I need goals - my June ALYoF project complete

I over think a lot of my projects. But I do love them when they are done!

I may start too many other projects before I'm "done" with others. :)  Yeah for many works in progress.

Today I finished my A Lovely Year of Finishes #ALYoF May & June project.

Yes the same project two months in a row. :)

I really do love how these clothes have turned into something more than just squares.  

The next step is to set-up a time to long-arm this beauty!

This above is the back and I finished the front back in ohhhh March.

Yeah for a finishes!
I have to admit procrastinating on this goal has allowed me to finish other fantastic projects.
Avoiding is a lot more work than just putting myself to the task at hand!

You still have time to complete your June #ALYoF link-up, link up with me HERE.  

This one is open till Sunday, June 30 at midnight PST.

{And we start all over again on Monday - so think on what you want to finish in July}

June: A Lovely Year of Finishes ~ Finishes Party

Wow June is nearing an end.  And it's summer!  :)
Melissa from Sew BitterSweet Designs and I have been loving all of your encouragement to get things done.  And we're getting things done but we also are seeing all your projects coming together.

My May  June #ALYoF project is closer to be done but it's not yet {it's not the end of the month YET}.

I've been distracted by a few other things that are awesome.


Roly Poly Pinafore made from the pattern from Imagine Gnats.
Soooo fantastic


Steam Punk blocks that are so outside my comfort zone that I love SO much.


Oh and this awesome mini {that's now done}
It's the March pattern the Fresh Mini Quilt Club from Canoe Ridge

Yeah I am cutting out a pj pant bottom for my fantastic fella- I'll get to my June goal :|
~~~

How did you do on your June project?

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.  Make sure you also link back here so other people can join in the fun!

**Please note, the linky party is the same here and over at Melissa, 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!  Spread the LOVE

<a href="http://fiberofallsorts.blogspot.com/p/lovely-year-of-finishes.html" title="A Lovely Year of Finishes"> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfvBE7uofUE15qEda8ii_lCUv9l9ajbjKBxw5xuQHlMIkMtwM_aDuyXvP350NArINiIsI944NN1d1nnvh4WUKQcPN01tr519Pg9cNPbImu-G1P-vihiQu88UZr7jpHTG7HCO5NHNnKSAj4/s400/2013btn600.gif" width="180" height="180" alt="A Lovely Year of Finishes" style="border:none;" /></a>

Thanks to our fantastic sponsors are offering:

June Prizes Include:

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

2. Loving Pieces donated from Paper Pieces

3. $20.00 Gift Certificate from the Quilting Lodge

4. A Fat Quarter Bundle from Moda United Notions

5. $15.00 Gift Certificate to Fat Quarter Shop

6. $25.00 Gift Certificate to Superior Threads

Thanks for joining in!

June ALYoF ~ mid-month check-in linky party

Wow...June!

So wasn't it just the beginning of the year?!

How's the #ALYoF projects going? Jump over to the #ALYoF flickr group and check out the projects people have been showing off.

Here's mine...

Seriously this is progress as I may have had to take 3 WIPS + fabric off from covering all these lovely fabrics.

~~

This mid-month linky will be open for 7 days.

Melissa and I would love to see how you're all doing.

And this is not mandatory linky just a fun encouragement along the way!

Melissa & I share the same linky, as she's awesome & shares with me.

And remember to visit some of these lovely people and grab a button for your blog posts.

<a href="http://fiberofallsorts.blogspot.com/p/lovely-year-of-finishes.html" title="A Lovely Year of Finishes"> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfvBE7uofUE15qEda8ii_lCUv9l9ajbjKBxw5xuQHlMIkMtwM_aDuyXvP350NArINiIsI944NN1d1nnvh4WUKQcPN01tr519Pg9cNPbImu-G1P-vihiQu88UZr7jpHTG7HCO5NHNnKSAj4/s400/2013btn600.gif" width="180" height="180" alt="A Lovely Year of Finishes" style="border:none;" /></a>

Keep up the good work.
The finishes party will start June 23 and end on midnight June 30.

Thanks to this month's sponsors:

 Stitch n’ Giggles

Paper Pieces

Quilting Lodge

Moda United Notions

Fat Quarter Shop

 Superior Threads

Modern Mini Quilt Challenge - Rainbows in Gray

Welcome if you're jumping over from Ellison Lane.
Isn't she the bestest ever!
I was part of her follower spotlight back in 2011

As an intro ...

I'm Shanna {like Banana}.

You can find me on the many Internet venues through my buttons just to the left.

<----------------

Please look around, I would love to have you visit me again.

I'm so excited to participate in the Modern Mini Quilt Challenge.

Here is what I made.

I made this for the Modern She Made 3 swap.

I knew that I could do this as a challenge as it included stars

{I love stars & triangles of all sorts!}

This is for a secret partner, Lee from May Chappell. 

Quilt Stats:

Name: Rainbows in Gray

Size: approx. 21" x 21"

Fabrics:  Stash fabrics + Kona grays

Binding: Amy Butler - Cameo - Forget Me Not in Midnight 
Pattern:  My own design scaled down version of fireflies tutorial from Sew Bittersweet Designs

Quilting: Machine quilted by me on my Pfaff Performance 2058

Started : April 2013

Completed: May 2013 

I used and tweaked the fireflies tutorial by Melissa over at Sew Bittersweet Designs.

It was fun to post some status on Instagram

Oh and I even did this fancy smancy labeling technique from the tutorial by Melissa over at Sew Bittersweet Designs.

I also added a star for the back.  I used a the wonky star tutorial I posted here.

The back was just as fun to improv together. . see I can do it :)
~~~

This is the first time that I jumped into a swap in a bit.  And this felt like walking into the big leagues.  I am so pleased with how this turned out. 

{I'll share what I got in return
- sometime -
I promise as I LOVE IT}

It's so nice to show things that I've finished, instead of start about 5 new projects a month or joining in on-line bee's {where I met the lovely Jennifer}.

To remedy this Melissa from Sew BitterSweet Designs and I have been running a monthly goal {with sponsors} called 'A Lovely Year of Finishes'  we would love to have your join us.  It's been fantastic to see finishes - even some of my own.

In the meantime, please go check out the other amazing mini quilts with Jennifer's Modern Mini Quilt Challenge

Thanks for visiting

Blocks vs Bloglovin'

I've been working on my lovely Simply Color

hourglass blocks.

This pattern is inspired by the lovely craftytammie

You can find the original pattern over on the Moda Bake Shop.

I started this as it would be "so easy"

And now it's a smidgen of a chore.

{It could be I've expanded the pattern to use every last hourglass block}

So I'm plodding along.

I'm pretty proud the sewing of the 4 patch "blocks". 86% of the centers match up like a dream and the other's aren't enough to bother with.

Precision in trimming and finding my 1/4" sewing line makes such a difference!

~~

Sooooo, during my Sew Mama Sew giveaway that was so successful I asked a question regarding how people read blogs. 

I love the responses and had the idea to create a pie or line chart of the data.

First off, I spent at least 20 minutes trying to remember how to graph data.  I was nearly in tears as years ago this is ALL I DID! How such a simple thing can fall out of the back of my head was just astonishing.  This whole getting older business is terrible!

Second, I just couldn't get through all the responses.  It was just too much for me to get through- I would rather be sewing my hourglass blocks. :)

~~

What I did learn is that many people are adjusting to the changes being forced upon us by the google overlords and now the  flickr overlords. 

{phrase from Sew Happy Geek}

The vast majority of people are going over to bloglovin' for their reading pleasure. 

I am too.

So let me share a few items I've figured out about this bloglovin' thing:

Good: - you can place blogs into categories!  I don't know if I could have done this in Google Reader but I've transferred many of my blogs into categories such as "Power Bloggers", "Foodie", "Mommy mainly"



So-So: Well every time I wanted to visit a blog I got this *cursing* frame on the top. 

The fix is found in settings.

I've changed the above setting and I'm not angry every time I click to a blog.

The other so-so is the daily emails.  I want these but at the same time I don't.  I won't change this option but usually just trash these things. It is an okay reminder to go and check out my peeps :)

Bad: Bloglovin' only keeps blogs for 2 weeks, unless you like them. Sadly this is not enough time for meeee. 

And there are these "featured posts" that are annoying!
{I sent a request to get rid of these things}

And I can't seem to search for keywords in the blogs I follow.

And I can't seem to re-arrange these to read from the oldest to the newest.

~~
As you can tell I need to spend more time with this bloglovin' thing.

All in all it's nice to have a reader.  I'll be looking into an ipad as there seems to be a super cool application on that.  Oh darn another toy :)

Well off to sew some hourglass blocks.  See you on the other side.

A Season by Hand ~ So much fun to come

I am so excited to share with you a wonderful blog hop that is already in progress throughout this summer – A Season by Hand with Clover & Violet.
One week is complete but soooo much more to come.

My project will be shared with you at the end of July.  In the mean time look at the amazing blogs that you can visit!

Did I say there will be prizes?!  Yep those too.  Amazing sponsors throughout and this fun series will have a  prizes at the end to share projects you have created.  Make sure to look for those link-ups.

Thanks to Jennie and Clara are the creative minds behind Clover & Violet and they have organized a Season By Hand!

Here's some of the details, and more can be found here:

Schedule:

June 3 - Kick-off
June 4 - Alyce - Blossom Heart Quilts
June 6 - Emily - Mommy's Nap Time
June 7 - Jodi - Pleasant Home
June 10 - Suz - PatchworknPlay
June 11 - Beth - Plum & June
June 13 - Jenniffier - Jenniffier's Sometimes Creative Life
June 14 - Heidi - Fabric Mutt
June 17 - Rachael - Imagine Gnats
June 18 - Elaine - Dashasel Sews
June 20 - Sandie - Crazy 'Bout Quilts
June 21 - Amy - Lots of Pink Here
June 24 - Danny - Mommy for Reals
June 25 - Cindy - Tops to Treasures
June 27 - Leanne - She Can Quilt
June 28 - Melissa - Sew Bittersweet Designs
July 1 - Cindy - Fluffy Sheep Quilting
July 2 - Rhonda - Quilter in the Gap
July 3 - Trish - Notes of Sincerity
July 5 - Erin - Why Not Sew
July 8 - Chrissy - Sew Lux
July 9 - Carrie - A Passion for Applique
July 11 - Katy - The Littlest Thistle
July 12 - Kelley - Casa Crafty
July 15 - Emily - Strawberry Patch
July 16 - Heather and Megan - Quilt Story
July 18 - Annette - My Rose Valley
July 19 - Katy - There & Back
July 22 - Melissa - Lilac Lane
July 23 - Jenelle - Echinops & Aster
July 25 - Shanna - Fiber of All Sorts
July 26 - Jane - Jane's Fabrics and Quilts
Wrap up and Linky running July 26 - August 5, 2013

Share what you're making:

Flickr groupFacebook group
Instagram - #aseasonbyhand

Sponsors:

These lovely shops and pattern designers are sponsoring some amazing giveaways throughout the series, so make sure you stop over and show them some support!

Supplies:

Patterns:

Fabric:

  Can't wait to keep on visiting these blogs to see what they share!
See you back her in July