Sunday, 15 October 2017

Fancy Forest QAL


Do you have the wonderful Fancy Forest quilt pattern by Elizabeth Hartman sat unopened on your shelf?

Have you opened the pattern but been daunted by the fabric choices?

Have you made a couple of Hazels, Allies or Frances but then put them aside?

Have you just seen and loved the pattern but got no further?

If so then the Fancy Forest Quilt Along 2018 #fancyforestqal2018 starting soon, over on instagram, may just be what you need!!




QAL HOSTS

Myself (@cutandalter), Fiona from The Sewing Directory (@sewingdirectory) and Sharon Appleton (@sharonappleton) have decided to host an informal fun QAL to encourage us, and anyone who would care to join, to get some blocks made and then made into a finished project.  It could be the full quilt, the cot quilt, a wall hanging - that really is up to you.


FORMAT

We will each use our own pattern to make up the blocks and share these on Instagram.

Please be sure to follow the three hosts on Instagram so that you can keep up to date with what's happening.  

Also please check in on the #fancyforestqal18 hastag regularly to see what people are making and to offer words of encouragement and support .... or to ask any questions you may have.

And we have some very generous sponsors offering up some wonderful prizes!  

Prizes will be awarded at the end each month and to be eligible you must have completed tasks or blocks from that month and posted pics on IG with the relevant # and tagged the three hosts.  Further details will be given at the beginning and end of each month on an instagram post and I will also post here.


SCHEDULE

01 November - 14 November 

Welcome and introductions // Fabric pull and preparation

The first two weeks are time to get serious about fabric choices and to hopefully get started on cutting some fabric.  If you follow the pattern entirely you will be cutting all the pieces out beforehand, if you take a more laissez-faire approach now might be a good time to get fabric cut for the first animal blocks.





15 November - 31 December 2017

Block 1 - FANCY FOX

Make as many Fancy Fox blocks as you need for your project.
If you are making the full quilt there are 16 so we have allowed 6 weeks over the Christmas period to get these done.

Sponsor - Pin It & Stitch // Modern Quilter's Box


01 January - 31 January 2018

Block 2 - THISTLE

Make as many Thistle blocks as you need for your project.
If you are making the full quilt there are 8 to make.

Sponsor - Eternal Maker // Vivebooks



01 February - 28 February 2018

Block 3 - BUNNY

Make as many Bunny blocks as you need for your project.
If you are making the full quilt there are 8 to make.

Sponsor - Dashwood // Modern Quilter's Box



01 March - 31 March 2018

Block 4 - HAZEL HEDGEHOG

Make as many Hedgehog blocks as you need for your project.
If you are making the full quilt there are 8 to make.

Sponsor - Purple Stitches // Vivebooks



01 April - 30 April 2018

Block 5 - FRANCES FIREFLY

Make as many Firefly blocks as you need for your project.
If you are making the full quilt there are 8 to make.

Sponsor - Search Press // The Sewing Directory




01 May - 31 May 2018

Block 6 - ALLIE OWL

Make as many Owl blocks as you need for your project.
If you are making the full quilt there are 8 to make.

Sponsor - cut&alter (me!!)  // TBC



01 June - 20 July 2018

Piecing the Top

Don't let all those blocks sit around on your shelves or in a box, stay with us and get them pieced together!

Quilt and Bind

We will be on the final stretch at this point.  Get quilting inspiration from fellow QALers, ask quilting related questions and get quilting!

Reveal your wonderful quilt creations on Friday 20 July then sit back and enjoy that feeling of accomplishment.

Sponsor - The Crafty Mastermind // TBC








FAL2017 :: Meet the Host :: Felicity Quilts


Helloooo!

I'm Felicity

and this is my family - Husband of 17 years K and our nearly-10-year-old daughter G:

being silly, something we do very well

I am lucky enough to live in Naramata, British Columbia. It's a village of fewer than 2,000 people nestled on the Naramata Bench in one of Canada's fruit- and wine-producing regions, the Okanagan Valley.



As you can see, we're on the side of a lake, and it's a big tourist destination because our summer weather is hot and dry.


We moved to Naramata from Vancouver just over a year ago. After living for nearly 25 years in Vancouver, we grew tired of the traffic and the astronomical cost of living and decided to take a different approach to life. We couldn't be happier.

I quit my job in the financial services industry and now I work part time in a local quilt shop as a designer, teacher and retail associate. I also work from home as a training and development consultant. My husband was a stay at home dad in Vancouver and he also works part time here in the area.

I began quilting in 2000, shortly after I got married. My husband is the one who encouraged me to look for a beginner's class because I spent a lot of time looking at and admiring quilts in museums and at shows but I was too intimidated to try it myself. But boy am I glad I did. I knew from the first minute of that first class that this was going to be my thing.

This is my first quilt - the classic beginner's sampler with one large scale fabric plus some blenders.


I even free motion quilted it all by myself on my tiny Bernina 145.



Yikes, amirite? But you know what? That was the start of something, and you gotta start somewhere.

Baby quilts for nieces and nephews happened in due course, as did a quilt for my husband's 40th birthday (2 years late).


I subscribed to quilting magazines, I read books about quilting, I could spend a whole weekend at a quilt retreat and come home and sew some more. It consumed all of my free time! Eventually, though, I got to the point where I was reading about quilting but becoming overwhelmed by all the projects I wanted to do so I didn't start anything.

Thankfully, I was able to give myself a good talking to, and came to my senses. Every quilt is just a whole bunch of seams that are sewn one at a time, right? Well, I said to myself, just commit to 20 minutes a day of sewing something. Anything. But sew. Eventually you'll get something done.

One of my first modern quilts

I was right! I did get lots done, aided as well by the explosion of the online world of modern quilting. I found Flickr and the myriad active quilt groups it hosted (RIP, old Flickr). I also found quilt blogs and started my own as a way to keep myself accountable by journalling my progress.


It's not an exaggeration to say that blogging and sharing online changed my life! I found Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild online and attended the first meeting in mid-2010. I met dear friends in person and via blogging (and blogging friends became in-person friends too). I participated in Flickr quilt swaps, virtual bees and met many of my online friends at the inaugural QuiltCon in Austin.



These two quilts won honourable mention at QuiltCon 2013.

Though  I don't do many swaps anymore and online bees have fallen a little out of fashion, I still belong to a virtual quilt bee with 9 other incredible quilters, called Bee Sewcial. We work in solids only and we piece improvisationally based on that month's prompt and colour story.

Winter is my first quilt finished with Bee Sewcial blocks. The prompt was "abstract minimalist winter landscapes in shades of grey." Did my bee mates deliver or what? I love this quilt, and I will be submitting it to QuiltCon 2018 show.

Winter, a Bee Sewcial Collaboration

I like to have lots of projects on the go, in varying degrees of complexity because I never know what I want to work on at any given time.

Here's a sampling of some of my favourite quilts from over the years:

In a (Solid) Pickle, 2011 (swap quilt)

Burst of Colour, 2013

Helen Keller Wisdom, 2011


Selfie, 2015


Naramata Summer, 2014 (made after a visit and before we knew we'd be moving here!)


Modern Stripes, 2016 (accepted to QuiltCon 2017)

I'm extremely fortunate to be able to have a completely separate studio to work in - we finished the 450 square foot space over our detached 2-car garage just for my quilting. (Truth be told that space was what sold us on this house. Good thing we like the rest of it!)

 
Before

After

I love participating in the Finish A Long, and I'm so happy to be a host as well. We motivate each other to get our beautiful projects finished so we can move along to the next thing that makes us happy, yes? Yes.

Thanks for visiting with me!

Sunday, 1 October 2017

2017FAL :: Q4 Proposed Finishes :: Link up now open!!


It's time to link up your list of unfinished projects that you propose to finish in Q4 of the FAL. We are hoping that the FAL community will be finishing a lot of projects as we move into the last quarter of the year.

The FAL is hosted by a community of bloggers across the world. Our hosts are:
  • Sarah - Sew me - Northern Ireland

For those of you who are new to the FAL, it is a place to find motivation and encouragement to complete those unfinished projects that are hanging about becoming UFOs. Every quarter you post a list of projects you hope to finish in the next three months, and then at the end of the quarter, you post a link from your blog, Flickr or Instagram of each successful finish from your original list.

Each finish is an entry for wonderful prizes from our sponsors. There is no penalty for not finishing a listed project, so feel free to make your list long or short, as you wish. The 2017 Schedule and Rules for the FAL are on my permanent FAL page, let me know if you have any questions.

Here are the fantastic and generous sponsors for Q4 of the FAL - you can see each of their prizes listed under their logo (think about visiting them and saying thank you):



It's time to round up those projects you want to finish over the next three months, take a photo of each one and make your list. Please ensure that you have at least started your projects - pulled fabric with a pattern is considered a UFO, and remember it is only finished projects that will get you an entry toward the above listed prizes. So while we love to see your bee blocks, the "finish" is when they are a completed, usable project.

It is very helpful if you tag your list as #2017FALQ4yourname when posting on social media: Flickr, Facebook & Instagram. Using the same hashtag over the quarter when sharing progress or finishes before the link, helps the hosts find your original list quickly - especially when this is done over a 3 month period. IMPORTANT: Don't forget to link your finishes up when the quarter closes.

The 2017 Q4 link for your list of proposed finishes is now open below on my blog and on each of the hosting blogs. You need only link your list once, on one blog - and that link will show up on all of the blogs. If you are using Facebook, Flickr or Instagram, link a mosaic and put your list in the description. Katy of The Littlest Thistle has a great tutorial on how to link-up if you need it.

We also ask that you become part of the FAL community. Please check out the links of others - visit and comment on their lists. We all need encouragement to get those finishes done, so please share some of your own too. When creating your list there is one thing to remember....No deductions for not completing something so ..... Aim High! Nothing to lose!!! Well Now..... Get those lists together and get linked up. 

The Q4 proposed finish linky party will stay open until 11 pm EST, October 7, 2017- as we are global, you might want to check your time zone to determine your last possible time to link. Remember: you only need to link up on ONE hosting blog and it will automatically show up on all hosting blogs. 


NEW WEBSITE LAUNCHED!!

I am so pleased to announce that my new website has been launched.  It's taken me some time to build and it's not all finished yet b...