Quilt Planner's 2016 Sew-along and More

Yes!  There is progress being made on the ginormous To-Do list.

But first, I am so excited to join in on a sew-along with the Quilter's Planner folks.
         1.  I have never participated in a full quilt sew-along before.
         2.  I have never joined in an Instagram group of any kind.

Yea for trying new things!
THAT would be why I am so excited.  Plus it is a beautiful quilt with an amazing group of people.
Stephanie at Late Night Quilter has a post explaining all about the sew-along HERE.  And Kitty at Night Quilter has one HERE as well.  And of course, @thequiltersplanner and #QP2016sewalong.

The quilt we will all be making is the Scrappy Picnic Plaid quilt by Lee Heinrich of Freshly Pieced.
It is so lovely and I can't wait to dig through all my scraps this weekend to pick out my colors.  I am really tempted to do a dark version with black instead of white.  Partly because I barely have any white in my stash/scrap bin and party because I just love rainbow on black.  But, I am also worried about that because I haven't done anything like this before and maybe I should just stick with the pattern.  I guess we will see once I start pulling the colors out.  I am, however, determined to buy zero additional fabric for this.  :)

You can see all of my Instagram posts about the sew-along @adreamandastitch.

There are absolutely going to be some beautiful,scrappy, rainbow photos for all the fabric eye-candy lovers out there.  

In other news, progress has been made this week on the Crown Royal quilt.  It is just about ready to put together.  I only have to decide if it wants sashing between the blocks to increase the size.

It is only 20 12"blocks and is for a larger guy.  What do you guys think?  Is sashing a good option to increase the size?  And maybe a little bit of a border too?  I'll have to find a photo of the whole block, so you can get an idea what I am working with.  You can see a bit of it in the background of this photo.

Ick.  I need to clean and soak my mat.

I did some skill-building paper piecing too.

It was a bit messy.  A little above my skill level.  Such tiny pieces! But I know the finished project was a success, because I have had two more requests for duplicates.  The pattern was one I found on Craftsy.  Witchy Toes by Trillium Design.

Just look how tiny some of those pieces are!

I got some free motion quilting done on my beach blanket too.  It is coming along nicely I think.  Just a simple meander.  

I need to remember to balance my photos to get rid of that yellow.

I decided to pin baste this quilt and use my kitchen floor and masking tape.  It worked really well besides having sore knees after.  I usually just spray baste and use my tabletop and do a section at a time.  The pinning didn't take as long as I thought it would and I think I came up with better results.  

This post is getting exceptionally long and I should probably stop now and save more for another day.  :)

Linking up to:

Let's Bee Social

Needle and Thread Thursday

Finished or Not Friday

End of the Year Projects

It's that time of year when everyone is making their lists.
Lists of what projects to have done by the holidays or before the new year.
I am no different.  I have seen a lot of people making their final 2017 WIP lists.  Not going to lie, I was tempted to dump my UFO tote out and take photos of everything, it sounded fun, but then I changed my mind.  Mostly because I don't want to be distracted by any of those things until after Christmas.  I have an absolute to-do list.  I have made promises. I need to finish quilts for other people.  And this time, those are the most important items on my list.

I suppose I could list them here, but some are gifts and I don't want to spoil the surprise for anyone.  Let's just say that I plan to have at least 3 finishes by Christmas(and a few little things) and then 2 more before April.  Only then will I be able to pull out those old projects and get working on them.
I also have another pattern in the works and have to squeeze time in to get that test quilt done.  It sounds like I am going to be one busy lady on the weekends.  DO NOT remind me how many of those I have until Christmas!

On another note, I did have a finish last week in addition to my new pattern "Knots" of Color.  I finished a rather pretty green and grey offset diamond for a cousin of mine.  He turned 16 recently and it was time he received our traditional family quilt.  I like the back of the quilt almost as much as the front even though it is just scraps and leftovers.  I did simple in-the-ditch quilting, tracing each diamond that created a nice effect on the back.

Linking up to:

Let's Bee Social

Needle and Thread Thursday

Finished or Not Friday

If you haven't visited any of these link parties, I highly recommend it.  Link parties are my go-to place to find new quilt blogs.  Sometimes I miss posts in my feed and sometimes I am scouting to add more.  Either way, there is some great stuff out there, so check them out!

"Knots" of Color - New Pattern

I am so beyond thrilled to finally announce this.

My pattern is done!!  I could scream it from the rooftops.  I can't believe I actually went through with it and hit that publish button.  I just can't remove the smile from my face.

It has certainly been quite the adventure.  Going from that vision in my head to the sketch on paper. Then the math.... oh that math.  :)  Then testing the pattern and absorbing the feedback from other testers.  I think that now that the first one is complete, any after will be much smoother.  With this first pattern, I felt that I had to brace myself for every step.  Triple checking to make sure I was following the right path.  I feel like a huge weight has been lifted and now I can proceed to design to my heart's content.

Without further ado.....
"Knots" of Color

I almost forgot, you can find the pattern by clicking my Craftsy shop link on my side bar, or just going HERE.
I would love to see your version of "Knots" of Color.  You can email them to me or tag me on Instagram (@adreamandastitch).

Linking up with my usual, favorite Linky Parties:
Linky Party Tuesday
Let's Bee Social
Needle and Thread Thursday
Finished or Not Friday

Lemonade AND Christmas?

Lemonade AND Christmas?  An odd combo I know, but that is what I felt like working on all weekend and so I did.  :)
I also worked on my very first quilt pattern and it is SO close to being done, but I do have to finish the binding and then take some photos before I publish it (I'll have it for sale on Craftsy).  I am so excited, but very nervous at the same time.  I think my nerves are getting the better part of me and that is why I just can't seem to put the final touches on the quilt and the pattern.  Has this ever happened to you?

Because of my reluctance to finish that pattern, I worked on a couple of other projects this weekend.
I made two more blocks of my Midnight Lemonade quilt from the Holiday Wishes book.  I only have one more to go before I have completed all of the blocks in the pattern.  There is a good chance I will repeat a few blocks to increase the size of the quilt.

I think my points are improving with these blocks.

Speaking of the Holiday Wishes book...
I knew that I wanted to make a table runner for our office gift exchange this year and I saw the All Snowed In pattern in there and pulled out the Juniper Berry Jolly Bar pack that I had, and sure enough, if I made each block different, it would work.  So, I got to cutting and sewing and it is turning out great.  It's not done yet, because I started it pretty late on Sunday, but I am thinking that it (Along with my pattern quilt binding I swear!) will get done this week.

I think I will find some way to use the rest of the pack for placemats or a smaller matching runner for a side table.  I haven't decided yet.

Linking up with:
Linky Party Tuesday
Let's Bee Social
Needle and Thread Thursday
Fabric Frenzy Friday