FAL First Quarter Winners!

Today we are celebrating 533 (!!) finished projects in Quarter 1 of the 2018 Finish-A-Long. So many of you are joining in and getting their UFOs or WIPs out of that dark corner, and into the limelight to be shown off as a finish. If you are in need of inspiration go on over and have a look, there were so many great makes. And of course, thanks to our many generous sponsors, we are finishing off the quarter by announcing the lucky winners!!

Without further ado, the winners picked by the Random Number Generator of the 2018 Q1 FAL prizes are:

The Q1 Winner of the $50 Gift Certificate from Fat Quarter Shop goes to  Lynette who blogs at What a Hoot Quilts and she made this stunning wall hanging row quilt for her husband:

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The Q1 Winner of the 3 PDF Patterns from During Quiet Time goes to Helen on IG @archiewonderdog and she finished her “Not Too Big, Not Too Small” bag and isn’t it lovely:

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The Q1 Winner of the $25 Gift Certificate from Sew Sisters Quilt Shop goes to Beth on IG @blue_dragonfly5 and she finished this patriotic quilt that will be donated to a veteran:

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The Q1 Winner of the 2 PDF Patterns from Quilting Jet Girl goes to Sophie who blogs at Luna Lovequilts and she made this beautiful quilt she named “Retro”:

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The Q1 Winner of the $20 Gift Certificate from Sew Me a Song goes to Kathryn on IG @kathrynjonesquilts and she finished this truly stunning (and very large) quilt:

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The Q1 Winner of the 3 PDF Patterns from Happy Quilting goes to Kristina who blogs at Krissies Kollections and she finished this lovely quilt as you go quilt that taught her a lot of new techniques:

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The Q1 Winner of the 2 PDF Patterns from Charm About You goes to Cath on IG @cumbrianlongarmer and she finished this rainbow Morocco Quilt:

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The Q1 Winners (3) of the 6 Month Subscription to Make Modern Magazine goes to:

1.  Crystal who blogs at Crystal’s Creations and she finished this adorable memory bear:

2.  Jennet on IG @featherednextstudio and she made this lovely You Are My Sunshine quilt (with minky backing) for her son:

3.  Sarah who blogs at Sarah Goer Quilts and she finished this lovely mini that represents her home town San Jose, California:

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The Q1 Winner of the $25 Gift Certificate from Studio 39 Fabrics goes to Jen who blogs at Branch and Vine Handmade and she finished this beautiful Cosmo bag (pattern by Amy Butler):

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 The Q1 Winner of the $25 Gift Certificate from Tartan Kiwi goes to Amber on IG @amberleighcrafts and she finished this whole cloth, minky backed baby quilt:

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The Q1 Winner of the Minikins bundle from Sew Sweetness goes to Christine who blogs at Cat in the Grass and she finished these two lovely pillowcases:

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The Q1 Winner of the $50 Gift Certificate from Mad About Patchwork goes to Terry who blogs at On Going Projects and she finished this extremely useful ID badge:

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The Q1 Winner of the 2 PDF Patterns from Blossom Heart Quilts is Heather and she blogs at Quilting and Beyond and she finished this quilt that showcases the “license plates” she collected from 2015-2017:

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The Q1 Winner of the $30 Gift Certificate from Clover & Violet is Charlene on Flickr (cyanh2o) and she finished these pretty felted mittens:

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The Q1 Winner of the $40 Gift Certificate from Bunny’s Designs is Brandy on IG @thirteenquilts and she finished this pretty quilt that had been an UFO for quite a while:

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Congratulations to all the winners!  Thank you for playing along with us in the first quarter, and we hope you continue joining in for the rest of the year. We love to encourage you to finish up all those WIPs and UFOs, and to see what great makes will be finished next time.

 

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2nd Quarter Finish-A-Long List

If you are looking for the Second Quarter Finish-A-Long link up, you can find it here.  I am going to link up with my own link 🙂

During the first quarter I finished up a few things, but then never wrote up what I completed…whoops!  So now that it is the second quarter, I shall try to link up my proposed finishes, and then my actual finishes.  We’ll see how that goes 🙂

1.  I started this skirt at MidAtlantic Mod retreat last year, and it was actually a bit big.  I need to fiddle with it a bit and then hem it.  It is perfect for spring and summer, so hopefully that will be the push that I need.

2.  Quilt and bind Arkansas Traveler quilt – Many of these blocks were from a Solids Bee in 2013 on Flickr.  In 2015 I made the large blocks and pieced this together.  It is currently a top, so needs quilting and binding.

3.  Quilt and bind Piece Bee with You quilt – Also from a Flickr bee, 2012.  I still am in touch with two of these folks…so that is good!  Blocks pieced together in 2015 and then bordered recently.  Needs quilting and binding.

4. Polaroid blocks – I keep on forgetting that I have these but really would like to make some progress on them, so here they are.

5.  Baskets Quilt – No idea how old these are…I was cleaning out and purging my stash and found this project.  It was a program run by my local quilt store, obviously a very traditional quilt.  I gathered all of the blocks and associated fabric.  Need to…create a top, quilt and bind.

6. X and Plus Quilt – These are from two rounds of the DCMQG Bee plus a few more from a mini-bee.  I want a queen size quilt, so will still need to make 10 or more blocks.

7. Embroidered needle book – From an Alison Glass workshop at QuiltCon 2014.  I did a little more work on this, then hurt my hand, so need to wait a bit to work more on it.  Plus, it is not going to be a needlebook, but something else…perhaps I will frame it.

8.  Mini-quilt from Alternate Grid Workshop at QuiltCon 2017

9.  Quilt from Denyse Schmidt Workshop

10.  Snowflake Potholders – I love snow and snowflakes, so this fabric from Spoonflower called to me.

11.  Dresden  – Anne showed me how to make this at a DCMQG retreat but I really need to finish this up as a mini-quilt.  Recently I hand-stitched it down on the background, and that looks good.  Now it needs to be quilted and bound.

If I complete three of these projects, I will be relatively pleased with myself.  Pretty soon I will post about current projects that are going on simultaneously.

How are you doing?  Only a little longer to sign-up.  Go ahead, make a list and post it!

 

2018 Finish- A-Long 2nd Quarter Link Up

It’s time to link up your list of unfinished projects that you propose
to finish in Q2 of the Finish-A-Long. We are hoping that the FAL
community will inspire you to work on your unfinished projects this
quarter (and throughout the remainder of the year) and to get them
finished!

The 2018 FAL is hosted by a community of bloggers across the world. Our hosts are:

• Marci – Marci Girl Designs – USA

• Sandra (also Social Media Director) – Studio Sew of Course – Ireland

• Leanne – She Can Quilt  – Canada

• Ella – Throw a Wench in the Works – USA

• Felicity – Felicity Quilts – Canada

• Karen – Capitola Quilter – USA

• Izzy – Dizzy Quilts – Canada

• Lynne – Tinking Along – USA

For those of you who are new to the FAL, it is a place to
find motivation and encouragement to complete those unfinished projects
that are hanging around. At the start of the quarter you post and link
up a list of projects you hope to finish in the next three months, and
then at the end of the quarter you link up each successful finish from
your original list.  Each linked up finish is an entry into the draw for wonderful prizes from our sponsors. There is no penalty for not finishing a listed project, so feel free to make your list as long or short as you wish. Believe me, you will not be the only one to roll something over to the next quarter.  When that happens, it usually helps me to get it done the next quarter so that nothing lives permanently on my list! The 2018 Schedule and Rules for the FAL are on my permanent 2018 FAL page, let me know if you have any questions.

Here are the fantastic and generous sponsors for Q2 of the Finish-A-Long. You can see each of their prizes listed under their logo. Please think about visiting them and saying thank you for their support of the FAL.

$50 Gift Certificate

3 PDF Patterns

$25 Gift Certificate

2 PDF Patterns

$20 Gift Certificate

3 PDF Patterns

2 PDF Patterns

3 Six Month Subscr.

$25 Gift Certificate

$25 Gift Certificate

A Minikins Bundle

$50 Gift Certificate

2 PDF Patterns

$30 Gift Certificate

$40 Gift Certificate

So now it is time to round up those projects that you want to finish
over the next three months! Take a photo of each one and make your list.
Please ensure that you have at least started your projects – pulled
fabric with a pattern is considered a UFO – and remember it is only
finished projects that will get you an entry toward the above listed
prizes. So while we love to see your bee blocks, the “finish” is when
they are a completed, usable project.

If posting on social media (Flickr, Facebook & Instagram), it will be very helpful if you tag your list with #2018FALQ2yourname (where yourname is unique to you). Using the same hashtag over the quarter when sharing project progress or finishes helps the host to make the connection to your original list quickly and easily.

IMPORTANT: Don’t forget to link up your finishes when the quarter closes!

The 2018 Q2 list for your list of proposed finishes is now open, below, on my blog and each of the hosting blogs. You need only link your list once, on one host blog and the link will show up on all the host blogs. If you are using Facebook, Flickr or Instagram, post a mosaic of your projects and put your list in the description. Don’t forget to include your unique hashtag. Katy of The Littlest Thistle has a great tutorial on how to link up if you need it.

We also ask that you become part of the FAL community. Please check out the links of others – visit and comment on their lists. We all need encouragement to get those finishes done, so please share some of your own too.

If you want you can follow us on Facebook, Finish-A-Long and/or on Instagram, @finishalong, too. We’ll post encouragement during the quarter and reminders when the finishes link up opens at the end of the quarter.

When creating your list there is one thing to remember – No deductions for not completing something so – Aim High! Nothing to lose!! Well now, get those lists together and get linked up.

Feel free to use and share the FAL button above and this one too:

The Q2 proposed finish linky party will stay open until 11 pm EST, Wednesday, April 18, 2018 – as we are global, you might want to check your time zone to determine your last possible time to link (you can also see how much time is left below the linked up images on the right.)

Remember: you only need to link up at ONE hosting blog and it will automatically show up on all hosting blogs.

An InLinkz Link-up

Ripstop Nylon Packing Bags Tutorial

Ever get ready to pack for a trip and go to look for bags to put things in?  Newspaper sleeves for shoes? Check! Something to put your unmentionables in just in case TSA wants to take a little look-see in your bag?  You could use more plastic bags, but why not take a few minutes to make a few of these ripstop nylon packing bags? When I travel, or even at the gym or pool, I use them to keep things clean and available without being quite so visible.  They return home with dirty clothes – or wet swimsuits – and get tossed in the laundry and are ready for use again.

I start with a rectangle of ripstop nylon and a plastic/nylon zipper.  If you are not familiar with it, ripstop nylon has these little boxes woven through the fabric. The slightly heavier lines are designed to stop ripping, hence the name.  It is available at stores that stock a full range of fabric types.  Where I am, I can buy it at G Street Fabrics and Joann Fabrics, in the utility fabric section.

The size is adjustable, but in general I start with the height of 1.5” longer than the zipper I’m using and the width twice what you wish plus 2 inches.  Folded over like the photo above gives you a general idea of the proportions of the finished bag. If I box the corners, it will make it a bit narrower, so this will end up roughly the shape of a shirt box, which is what I was aiming for.  I was going to use a 14” zipper, which really is closer to 15” long including the extra tape, so my large piece of ripstop nylon was roughly 15.5” by 32”. Well, my piece was actually 34” wide, so I left those 2 extra inches – this is a packing bag so there is lots of leeway.  Here’s how to make a bag.

1. Identify the edges that will go along the zipper and turn them under about ¼ “ and then another ¼”.  I eyeball this on my cutting mat – and if it is closer to ½”, that is OK. This is only a packing bag.

Next I top stitch close to the edge.  I have learned that there is too much fraying if I don’t enclose all of the edges.  I use my edge stitch foot. Be sure that both opposite sides fold into the center.

2. Insert zipper – Line up one of the edges that you just finished along the side of the zipper with the folded portion against the zipper tape. Again I use the edge stitch foot and sew pretty close to the zipper. The foot might get caught going over the metal stops of the zipper, so just ease it over those parts.

I start with the zipper open and then, with the needle down, lift the presser foot and zip the zipper, and then continue.  After one side, attach the other side. When done, and the zip is closed, you have a tube.

3. Fold the tube with the zipper at one side and use a pin to mark the other side.

Then shift the tube so that the zipper lines up with the pin.

Still with the right side facing out, flatten out the unit and sew a quarter inch seam across the top and the bottom of the bag. Note the stitching in the photo.

4. Turn the bag inside out and sew a ⅜” seam to enclose the previous seam that you just sewed.  Be careful to stay away from the metal portions at the top and bottom of the zipper. Ask me how I know…hit the metal and you break the needle…or worse.

These are French seams.  There is no reason that you can’t do ¼” and ½”.  The important thing is that the raw edge is caught in the second seam.

Congratulations!  You have completed a basic bag.  My first bags – version 1.0 did not have enclosed seams and they frayed too much.  Travel bags 2.0 were like these. I top-stitched along the top and bottom fold, being super careful not to let the needle hit the metal stops.

5. Want to go for Ripstop Nylon Packing Bags 3.0?  These are not flat but rather have boxed corners.  This is like boxing the corners of any bag except that you start working with the right side out and match the top seam with the side seam.  For these large bags I sewed where it was 3” across.

I did that for all 4 corners, and then I sewed an extra reinforcing line of stitching, just because. It makes me feel a bit better before actually cutting the fabric.

Now it looks like it sort of has little kitty ears.

Trim the kitty ears about ¼” from the seam (or the second seam if you did that), then turn the whole bag inside out and sew another line of stitching ⅜” from the first, enclosing the raw edges.  Because this is along a diagonal, this line of stitching will be longer than 3”.

Turn it right -side out again…

and here is what you have…a packing bag large enough for shirts.

To make smaller bags, follow the same general guidelines…

height = length of zipper + 1.5 ”

width = 2 times desired width +2 inches

Adjust the length of first boxed seam to your desired depth of bag.

If you make some bags please tag me @tinkingalong, as I would love to see them!

Pack away!

2018 FAL Tutorial Week!

Today kicks off “Tutorial Week,” which has been part of the Finish-A-Long since it’s inception.  While the link up for Finishes is open, we share some tutorials for you all to enjoy. They are varied, interesting, and usually helpful, so take some time to investigate and visit the blogs below on their scheduled day!

• April 3, 2018 – Marci of Marci Girl Designs – How to Link Up Your Instagram Photos to Inlinkz Via Your Computer

• April 4, 2018 – Sandra of Studio Sew of Course and Marci of Marci Girl Designs – They will be sharing a round-up of last year’s fantastic tutorials.

• April 5, 2018 – Lynne of Tinking Along – Ripstop Nylon Packing Bags Tutorial

Hey!  That last one is me!  Come back on Thursday for my tutorial!

The Quarter 1 Finishes link up opened yesterday, you can find the link up HERE or on any of the hosting blogs. There is still plenty of time to link up or finish those projects as the link up does not close until April 9, 2018, 11 pm EST.

And whether you had a lot of finishes, or none at all this quarter, or you missed Finish-A-Long Q1 altogether, you can always join in for Quarter 2 which is taking off on April 10th, with the link up opening for your List of Proposed Finishes. We hope you will join us!

 

First Quarter Finish-A-Long Link Up

Can you believe it, we have made it to the end of the first quarter of the 2018 Finish-A-Long and it’s time to link up your Q1 finishes.  We hope you have used the first three months of 2018 to complete a bunch of those UFOs on your lists!

The 2018 FAL has a community of bloggers across the world jointly hosting and this year’s hosts are:

• Marci – Marci Girl Designs – USA

• Sandra (also Social Media Director) – Studio Sew of Course – Ireland

• Leanne – She Can Quilt – Canada

• Ella – Throw a Wench in the Works – USA

• Felicity – Felicity Quilts – Canada

• Karen – Capitola Quilter – USA

• Izzy – Dizzy Quilts – Canada

• Lynne – Tinking Along – USA

Before the link up, let’s give a huge thank you to our fantastic sponsors:

$50 Gift Certificate

3 PDF Patterns

$25 Gift Certificate

2 PDF Patterns

$20 Gift Certificate

3 PDF Patterns

2 PDF Patterns

3 Six Month Subscr.

$25 Gift Certificate

$25 Gift Certificate

A Minikins Bundle

$50 Gift Certificate

2 PDF Patterns

$30 Gift Certificate

$40 Gift Certificate

For the 2018 FAL, we continue tutorial week.  Here is the schedule for this quarter so you can visit them all:

• April 3 – Marci of Marci Girl Designs

• April 4 – Sandra of Studio of Course and Marci of Marci Girl Designs

• April 5 – Lynne of Tinking Along

The 2018 Quarter 1 link for your finishes is now open below on my blog and on each of the hosting blogs – you only need to link on one blog for your finish to appear on all host blogs.

Link-up “Rules”:

Add one link for each finish.  If you want to link a round up post of all your finishes, use that link to enter one of your finishes and then link the rest of your finishes separately.  Please, only one link per finish, as your link is an entry into the randomly drawn prize draws.

Please ensure that the photo or blog post you link up contains a link or reference back to your original list so that we can verify your entry (make sure it is from the appropriate quarter, too). On Instagram, tag your photos with #2018FALQ1yourname (where yourname is unique to you),
this makes it easier for us to match your finishes with your list, which also should have this tag.

Please become part of the FAL community.  Check out the links of others and leave a comment. We all need encouragement so let’s applaud each other.  The 2018 FAL Facebook page is HERE and you can follow us on Instagram @finishalong.

Our hosts will also link up their finishes to share in the community but they are not eligible for any of the prizes.

The Q1 Finishes link will stay open from now thru 11 pm, EST, Monday April 9, 2018 – as we are global, you might want to check your time zone to determine your last possible time to link (you can also see how much time is left below the linked up images on the right).  It is best to link up your finishes early and if you have a last minute one, add that one later so you don’t miss out.  The prizes will be awarded as soon as we can verify all the entries and do the drawings.  We will post the winners on each host’s blog.

Lastly, don’t forget to start making your Q2 list as the Q2 list link opens on April 10, 2018.

2018 Q1 Finishes Link Up:

My First Quilt

In honor of National Quilting Day, I have decided to write about my first quilt.  I have never posted it online…simply because it was made waaaay before there was online.  I started it summer 1973 – I know because I remember working on it during the down time at my summer job at Jones Beach.  I had found a Sunbonnet Sue quilt in our basement and used it to make a pattern.  I must have purchased the background fabric, but all  of the hats and dresses were from scraps that we had.  To this day I can tell you what the fabric for each doll (for some reason I think of them as dolls) had originally been used for…there are lots of skirts, dresses, robes and curtains in there…even a stuffed animal!

I appliqued each doll with embroidery thread in blanket stitch.  Now that I look back at it, I think that I did a pretty good job on that part.

The doll fabrics have faded a lot and I found it interesting how some fabrics faded more than others.  You can see the original fabric color when you lift up the little hand.  For example, in the late 60s I made a stuffed dog out of this hounds-tooth fabric, which was originally black and white.  No more!

In contrast, this brown print was from a skirt that my mom had before I was born and that fabric has barely faded.

The sashing and backing still have their color, probably because they are cotton/poly.  I worked on this off and on through college and the top was probably pieced in grad school.  Looking at the back, my pattern matching is not perfect, but not too shabby either!

Next up was hand quilting.  These were the days when machine quilting was either unheard of, or frowned upon.  This probably has fluffy poly batting inside, making it hard to hand quilt.  How did I learn to hand quilt?  Who knows!  Without the internet or youtube, I probably just went for it.  I did not know any other quilters, so there was no one to teach me, but also no one to tell me that I was wrong.  I just quilted in and out of the dresses, hats and shoes, but not in the sashing which I probably should have done.

The entire quilt was finished and bound by the early 80s.  Bias binding – I am impressed with myself!  It was on the guest bed in each of our homes, and those rooms have each been very sunny, hence the fading.

It has been fun going back and thinking about this quilt.  It has also made me think about all of the other quilts that I have made and the skills that I have developed and the friends that I have made along the way.  It has been a wonderful journey…and it is still going on as I learn with each new project.

How about you?  What is the story of your first quilt?