Q4 Goal Setting

Oppppps....it happened again. This poor blog is looking more and more neglected everyday! Thank goodness for Katy and the FAL or I wouldn't post at all.

You may have noticed that I haven't blogged my finishes for the third quarter yet and the linky has long closed. Unfortunately I only managed two finishes from my Q3 list but was planning to write a blog post last Monday - this has become a bit of a tradition for me, writing the post on the last day of the linky party and getting it in just under the wire......lesson leant.

Last Monday Marged, my youngest, was admitted to hospital with suspected pneumonia. Luckily it was decided pretty quickly that it wasn't pneumonia but a 'wheeze' (I suspect that the Bronchiolitis Marged had at four months has left her with Asthma but I understand that the medical profession are very weary of diagnosing this before a child reaches seven years old). She responded very quickly to the medication she was given but I still ended up spending the night on a pull out parent camp bed (oh soooo comfortable at eight months) instead of writing up my Q3 finishes!

Last Monday was also my first day of maternity leave so I do hope that I will have a little more time to blog before this baby arrives and still plan to share these finishes with you in the next few weeks.

ANYWAY........Q4

I've been a good girl and not started anything new during the last quarter which means this list is going to look a little familiar.

1. Millie's Quilt.

I've made some serious progress on this one and finished adding some hand quilting last night. I just need to choose a binding now and of course sew it on.

2. Liberty Pouch.

Those screwdrivers are still rolling around in a drawer with my bras.

3. Secret Quilt.

I haven't touched this one since my last blog post - it's still a pile of blocks waiting to be pressed.

4. Kaffe Snowball.

I loaded this one onto the frame over a month ago but haven't touched it since, really hope to get it quilted before the baby arrives.

5. Anwen's Quilt, Side 1.

As soon as snowball comes off the frame I'm loading this one.

6. Summer Solstice.

Realistically, this one will roll-over to next year, but I might as well add it to the list!

7. Oakshott Runner.

Really want to start on this one but want to clear the quilts above first.

8. Plus Quilt.

I can dream can't I?


So, were down to eight. I'm not going to hold my breath - I've signed up for the IGminiswap and joined the Siblings Together Bee 2. These have to take priority and I haven't even pulled my fabrics yet! Oh yes, and there's the small matter of the new addition - three weeks (I hope) to go!

Linking up as ever with the Littlest Thistle

My Goals for Q3

Where did the first half of the year go? It seems to have disappeared along with my productivity! With a baby due in Q4 I really need to make progress on my WIP/UFO pile so here's hoping for a VERY productive Q3......

It's a long list so I'll try and keep my descriptions short ;0)

1. Caravan Curtain Bag.

I'd originally planned to just make a tote similar to my Echo Bag (self drafted pattern) but I've decided that I need to be a little more adventurous and purchased the pattern for Noodleheads 241 tote. I cut out all my pattern pieces and interfaced them on Monday night so I'm all set to go!


2. Liberty Pouch.

I need somewhere to store my new set of screwdrivers so I'd better get a move on!


3. HST Cushion.

A new addition to the list. Here we have 240 1.5" HST which I made from trimmings from a (sort of) secret project. I plan on turning them into a cushion for one of Anwen's friends, and if I have any left over maybe a little wide open pouch.


4. Secret Quilt.

Another new addition. I have a plan. But I'm scared that the plan won't work out so I don't want to reveal exactly what it is just yet. I'm hoping that Katy will take the picture of the HSTs above as proof that I have indeed started this quilt. I've sewn all the blocks and I just (ha) need to press them, sew them together and then quilt it.


5. Wee Wander for Millie.



And my last new addition. A friend of the family has just had a little girl and I hope to turn this bundle into a quilt loosely inspired by Susan's HR Fanclub Quilt by the time she turns three months (and not three years old).


6. Anwen's Quilt - Side 1.

I've added borders to bring it up to size. I've pieced a back. Must. Get. This. Quilted.


7. Kaffe Snowball.

Thanks to the peeps on Instagram I think I've decided on the borders. I just need to order the fabric (I only have fat quarters of these prints and I'm hoarding them for something, who knows what, in the future) and decide if I'm going to buy a backing or use a vintage sheet from my stash. Oh yes, then there's the small matter of adding the borders and quilting it!

8. Summer Solstice.

For some reason I've managed to piece a back for this quilt but still haven't started piecing the front! I doubt that I'll have it finished by the end of the quarter but I'm keeping it on the list in the hope that it encourages me to pick it up from time to time ;0)

9. Oakshott Quilt Bed Runner.

Marged's managed to doodle (with a permanent marker!!!) all over our current, shop bought, bed runner. So I've decided that instead of turning this into a full quilt I'll just make a little runner for our bed. That way, I'm hoping, making the bed in the morning might put a smile on my face.

10. Plus Quilt.

This is a very long shot - but you never know right?

So that's it. Ten hopeful finishes for Q3. Wait a minute. Didn't I have ten on my list at the start of Q2? I thought that the whole point of this FAL was to reduce my pile of UFOs/WIPs? Oh well, I suppose people will carry on having babies and these babies go on to have birthdays!

Linking up to our hostess with the mostess, Katy.

I'm pretty sure that without the Finish-A-Long this list would be twice as long as, although I don't seem to finish much, it does (sort of) keep me focused and stop me from starting too many projects!

Five mins to spare

And we have a finished quilt!

A wash, proper photos and blog post to come :0)

Linking my third finish up to Katy



Goal setting post here

A better quarter......

...... but not that much better.

I listed 10 WIPs/UFOs in my goal setting list three short months ago. Considering I only managed one finish in Q1 I was hopeful of a better quarter this time round. Unfortunately the morning all day sickness hasn't subsided but the tiredness has a little and I've managed a little more sewing! But....due to me flitting from one project to another this has translated into a paltry two Three finishes (although I hope to get another in just under the wire).

Ok, so here goes -

1. Hooey pouch.

Anwen has fallen for Aneela Hooey fabrics almost as hard as I have. Whilst making a pillow for her friend's birthday I sewed up these panels for a small pouch for Anwen but didn't get as far as putting it all together - hopefully this will be my first (and not last) finish of quarter 2! - Done and blogged here

2. House quilt. 

The baby who's supposed to be receiving this quilt will be one on the twentieth - My husband has promised me a sewing day over the long weekend - a birthday pressie maybe?

Done!

Although it's still not been gifted as I never quite got around to taking pictures, hence the last minute garden pictures taken yesterday! There's a chance Arthfael might get his quilt this week now!

The eagle eyed amongst you might have realised that the above picture is a little different to the quilt top I first showed on my little blog in May 2013. I worked out that the reason this quilt top had spent so long in my UFO pile was because a didn't know were to start quilting that big open space, in fact, I think I was a little scared! So I decided to add some patchwork.

Itty Bitty patchwork at that. Those little four patches are 2" finished! I bought most of these scraps during the Great UK Fabric Destash on Instagram back in January and thought that I'd managed to not repeat any prints but as soon as I'd sewn the top back together I realised that I had one repeat :-/ Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

Whereas I'd originally planned on a sort of thread sketching for the quilting I decided to go for a simple stipple instead. It's fast. And I actually like the finished affect, especially after a wash.

One part of the plan that I did stick to though was using this Summersville print for the back and the orange stitch square for the binding.

Overall I'm happy with this finish, but the best thing about it? It wont be on my Q3 list ;0)

And just because, here are some out takes from yesterday's photo sesion

3. Liberty Pouch 

I will kick myself if I don't get this done by the end of the quarter!

Ouch, that hurt.

4. Caravan curtain bag. I may not be feeling the love for the Liberty bag any more but I really feel the need to make a new bag. Ceri was having a clear out the other day and found a pair of vintage curtains and offered one of them up for free on Instagram. When it arrived I fell hard for the print and colours. A bag would be a good way of having this in my life everyday, I've paired it with some yarn dyed Essex in Denim and found the perfect zip in my stash.

Have I mentioned that I love Vintage fabrics?

Not touched it! Nor this quarter :-(

5. A quilt for Mexico. Alison put the call out for quilts for street children in Mexico. These charms have been languishing in my stash for far too long so I'm just going to sew them together and quilt. 

I've managed to sew all the charms into a quilt top but it's come up a little small. I need to find something to add as a border and then I hope to quilt it and then send it off. I understand that there are still small shipments at regular intervals - even so, this one will be the first one to see the frame when I eventually set it up.

Awful, Awful picture

The border's been added and it's on the frame with only about 10" of quilting to go. If I manage to finish this blog post in the next fifteen minutes there's a very slim chance that I'll get this one in under the wire!

Done!

6. Kaffe Snowball. I rolled this one up and put it in a bag at the end of the workshop and haven't touched it since - first job - Press all those squares!

I have made some progress on this quilt during the last three months! I've pressed all the squares and I've got them hanging on a temporary design wall of sorts behind the TV in the living room. I 'snowballed' the top row using 2.5" squares as instructed in the workshop but it looks very wrong to me so I'm going to try with 2" squares and cross my fingers!

Another awful picture

We have a quilt top! But that's not a finish, I'm hopeful with this one for Q3.

7. Anwen's quilt side 1. I got some extra butterfly print from a discount LQS so I just need to add some extra wide borders, quilt and bind!

My frame is set up in the attic and it has really been too cold to spend anything more than five minutes up there. Now that the weather's taken a turn for the better I'm hoping that I'll manage to get some quilting done this quarter.

The border has been added and the backing pieced. Another hopeful for Q3

8. Summer Solstice. When Marelize put out a call for pattern testers it didn't take me long to put my hand up. I've trawled through my scraps and made my initial selection, I just need to wait for payday now so that I can order the white solid for the background.  I've finished all my cutting and this is ready to go. I'm really disgusted with myself that I committed to testing this pattern and didn't manage to stitch a single stitch before the pattern was released - I'm so sorry Marelize, all I can do is offer the excuse that I fell ill nearly as soon as I finished cutting and I have hardly sewn anything since then :0(

I haven't touched the quilt top but I have a pieced back all ready to go!

9.Oakshott quilt. 

It's been three SIX Nine months and they look no different to this!

10. Plus Quilt. My Dad's still waiting for his Christmas present :-0 I've decided on a giant plus. The fabric's all been delivered. Need to get going.

His birthday's in July? Christmas 2014?

Linking up with the beautiful Katy

And running up the attic ladder in the hope of getting that little 10" done!

....and we have a winner(s)

Sorry, I'm a little late but life (and a quilt show) got in the way and now's my first chance to get to the laptop!

Before I announce the winners I'd like to say WOW! 283 comments! Who'd have thought that a little vintage fabric would be so popular. I'm sorry that I haven't replied to all your comments but there's only so much you can say to Vintage! or New! There were also a few too many that I couldn't reply to as they are 'No Reply Bloggers' and they didn't leave an email address in their comment. Not sure what a 'No Reply Blogger' is? Do you often leave comments on blog posts but never get a reply? Chances are that you are one. Adrianne has a really good tutorial HERE on how to stop being a NRB.

Right, on to business. Due to the number of comments I decided to pull out good old Mr Random Number Generator and.......

The first number generated was for a NRB! I haven't got the time to run around the interwebs trying to find someone's email address so I asked Mr RNG to go again and ......

Which is.....

and then again for the second winner.....

Which is.....

So it looks like the new fabric is on it's way to Penny and the vintage is on it's way to Jess. I've sent you both emails, I'll get these in the post as soon as I have your addresses.

Oh, and thank you all for your sweet comments about the new addition to our family. We're very excited although I must admit to also being a little scared!

Celebration Giveaway!

So, when you have something to celebrate, what else can you do but have a little giveaway!

(if you're wondering what we're celebrating check out my last blog post)

But why have one giveaway when you can have two?

First up we have a little bundle that I magicked up from my stash.

The bottom two are FQs and the other four are just under at 20" x 16" each.

Next, what would a giveaway from me be without some vintage goodness?

A charm pack made up of 42 charms in 21 different prints cut from my growing vintage sheet stash.

So what do you have to do to win one of these little piles of goodies?

Simples, just leave a blog post saying what you'd prefer to win, NEW or VINTAGE?

Would you like a second chance at winning? If you follow me (either here or on Instagram) just let me know in a separate comment. That's it!

As I'm linking up with the SewMamaSew giveaway all the usual rules apply (checkout the giveaway day post if you really need to know and check out all the other giveaways whilst your there too :0)

Two prizes, two winners!

Of course I'm happy to post internationally.

A small finish (or two) and some news!

I said that I was hopeful for a more successful Q2 than Q1 in the FAL and since I'm posting about my first finish less (only just) than a month after my goal setting post I'd say that we're going in the right direction ;0)

Of course my first finish is the one which had the least amount of work required to compete it...

I already had two QAYG panels ready to go...

or were they?

You know how I love to add names to things? I had some time to waste during a recent hospital appointment so added a little stitchery and when I got home it took next to no time to turn it into this....

A wide open pouch!

I followed Noodlehead's great tutorial and it couldn't have been easier. I actually found it easier than a normal zippy pouch and the fact that it opens wide makes it so much more useful.

A backside view 

I used Annela Hoey fabrics throughout (well, apart from the lining which is an unnamed solid I found in my stash) and love the finished article, and more importantly, Anwen does too!

Look! It really does open wide and is a great place to store those Rainbow Loom bands!

Since I was on a roll and had the zipper foot out I thought that I'd try another new to me pattern

a PinkxStitches Boxy Pouch

Again, this one was made with QAYG panels of Aneela Hoey fabrics and the embroidery was stitched during the same hospital appointment.

This one was a little trickier to sew up than the open wide pouch but gives you a very useful little (or actually not so little) pouch. There are two size options given in the tutorial and I followed the measurements for the smallest and was quite surprised by how large it ended up being - there's room in there for one or two pencils ;0)

One more picture

Another backside view

Nearly forgot to add that both these pouches were sewed up using Aurifil in a beautiful baby pink colour. I really love Aurifil - I was sewing through quite few layers in a few places and didn't have a single thread break on me!

So lets hope that this isn't my last finish of the quarter, linking up (eventually) to Katy and the rest on the finishers!

Oh wait! I promised you some news didn't I? You know that hospital appointment I did all that sewing during? Well, who'd have thought it but apparently 24 hour nausea and utter exhaustion are common side effects from incubating one of these!

Baby Lewis number 3 due November 3rd 2014!!!!!!!!!!!