FAL Q1 2015 - Four Finishes!

I feel I've done quite well this quarter, particularly when you take into account that I've probably spent more time asleep than awake in the last three months.  And that my machine was out of action from just after putting the binding on the Dresden mini (end of January) until about a week ago - that's why most of my finishes only required hand sewing (or no sewing at all, in one case!).  My list is here, in case you fancy seeing what I didn't finish!


My first finish was this mini for Yvonne:

Sorry about the dreadful photo but that's the middle of a dreary day for you!

This was machine pieced, hand appliquéd, embroidered and hand quilted.  It measures about 14" square (I think, I can't quite remember now!) and has a couple of extra layers of wadding behind the centre to give a bit more texture.  You can find out more about it in this post.

My next finish was my clock:

This is 12" square and the gubbins to make it (canvas block and clock doings (mechanism?!)) were kindly provided by Nicky.  I hand pieced the hexagon and background and then appliquéd the hexagon in place.  It was then stretched over the canvas and is held in place with lots of drawing pins.  You can find out more about it in this post.


I then (finally) worked out what to do with an embellished felt square (embroidery and appliqué was done, by me(!), about three years ago.  Possibly more *hangs head in shame*):

In the end, I added a simple back, loops and a cocktail stick and it's now on the wall.  You can read more about it in this post.


My final finish (and the one which I'm linking up in this post) for this quarter is this beautiful machine print by Emily:

This print was a present from Susan - thank you!

I've had this print for a while now and couldn't work out what I wanted to do with it - did it want to be a machine cover?  No, it did not.  Did it want to be a cushion?  And be potentially exposed to tea stains?  Absolutely not.  Did it fancy being a machine mat?  What, and be hidden when in use?  Most definitely not.  Then what did it want to be?  'Oh, that's easy,' it replied, 'I want to be on the wall where I can be admired by all and sundry!'


Once that was sorted, my friend and I got busy with her (electric) staple gun (a little scary but very effective!) and a canvas block which had been languishing in the loft and which was, happily, the perfect size.  Many, many staples later (and a coat of PVA glue to seal the raw edges on the back) and the print was finished and ready to go on the wall:

As this final finish didn't, in the end, require any stitching, I'm going to leave it to Adrianne's discretion about whether it can be counted as an official FAL finish.

This is how my 'wall of minis' looks at the moment:

Minis made by various friends (and a few by me) - ignore the black mark above the clock, that's where the bookcases used to be tied to the wall.  I'm not going to bother filling it in (at the moment), I'm just going to cover it with another little quilt!

I really must get round to putting some more pins in that banner (by Nicky) and moving my other banner (by Sheila) to this wall!


I hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend - the sun came out yesterday and it was glorious!  (There was blue sky and everything!)  Today there's no sky.  Well, there is but you can't see it for the low cloud...


Archie enjoyed the sun yesterday - this was taken at about midday, before the sun decided to show more than just a leg:

What do you mean, 'The Easter Bunny doesn't visit dogs?'  I've been waiting all morning to catch a glimpse of him.

I'm just putting the finishing touches to my quarter two list; it hasn't taken long as most of it is carried over from this quarter.  Which was carried over from the previous quarter, which...

I'll clear my list one day, I hope!