September Goal Party – A Lovely Year of Finishes

Posted on September 1, 2013 by Melissa Dunworth

Welcome to September, the start of school (at least in Washington), the start of autumn (definitely in Washington), and for me…the start of my Christmas sewing! I probably should have started months ago, but I’ve had A LOT going on. My goal for September is to quilt my Vintage Christmas Sampler – if I am feeling scrappy I might even bind it, but my actual goal is to simply get it quilted.  All of the tutorials for these blocks are available on my blog, just follow the link above and remember, they were all written for a scant 1/4″ seam!

This quilt could easily be made modern with some different fabric choices, but I went with what I had in my stash at the time. I cannot wait to snuggle underneath this at Christmas!

Your turn!

What one item will you choose to do for September?

You have two requirements to be entered into the prizes this month.

1. Link-up {on this post} the first 7-days of the month

and

2. Link-up in the last 7-days of the month.

Add your blog post or flickr photo (with appropriate descriptions) to the linky party below.

Please grab a button or link back to Shanna and I so other people can join in the fun!

 **Please note, the linky party is the same here and over at Shanna, so there is no need to enter twice **

 For those unsure of how to link up go check out our Q&A Page for A Lovely Year of Finishes – there are instructions on how to link up from a blog and from Flickr.

Grab a button from my sidebar and spread the LOVE!

Oh yeah and there are prizes this month (as always!), here is what our fantastic sponsors are offering:

September Prizes Include:

1. A CraftsyClass (winners choice of class)

I heart Craftsy!

2, 3.  TWO winners each getting to choose one pdf pattern
from Sew BitterSweet Designs – that’s me!
($10 value)

4. $25.00 Gift Certificate to Pink Chalk Fabrics

 5. Choice of $15 or 2 charm packs from Stitch n’ Giggles

6. A Paper Piecing Kit from Paper Pieces

 

7. Quilting Patterns designed by Quilting Lodge

8 & 9. A thread pack from Aurifil

March ALYoF Aurifil winnings



Posted in A Lovely Year of Finishes, vintage christmas sampler | 12 Comments

August Finish!

Posted on August 31, 2013 by Melissa Dunworth

I finished! That’s right people! I finished my goal. I bet you thought I was going to miss since I waited until the last possible second to post.

Now I just need to package this up and mail it to my mom. I would give anything to be able to deliver it in person this year but that just isn’t in the cards. The bright side is that at least she will have it.

Quilt Stats:

Name: Purple Bee Quilt
For: My Mom!
Size: 75″ x 75″
Quilting: Straight line on angles, done by me!

Today is the last day to link up to A Lovely Year of Finishes for your August finishes – so make sure you get on it!

Posted in A Lovely Year of Finishes, Bee Blocks | 16 Comments

Squishy Goodies!

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Melissa Dunworth

Yesterday Anne and I walked to our mailbox and found some lovely goodies in the mail!

These lovely fabrics might read a bit low volume to you…well that would be because they are from a Low Volume Brick Swap that I participated in! Super fun to get everything back! My contribution is the gray print to the right of the bright blue one.

I also got an amazing package from Jane’s Fabrics! It was a giveaway I won from Clover & Violet during their Season By Hand! I was so excited to be picked and yesterday felt just like Christmas!

And the mega awesomeness of this giveaway just kept on coming!

I always feel like I am lacking on reds so this little bundle of fat quarter goodness was a very welcome addition to my stash!

Have you had any fun squishy mail yet?

Oh! And I did finish my goal for August, I’m just waiting for good light and my hubs to help me snap a picture!

Posted in Giveaway | 8 Comments

New Design Walls

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Melissa Dunworth

Last week I was visiting Deb from asimplelife Quilts and saw her awesome new design wall that she made back in July.  I commented on how great I thought it was and she sent me over to Oh Fransson to this fabulous tutorial to build an inexpensive design wall.

Well I did my own take. I went with 1″ thick foam insulation like Deb did, but unlike Deb and Elizabeth, I decided to forget the staple gun (mainly because we didn’t have the right staples). I improvised with some of the worst pins I’ve ever purchased in my life. I threw away at least 4 from the pack because they wouldn’t even pierce the batting! I bought a 4′ by 8′ piece of foam and had the store cut 2′ off the top, making it 4′ by 6′ – good thing too or it wouldn’t have fit in our car!

My plan when the desk to the left is gone is to buy a second one to double the size of my design wall.  Don’t worry! I didn’t throw away the left over foam, I improvised again! I decided I needed a table top design wall too! It is perfect for my cutting wall to just throw things up as I cut. Plus, Anne likes it when I put it on the floor for her to “design” with!

I am loving having a place for 2 active projects – I’m hoping this will lead to extra productivity, we shall see!

Don’t forget to link up your finishes to the August Finishes Party for A Lovely Year of Finishes.

Posted in Sewing Sanctuary, sewing studio, Uncategorized | 10 Comments

A Lovely Year of Finishes – August Finishes Party

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Melissa Dunworth

I’m going to let you in on a little secret…every time I got to write Lovely for A Lovely Year of Finishes, I actually write Lovey, then I have to fix it. Not sure why, but I have been making the same typing mistake ALL.YEAR.LONG!

That being said, welcome to the end of August! Have you finished your goal yet? I will admit that I have not done so yet. Lucky for me (and you too if you aren’t quite there yet) we have until the last day of the month to complete our goals!  Here is a picture of mine from the beginning of the month:

I have about 40 more inches of binding to sew down and then ALL of the threads to bury. If I manage to work on it the next few evenings, I should easily hit the goal of August 31st.

Your turn! Time to show off your finish! I will be posting mine separately at the end of the week. You can link up with me or with Shanna, but remember that we share our party so there is no need to link up twice!

We would love it if you took a moment to visit our wonderful sponsors! They add so much fun to this little party of ours! The prizes for August include:

 1. Choice of $15 or 2 charm packs from Stitch n’ Giggles

2. $25.00 Gift Certificate to Superior Threads

3. Riley Blake Designs – fat quarter bundle {one of their latest lines}

4.  $15.00 Gift Certificate to Fat Quarter Shop

5. Paper Pieces prize donated from Paper Pieces

6. Quilting Patterns designed by Quilting Lodge

Remember in order to be eligible for prizes you must have linked up to our party at the beginning of the month and also linked up to this party. Please link back to Shanna and I to spread the love!



Posted in A Lovely Year of Finishes, Fiber of All Sorts | 10 Comments