ALYoF April -- I did it!

I finally finished one of my goals! I'm so excited. I set out to finish my Les Amis quilt top and bind my Gypsy Girl quilt and I did both! I'm so glad I finished these finally, and I did both in one afternoon each. I don't know I had put them off for so long. I even have my Les Amis mostly quilted, so hopefully I can finish it in the next week or so and put better pictures up. But here are some to enjoy:

Some finishes

I forgot to post about these little baby quilts that I had finished a while ago.
I picked up a cheap Gypsy girl charm pack from Missouri Star Quilt Co during one of their daily deals during Christmas, and once I got home from visiting family I whipped up this cute top:

I had finished the top within a couple of days and started to quilt it, but got tired from the dense quilting and set it aside for a couple months. I picked it up again earlier this month and finished the quilting in a day and even put the binding onto the back, but once again I forgot about it under a pile of more important projects.

I finally machine stitched the binding within an hour last night and snapped some pictures while playing with my son in the backyard (I really need to find a better place to take pictures, but it is easiest with my little ones just to run out back). While posting on Flickr I realized that everyone else had their prairie points pointing outwards. It is super cute that way, but I don't know if I want to change mine. I was happy with it before I saw everyone else's and it makes mine unique I guess.

I really love the texture that the dense quilting creates. And isn't this backing fabric adorable? I love the bright colors and birds. I'm pretty proud of this beauty and will be posting on my etsy page.

I made this pretty pleats pouch for my mom while she was visiting. This medium size is rather large (and I thought the small one to the right was decent sized when I made it first too). I used some Kona Modern Quilts in the Berry colorway with Kona Peacock accent and a purple zipper.

Lastly is another one of my favorite finishes lately: my Life in the Jungle quilt. I love the little animals and the simple patchwork. I did mess up a one small part of a seam that came undone in the wash, so I have to figure out how to fix it before I list it. I might just keep it for myself my boys. The only problem I have with the quilt is that I think the bright orange and green stand out too much. And I didn't have enough of the dark gray hatch to do the binding like I wanted. But overall I still think it is adorable.

Thanks for visiting!

Finish: Necessary Clutch Wallet

I have been wanting a new wallet to carry around for quite a while now. So when I saw this pattern over on Emmaline Bags and it could hold my phone too I knew I had to make it. Here are a few pretty pictures of the finished bag:

It has plenty of room for all your cards and my phone fits well in the middle.

This is my first real attempt at a bag/wallet and it wasn't that difficult to make. It has a few little issues here and there [like the flap not lining up perfectly or the quilting going all the way to the side], but I'm still pretty happy with it and will be using it as my every day wallet now. I probably won't make another one anytime soon, but maybe for my mom or sister's birthday. The pattern does not have any directions for the quilting so I just winged it. I marked the sections where I wanted the quilting to be and added fusible fleece instead of the recommended interfacing. In "Vera Bradely" fashion, I quilted diagonal lines on the outside before sewing the pieces together. The most difficult part for me was sewing in the zipper to the side pieces. The top of the zipper piece was too big to fit under my presser foot and I got a big thread mess on the back. It definitely needs a strap though. I added the piece inside to connect it to, but I don't have the right hook to make the strap.

I hope I made sense. Just ask any questions if you have any :)

Finish-A-Long Quarter 2

As I was looking through blog posts this morning I saw everyone's FAL posts and decided that this list that I made for my Lovely year of Finishes April goal would be a perfect quarter goal with a few changes. You see, I have this bad habit of planning a quilt, buying the fabric, maybe even cut into it, and then...it just sits there. It is hard to sit down and sew with my two little boys running around. It is easier to plan and shop ;)

1. Les Amis Scout Top
I started this at the beginning of February, but took a break when I was having troubles making the angles line up. I have 3 of the 10 rows sewn together, so I just need to gets the rest together and figure out how I want to bind this baby.

2. Giant Hexagon Bella Top
I took 3 days measuring and cutting hexagons from a layer cake that I had been hanging on to. I haven't started piecing them together so hopefully I cut them out right.

3. Fresh Mini Quilt Club 
I finished March's top pretty quickly last month, but I still haven't quilted it. So this quarter I am going to finish March's mini and start and finish each mini the month it is published.


4. My sister's Christmas Top, quilt, and bind
I started this giant zig zag in November, but then my sister decided she wanted another row with a mustard pearl bracelets. It's going to be a struggle to rip out some seams and piece the new row in.

5. Patchwork Jungle Top
I had some leftover fabric from my Life in the Jungle charm pack baby quilt, so I wanted to make another patchwork twin size quilt with the leftovers.

6. Constellations
Here are my fabrics so far:

7. Pink/Orange Scrappy Trip
I have a giant stack of pinks and oranges, so I started cutting out 3-4 2.5"x16" strips to use in a Scrappy Trip Along. I either will make it all pink and orange or make every other strip a natural linen color.

ALYoF April Goal

I didn't meet my February or March goal, but that won't stop me this month! I really want the chance to win some prizes and to finish some of my UFOs. So here is a list of things I am working on and I will choose an obtainable goal from this list:
1. Les Amis Scout Top
2. Giant Hexagon Bella Top
3. Fresh Mini for April
4. My sister's Christmas Top, quilt, and bind
5. Bee Blocks: Simply solids, Inspire(check), Get your Hex on(half way there)



6. Patchwork Jungle Top
7. Bind Gypsy Girl Quilt
8. Cut into Constellations
9. Pink/Orange Scrappy Trip

So my main goal this month is my Les Amis Scout Top and binding the Gypsy Girl and posting about it. It has been done for over a month. And the binding is already sewn down. I literally just have to take it over to my machine and top stitch the binding down. I don't know why I haven't already, I think I keep forgetting about it.
Here is what happened while my grandma and son were watching me cut up some fabric:




Linking up with A Lovely Year of Finishes :)