishing up projects.

I declared my February goal to piece my Morewood Mystery QAL top.  If you haven't followed any of the mystery QALs hosted by Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs, you should check out her blog.  Her QALs never disappoint.

Here is my finished top.

I'm going to try to get this quilted in the next two weeks.  I don't have a quilting plan yet, but I don't want this to end up in the UFO pile, so I need to get this finished quickly.

One Monthly Goal - February Goal Setting

I'm two for two in 2021 for linking up with Patty @ Elm Street Quilts for the One Monthly Goal (OMG).

My goal is to pieces the remaining blocks for the Morewood Mystery QAL which is hosted by Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs.  This QAL started back in July, and I have managed to keep up.

These are the blocks we made in January.

I need to piece these smaller blocks into larger blocks.

My plan is to finish making all the blocks and to then piece them into a top.

OMG Success - Stellar Stars BOM

My final UFO is now complete!!  (The 2019 and 2020 temperature quilts may or may not be completed at some point.)  My OMG goal for January was to finish my Stellar Stars BOM.  Patty @ Elm Street Quilts hosts One Monthly Goal (OMG).

Kona Quicksilver became the new background when I couldn't find Art Gallery Snow in Canada.

I was about an hour too late to get decent daylight photos, but I liked how some of them turned out, so here's a mix of indoor and outdoor photos.

I did an all-over stipple in Silver thread by Connecting Threads, with my favourite Hobbs Heirloom Premium 80/20 batting.

The quilting gives great texture.

I could have added one more border with the flying geese blocks I had, but I was ready for this project to be finished.  As it turned out, I needed to increase the size of the backing so I made good use of the blocks.

I like how the shadows of the tree branches look on the backing.

All the snow we recently received is slowly melting, so there are patches of grass throughout the yard.

I'm linking up with:

Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday @ Kathleen McMusing

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict

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 

UFO Busting @ Tish's Adventure in Wonderland

OMG - January 2021 - Stellar Stars BOM

Patty @ Elm Street Quilts hosts One Monthly Goal (OMG).  Last year, I struggled with linking up my goal in time each month.

As I mentioned in my January 1 blog post, I have one UFO (not including my two temperature quilts).  I won the pattern for the Stellar Stars 2018 Block of the Month by Cristy @ Purple Daisies Quilting.  I also won the monthly dyed fabric and matching thread collections.

I last shared an update in December 2018.   I fell behind and then I ran out of the background fabric - Art Gallery Snow.  I wasn't able to find any in Canada, and it was too costly to order from the US.

Here are my blocks.

After having a discussion with my quilt friend Dena and playing in EQ8, I have come up with a layout that uses the the blocks I have.  I'm going to use Kona Quicksilver as my new background.

My January OMG is to piece these blocks into a top and then quilt it so I can mark this project off my to-do list.

WIPs Heading into 2020

2019 has come and gone, and we are now into a new decade.  I took some vacation time during the Christmas holiday to spend time with my nieces who were visiting; to relax; and to sew.  As it turned out, I was not very productive in my sewing or blog reading, so I am heading into 2020 with some WIPs.

Progress has been slow on my Temperature Quilt 2019 -- 1-inch EPP hexies.  The months January to September are all pieced together, but not yet pieced to each other.  I thought I was doing a good job piecing each month separately, but now it's cumbersome to sew the long sections together.

I'm currently working on October to December, but I'm attempting to piece from left to right.  That meant digging out a small table to lay out all the pieces in the correct order.  We'll see if this makes piecing easier.

I haven't linked up with One Monthly Goal for the past few months -- I keep forgetting to link up at the first of the time by the deadline.  If you don't know about OMG, head over to Elm Street Quilts for the details.  My January goal is to get my Temperature Quilt pieced.

My list of WIPs includes 12 quilts that need to be quilted.  Even though they are not finished projects, I don't consider them to be true WIPs because the piecing is all done.  😊

I did not finish my Summer Sampler 2019 blocks.  I still have the last 7 blocks (out of 21) to piece.

And I have three extremely old WIPs:

• Stellar Stars BOM - This was a 2018 Block of the Month hosted by Purple Daisies Quilting.  I still have several blocks to piece, but I need to buy more of the background fabric.  I was fortunate enough to win both the pattern and the monthly fabric kits, but there wasn't enough Art Gallery Snow included to finish all the blocks.

• Sewcial Bee Sampler Sew Along - This was a block of the week Sew Along from 2017, but I didn't start making the blocks until 2018.  I think I have half of the blocks made.  I just need to focus and get the rest of the blocks pieced.

• Milky Way Sampler - This was a 2017 Quilt Along hosted by Blossom Heart Quilts.  It was easy to let this one slide because it's all paper pieced blocks.  But now that I am more comfortable with paper piecing, I'm going to try my best to make progress on this WIP.

Here's to a productive 2020.

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

OMG August - Temperature Quilt Catch Up

You may recall from last week's post that I finally starting sewing my hexies together for my 2019 Temperature Quilt.

My Accuquilt made cutting the fabric hexies a breeze.

I have all my fabrics sorted in ziploc bags.  I haven't yet glue basted all of the hexies, but I do have March and April basted and ready to sew together.

Here are January and February.  Both months had the same temperature range, but February had fewer days above 0.

My OMG for August is to piece March, April, May, June, and July.  I won't include August, but that would be a bonus if I fully caught up.

I do need to decide on my background colour before I start piecing the months together.

Head over to visit Patty @ Elm Street Streets to learn more about OMG -- there are monthly prizes.

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

OMG Finish - Wire Flowers

It's finally finished!  I'm linking up my July OMG finish with Patty @ Elm Street Quilts.

I was procrastinating because I didn't know how to quilt this 25-inch project.

So I decided on an all-over flower and loop motif in light grey thread for a quick finish.

An orange binding seemed like the sensible thing to do.  😊

It feels good to get this project finished.

July OMG - Wire Flowers

I almost forgot to set my goal for the July OMG hosted by Patty @ Elm Street Quilts.

My goal is to quilt my Wire Flowers quilt top.  I did piece the blocks together but realized just now that I haven't taken a photo of the quilt top.

I sewed the blocks together in the layout I shared here.

It's a small project, about 25 inches square.  I need to take my sewing machines in for service this month, so I'll be limited with my sewing time.  I think an all-over quilting motif -- time to stop overthinking and get projects finished.  Stay tuned.

OMG Finish - Blooming Wallflowers

Procrastination at its best...I quilted and bound my June OMG (hosted by Patty @ Elm Street Quilts) today, which is the last day of the month and the last day of the link up.  😊

I had all the best intentions to get this quilted earlier in the month, but I couldn't decide on a quilting plan.  I often struggle because my "longarm" (Pfaff Grand Quilter mounted on a frame) only has a 6-inch depth for quilting, and I don't like to do too many starts and stops -- who has time to bury threads.

In the end, I did an all-over loop in a variegated thread -- Connecting Threads Primary Variegated #21223.

While searching the internet for inspiration, I happened upon a blog post that made me very angry.  It was about free motion quilting, but instead of starting her post with encouragement, the blogger basically said no one should be doing an all-over motif.  Are you freaking kidding me????  I have no idea what she said next, because I quickly left, and I'm glad I don't remember where I was.  Sometimes an all-over motif is what is best, and sometimes I just don't have time for anything else.  Don't judge me because I don't quilt like you.  Maybe offer some helpful tips to help me get better at free motion quilting and share your knowledge.

I wasn't sure if the variegated thread was the right choice, but once I started, there was no stopping.  It blended in quite well, but there was good contrast in the background.  The loops give it wonderful texture.

My efforts to get quilt tops quilted do not seem to be working.  Even with this finish, I still have 11 unquilted tops....seriously??  Clearly, I'm not working fast enough.

This was the last of my FAL Q2 goals.

June One Monthly Goal - Blooming Wallflowers

I played along with the Blooming Wallflowers QAL hosted by Christa @ Christa Quilts back in January.  You can see the beginnings of my quilt, but sadly I never quilted the finished top.

It's time to make a quilting plan and get this top quilted.  So my June OMG (hosted by Patty @ Elm Street Quilts) is to get this finished.

This is also one of my FAL Q2 goals.

OMG April Finish - Meadowland Quilts and Pillows

My April OMG goal was to quilt my two Meadowland quilts and to make matching pillows.  I started writing this post hours ago but got sidetracked in my sewing room, but the great thing about being on the east coast is that you always have a few hours grace for midnight deadlines.  LOL

These two quilts will be going to my nieces.

They are 48 inches squares.  I wish I had another one of these FQ bundles, True Colours by Joel Dewberry -- it's a great collection.

Quilting is an all-over loopy stipple in light pink thread.  It blended so well with all the prints.  I used Kona Baby Pink for the binding.

Here's the second quilt.

This QAL was fun.

You can get the Meadowland pattern over at Then Came June.

Here are the matching pillows I finished last week.

These are also one of my FAL 2019 Q2 goals.

Finally a Finish!

It's been a few weeks since I've had a finish.  It's a small finish today, but a finish nonetheless. 
This is part of my April One Monthly Goal (and one of my FAL Q2 goals).

These are the pillows I made using the two extra blocks from the Meadowland QAL hosted by Then Came June.  I tried FMQ on my domestic Singer.  Nothing fancy as I know the pillows will be subject to lots of baby drool and spit up. LOL

I also attempted quilting my nieces' names.  I definitely need lots of practice writing words.  It's a good thing the girls are too young to read.  😉

Aliyah loves throwing a pillow on the floor and then flopping down on it.  So these pillows will serve that purpose.

Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday @ Quilting Gail

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

Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation

Brag About Your Beauties @ From Bolt to Beauty

Show Off Saturday @ Sew Can She

Finish Along 2019 Q2 Goals

And just like that... it's time to set goals for Q2 for Finish Along 2019.  I finished all my Q1 goals!!

You can find out more about Finish Along 2019 and link up your goals and finishes at any one of the following hosts:

• Sandra – Studio Sew of Course
• Marci – Marci Girl Designs
• Leanne – She Can Quilt  *Canadian 
• Izzy – Dizzy Quilts *Canadian
• Ella – Throw a Wench in the Works
• Karen – Capitola Quilter
• Lynne – Tinking Along
• Sarah G – Sarah Goer Quilts
• Sarah Z – Cedar Fork Stitches
• Julie – That’s Sew Julie
• Sharla – Thistle Thicket Studio
• Nicole – Handwrought Quilts *Canadian

*A little shout out to my fellow Canadian bloggers. 😉

1.  Meadowland Quilts - I participated in the QAL hosted by Then Came June.  I need to quilt both tops.

And I plan to make two pillows from the leftover blocks.

2.  Hand Pieced QAL - I finished all nine blocks for the QAL hosted by Patty @ Elm Street Quilts.  I need to get the sashing and the corner blocks sewn on.  The QAL link up is April 30.  I hope I can get the top finished by the deadline.

3.  Blooming Wallflowers - I kept up with this QAL hosted by Christa @ Christa Quilts, but then I fell behind when I couldn't figure out a quilting plan yet.  My goal is to get this quilted.

4.  Everyone's Got an X - This is the second baby quilt I've made using this pattern by Andrea @ 3rd Story Workshop.  And of course, I've fallen behind in the QAL as I debate/procrastinate about a quilting plan.

I like linking up with Finish Along as it helps me finish projects -- a little bit of accountability to help keep me focused.  Now if only I didn't get sidetracked by new projects.  😄