One Small Step Forward for Me!

Thursday I put the finishing touches on my Round and Round quilt. And to say I was thrilled to be done with it is truly no exaggeration!

Round and Round Quilt quilted, bound and finished!

I initially won this Camille Roskelley pattern from a give-away hosted by Michelle who blogs as Mrs. Sew And Sew.  She sent such a nice little note with it, that I thought I'd just go ahead and work this up. I liked the design, and I thought it would be a great quilt for me to practice my free motion quilting on my longarm machine.  Well, that it was, but it took forever and a day longer than I anticipated.

Closer view of the round-abouts

I loaded this quilt and started the design motif for the center of the rounds based on a design borrowed from the Spring Blossom quilt in Judi Madsen's new book Quilting Wide Open Spaces.  I knew that I was going to take an all-day class from Judi at the AQS Quilt Week in Phoenix, and so I wanted to get acquainted with her book before hand, and be ready to put my new-found knowledge to work once I got home.

After I created a template for the center flower, and I learned how to mark the floral designs in the center of the stars.  After stitching in the ditch around all those dang triangles of each star, I did a simple curlique around the remainder of the quilt.

With so much negative space to fill up, I recreated the star pattern to float down through the negative space on each side of the quilt. That was fun!

Originally I had not been certain if I liked the deep gray tone of the background fabric, so I wanted something bright to liven up the backing.  Much to my delight, I found this wonderful fabric (I've forgotten who made it now.) and it was on sale - score!  Its gray tones coordinate well with the front.  Oh - the stars on the front were made from two charm packs of Moda's Breezy Batiks.

All in all, I'm pleased with my results.  I got a thumbs up from my local quilt guild gals, so that made me happy.  This was quite a fun pattern to piece together, too.

This project was on my list for finishes in the 2014 Finish Along!!  On to my next project now!

Remember to quilt with a smile,
Barb

Linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday,  Linky Tuesday Quilt Story, Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop and Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?  
2014 Finish Along  

I'm Getting There

Quilt top is finished - whew!

Now I just need to finish up the quilt I have on my frame and get this one quilted.

I had set a goal to have it done by the end of January for The Lovely Year of Finishes.  But, now I'm thinking that I'd like to work on it 'after' I take classes by Judi Madsen and Lisa Sipes in Phoenix the first week of February.

Camber is wondering what the heck I'm doing!

I don't know, though. I hate to not make a goal.  And I did say I'd get it pieced, quilted and bound by January 31. What the heck was I thinking?

It feels good to make progress like this.  If I can truly finish up a project of my own, once a month, during 2014, I will be feeling quite accomplished!

And wait until you see my scrappy block quilt called Freedom Quilt.  It's all together and is waiting in line to be quilted.

Remember to quilt with a smile,
Barb

Linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday and Finish It Up Friday.

First Quarter Goals for Finish Along 2014

January is seriously a time to take stock of many aspects of my life. So what better way to do this than participate in another challenge that will help me organize my time and energy!

With the help of Katy from The Littlest Thistle, I'm going to outline the projects which I want to complete by the end of March.  I'm really trying to be realistic here, but I suspect I am biting off more than I can chew. Oh, well. Such is my life!

1.  Round and Round Quilt

First Block Completed - Six More To Go!

2. Quilt and bind my Christmas Tree Quilt

I've been waiting and waiting to get this quilted. If I do it now, it will be ready for next Christmas!

3. Scrappy Bar Quilt

Somewhere in the midst of this stash is the beginnings of a Scrappy Bar Quilt!

4. Chevron Quilt

These fabrics are just for me! It will be a cozy chevron quilt before you know it!

If, or rather, when I finish these, I will feel quite accomplished! Because I have a slew of other projects waiting in the wings for me.  It seems that fabric calls my name and I probably have enough to last my lifetime. A good problem to have, I do believe :)

If you'd like to set some goals for your Finishes, now is the time to Link Up with Katy over at Finish Along 2014.  You have just until January 17 to link up your goals. Join the fun!




And remember to quilt with a smile!
Barb
Linking up to Needle and Thread Thursday