My apologies I am late (blame my email for missing an important notice) in announcing the winners for the First Quarter of the FAL. Those of us who are lucky enough to be hosts this year have had the fortunate experience to be inspired by all the finishes of the first quarter - a record breaking 838!!

If you are low on inspiration or maybe your sewing mojo has been missing lately, we highly recommend you visit some of the finishes from Q1.

Rhonda is going to email all of you winners over the weekend, unless you email her first after reading this. Rhonda will need to hear back from the winners by Friday, April 23 so that she can arrange to get your prize to you, and if she does not hear from you by then she will pick an alternate.

Thank you again to our generous sponsors. Without further ado, the winners - each picked by the random number generator - of the Q1 FAL prizes are:  

The winner of the Oakshott Fabric Gift Certificate goes to Sewgrateful Quilts who made this gorgeous whole quilt:

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The winner of 3 patterns from Tartankiwi goes to Jackie (@nwpatchwork on IG) who made this pretty rainbow mini:

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The winner of the $50 Gift Certificate to The Intrepid Thread is Emilee (@amelialoveskat on IG) who made this wonderful pink & green quilt:

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The winner of the choice of 3 patterns from Happy Quilting is Emily who blogs at The Darling Dogwood and made this bright I-Spy Quilt:

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A $25 gift certificate from Green Fairy Quilts goes to Brenda who blogs at The Quilting Nook who stitched this beauty:

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A copy of DIY Block Design from Blossom Heart Quilts goes to Allison who blogs at Campbell Soup Diary and finished her Farm Girl Vintage Quilt:

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The $40 gift certificate from Mad about Patchwork goes to Deanna (@sewasigo on IG) who made this handy apron:

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The winner of 3 patterns from Clover & Violet is link Taryn (@forkandneedle on IG) who made this lovely quilt:

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The winner of the €25 (25 Euro) Gift Certificate from Fluffy Sheep Quilting goes to Jodie who blogs at The Craft Room and made this gorgeous EPP star quilt:

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The winner of a copy of Machine Quilting with Style from Christa Quilts goes to Heidi who blogs at Red Letter Quilts and surprised her mom with this quilt:

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A $50 Gift Certificate from 7 Acres Cleared Fabric Shop goes to Raquel (@colourmehappy2 on IG) who crocheted on beautiful blanket:

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A 6-month subscription to Make Modern goes to Ella who blogs at Throw a Wench in the Works (man I love that blog name) and made this extremely graphic quilt:

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The first winner of 3 patterns from Porch Swing Quilts is Melanie who blogs at Melanie's Kunstraum and made this (along with many other) charity quilt:

The second winner of 3 patterns from Porch Swing Quilts is Allison who blogs at Allison Sews and made these two pot holders out of one pieces of FMQ challenge:

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The $30 gift certificate from Sunny Day Supply goes to @kath34 on IG who finished her second pillow, gotta love a couple quilted pillows on the couch:

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The winner of a copy of Windy City Bags from Sew Sweetness is @Mandarien7 on IG who made this extremely festive quilt:

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The $25 gift certificate to Sew Sisters Quilt Shop goes to Mandi (@must_love_quilts on IG) who made this stunning Tula Pink quilt:

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The $50 Gift Certificate from Mariner's Compass Quilt Shop goes to Mary who blogs at Mary Emmens and finally pulled her finger out and sewed with knits and ended up with this gorgeous top:

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The winner of the Pattern Pack from On the Windy Side goes to Suzie's Armoire who made this super-cute Mini:

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The $50 gift certificate from Fat Quarter Shop goes to Audrey who blogs at Hot Pink Quilts and made this handsome quilt for her daddy:

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The winner of 2 pin bowls from Laurel Bee Designs is Kat who blogs at Kat's Craft and made her brother this matching quilt and pillow:

 

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The winner of the $40 gift certificate to Imagine Gnats is Becky who made this beautifully festive (and extremely early) Christmas table runner:

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The winner of the $20 gift certificate from Sew Me a Song is Staci who blogs at The Confused Quilter and finished one of two identical quilts like this:

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The winner of the $30 gift certificate to Knotted Thread is Lynz who blogs at Domestic Light and Magic and made this gorgeous Brumby:

 

You are so stinking cute (as my 5 yo granddaughter would say) Lynz!!!

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The winner of the £40 (40 Pound) Gift Certificate from Simply Solids is Sane, Crazy, Crumby Quilts who made this very pretty quilt:

 

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The $25 gift certificate from The Quilt Ranch goes to Angelina who blogs at Quilting after Dark and made this incredibly eerie quilt for the Rocky Horror Challenge sponsored by the Badass Quilter's Society:

     

I am having so much fun hosting the FAL with all the other global hosts - it seems to be working well - I mean, we had record breaking finishes for Q1.   

So go claim your prize, enjoy it and I am looking forward to seeing how everyone does in Q2.

Scraptastic Tuesday April Link Up

So what scrappy stitching have you been up to?

Both Leanne and I have been making magic with our scraps recently.

I have been making a scrappy centre for my Bee a Brit Stingy quilt centre for this year.

We are all starting with a giant hexagon - each side is 16" wide!  I knew it was going to be big but didn't realise just how big until I measured it out on my design wall.

I filled the space with some smaller scrappy pieced hexagons which I made, log cabin style.

I stuck to a colour palette of cream, grey and yellow.   It isn't like me to stick to so few colours but my neutrals scrap bin was overflowing and the approach of Spring was bringing all sorts of yellow into view.

I then worked on the next blocks - a 16" square and a triangle to match.  This is all very improv style for me and not my usual thing but an interesting challenge to try and a good way to use up those scraps.

Now I'm just wondering what my quilt will looks like after a year of travelling round my bee mates.  I'm hoping this will be an easy one for them as they are all busy people.

I just have to trim them to exactly the right size before Saturday when I'll be handing everything over to my bee buddies in London. 

So what have you been up to?  Do tell...

InLinkz.com

A huge thank you to our generous sponsors for providing the following prizes which will be awarded randomly among those of you who link up.

• Fat Quarter Shop - $25 gift certificate

• Sew Sisters Quilt Shop - $25 gift certificate

• Sew Me a Song - $20 gift certificate

• Massdrop - tba

• Fluffy Sheep Quilting - a €20 (20 Euro) gift certificate

• Green Fairy Quilts - $25 gift certificate

• Karen Lewis Textiles  - scrap pack

• Mad About Patchwork - a $40 gift certificate

Please join Leanne - on her blog at She Can Quilt and I by linking up a blog post or flickr or instagram photo sharing a scrappy project, in progress or finished, or your thoughts on dealing with your scrap mountain:

• You don't have to have joined us before, everyone is welcome.

• One link per person, and it will be your entry into the random draw for the prizes. It is the same link up here and at Leanne's blog - She Can Quilt  so you only need to link up on one of our blogs.

• You can link up from your blog, instagram or flickr, but you have to link up to be entered in the prize draw.

• Please visit at least a few of the links, they are very inspiring, and leave comments too as everyone loves to connect. 

• Use the Scraptastic Tuesday button and invite your friends to join us too. Please share our button, or a link or the hashtag #scraptastictuesday in your linked post or photo.

• The link is open until next Monday night at 10:00 pm MST. We will announce the winners next Tuesday. 

• If you have trouble linking up, let me or Leanne know and we will get you sorted.

An InLinkz Link-up

Block Drive for Siblings Together

You might want to support the campaign to make 100 quilts for Siblings Together but you don't have the time or the resources to make a whole quilt.  Well now is your chance to join in the campaign by making Quilt As You Go blocks!

Never made a Quilt As You Go Block?  Never fear you will find instructions below and the block is a very simple one.  It is just squares!  

When nine blocks are all joined together they will make a quilt like this

Step One

The block is made from 4.5" squares, and finishes at 20" or 20.5" unfinished.

Any colour combination is fine but the central block should be dark and can be fussy cut (not obligatory). The rest of the layout can be seen in the above diagram.   

Alternately you can make this from 4.5" X 18" strips and cross cut the strips.  An even quicker way to make the block.  

Cut 4.5" X 18" strips of each:

1 of cornerstone fabric A

2 of outer LV fabric B

2 of contrast fabric C

1 of inner LV fabric D

Plus one dark centre 4.5" square E

Stitch together :

One strip B and A

One strip B and C

One strip C and D

Press strips and crosscut at 4.5" intervals - you should have four units of each strip set.

Arrange as follows:

Stitch centre single row and then both double rows on either side.

Then stitch the central row to each side.

The block is complete and should measure 20.5" unfinished.

Step 2 

Layer with a 22" piece of wadding and backing fabric (something Low Volume please) and baste.   Both wadding and backing fabric can be pieced.  To join pieces of wadding, butt them together and use a wide zigzag stitch.  Please do not use thick polyester wadding for these blocks.  

Stitch in the ditch (the seamline) in a grid pattern or any other pattern you prefer.  You may want to practice some Free Motion Quilting - please do!  

No need to trim your blocks just let me know with a comment here or email me at:  nickyeglinton@aol.com and I will send you my address.

Alternatively you may wish to put a quilt together with friends or on your own.  

I will be following up with a tutorial showing how to join these blocks with sashing.

Any quilts you have made for Siblings Together can be linked to our tally here.  It also gives Siblings Together one place to look for quilts they receive and let you know they have arrived safely.   

I love seeing those quilts you have made too and other people will be inspired by what you have been making for this great cause.   

Please use your social media to spread the message.  Thank you!

Quarter 2 Finish-A-Long list

I did really well with my list for Quarter 1 finishing twelve out of twenty-one projects.  So lets hope I can keep up the productivity for Quarter 2.   Just in case I was in danger of running out of things to make I have added lots of new things, that I have uncovered from the back of the cupboard and the bottom of boxes - lots of small projects which I can fit in between the bigger things perhaps. 

In Quarter 1 I focused on my own quilts as I knew this second Quarter would be more about finishing quilts for Siblings Together; a charity which maintains important sibling relationships for children separated in the UK care system.

So this Quarter my Siblings Together projects come first.  

1. QAYG tiles block drive - not sure how many of these quilts there will be but I am hoping generous quilters will make some QAYG blocks like these and I will make them into quilts for Siblings Together!  

If you want to help I'll be making an announcement here on my blog, on my IG account and on the Siblings Together Quilt Group Blog and IG account and anywhere else I can announce it!  

2. Here's a closer look at those miscellaneous test blocks or orphans which I will make into different quilts for Siblings Together.  It may be possible to put several blocks into one quilt....but I do hope to use them all up somehow! 

3. Marvellous Film Strip - I couldn't resist some discounted Marvel fabric and clever Lucy suggested I make a film strip quilt - so that is what I'll be doing!

4. Circles left over from my clamshell quilt - they will probably be appliqued onto squares and joined together.  Now I'm wondering whether I really want to give this one up! ??  I might have to keep it and add it to these quilts below..

Next up are the big, complicated quilts I want to finish off for me - two from last quarter in the bottom row middle and right and a few new things....just in case

 Top row 5. KLT scrappy and low volume quilt;  6. Bring me Flowers

Bottom row 7. KLT applecore plus  8. Double Wedding Ring; and  9. Alhambra quilt;

And next a few other smaller projects!  

 10. Sewing machine print from Emily to make a cover for my machine; 11.  R2D2 to make into another fabric scrap bin - you can never have too many.

12. 241 bag if I can find the other bits I cut out; 13. butterflies from Juliet to make cushions; 

14. Economy square mini (temporarily misplaced); 15.  Some lovely Oakshott to make into a Christmas candy quiltlet; 16. Clothes - I have patterns and plans - this may drag over into Q3; 

17. robins I made and the 18. typewriter will either be made into tote bags or cushions or a mix !

19. St David's Cross test blocks will be a cushion to go with my quilt.  20. test blocks for a Stingy Bee row quilt could be another cushion!

I had twenty-one things on my last list and I finished twelve!  This time I have twenty-ish  - wonder if I can do as well?  Can I cut them down by half again?



I'm linking up with the Finish-A-Long 2016 are you?  If you want to keep on track of that pile of projects it might just give you the encouragement you need!