2019 Finish-Along First Quarter Winners!

 The time has come to officially wrap up Quarter 1 of the Finish-A-Long by announcing the winners and awarding some wonderful prizes from our fantastic sponsors.  We had a whopping 553 finishes for the first quarter of 2019, which is really impressive you guys, keep it up!

Without further ado, here are the winners picked by Random Number Generator for Q1 of the 2019 Finish-A-Long:

The winner’s choice of One Large 12 Spool Collection from Aurifil goes to Ann who blogs at Brown Paws Quilting and she finished this gorgeous Summer Sampler quilt that she custom quilted:

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The $80 Gift Certificate from Sew Sweetness goes to Michelle who blogs at From Bolt to Beauty and she finished 11 Jane Market Bags for her children’s teachers (here is just one of them):

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The $50 Gift Certificate from Mad About Patchwork goes to Sandra who blogs at Musings of a Menopausal Melon – mmm! Quilts and she finished this lovely cushion/pillow cover:

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The $50 Gift Certificate from Fat Quarter Shop goes to Melinda on IG @mamasan_gerber and she finished this large hexagon pouf:

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The $25 Gift Certificate from Sew Me A Song goes to Melinda who blogs at Quiltn in Wilton and she finished this bright and cheerful child sized quilt:

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The 3 PDF Patterns from Happy Quilting goes to Liz who blogs at Yorkshire Quilter and she finished this beautiful scrappy charity string quilt:

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The 2 PDF Patterns from Charm About You goes to Gretchen who blogs at 120 Blocks and she finished this fantastic Jelly Roll Rug:

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The 2 PDF Patterns from Blossom Heart Quilts go to Janice on IG @tangibleculture and she finished this lovely cross stitch ornament:

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The 6 Month Subscription to Make Modern Magazine goes to Anja who blogs at Anja Quilts and she finished this really fun quilt:

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The 2 PDF Patterns from Bonjour Quilts goes to Jennie who blogs at Jennie’s Threads and she finished this gorgeous sampler quilt:

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The $30 Fabric Voucher from Hillstitches goes to Pippa on IG @pippaspatch and she finished this wonderful duel sided table runner:

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There you have it folks, quarter one of the year is officially wrapped up!  Congratulations to all of our winners and a big thanks to everyone that played along so far this year.

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2019 Finish-Along Second Quarter Linkup

 

Hello everyone! It is time for Quarter 2 of the Finish-A-Long (FAL)!

As you can see, a new quarter of the Finish-A-Long is starting today.  If you missed participating at the beginning of the year, you can join us now for a brand new start. Those of you who did join us for the first quarter, thank you and I do hope you finished some things and plan to continue on with us for Q2.

So let’s get to it!

You can now link up your list of projects that you want to finish in Quarter 2 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!

Our 2019 Finish-A-Long Hosts

The 2019 FAL is hosted by a great community of bloggers. This year our hosts are:

• Sandra – Sew of Course – Ireland
• Marci – Marci Girl Designs – USA Louisiana
• Leanne – She Can Quilt – Canada
• Ella – Throw a Wench in the Works – USA Georgia
• Karen – Capitola Quilter – USA California
• Lynne – Tinking Along – USA Maryland
• Izzy – Dizzy Quilts – Canada
• Sarah G – Sarah Goer Quilts – USA California
• Sarah Z – Cedar Fork Stitches – USA Montana
• Julie – That’s Sew Julie – USA Iowa
• Sharla – Thistle Thicket Studio – USA Kansas
• Nicole – Handwrought Quilts – Canada

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.

Our 2019 Finish-A-Long Sponsors

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 their support of the FAL.

 

Winner’s Choice of 1 Large 12 Spool Collection

$80 Gift Certificate

 

$50 Gift Certificate

$50 Gift Certificate

$25 Gift Certificate

3 PDF Patterns

2 PDF Patterns

 

2 PDF Patterns

1 Six Month Subscription

2 PDF Patterns

 

$30 Fabric Voucher

 

Make your Q2 List of Unfinished Projects

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 Q2 List

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 #2019FALQ2yourname (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…

Link-up Your Q2 List

The 2019 Q2 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.

Join the FAL Community

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.

LET THE FUN BEGIN!

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.

An InLinkz Link-up

Finish-Along First Quarter Finishes!

We have reached the end of Quarter 1 of the 2019 Finish-A-Long already!!  Of course, that means it is now time to link up those finishes from the list you linked up in January. We had a record-breaking 233 lists linked up for Q1, and we hope that you have been able to complete a bunch of the UFOs on your list. If you haven’t, we’ll do it all over again for Quarter 2…

The 2019 FAL is hosted by a great community of bloggers. This year our hosts are:

• Marci – Marci Girl Designs – USA Louisiana
• Sandra – Sew of Course – Ireland
• Leanne – She Can Quilt – Canada
• Ella – Throw a Wench in the Works – USA Georgia
• Karen – Capitola Quilter – USA California
• Lynne – Tinking Along – USA Maryland
• Izzy – Dizzy Quilts – Canada
• Sarah G – Sarah Goer Quilts – USA California
• Sarah Z – Cedar Fork Stitches – USA Montana
• Julie – That’s Sew Julie – USA Iowa
• Sharla – Thistle Thicket Studio – USA Kansas
• Nicole – Handwrought Quilts – Canada

Each finish you link up will be in the draw for great prizes, so let’s give a huge thank you to our fantastic sponsors:

Winner’s Choice of 1 Large 12 Spool Collection

$80 Gift Certificate

 

$50 Gift Certificate

$50 Gift Certificate

$25 Gift Certificate

3 PDF Patterns

2 PDF Patterns

 

2 PDF Patterns

1 Six Month Subscription

2 PDF Patterns

 

$30 Fabric Voucher

The 2019 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 (Instagram or Flickr) 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 the best way to do that is to tag your photos with #2019FALQ1yourname (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 2019 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, Tuesday, April 9, 2019 – 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 next LIST link opens on Wednesday, April 10, 2019.

2019 Q1 Finishes Link Up:

An InLinkz Link-up

 

2018 4th Quarter FAL Winners!

We are at the last post to round off the 2018 Finish-A-Long. Today we are celebrating 392 (!!) finished projects in Quarter 4 of the 2018 FAL. 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 and the year by announcing the lucky winners!!

Without further ado, the winners picked by the Random Number Generator of the 2018 Q4 FAL prizes are:

The Q4 Winner of the $50 Gift Certificate from Fat Quarter Shop is Kate who blogs at Life in Pieces and she finished this adorable Halloween themed quilt:

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The Q4 Winner of the 3 PDF Patterns from During Quiet Time is Helene on IG @30hela and she finished this lovely rainbow solids quilt :

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The Q4 prize of the $25 Gift Certificate from Sew Sisters Quilt Shop goes to Heather who blogs at Peachy Pages and she finished this Dresden Ohio quilt:

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The Q4 Winner of the 2 PDF Patterns from Quilting Jet Girl is Cheryl on Flickr at Paisley Crazy and she finished this pretty quilt that she gifted as a wedding present:

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The Q4 Winner of the $20 Gift Certificate from Sew Me a Song is Mary and she blogs at Quilting is in My Blood and she finished this Floating Hexagons quilt with a wonderful quilting pattern:

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The Q4 Winner of the 3 PDF Patterns from Happy Quilting is Celine and she blogs at EspritPatch and she finished this Tabor V-neck top:

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The Q4 Winner of the 2 PDF Patterns from Charm About You is Teresa via IG @misdosbichillos and she finished these super cute house ornaments:

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The Q4 Winners (3x) of the 6 Month Subscription to Make Modern Magazine are:

1.  Melanie who blogs at Mel Meyer.  She finished this rainbow Sew Together bag:

2.   Kat who blogs at Craftaholic Kat.  She finished these cheery Christmas pillows:

3. Debbie who blogs at A Quilter’s Table.  She finished this Bee Sewcial group quilt inspired by Gwen Marston:

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The Q4 prize of the $25 Gift Certificate from Studio 39 Fabrics goes to Leslie via IG @sugarhousequilter and she finished this Accentuate the Positive quilt in warm colors:

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 The Q4 Winner of the $25 Gift Certificate from Tartan Kiwi is Magdalena via IG @magdalenadetz and she finished this English paper pieced pillow for her living room:

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The Q4 Winner of the Minikins bundle from Sew Sweetness is Robin via IG @robinbirdrobin and she finished this lovely Christmas tree skirt for a friend:

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The Q4 prize of the $50 Gift Certificate from Mad About Patchwork goes to Jan via IG @snell.jan and she finished this fantastic floral quilt:

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The Q4 Winner of the 2 PDF Patterns from Blossom Heart Quilts is Sheila who blogs at Chez Budsmam and she finished this cute mini tuffet:

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The Q4 Winner of the $30 Gift Certificate from Clover & Violet is Helen via IG @archiewonderdog and she finished this drawstring knitting bag for her Mother:

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Congratulations to all the winners!  Thank you for playing along with us in the fourth quarter, and we hope you are joining us in this new 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.

This post officially finishes up the 2018 Finish-A-Long and we want to give a huge thank you to all of this years hosts: Sandra, Marci, Leanne, Karen, Izzy, Lynne, Ella and Felicity.  Each of you made this task of the FAL easy and enjoyable.  A gigantic thank-you to this years sponsors, we truly appreciate your prizes and sponsorship this year.

Blast from the past and lessons learned

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!

 

Finish-Along

 

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!

Our 2019 Finish-A-Long Hosts

The 2019 FAL is hosted by a great community of bloggers. This year our hosts are:

• Sandra – Sew of Course – Ireland
• Marci – Marci Girl Designs – USA Louisiana
• Leanne – She Can Quilt – Canada
• Ella – Throw a Wench in the Works – USA Georgia
• Karen – Capitola Quilter – USA California
• Lynne – Tinking Along – USA Maryland
• Izzy – Dizzy Quilts – Canada
• Sarah G – Sarah Goer Quilts – USA California
• Sarah Z – Cedar Fork Stitches – USA Montana
• Julie – That’s Sew Julie – USA Iowa
• Sharla – Thistle Thicket Studio – USA Kansas
• Nicole – Handwrought Quilts – Canada

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.

Our 2019 Finish-A-Long Sponsors

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

$80 Gift Certificate

 

$50 Gift Certificate

$50 Gift Certificate

$25 Gift Certificate

3 PDF Patterns

2 PDF Patterns

 

2 PDF Patterns

1 Six Month Subscription

2 PDF Patterns

 

$30 Fabric Voucher

 

Make your Q1 List of Unfinished Projects

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 Q1 List

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…

Link-up Your Q1 List

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.

Join the FAL Community

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.

LET THE FUN BEGIN!

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.

An InLinkz Link-up

 

Finish-A-Long Reminder

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:

• Please only one finished project for each post that you link up, so that each finish can be an entry in the (random) prize draw.
• Please include a link to your original list in each post of your finishes (on Instagram the link is the unique tag #2018FALQ4yourname to be used in the Q4 list post, and in any Q4 finish post).
• Please visit some of the other participants and leave a friendly comment, we all love to get those!

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.