A Little of This, A Little of That...

It's a good feeling to be making real progress on projects, don't you think? Even though I have so many, none of my quilts in progress have even gotten to the point where I have actually packed them away, where they run the risk of being forgotten while working on the next best thing. They've always somehow remained on the front burner... well, at least in my mind anyway. But, I'm a juggler quilter with creative ADD who needs do a little bit here until I get bored with that, and flip to the next project until I run into something, and still have a backup project in the wings.

Despite being juggled around back and forth, my Farm Girl Vintage quilt has finally made it under the machine to be quilted. Since I added the border, I feel a little limited as far as an all over quilting design goes. I know that there are a million FMQ possibilities, but for now I'm a walking foot gal, so I have decided to quilt block by block despite so many pivots.

... and some really big news is that I finished the last block for my Facing East quilt! Wheh... I started this thing last year about the same time. It had to be put on hold because I decided to enlarge it and then on hold again because I wanted to add the new Basic Grey grunges... and boy, am I ever glad that I did! This soft Fressia color has now been added to my favorites.

Well, when I say that the blocks are finished, I really mean that the paper piecing is done. I still have to finish the center circles, but because I am using this technique instead of needle turn applique, it should come together pretty quickly.

But that's not all that's been going on this past week... some time ago I met Mell on a WIP Wednesday, another newbie quilter in Germany. We started meeting on a regular basis to sew and have been working towards starting a monthly modern quilting group in Hamburg. Saturday was our first time as four, and it didn't take long to realize that it's the input from an outsider's viewpoint that is so valuable. When one person had run into an issue on a project, the other person had an idea of how to fix it, combine it, quilt it... you name it! It's funny that everyone was surprised how little they had gotten accomplished, but it's no wonder with so much chatter going on.

I took several projects with me, including my Penny's quilt blocks, which I've not fully and properly introduced, but one thing at a time, right? You'll be seeing these blocks come together quite soon. (or if you can't wait then pop over to Instagram)

 I've used a lot of Heather Ross and Lizzy House fabrics for this one, and really wanted to tone down my usual strong colors with soft pinks and greens with pops of orange.

So, needless to say, I'm plugging right along on my 2016 Finish-A-Long goals. How is your January looking? Any finishes so far for the year?

Linking up to WIP Wednesday and Let's Bee Social.