2017 Finish-a-long: Q2 proposed finishes

It's hard to believe that we are already into the second quarter of the year! The first quarter has really flown by.

Today I'm linking up my list of proposed finishes for quarter 2 of the 2017 Finish-a-long. Be warned; this is going to be a long list. I'm linking up a whole heap of projects because I'm hopeful that the next three months will be super productive because I've just started maternity leave and I'm optimistically assuming that 1) my babies won't arrive for another 7-8 weeks and 2) they will be excellent sleepers and 3) I will feel fantastic both before and after delivery.

If you are planning to read to the end, I suggest getting a cup of tea now :)


Small projects

I thought I'd start with a couple of small (non-quilt) projects I have on the go.

1. Bonnie and Camille raspberry kisses pillow - I'm making a pillow for my red rocking chair using a variety of Bonnie and Camille prints. So far I have made the pillow top but need to finish turning it into a pillow cover.
2. Les Fleurs pillow - I made six 6" blocks for the quilt-non sampler earlier this year from prints from the Les Fleurs collection. I'm planning to make three more 6" blocks and turn it into a pillow for my husband's Aunty.
3. Princess pouch - I am planning to turn my March Honey Pot Bee block into a zipper pouch for my niece (who loves purple and princesses).
4. Storage trays - I've been hunting for the right size tray to store my rainbow fat eighths for a while with no luck so I've decided to make my own from cardboard, fabric scraps and Mod Podge. I've finalised the design and have made a prototype. I'm hoping to make a whole series of these (one for each colour).


Neonatal baby quilts

My blue scrap bin is overflowing so I'm using up some of my blue scraps by making some neonatal boy quilts for the Very Snuggly Quilts program. I've got three quilts in progress, with plans for a fourth.

1. Improv log cabin mini - I've made four out of nine improv log cabin blocks
2. Starry sky mini - I've made one block out of four
3. HSTs mini - I've cut 36 squares, ready to turn into 36 HSTs
4. Drunkard path mini - I'm planning to make some drunkards path blocks about of the rest of my blue scraps


Rainbow charity quilts

I love rainbow tone-on-tone prints and have a tendency to start (but not finish) projects that suit these types of prints.

1. Star flower quilt - I made an extra large version of the star flower block for the Honey Pot Bee in January and have plans to turn it into a children's quilt.
2. Circle of sparrows mini quilt - Another rainbow block that has been sitting in my WIP box for a long time that could be turned into a cute little charity quilt.
3. Rainbow rail fence - Ages ago I cut up a whole bunch of rainbow tone-on-tone prints for a rainbow rail fence quilt that I never got around to making. I hoping to use up this box of strips by making one or more charity quilts.
4. I-spy quilt - I've got a bunch of fussy cut squares and rainbow tone of tone squares cut and templates printed, ready to mass produce cute economy blocks.


Other charity quilts

I really need to downsize my craft stash (to make space for baby things) so I'm hoping to turn some abandoned WIPs and excess fabric into charity quilts.

1. Hourglass quilt - I've got a bunch of hourglass blocks leftover from a project a few years ago. If I make a few more I'll be able to turn them into a decent-sized charity quilt.
2. Quatro mini quilt - I've also got a few leftover blocks from making a Quatro quilt a few years ago that I hope to turn into a charity quilt.
3. Robot quilt - I have heaps of spare FQs from this collection that would make a nice quilt for a little boy. I'm planning to use the Tick Tock pattern from Alison Harris' book Growing Up Modern.
4. Dinosaur quilt - I also have heaps of FQs from this collection that I would love to use up. I'm planning to make a simplified version of the Breezy pattern from Growing Up Modern.



Baby quilts

I've also started (but not finished) a few quilts for the twins I am expecting in early June.

1. Frances Firefly mini 1 - I've selected the precut strips for the baby girl's quilt and am partway through my first block.
2. Frances Firefly mini 2 - I've also selected the precut strips for the baby boy's but haven't started sewing yet.
3. Autumn chain mini (warm colours) - I've got a pile of nine Autumn chain blocks ready to turn into a mini quit.
4. Autumn chain mini (cool colours)  - I've cut all the pieces for nine Autumn chain blocks in aqua and teal, ready for a massive chain piecing session.


Quilts for Rupert

Since the babies will be getting new quilts, I'm also hoping to finish a few quilts that I have on the go for Mr. 4.

1. Economy block truck quilt - this one has been a WIP for a long time (since Nana bought the blue dump truck print home from Germany a few years ago).
2. Disney quilt - Rupert has been collecting some prints from his favourite Disney movies and I've promised to turn them into a quilt for him. I'm planning a simple brick design to show off the large scale prints.
3. Rocket quilt - the little man is currently obsessed with space and the Solar System so I'm planning to make him a slightly larger version of this quilt.
4. Numbers wall hanging - last year I made him a Spell it with Fabric alphabet quilt for his birthday. I've been meaning to use to leftover strips to make him a coordinating wall-hanging with the number blocks,


Quilts for others

I've also got a few quilts for family and friends on the go that I plan to finish this quarter.

1. Granny's quilt - On the top of my to-do list is to finish a quilt for my mother-in-law. It's almost finished - I just need to finish stitching down the binding by hand.
2. Oliver's quilt - Another quilt that just needs to be bound is a quilt for my friend's little boy made from improv tumbling blocks.
3. Leo's quilt - I'm planning to make a similar imrpov tumbling block quilt for my nephew Leo. I've pulled all the fabric and have started cutting the strips.
4. Kel's baby's quilt - One of my friends is expecting a little girl (also in June). I'm planning to make her a Hazel Hedgehog baby quilt. I've selected the prints and have cut all the pieces, ready to sew.


Denyse Schmidt projects

I have been hoarding my Denyse Schmidt prints for a long time and finally got around to chopping them up recently. Usually if I am cutting up yardage for a project, I also cut up yardage for other projects at the same time. So I now have several WIPs featuring DS prints :)

1. Icecream soda quilt - I'm planning to do quite a bit of hand sewing over the next few months so I've been preparing pieces to make an icecream soda quilt. I've stitched a few blossoms and have the pieces for another 20 or so blossoms basted and ready to go.
2. Scrappy DS quilt - I'm in love with Erica Jackman's scrappy DS quilt and I'm planning to make one the same. I've cut over 350 3.5" squares from almost 200 different prints ready to put together.
3. Star kisses project - I've also cut the pieces to make several star kisses blocks, which I hope to turn into a pillow or baby quilt.
4. Crazy rails quilt/pillow - All my cutting generated a bunch of strips that I plan to turn into a DS version of Crazy Mom Quilt's crazy rails quilt. I'm not sure if it will be a quilt or a pillow


Other quilts for me

These are all the other quilt WIPs I'd love to finish for myself  this quarter : )

 

1. Swoon quilt - I've made 5 out of the 9 blocks. I'm loving how they are turning out but the blocks take a long time to make so this quilt keeps getting put on the back burner.
2. Freckles quilt - One of my goals for this year is to master curved piecing. I've started making the Tula Pink Freckles quilt but still have a long way to go.  
3. Moxie wall hanging - Another WIP featuring Tula Pink prints and curves is the Moxie wall hanging I started a few years ago.
4. Ombre gems quilt - At the moment I am participating in the ombre gems quilt-a-long (hosted by Emily Dennis). I am way behind (only 3 blocks finished so far) but I am hoping to catch up over the coming weeks.
5. Dawn quilt - I'm testing a new pattern for Sam of For the Love of Fabric using some of my precious Elizabeth Olwen prints. Because it's top secret I'm just showing my fabric pull :)
6. Bonnie and Camille log cabin quilt - This is a recurring item on my proposed finishes lists that I never get around to finishing. I've got a lovely pile of log cabin blocks from a swap ready to turn into a quilt.
7. Glisten quilt - Another Bonnie and Camille WIP I'd love to finish this quarter, especially since we are coming into winter and I'm planning to use flannel for the backing.
8. Paradiso quilt - A quilt I started early last year that I hope to finish soon.

I'm probably being overly optimistic (my husband thinks I am completely delusional), but at least by listing all of these I'm keeping my options open. Here's a more realistic collage of what I expect I might get finished.

I've got my fingers crossed for a productive quarter 2!

Kat

April One Monthly Goal

Today I'm linking up with the April One Monthy Goal at Elm Street Quilts and sharing one of my goals for this month.

For the past couple of months I have been sewing along with the Sewcial Bee Sampler hosted by Maureen Cracknell and Sharon Holland. I've been making all my blocks in various blue prints and as a result my blue scrap bin is overflowing.

My goal for April is to use up some of these scraps by making some baby quilts for the Very Snuggly Quilts program. I'm aiming for three neonatal quilts for boys, since that is what they are most in need of at the moment.

Hopefully by the end of the month I'll be able to close this bin again and get it back on the shelf.

Kat

Sunday Stash - 2/4/17

Last week's Sunday Stash is my haul from  a visit to Amite Textiles last Saturday. It's a bit out of the way (about 40 minutes drive from home) and I'm trying to be on a fabric diet, but the lure of a 30% off storewide sale was too strong. I also wanted to pick up some of Jen Kingwell's patterns that hare on my quilty bucket list. Here's what I came away with.

Angie from Gone Angel has announced that she's hosting a Gypsy Wife sew-along later this year and I'm hoping to join in. I also picked up a copy of the Long Time Gone booklet because I saw an almost finished version at a sit and sew day recently and fell in love.

While I was in store I also selected some prints for an upcoming bee block. Our May queen (Eleri) has asked for the Wanta Fanta block in a crazy riot of pink, navy and mustard. I'm normally a monochromatic tone-on-tone girl so there aren't a lot of multicolour prints in my stash. I'm not sure if these quite fit the bill (you can check out Eleri's sample block here), but hopefully they are a step in the right direction.

Finally, I grabbed a few more low volume prints because a) they were 30% off and b) you can never have too many low volume neutrals. I'm hoping to use these to make a scrappy Starry Sky block for the April Honey Pot Bee.

Hopefully fabric-dieting will get easier with practice because I totally failed last week :)

Kat

The Beehive Quilts - March block

I've been a bit slack about keeping my blog up to date lately as this past month has been super busy at work. I worked a lot of looooong days last month trying to wrap up everything before I commenced maternity leave. Now that I'm on leave I am hoping to do some serious crafty catching-up.

While I didn't get it blogged in March, I pinky promise that my March bee block was sewn, sealed and delivered by the end of the month. March's Queen Bee (Leanne) chose the Hidden Gems block in scrappy navy, teal, mustard, orange and light blue. Here's what I made:

Please don't look too closely at some of those points - this is probably the most complicated block I have ever sewn. I have no doubt that Leanne's finished quilt will look spectacular!

Kat

Sunday Stashes - a month of Sundays

I've been a bit slack lately and haven't been keeping up with my Sunday Stash shares. While I've been posting pics on Instagram, I haven't shared the details here. So here's a short summary of this month's new additions to my stash:

Sunday 5 March -  some Liberty FQs and coordinating linen from Ava and Neve. I was lucky to win this pretty bundle from in the Modern HST sampler final linky party (hosted by the lovely Alyce of Blossom Heart Quilts). They are my very first pieces of Liberty fabric so I'll have to think of something special to make with them.

Sunday 12 March - a fat quarter bundle of Carolyn Friedlander's Friedlander collection the I purchased from the Fat Quarter Shop using gift vouchers I received for my birthday last year. Tone-on-tone prints and low volume neutrals are totally my jam and I love that they are both part of the same collection. This bundle also gets a tick of approval from the boys (who love to look at maps) so I think this will become a big family couch quilt.

Sunday 19 March - some pretty poplins from the Moody Blues collection by Cloud 9 Fabrics I picked up on sale at Spotlight. I bought a small piece of each of the prints in this collection when it was first released and have been patiently waiting for it to go on clearance so I could pick up a bigger piece for backing. I couldn't choose between these prints so I got a few metres of each (In my defense, they were only $5/m and I'm sure they will come in handy one day).

 

Sunday 26 March - some much-needed additions to my low volume stash that I picked up from Clair's Fabrics pop-up shop at a sit and sew day I attended today. I came home with a fat eighth bundle of the new Lower the Volume collection by Art Gallery Fabrics and a bunch of assorted fat quarters including some older Alison Glass and Tula Pink prints.

Aside from a few other bits and bobs, this is all that's made it into my stash this month. My craft budget has been significantly decreased since I gave up my second job (I had to stop teaching group fitness classes due being pregnant with twins) so I've had to really restrain myself. Luckily I've got plenty of previous purchases still to share :)

Kat

March SBT50 challenge

The March mid-month reveal is now up on the SBT50 challenge blog. This month we have a fantastic colour challenge to play along with.

For this challenge I made a layout about our visit to Disneyland last year. The colours and fruity elements reminded me of the Bug's Life part of the park, which was one of my little man's favourites.

I used papers from the Dear Lizzy Happy Place collection, which I though was a perfect match - not only because of the colours but because the fruity and floral elements matched the moodboard image.

I also took inspiration from the layers in the image and used scraps of paper to create a layered background.

Head over to the SBT50 blog for lots more DT examples and the challenge details. There are still a couple of weeks to play along and we'd love to see your take.

Kat

March One Monthly Goal

For those who don't already know, I'm expecting the arrival of twin babies in early June (possibly late May) - one of each gender. One of the things on my pre-babies to-do list is to make a pair of baby quilts for these little gumnuts:

To help me get there, I'm joining in the Elm Street Quilts March One Monthly Goal and setting myself a goal of assembling one quilt top by the end of the month. I'm planning on making the small version of Elizabeth Hartman's Frances Firefly quilt using her Paintbox Basics collection. Here's what I have picked out for the baby girl.

Hopefully I can get one top completed in March, one in April and finish them both in early May (though, given the current size of my baby belly, I don't think I'll be doing much sewing in May).

Kat