April: A Lovely Year of Finishes - Finishes Party

Melissa from Sew BitterSweet Designs and I are sharing A Lovely Year of Finishes.
I'm always so amazed at you people :)

Please if you have questions go check out our static pages {see up on the tabs} that has tons of questions and answers. 

~~~

A death in the family is going to take me away from sewing and blogging, at least for a bit.

I have so much to share like telling you about Francis, my family featherweight {She's from 1957}.

And I even have a few finishes to share.
{not my ALYoF goal...my April goal was too lofty even with the family emergency}

~~~

But Melissa and I wanna hear how YOU did!  How did you do on your April goal?

What one item will you choose?

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

To enter into the prizes please remember you have to 

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 Melissa and I 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 **

Here's what we have for up for the April prizes:

1. Aurifil - Thread prize 

2. Quilting Lodge- quilting patterns designed by Quilting Lodge

3. Fat Quarter Shop- $15.00 Gift Certificate 

4,5. TWO winners each getting to choose one pdf pattern

from Sew BitterSweet Designs ($10 value)

6. PDF Pattern from Persimon Dreams

7. Sew Sweetness – 1 pdf Pattern

8. Thimblepie's Quilt Supplies - Custom fabric package, 4 yards (worth $20) plus free shipping

9. Green Fairy Quilts – 3 pdf patterns

10. Stitches n' Giggles -1 Charm pack or $10.00 gift certificate (winners choice)

11. Meadow Mist - 1 Digital pattern

~~~

As always.  Let Melissa and I know if you have any questions.

April - A Lovely Year of Finishes Participant Highlight ~ Mary at Fairly Merry

  

Melissa and I are so excited to see and share all of your hard work.

~~~

We also want to thank our sponsors this month.

Aurifil
Quilting Lodge
Fat Quarter Shop

 Sew BitterSweet Designs

Persimon Dreams

Sew Sweetness
Thimblepie's Quilt Supplies

Green Fairy Quilts 

Stitches n' Giggles
Meadow Mist

~~

This month we have Mary, also known as Fairly Merry, with us.

Blog name: Fairly Merry, Mary Merrily Quilting Away

Blog address:  www.fairlymerry.blogspot.com
Name you’re known by throughout quilting world: Fairly Merry - IG, Flickr

What's your ALYoF goal this month.

To finish my Messenger bag! Done and you can read about the finish here!

How do you approach your sewing goals?  

I will look at photos of similar projects on Flickr and blogs, IG photos, and see how other sewists have approached a project.  What color combinations did others use? Will those work in my project?  I like to go off of photos rather than directions, I tend to skip over directions, which has caused a problem now and then.  Sometimes I dive right in, like my recent messenger bag - no pattern!  Yikes!

How do you organize/prioritize your projects?

I TRY so hard to be on time, not my best feature, but I will always get things done.  I've been working on several nurseries for friends, and the due dates of the babes have tended to be the dead line for those projects.  I have commissioned projects which I'm trying to keep high on the priority list.  Sadly, I have found that very little sewing time was being devoted to me, and this year I am changing that! I am working on a few 'me' items regardless of other deadlines.  

For organizing and keeping project fabric together, I have a selection of baskets, bins, and ziplock bags.  I like to keep the fabric with the project until it is completed.  I've had projects sit mor months, and then suddenly I want to use the fabric in something else, and there is a flurry of activity as I finish the first project to see how much fabric is leftover!

Baskets for Organizing Projects

Scrap Storage

What is your current favorite project that you are working on? Will you share pictures with us?

With the messenger bag finish, my next favorite project is the Feathers quilt, pattern by Alison Glass.  These are both projects for me!

My all time favorite to make for gifts is the Divided Basket, pattern by Noodlehead.  Adore this basket as a nursery gift, Easter basket, bathroom basket, it is fun to make & chose different color combinations.  

What is your dream project to work on?

I have two quilts I would love to make 1 is using the steam punk templates and the other is the Marcelle Medallion in the Liberty Love book.  Both of these are in my thinking process, but I have purchased the books, patterns or templates needed.  One day......

What is your favorite time of day to sew?  

Late night, little or no interruptions!

And here is her favorite quilting companion - Brandy

What is your favorite quilting/sewing accessory?

I would have to say my Bernina 750 - it is a dream machine.  I don't think there is a project I can't tackle using this machine! I'm still finding new stitches and playing with new presser feet.  

What is your number one quilting/sewing goal for 2014?

My first goal was to bring down my number of obligation sewing projects (not that I don't adore sewing for others!) and bring up the number of projects for myself.  I am beginning to focus more on commissioned projects and selling.  I have an Etsy shop, and I would like to begin listing items, so far I've sold via Instagram and to people who know me.  Selling & orders should help me bring down my stash as I make a bit of funding for more stash.  It's a viscous merry go and I'm gladly stuck riding. 

~~~

Thank you so much Mary for being our April Feature! It has been wonderful learning more about you!

I'm so lucky to have found Mary very early on in my quilting life.  Such inspiration!

Keep up your goals for this month.  We'll open up the finishes party 7-days before the end of the month.  

March Winners ~ A Lovely Year of Finishes

Whoopee it's time for prizes.  
Congrats to our finishers.  
Some of you are just down right impressive!  

Melissa from Sew BitterSweet Designs and I are always so excited to share your amazing talent.  
GO YOU

Here's a summary of our winners from last month:

1. Quilting Patterns designed by Quilting Lodge

Cheryl - Paisley Quilts

2. Thread Prize from Aurifil

Barbara - Cat Patches

3, 4. TWO winners each getting to choose one pdf pattern

from Sew BitterSweet Designs ($10 value)

Heather - A Reformed Heath'n
and
Blue.Ridge.Girl - Shadow of the Blue Ridge

5. PDF Pattern from Persimon Dreams

Beatrice - Une aiguille dans une botte de foin

6. Sew Sweetness – 1 pdf Pattern

Karen - Squirrel Focus

7. Thimblepie's Quilt Supplies - Custom fabric package, 4 yards (worth $20) plus free shipping

Lucy - Lucymade

8. Green Fairy Quilts – 3 pdf patterns

Pauline - Quilt n Queen

9. 1 Charm pack or $10.00 gift certificate to

Stitches n' Giggles (winners choice)

Linda - The Pieceful Kingdom

~~~

As always.  Let Melissa and I know if you have any questions.

Keep up with your goals (or wait til May to link up a goal) and you could win some April prizes ;)

April: A Lovely Year of Finishes ~ Goal Setting Party

Spring is in the air...at least it should be here in the Pacific Northwest.
April is such a funny month.
My family has already started to do that spring cleaning and we are purging needless items.

Melissa from Sew BitterSweet Designs and I are sharing A Lovely Year of Finishes.
I'm always so amazed at you people :)

Please if you have questions go check out our static pages that has tons of questions and answers. 

~~~

I'm excited to choose a new project this month.  I've been floundering on what I need to work on.

I'm going to choose one of my FAL projects.

Since I'm working on my FMQ I'll finish up my mom's quilt.



But really, it's because the thread is already out!

~~~

What's your April goal?

What one item will you choose?

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 Melissa and I 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 **

Here's what we have for April prizes:

1. Aurifil - Thread prize 

2. Quilting Lodge- quilting patterns designed by Quilting Lodge

3. Fat Quarter Shop- $15.00 Gift Certificate 

4,5. TWO winners each getting to choose one pdf pattern

from Sew BitterSweet Designs ($10 value)

6. PDF Pattern from Persimon Dreams

7. Sew Sweetness – 1 pdf Pattern

8. Thimblepie's Quilt Supplies - Custom fabric package, 4 yards (worth $20) plus free shipping

9. Green Fairy Quilts – 3 pdf patterns

10. Stitches n' Giggles -1 Charm pack or $10.00 gift certificate (winners choice)

11. Meadow Mist - 1 Digital pattern

~~~

As always.  Let Melissa and I know if you have any questions.