Do.Good Stitches October: Flying Geese

I finally finished it!  And since I'm an impatient photographer, these are the best photos I was able to get in the afternoon light on our foot of crusty two week old snow...

Here is the quilt that was made by the members of the Humility circle of Do.Good stitches:

I was in charge of October and I asked everyone to make any blocks they liked, in any size, as long as it was made of flying geese.  I love what we ended up with!

I asked for these colors, with low volume fabrics for the background.

 

 Then I pieced them all together puzzle style, with plenty of low volume fabrics in the extra spaces. 

For the quilting, I decided to keep things simple/quick/easy and went with a large stipple.

Wanna hear a secret?  I pieced together 8 or 9 batting scraps for this quilt.  I had a bunch of polyester pieces left over from other stuff and I wanted to use them up.  They were not even all the same loft/brand!  But you know what?  You can't tell now.  Whew.
The only problem I had was that I had to rebaste (I spray basted) a few times and even then there were a few wonky spots.  Which only I can see now.  :)

Even though I tried to keep this quilt gender neutral, I had this big cut of pink fabric that just seemed to match the best, so I used it for the backing.  

 When it came time for binding, I knew I needed to go scrappy.  And I still prefer hand binding, so that's what I did!  Next time I think I should really try for a machine stitched binding to get more practice.  But for now, sewing machine time is at a premium and sitting around watching TV (or watching my boys take a bath, or whatever) is more abundant.  :)
And of course, I BARELY remembered to add the label!

This quilt will be donated to a Junior's House in Tennessee, where it will be passed on to a child who has been a victim of abuse or neglect.  I hope it will bring lots of warmth and love!

 

Quilt stats:

Started: October/November 2014

Finished: January 26, 2015

Fabrics: Various

Batting:  Various polyester scraps stitched together

Finished size: 49" x 68"

Recipient: Junior's House

Methods used:  Piecing, Free Motion Quilting (on my home machine)

Binding:  Machine stitched to front, hand stitched to back

P.S. this was my January goal for ALYOF, so I will be linking up HERE:

P.P.S My goal for February is to finish up this puff quilt:

This was also project #1 for the Finish Along (original post HERE), and I will be linking up HERE:

Finish-Along Quarter 1 Goals

It's time to set some long term goals for the Finish Along. 
I've only got a few WIPs at the moment, but lots of plans for the year, so lets get started. 
In between Etsy orders, here are my sewing goals:

1.  Do.Good Stitches Flying Geese Quilt
This quilt is made up of blocks sent to me back in October/November.  It's basted and half quilted now.  I just need to finish it.

2.  Do.Good Stitches Star Cluster/Nine Patch Quilt
I've only received a few blocks for this quilt so far, but by the end of the quarter it should be finished.  I'm asking for these two blocks done up in girly colors.  :)

3.  Giggles Puff quilt
This one just needs borders, backing, and binding.  Then I'm going to list it in the shop and see if anyone wants it!

4.  One more puff quilt.
I want to make more puff quilts for my shop this year, because they are so fun!  I think I'll make the next one from the Mixed Bag layer cake I've got stowed away.

5.  New Rummy Mats
I plan to make at least one new Rummy mat for my shop so that I can get it professionally photographed and update my listing.  Plus, it will be nice to have one or two on hand to sell after the baby comes.

6-10.  New Quiet Books
Ditto here.  I need some samples to use for updating my listings.  Plus I have two new books planned that haven't even been made yet!  The plan is to make these new books:  Colors, Shapes, Numbers, Letters, and one customizable book with random pages.

11.  King Diamond Ripple quilt
We bought a new King sized bed last spring and none of our quilts are quite big enough for it.  The hubby requested something with lots of blue and green and a more traditional/not so block based pattern.  I'm planning on making a HST quilt using repeats of THIS block.

This is a really old photo.  The stack has at least doubled, if not tripled by now.  It's definitely time to cut these babies up!

12.  Blocks from the Past Quilt-Along
This quilt-along won't be over until the second or third quarter of the finish along, but I still plan to work on it during the first quarter, so I'm adding it to the list so that it doesn't get lost.  :)  Even though it will need to be rolled over for a quarter or two. 

13.  Car Seat cover for new baby.
Hubby says we don't need a new car seat cover, but I say we do.  It probably won't be finished this quarter (baby will be here in April/May), but it's in the plan so it's going on the list.  I'll probably make it using part of my Mixed Bag layer cake.


That should be enough to keep me going for awhile!
Linking up:

Announcing the Blocks From the Past Quilt-Along!

This year I will be participating in a fun new quilt-along being hosted by Marion over at My Quilt Diet and Natalie at Natalie Ever After.  I'm super excited and have even been asked to guest post a few times.  :)

You can read all about the quilt along in Marion's introduction post HERE.  Basically, we are using an old book (get yours on Amazon.  Mine was about $5) to make a modern sampler quilt.

Most of us will be putting some sort of spin on our quilts to make the blocks a little more updated.  :)  In fact, when it's my turn to post, I will be showing you TWO versions for each block.  One made using the directions from the book, and one pieced using an alternate method.  It's going to be awesome.

Not your style?  No worries!  Follow along to see fresh, fun versions of these blocks.

For my quilt, I plan to use a layer cake of On Our Way fabric by Riley Blake Designs that I picked up for FREE (well, I paid shipping) when the Fat Quarter Shop was having a super awesome sale on layer cakes.  At the time I didn't have a plan, but I knew I was having another boy so I picked up something boyish.

The fun part about this fabric is that my husband is a transportation engineer so it's right up our alley.  :) I think I'm going to try something new (and modern, I might add), and use a bright green solid for all of my background and sashing.

I'm going to make as many blocks as my layer cake will allow (which might be QUITE a few, since the blocks are only 6 inches square) and then put together a baby quilt (or two).

Come join us!

Here is a list of the schedule with all of the bloggers who will be participating:

Week 1 Jan 5 Intro to QAL and Schedule (Marion) myquiltdiet.blogspot.com

Week 2 Jan 12 Fabric requirements (Natalie) natalie-ever-after.blogspot.com

Week 3 January 19 p, 8,9,60 (Natalie) natalie-ever-after.blogspot.com

Week 4 January 26 p.10, 11, 61 (Konda) moosequilts.com/blog

Week 5 February 2 p. 13,14,62 (Marion) myquiltdiet.blogspot.com

Week 6 Feb 9 p. 15,16,63 (Machelle) cherrytreecottagequilts.blogspot.com

Week 7 February 16 p. 17,18,65 (April) april-makingendsmeet.blogspot.com

Week 8 February 23 p. 19,20,66 (Terry) natalie-ever-after.blogspot.com

Week 9 March 2 p. 21,22,67 (Ginny) myquiltdiet.blogspot.com

Week 10 March 9 p. 23,24,68 (Maggie) shortcookie.blogspot.com

Week 11 March 16 p. 25,26,69 (Emily) Simplegirlsimplelife.com

Week 12 March 23 p. 27,28,70 (Barbie) thequiltingmill.blogspot.com

Week 13 March 30 p. 29,30,72 (ME!!!) Sewinsomethin.blogspot.com

Week 14 April 6 p. 33,34,74 (Maggie) shortcookie.blogspot.com

Week 15 April 13 p. 35,36,75 (Natalie) natalie-ever-after.blogspot.com

Week 16 April 20 p. 37,39,76 (Katie) ocouss.blogspot.com

Week 17 April 27 p. 40,41,77 (Marion) myquiltdiet.blogspot.com

Week 18 May 4 p. 42,43,78 (Barbie) thequiltingmill.blogspot.com

Week 19 May 11 p. 44,45,79 (Konda) moosequilts.com/blog

Week 20 May 18 p. 46,47,80 (Machelle)  cherrytreecottagequilts.blogspot.com

Week 21 May 25 p. 48,49,81 (Stacy) Sewnicetocreate.blogspot.com

Week 22 June 1 p. 50,51,82 (Barbie) thequiltingmill.blogspot.com

Week 23 June 8 p. 53, 83, 91(Natalie) natalie-ever-after.blogspot.com

Week 24 June 15 p. 55,84,92  (ME!!!) Sewinsomethin.blogspot.com

Week 25 June 22 p. 56, 86, 93 (Marion) myquiltdiet.blogspot.com

Week 26 June 29 p. 87,88,94 (Katie) ocouss.blogspot.com

Week 27 July 6 Sashing and setting (Natalie) natalie-ever-after.blogspot.com

Week 28 July 13  Wrap up (Marion) myquiltdiet.blogspot.com

2014 in Review

Well, 2014 turned out to be pretty busy!  I spent lots of time working on Mom's After the Storm quilt, and lots of time working on Etsy stuff (especially towards the end of the year).  I didn't get quite as much "me" sewing time as I might have liked, but I was able to beef up my fabric stash a little bit, thanks to my shop.  ;)  2015 is going to be awesome.

Here are some of my finishes for 2014.

First up, I finished 7 quilts:

After the Storm
Building Fun
Deck the Halls
Broken Herringbone
Jaxson's Broken Herringbone (blog post coming soon)
Bronx's Jungle Path (blog post coming soon)
Avonlea's Puff Quilt (blog post coming soon)

 A few smaller items given away as gifts:

Mom's Cathedral Windows Pillow
Braden's Stocking
MIL's Tablecloth
Nancy's Retirement Towels
Amberli's Hot Pads
Braden's Growth Chart
Renee's Hot Pads
Quilty Stitches Cross-stitch Sampler (still going...)

A couple new quiet books:

ABC/Name books
Colors Books
Henrik's Book

And a whole bunch of stuff for my shop (here are just a few):

And just for fun (and mostly for my own sake), here are a few stats from my Etsy shop for 2014:
Total number of orders: 49
After the Storm Patterns sold: 15
Rummy mats sold: 6 (with 4 more outstanding orders at the moment - made after Christmas)
Quiet books sold: 6 (plus a whole bunch of new ones for my boys)
Other baby items made:  14
All in all, the shop went through a lot of changes!  At the beginning of the year, I was making lots of smaller baby items (bibs, burp cloths, etc).  Around the middle of the year I was focused on new quiet books and my first quilt pattern (this was a really slow time for me, but I sold a fair amount of patterns, which was nice).  By the end of the year, my Rummy mats were the most popular.
My biggest goal for 2015 is to remake all of my quiet books and rummy mats so that I can have them all professionally photographed and available as samples.

Of course, we can't forget my bee blocks!  I had a great time participating in the Humility Circle of Do.Good stitches.  I look forward to new block assignments every month.




Now, I have a few goals for 2015.  Here are my plans for the next 12 months or so:
1.  Have a baby and adjust to being a mom of 3.
2.  Make a quilt for our bed.  Fabric is all ready and pattern is chosen.  This one is not super important, so I plan to work on it a little here and a little there.  It will be nice to have a quilt big enough to fit our bed someday.
3.  3 Bee quilts.  I am in charge of blocks for January, May, and November this year, so I'll be making and donating three quilts this year.
4.  Participate in the Blocks from the Past QAL.  More details about this one coming VERY SOON!
5.  Update all of my quiet books and add two more to the shop.  This will mean making a sample of each one and having it professionally photographed so that I can update my listings.  I plan to do this will my Rummy mats and maybe a few more of my items as well.
6.  Make more puff quilts for the shop.  Maybe even offer custom made puff quilts.
7.  Be an active member of my local quilt guild.
8.  Practice curved piecing.
9.  If I'm lucky, I might get to make a wedding quilt this year, but we'll just have to wait and see on that one.  ;)

Here we go!

ALYOF: January

Well, it's time for another year and and fresh start.  I've decided to join in with the fun over at A Lovely Year of Finishes again.  :) 

Last year I did great for the first six months, then things got a little less focused and I fell off the wagon for the last six months.  But I DID finish six things, which qualifies me for the final link-up!   Wahoo!
Here are my six ALOYF finishes from 2014:

From top left to bottom right:
July:  ABC Book
June: Building Fun Quilt
May: Towels for a Retiring Teacher
April: After the Storm Quilt
February:  After the Storm Diamonds
January:  After the Storm Snail Trail Blocks

I'm linking up these finishes HERE:

And for my January 2015 goal, I plan to finish this quilt:

This is my Do.Good Stitches quilt top for October.  I asked the members of Humility circle to send me any blocks they liked in any size as long as they included flying geese.  I got some pretty awesome blocks!  It took awhile for all of them to arrive (we've got a few Canadian members), and December was SO BUSY, so I didn't get a chance to put them together until a few days ago.  I put them together sort of improv style and I love how it turned out!  Just need to quilt and bind it!

Linking my goal up HERE: