Final FAL Quarter

Seriously, how on earth are we in the last quarter of this year??

Seeing as the weather is drawing in and we are being predicted the worst winter EVER (?!?) I am going to do an ambitious list, lots of evenings at home sewing....

Last quarters FAL to carry forward:

my scrap 'dog' quilt, my DWR and my orphan blocks from Bee a Brit Stingy

 

I need to put this baby quilt on the list too (pattern from quilters cache) - my work colleagues' daughter is having a baby at the end of December and she has asked me to make a baby quilt

 

I have two Christmas projects to finish, which I hope will be destined for my little shop

I need another sock: I have finished on and am halfway through the other

 

 

I need to turn this in to something

And finally (this is such a dreadful picture), my ferris wheel to finish

 So, here's hoping the weather men are right and we are due lots of snow days!
Linking up with Leanne

FA(i)L round up

So, a long time ago, I listed my FAL 3rd quarter hopefuls (over here)

I think it's fair to say that I failed quite spectacularly finishing only one out of five!

I finished my Bee a brit stingy quilt.  You may have already heard me say how much I love this quilt and out of all my hopefuls this is the one I really wanted to finish - the blog post is HERE

These are the one's I didn't complete:





There are some amazing finishes over at Leannes', well worth looking at.  Also, a big thank you to the sponsors that have kindly contributed : you can see all of them in Leanne's post here.
Let's hope that the final quarter is more productive for me!

September

So, it's October.  For me that is the start of many family birthdays and then Christmas!  Time is running away....

September was amazingly productive for me: I finished two quilts.  This one for Jenny, which I started and finished in about 3 weeks - all ready for her new home

And my Bee a Brit Stingy quilt, which I love, love, love 

 

 I made some things for my Etsy shop

 

 
And I finished my first ever sock - I have one toasty foot and one foot that's waiting

I put this picture on facebook last night and a work colleague asked if my house looked like Kirsty Allsops as she could see a home made cushion and a home made quilt.  I soon put her right....my house is waaaay more home made than Kirstys :-)

Linking up with Lynne 

Winners all round

I took myself of to a local quilt show today, with a friend

My photos don't do justice to the amazing colours.  These quilts had a gazzillion beads sewn on to them: amazing!

The yellow/orange flower was done in 3d

This was my favourite.  I have never heard of 'Perkiomen', but having googled it, I need to make one. And I'm sure I have plenty of scraps to be getting on with!  We were asked to vote for a winning quilt a d this got my vote

How about this to get you Christmassy...

And more colour

This group meets on a Monday, sadly during the day. What an amazing display they put on.

And finally, those of you on Instagram undoubtedly took part in Brendas (Pink Castle) stash stack competition - I was one of the lucky winners of 12 FQ's. Huge thank you to Brenda 

What a great way to end the week

FAL Finish (at last)

I was beginning to panic that I wasn't going to have a finish this quarter.  Although this is the 2nd quilt I have finished within a week (oh yes!), it is my only F.A.L finish this quarter.

So, here is my Pineapple blossom quilt, made with the help of my fabulous Bee a Brit Stingy ladies - the photo isn't brilliant as its absolutely p'ing down outside!

I LOVE this quilt!  The blocks were so easy to make and the pattern came from Quiltville.  In Bee a Brit Stingy bee we makesblocks from our own scraps, so I have scraps.  I hope everyone who contributed can see their blocks

 I did have a bit of a wobble about how to quilt this.  I couldn't decide whether to hand quilt or machine and I am really happy with what I went with: thanks to a lot of help from my friends on IG!!

And in true Bee a Brit Stingy form, I found some fabric from 20 years ago to use for the binding (I know it was 20 years ago, as I made a maternity dress from the fabric!).

The quilt measures about 75 x 75 and will be used for lots of snuggling

 

And finally, check out this naughty kitten

 



 ...climbing up the curtains!! I went over to see Jenny yesterday and they were both climbing up them, poor Jenny had to get up every 5 seconds to remove them (But they are soooo cute!)

Flying the nest

On Thursday Jenny and her boyfriend Nathan moved in to their new home.  There are now only two of us left at home.

Now, I am ok about all of this.  She needed her independence, she is nearly 20 and was still having to share a bedroom.  She is only half an hour down the road and her job is still in Tiptree, so she will be popping 'home' for her lunch (although I won't be here during term time). I think I have the best of both worlds.

Anyway, she wanted a quilt - a specially made quilt for her new home and she & Nathan chose the pattern a while ago: 'stacks of colour' from a jelly roll quilt book.

 I had joined  up for the scrappy strip swap at FQR so I knew I would have lots of different scraps - I wasn't disappointed with any of them. And some are my own scraps too

 It really was one of the easiest quilts that I have made, although I had to do a slight pattern adjustment as the pattern called for 21" strips (to be cut in to 3) and the swap was for 18" strips.

 Jenny was also very insistent that it was backed with a fluffy, fleecy backing - we have one like this at home and it is the most used quilt.  This quilt measures about 60 x80" and Primark happen to do a blanket that big for £10!!

  I love the colours in this quilt - it is so bright and cheerful and the quilt is so soft and cuddly.  It is already being used

Because of the big fleecy backing machine quilting was never an option, so I just did some quilting around each block in these colours - and it came out perfectly

Not only has Jenny flown the nest, but these two have left as well.  They are so adorable, but it was time for them to go: as they have got more active, my asthma and allergies have progressively got worse :-(  But they are soooo cute

Bye bye August

Back to school/work for me on Monday - where has the summer gone, and hasn't the weather been brilliant (it is about time really!)

Having had time off work for the summer, I have managed to do quite a bit of sewing, but none of it is on my FAL list: I need to rectify that in September!

I am completely up to date with Bee blocks, including both of Septembers. The black and white are Sarah's September Hipbee blocks, then Fiona August Hipbee block

and then Karen's September Bee a Brit Stingy blocks.  It's great to be so up to date!

 

I have also started, and very nearly finished a quilt for Jenny.  She moves out on Friday and wanted a quilt to take with her.  I will provide more quilt details when it's finished, but you can see it's a nice bright one!

 

 

 

And finally, some finishes for my NEW ETSY SHOP.  These are my first items and are going in the shop today.

 

 

 

 Linking up with Lynne's Fresh Sewing Day