October Update

October went by in a flash it seems

the bee blocks included 

I partisipated in get your quilty wishes granted on instagram and mailed out many packages of scraps and fabrics but I also made some blocks including this great flower block by Unicor Hears for a very special young lady. 

In turn I asked if anyone would like to make churn dash blocks for me with a color pallet and no size limitations, so far I have received blocks from all over the us and some from New Zealand from my gal Rebecca. 

I had 2 quilt completions last month  -- my Tessellations quilt 

and my Triple Bee Spiderwebs quilt 

Both were finally blogged about earlier today. 

I hope October was kind to everyone and I know the rest of the year is going to zoom by. I'm happy to report that most of my bee commitments for November are already complete so that's something and 2 of the groups have a December block but we've already been given the details for the blocks so here's to a productive end of 2017. 

Tessellations

My initial desire to make this quilt started when I first saw pictures of it online, and when I met Alison Glass at a trunk show she did in Virginia I was hooked. Aside from this being an awesome project and not overly complicated to assemble, Alison is one of the most genuine and nicest people that you could know and has a real passion for her work. 

I bought the pattern that night and held on to it for a while because I had so many other things in the works.  I pulled fabrics to match an awesome piece of Voile backing. 

I then was super lucky to get to take a workshop local with Kathleen Baden and my start on this project was energized and I got like 15 blocks made that day and my solid blocks cut. 

I made a few more in the days following the workshop and then seemingly lost momentum and would only work on it from time to time but every time I remembered why I still loved this project.

I took this project with me to Stash Bash and didn't get around to it and that's probably a good thing because of the distractions that were around me and focus that these blocks need. I elected to make this my OMG goal for May and at least wanted to get the blocks completed -- Ideally also then assembled. 

This did not happen in May because I ran out of month before I found enough motivation to finish all the blocks. I did finish about half of them and only have about 25 more to go. 

When I finally had all my blocks (and a few extra) ready and now started the tedious part of layout but I was able to get things all laid out with the help of Kathleen in early June. My goal became to have a top by the 2nd anniversary of the class (June 15). 

Well that didn't happen so I finished the top on July 4 and sent it out to be quilted by Charlene at @thecottonfarmfabrics 

She did an AMAZING job on this one and I know it's well worth all those stitches to have it home looking this great. 

I had a great time taking some finished pictures at a settlement community near my work -- this place was established nearly 300 years ago.

How great is this Voile back by Anna Maria Horner -- it was the inspiration for the whole quilt. 

This is my 2nd finish in the 4th quarter 2017.   

Don't get tangled up in the spiderwebs

I've always been intrigued by the spiderweb quilt blocks that I've seen and this year I decided that I would have one of my bee hives make blocks up so that i would finally have one. I've been a part of the triple bee swap where we make 3 blocks each per month for the queen and I was the queen in January. I loved having all the blocks come rolling in and I made a big batch as well. 

I got it all assembled and sent off to Charlene for quilting after the Stash Bash retreat. She went with a fun geometric pattern and it turned out great. 

My good friend Teri was having some down time after a knee replacement so I asked if she wanted to bind it for me -- and she awesomely said yes.

I was so glad to get it back before Halloween cause I think it's a good fall pallet and around here temps are starting to be in the 40's and 50's in the evenings and I do love a cuddly quilt. 

The only thing better is a cuddly cat to go with the cuddly quilt and as a matter of fact I have a few of those as well, including my sweet little orphan baby Miss Lula Roe. She's about 6 weeks old and finally over 2 lbs after having been with us for a month from less than a pound when I found her. 

This is my 1st finish of the 4th quarter. 

Houston Guild Swap

This is the 2nd time that our guild has done a mini quilt swap with another guild in Texas and I always find these to be really fun. What's even better is when you know many of the ladies in the other guild and just so happen to get one of them as your partner. 

I had Liz @fatchickquilts as my partner and had met her in person at my first stash bash retreat and she's a great lady so making for her was a treat. I used her love of magenta, blue and Tula Pink to create this mini. 

The pieces are on the small size and required a bunch of starch to make sure all those little points stayed in place. 

In return I received from my dear friend amy @houseofbadcats 

Isn't this mini purrfect for me!! the quilting is awesome and she knows how much I love my kitties (especially Nugget). 

This was a finish in the 3rd quarter but I was not able to share since my partner had not received. 

Goals to wind down 2017

It's time for the Finish Along goals for the end of 2017. You all know I love making lists and this one is no exception but this quarter I've decided to include all the projects and brake them up into the phase that they are in currently and see if that helps me focus on getting more things accomplished.

2 that are So Close -- Just needs the binding turned

• Tessellations  
  
• Spiderwebs 
  

14 Completed tops -- Need quilting and Binding 

• Migration 
  
• Scrappy Rainbow Strips 1 
  
• Plus Side* -- Due in October
  
• Botanics Pendent Chevrons 
  
• Kwik Evening Star 
  
• Boba Fett Mini 
  
• Swiss Cross for Teri* 
  
• Alison Glass Geese Rainbow mini 
  
• 6 Charity Quilts*

7 In Progress Assembly Required -- Blocks to be turned into tops

• Double Star 
  
• Moda Modern Building Blocks -- this is the oldest project
  
• Kwik Mosaic Tiles -- half the blocks are completed and assembled
  
• Down the Rabbit Hole Traveling Quilt 
  
• 2017 Round Robin Quilt (comes back in December)
• Scrappy Rainbow Strips 2
• Scrappy Kittens 
  

12 Things in the Idea Phase -- When I need to start something new 

• Squirrel Mini for Gina* 
  
• Tula Pink Color Dive 
• All Squared Up with Priory Square 
  
• Broken Herringbone 
  
• Anna Maria Horner Scrappy Quilt 
  
• Metro Hoops 
  
• Kandy Cat Quilt 
  
• Project with Spirit Animal 
• Happy Go Lucky Dutchman's Puzzle 
  
• Jen Kingwell Holiday Pillow* 
  
• Triangle pillow or mini quilt from leftover tesselations blocks 
  
• Alison glass selvages project 
  

13 Things that are not Quilts 

• Continue making my rainbow scrap bins (5 left to finish) 
  
• Weekender Bag 
  
• Makers Tote 
  
• 2 Mini Sew Together Bag* 
• Sew Together Bag for Lisa* 
• 3 Tunics 

OMG that's 48 projects -- Very unrealistic goals because I would need to finish 16 items per month or an average of a finish every other day to make that happen (insert crazy laughter) but I do have 13* items that are gifts and those really need to be finished this quarter.