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But just how far back, I am not sure. While cleaning out, and doing a little bit of purging of my sewing stuff, I came across a bag with the blocks and material from a Saturday Sampler program from my local quilt shop, Capital Quilts. Each month there was a little kit and a pattern and lesson for a nominal fee…really nominal, two or three dollars. I learned a lot from them about cutting, seam allowances, pressing and construction methods in general. I had completed the quilts from the first two years – one is on the guest room bed and my daughter has the other. Then there was a year of baskets and one of buildings. I had made ten of the twelve baskets and about five of the buildings. My best guess as to when I made these is the late 1990s or early 2000s. The first quilt was labeled 2000, and I am sure that it took me a few years to get it completed and quilted. Plus, look at the color palette – navy, brick-red, dusty blue and mauve pink – doesn’t that scream 90s to you?
As of a week ago I had the ten baskets and went through the instruction sheets -(which of course I had all nicely collected in a folder) to figure out which ones I didn’t make.I looked for a date on the sheets, but not one had a date.
Lesson #1 Date things…not just your finished quilts but when you start things.
One day I finished the two baskets and then did the math to figure out the side, corner and setting triangles and got to work. It was finished in a jiffy! Sometimes I wonder why I don’t finish things when sometimes it doesn’t take very long. I know, there are lots of tugs on our time, but I obviously have made gazillion things since I made those baskets.
Lesson #2 If it will only take a wee bit more time to finish it…do it!
Here is the completed top.
Although the picture shows the top backgrounds being creamier than the bottom two rows, that is not so, and it wasn’t obvious until I looked at the picture. The discrepancy is probably due to the poor lighting. I want to do some appliqué to put something in the empty baskets, and I think I will use the fusible appliqué of flower motifs that I used in my scissor quilt – probably should have done it before putting all of the blocks together, but that just might have been what would bring the project to a halt. While pressing the quilt I remembered an issue that I had with this…the background is of different white on white fabrics.
Lesson #3. Don’t over press or scorch the white on whites.
Also while pressing the completed top and clipping threads, I thought a lot about how my skills have improved. Usually my points are better nowadays and I resisted the urge to go back and fix them. I tended to have long threads on the back and realize that my new machine has a scissor function so I will no longer have a hairy mess on the back of a quilt, Yay!
So there you have it…the back and batting are all ready and now the top is also in the queue. This is on my FAL first quarter list…and it might even get done!
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Happy New Year, everyone! It is time for a NEW round of the Finish-A-Long (FAL)!
As you can see, a new round of the Finish-A-Long is starting today. New logos (thank you so much, Marci), some new hosts (and some familiar ones), some new sponsors as well as some we have known for years now. Presumably we will have some new participants as well as many who have been taking part regularly for a long time…
So let’s get to it!
You can now link up your list of projects that you want to finish in Quarter 1 of 2019. We are hoping that the FAL community will inspire you to work on your unfinished projects this quarter, and to get them finished!
The 2019 FAL is hosted by a great community of bloggers. This year our hosts are:
For those of you who are new to the FAL, here is an explanation: The Finish-A-Long is a community aiming to motivate and encourage each other to complete those unfinished projects that are hanging around, sometimes for far too long. At the start of the quarter you post and link up a list of projects you hope to finish in the next three months. 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 as short as you wish. The 2019 Schedule and Rules for the FAL are on my permanent 2019 FAL page, let me know if you have any questions.
Here are the fantastic and generous sponsors for Q1 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 their support of the FAL.
![]() Winner’s Choice of 1 Large 12 Spool Collection |
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![]() 3 PDF Patterns |
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![]() $30 Fabric Voucher |
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So now it is time to sort out the projects/UFOs/WIPs that you want to finish over the next three months. Take a photo of each one and make your list. If you like you can use our Finish-A-Long Planner to list your projects and keep track of progress. It also has all link-up dates for the year, and the hashtags that we would use. Or use any method that works for you. Please ensure that you have at least STARTED your projects – pulled fabric with a pattern is considered a project started – and remember it is only a FINISHED project 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.
Post your list either on your blog, on Instagram, or on Flickr if you prefer. If posting on social media (Flickr, Instagram), it will be very helpful if you tag your list with #2019FALQ1yourname (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 at the end of the quarter! We will be posting a reminder on the blog and on Instagram, but do keep an eye out…
The 2019 Q1 link for your list of proposed finishes is now open below, on my blog and on 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 Flickr or Instagram, post a mosaic of your projects and put your list in the description. Don’t forget to include your unique hashtag.
If you need a little help, Katy of The Littlest Thistle has a great tutorial on how to link up if you need it, and Marci has a post on
how to link up from Instagram.
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 that list together and get linked up.
Feel free to use and share the FAL button at the top and this one too:
Remember: you only need to link up at ONE hosting blog and it will automatically show up on all hosting blogs.
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Popping in today for a quick reminder that the Quarter 4 Link Up for all your finishes closes on Wednesday, January 9, 2019, 11 pm EST. So you still have a few more days to finish a project or two and link them up to be eligible for prizes. The link up can be found HERE or on the blog of any of our current hosts.
A few reminders for linking up:
Finally, we hope you will be joining us for 2019 to do it all over again!! So get your list ready, the link up for Q1 Lists will open on January 10, 2019.
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I did two one-hundreds projects last year. At times I feel that I am so scattered and flit from project to project, later cycling back to other things, but last year I started and kept to two projects that involved doing something for 100 days, in a row.
The first was the 100 days project. I saw the project #the100dayproject on Instagram and then got the idea for half-square triangles from Katie @swimbikequilt. I actually did two sets of HSTs, Essex teal with the dusty charm pack and Essex steel with brights. Did you know that the big Kona charm packs are in the same order as the pictures are listed on the website? I started on April 3 and went until July 11.
At first I posted my pictures every day, but later I made them each day and then posted every few days. That made it more fun to arrange the blocks.
Truth be told, it probably took me as long to trim the blocks as to sew them.
Currently the two sets of 200 blocks are sitting in plastic shoeboxes waiting for their turn on the design wall.
The second project was making Tula Pink’s 100 blocks. I had purchased the book a few years ago and even had taken it to the printer to have it made into a spiral bound book – highly worth the few dollars. It is a thick book and now each page opens and lays flat. The goal of that project was to post the completed block on the correct day, and then keep going until the end. I worked on them daily at the start, and then worked a week at a time and then jumped ahead to the blocks for when I would be on vacation. I used some Tula Pink fabric – thanks to my guild mates for offering up some of their scraps. I also used this as a chance to dive into my stash and use some of the bits of novelty fabric that I have. Here are some of my fav blocks. These are the pics that I posted, sorry that I did not go back and recrop them all, but if you want to see all one hundred blocks, you can go to #tinkingalong100days on Instagram.
2019…I don’t think that I will do any more time sensitive projects. After all, I have all of these blocks to put together as well as a few block of the months going on, but more on that later!
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Can you believe it, the year is over! We have made it to the end of the fourth quarter of the 2018 Finish-A-Long and it’s time to link up your Q4 finishes. We hope you have used the past three months to complete a bunch of those UFOs on your lists! If not there is always next year…
The 2018 FAL has a community of bloggers across the world jointly hosting and this year’s hosts are:
Before the link up, let’s give a huge thank you to our fantastic sponsors:
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![]() $40 Gift Certificate |
The 2018 Quarter 4 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.
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It’s coming! Soon! You might still be finishing up some WIPs from 2018, and that would be awesome, but I wanted to let you know that things you don’t finish can be rolled over to 2019. In 2019 we will have 12 hosts. Woo hoo!
What is the Finish-A-Long
The Finish – A – Long is the brainchild of Rhonda (Rhonda’s Ramblings) and was started back in 2012 as a no pressure linky event that allows you to make a quarterly list of the works in progress (WIPS) that you are hoping to finish during that quarter of the year. You create a list (big or small, short or long) at the beginning of the quarter and link up via one of the Finish – A – Long hosts blog linky post. You then use that quarter to finish your projects, and at the end of the quarter you link up any of these finished projects and become eligible for prizes (randomly drawn.) There is no penalty for not finishing these projects and they can be carried over to the next quarter. Win, win! One of the best aspects of the Finish – A – Long is the community involvement via the host blogs linky, Flickr, Instagram and Facebook. Once you have linked up take some time to visit other links, leave comments and participate! You can encourage, meet and make new friends, trust me, I have! Ready to participate? The schedule, rules and sponsors are below.
Here is the schedule so that you can start your lists and planning.
Rules and how it works…
– At the start of each quarter there will be a linky party for you to link up your proposed list of finishes. You must link up in order to be able to be eligible for those prizes at the end. Please only enter ONE blog post, Flickr photo or Instagram photo at this starting link-up. If you use Flickr or Instagram please describe your plan in the description.
– In order for your projects to be eligible, they must be a tangible project at the start of the quarter. That means, at the very least, a fabric pull matched to a pattern, a quilt top needs to be quilted, or a half knit jumper, etc. We love seeing your bee blocks, but they won’t count unless you happen to be turning them all into a fully completed quilt THIS quarter. We are looking for a proper UFO – UnFinished Object – which means it has to have been started.
– As you complete each of your projects on your list, write a post about it on your blog, or a description with a Flickr or Instagram pic.
– At the end of the quarter, link up each individual post/Flickr pic (please link back to your original list from the start of the quarter in some way). For each finish/link you complete, you get an entry into the prize draw, and therefore it’s in your best interest to write up a separate post for each!
– A finish is defined as a completely finished project, eg. a quilt, quilted and bound, a bag that’s fully lined and functional, or a jumper that one could wear out in public. We’re happy for you if you get a quilt top completed in one quarter, but hold onto it for the next quarter and see if you can get it quilted and bound before entering as a finish please.
– You won’t be punished if you don’t finish your entire list, so feel free to make a big list and roll projects over from one quarter to the next if you need to.
– All qualifying finishes will be put into a prize draw, and the names/numbers will be drawn at random for each of the prizes donated by our sponsors for that quarter.
– The finish linky party will be open for approximately a week, and then the linky party for the proposed finishes list for next quarter will open on the following day.
– The FAL is open to anyone, anywhere in the world.
Be on the lookout for another post soon with news about our wonderful sponsors and the starting linky party. Get those lists ready!
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