ALYOF Goal for April

Well, I didn't get my goal finished for February because of Quiltcon and all and then I missed March completely.
So, now here I am for April and I'm going to do it this time too!

 (**Crummy pics)

Ok, so my goal for April is to finish my first baby quilt that I wanted to finish in February.  I did get the quilting finished so all I need to do is trim it and bind it.  I don't know what I'll do with it when finished but I'll think of something.
I was actually thinking I might keep it so that I can see how far I've come from the very beginning.  I made this quilt before I knew what kind of quilter I was, what kind of fabric I liked, what kind of quilts I wanted to make.

So for April, I'm going to get this quilt finished 100%.

**Linking up with Fiber of All Sorts for ALYOF goal for April.

ALYOF - Goal Accomplished!

It's January 31st!  Where has January gone?

My goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes for January was to get the quilting on my "My Modern Voice" quilt finished.  Mission accomplished!  

I still need to trim it and bind it and of course put the sleeve on it so that I can have it ready for our local quilt show in March.  But I'm glad the quilting is done.  If you look really close, you can probably still see some marking lines that I haven't removed yet.

I used the serpentine stitch on my Brother sewing machine and basically made lots of straight lines.  I used tape and also Frixion pens to mark my lines and they came out pretty good.  They are not all the same distance apart.  I varied the distance to keep it interesting.
The quilt looks puckered in this picture but it isn't.  I think it just needed ironing.  Sorry for the crummy pics this time.

And here is the back of the quilt.  

Linking up with Shanna from Fiber of All Sorts.

A Brand New Year 2015

I have been missing from my blog since October.  How did that happen?  I left to go to the Houston International Quilt Festival and when I got back, I was too exhausted to post anything for a couple of weeks.  

Then November happened and then December.  And now we're here.  Should I do a recap of pics since October?  No, those are boring.

How about we just start fresh now with a blank slate and eager for a whole new year!
 
 
I will be participating, once again in A Lovely Year of Finishes ran by the lovely ladies at Fiber of All Sorts and Sew Bittersweet Designs.  
Let's be honest here.  Last year I did a miserable job at it.  I think I finished my goal only about 3 months out of all last year.  But this year I have bigger plans.  I plan to dig into my UFO box and finish some of that stuff.  Of course, I have a list of new projects I want to get started on too but I've got to do something with those UFO's.  Most of my ALYOF goals this year will revolve around those.

I do have a couple of pics to show you guys from Christmas.
This is my MIL wearing the infinity scarf I made her for Christmas.  It just happened to match her shirt that day.  This was my only handmade gift.

That is my son with the unwashed and uncombed hair.  You can't tell from this angle but he also had a weeks worth of whiskers.  Ah teenage boys.  

And this is a picture of what I got for Christmas.  I've wanted it for at least 2 years now.  It's taking me some time to get use to it but I'm so excited to have it.  

It came with so many feet!  And about 20 bobbins!  This last picture is with the Juki sitting on a table with my Janome DC2010.  See how much bigger it is.  It's like a giant next to my little Janome.

FYI:  We are currently in the process of building a new home and getting our current home ready to sell.  My husband has taken all my tables over to the storage room so I don't have a place to put my Juki.  But I'm planning my space in the new house with a great big area for my Juki.

I'll be back in the next couple of days with my ALYOF goal for January.  I have to look in my giant pile of UFO's and decide.  Also, I plan to do a detailed review of my new Juki in  a couple of months when I've had time to play with it. 

And one last thing, my Modern Quilting group that I started back in July of last year, now has a Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tyler-Modern-Quilting-Group/761637307205061?sk=timeline
We have lots of photos posted from our meetings so you can see what we're doing and my dear friend Robyn is making us up a really cool logo.  Please like our page so that you can keep up with what our small but excited group will be up to.

May's Goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes - Dotty Circles

It's that time again.  Time to declare my monthly goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes challenge.  

As I mentioned in this post,  I decided to join the newcomers group in my quilt guild as they were doing a project called Completely Dotty which makes a paper pieced quilt.  I love paper piecing and the project teaches a new skill for me which is sewing circles.  I was excited to join the group and meet some of the ladies.  I've been in guild for a year and so far I've only gotten to know about 3 people and 1 of those I knew before I joined the guild.

So, we have our patterns now and each circle is broken down into 4 parts.  To make one circle, you would need to paper piece 4 parts of a circle.   We are suppose to paper piece all of our 1/4 circles that we will need to make our project before the June meeting.  I've decided to make placemats instead of a quilt.  Placemats are something that I can always use and I would love to have some really cute ones that I made myself.

 (This is a picture I found on Pinterest of the Dotty Placemats.  I'm giving credit to Sheri Mayo who I believe is the picture taker but I'm not sure.  Sorry!!)

My May goal is to make enough 1/4 circles to be able to make 6-8 placemats.  That means I need 24-32 quarter paper pieced circles by the end of the month.  I think I need to trim them and sew them into circles too so they are ready to go by the June meeting  but I'm not for sure about that.
So far I have 5.  Wish me luck!

And now for one more thing I'd like to share.  As a member of the Modern Quilt Guild (new member - see my sidebar button - yay!!), I was allowed to participate in the new fabric challenge that just started.  It is a Michael Miller fabric challenge.  We can make anything we'd like but we have to use at least some of the fabric sent to us and it has to be quilted.  We can also use any of our own Michael Miller fabrics or any solid prints.

I've decided to make a wall hanging.  I'm pretty excited about it and if I can pull it off, it will be spectacular!  Here are the fabrics we were sent to work with:

 I love them all.  They remind me of spring, except the gray one which reminds me of atoms.

Here are some of my solids that I've pulled to go with them.  I've also ordered a few to match.  Most of the solids will be Kona solids but some are Moda Bella that I've had for a while.  I'll post updates once I really get going on it.  I sooo excited!!

**Linking up with Fiber of all Sorts and Sew Many Ways**

April's Goal - A Phone Pouch for my Husband

I've met my goal for "A Lovely Year of Finishes" for April.  YAY!  It was down to the wire, let me tell you.
My husband has been wanting a new phone pouch for some time as the one I had made him before had gotten pretty ragged.
 

I'm actually in the process of writing a tutorial for this pouch but I wanted to go ahead and post my finish so that I could link up at Fiber of All Sorts for this month.

This pouch slips over your belt as you slide it through your belt loops.  So it doesn't clip onto anything.  There is no chance it's going to fall off and into the toilet, or out of your pocket, etc.  As long as your phone is in your pouch, you won't loose it.

Once, I finished this pouch my husband pointed out to me that the belt loop was too far down.  It needed to be as close to the top as possible.  So, (sigh) I took all the side stitches out and moved the belt loop up and resewed the sides.  Now it is perfect.  I'll have all the pictures and instructions with my tutorial.

And now for some spring pictures!

I love these flowers.  They are in my flower bed in my front yard.  We always called them phlox but I think they are actually oxalis.  Does anyone know?  They are an old flower, you can't find them at the plant nurseries.  

They like to spill out and spread.

And change colors.
 My husband mows them down and they come right back - the ones outside of the beds that is.

*Linking up with Fiber of all Sorts*

April Goal and a Friday Finish

Ok.  First things first.
My goal for March for A Lovely Year of Finishes was to complete the Giant Starburst Quilt which I did.
So, now moving on down my to-do list, my April goal is to make a new phone pouch for my husband which he has wanted for some time (and I'm tired of listening to him complain).
I can't find a picture of the one he has now but it's similar to the one I made my FIL for Christmas which is this one:

 This was made from a lightweight cotton that looks like denim and I used a heavy interfacing to make it stiff.
 The belt loop is added on the back and he just slides his belt through it and that's it.  No clip, no worrying about it falling into the toilet, no carrying it in a pocket where it is uncomfortable.  My FIL uses his everyday.

Phone fits right inside and it kind of blends with his jeans that he always wears.

My hubby uses his everyday to and has since I made it about 2 or so years ago.  It is showing it's age.  I have this leftover UT Texas fabric that I'm going to try to use as lining or something.  We'll see how it turns out.

And now for my Friday Finish!
I made a new pillow cover for my front porch pillow.  The old one had faded really bad and was so sad that I was tired of looking at it.

So I bought this new fabric which is resistant from fading for up to 500 hours of sunlight.  Great!  
Anyway I love the colors in it, aquas, greens, and blues.  I made this cover a bit too big for the pillow because the last cover was really tight and was impossible to get off and on. 
But, as you can see from the picture of the back, it's maybe a bit too large.

 

 The back is just a white cotton duck I already had.

 My front porch.  The pillow looks great but everything else needs a makeover and it needs plants.  I'll have to see what I can do.  My son likes to spray paint, maybe he'd paint my table for me - a happy yellow?

 Welcome back to Amanda at Crazy Mom Quilts.
*Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts and Kelly at My Quilt Infatuation and Fiber of All Sorts for A Lovely Year of Finishes*

A Lovely Year of Finishes March Goals

Well, February was my first time to participate in "A Lovely Year of Finishes" and I didn't accomplish my goal.  :(

My goal was to finish my Giant Starburst quilt top, finish the backing, baste it, quilt it, and bind it.  I think I should have just chosen one or two of those things.  Live and learn.

I do have the top finished and the backing.  

Top:

 And a really bad, wrinkly picture of the back:

So, I'm rolling this goal over for March - to complete my Giant Starburst quilt.  
March 18th is the day we have to turn in our quilts for our local quilt show and since I've already committed this quilt, I really need to get it finished.  I'm determined.

**Linking up to A Lovely Year of Finishes at Fiber of All Sorts**