Welcome to Finished {or Not!} Friday where you can share what you're working on and see what others have been making!
My Finish is a new quilt pattern, Patchwork Blues! This pattern has been in the works for many months, and it finally came to the top of the quilt pattern pile. This pattern is entirely strip pieced {you know how much I love stripping!} :) and is yardage friendly in Throw and Queen sizes.
I ♥♥♥ to work in a rainbow where ever possible, and while this pattern is actually written for five fabrics total, I've made a rainbow quilt with 6 colors and 4 grays and have included how to achieve this look right inside the pattern. This is a Moda Grunge rainbow. Backing is a nurse fabric for the recipient, and quilting is hexies. Sorry this one's not for sale; it's a gift!
Below is the quilt pattern as it's written in five fabrics in English Tea by Connecting Threads. Two fabrics are repeated in the quilt, and there is a lot of your favorite background fabric. The look of the quilt completely changes by the placement of each fabric. The backing of this quilt is the deepest aqua floral from the front of the quilt, and quilting is the sweetest of feathers and flowers.
This pattern includes exact instructions for how to press all seams so every single one in the quilt top nests. This means that pins aren't required for any step. :) I'm a no-pin girl whenever possible, and nesting seams assure perfect points.
The quilt below is the reason this quilt pattern took so long to get flying. While I love this quilt and its bold mottled aqua background, it just ain't a pattern cover quilt. Just not. Sorry sista'. But it's beautiful all in its own way, actually way more than the picture captures. The main fabric is Violette by Amy Butler, and the backing is a whole lotta that beautiful print. The quilting is a delicious orange peel design. This quilt will be for sale in my quilt shop soon.
To use this pattern as a stash buster you can use numerous fabrics in place of the single background fabric. Simply decide the layout of your fabrics and label them as stated in the pattern.
Quilt Stats:
Pattern: Patchwork Blues
Size: Throw 63" x 75"
Further Details: Above.
Patchwork Blues is on sale at an introductory price through this weekend! Get it in my shop.
Giveaway Winner!
Last week's winner of the Sew Sampler Box zipper parts and fabric scraps is Anne! It was fun to read all of the ways you all answered the requirement to enter the Giveaway - to give someone a hug!
Special Announcement About FONF!
I have decided to turn the Finished {or Not!} Friday baton over to Alycia at Alycia Quilts. Bet you weren't expecting that sort of announcement!
Alycia and I have long read one another's blogs. She has participated in almost every Quilt Along I've hosted, has tested a quilt pattern for me, and she has linked up here from the get-go of Finished or Not. Alycia is a machine quilter for hire with a passion for Quilts of Valor and has runs mystery Quilt Alongs on her blog that are made to be very easy with a them of red, white, and blue, though any colors can be used. FONF will likely have a lot of red, white, and blue from Alycia's projects!
Here's a little trivia about Finished {or Not!} Friday.
- FONF began on Friday, July 15th, 2016 here at Busy Hands Quilts. You can see that post right here. There were 20 links added to that first party, and Alycia linked up a project, which you can see right here.
- The most viewed FONF post has had 10,005 views; this quilt must have gone viral on Pinterest or something. You'll find that wildly popular quilt right here. This amazing quilt is still for sale!
- Aside from that outlier with 10,005 views, the most viewed FONF post is a Jelly Roll Waves with 3,851 views, quilt which doesn't surprise me; this quilt has always been super popular. You'll find which JRW version was so popular in this post.
- The most links in a FONF linky party is 64.
- The most views of a FONF linky party is 8,789. This number is different than post views which are much smaller, because a linky party can be viewed many times by the same person looking at different links whereas multiple visits to a blog post by a single reader is typically counted as one view.
- FONF has run 153 times.
- 129 of the 153 FONF posts included a Busy Hands Quilts finished quilt, custom quilt, or custom quilting project.
As for my plans post FONF here at Busy Hands Quilts, my quilt pattern designing business is taking off, and I'm so grateful. Who knew that little ol' me, a nobody homeschool mama who taught herself to quilt and sewed 10 minutes at a time for years because I didn't have any more time than that, could have a dream, stick to it when there doesn't seem to be much reward and doesn't even cover the cost of fabric, and make something of it?!
In my future I see sugar plum fairies dancing, teaching classes at my local quilt shops, and growing relationships with fabric suppliers and distributors. I even dreamed a few nights ago that I went to Quilt Market in Houston to market my wares. That was totally out of the blue; I hadn't even considered that a possibility down the road because I actually am quite unsure of myself inside, and doing something so big that could so easily flop freaks me out.
Post FONF I will probably have less finishes because I am letting go of the pressure to finish something every week, complete with pictures taken and a post written on a schedule. This
And you can bet your bottom dollar that I will be designing quilt patterns. This is my passion, what I love to do, just as long as I get enough pedal-to-the-metal time on my sewing machine. I have NINE EIGHT {you just got one today!} patterns coming at you over the next two to three months, and you will be seeing quilt kits in my patterns on a regular basis at your favorite fabric shops.
FONF will be hosted here until August 16th, and then Alycia will be taking over on August 23rd. Check out her blog right here. Please give her a lot of support as the new host of Finished {or Not!} Friday and link up lotsa projects and leave her loads o' comments. You will be in very good hands!
FONF will be hosted here until August 16th, and then Alycia will be taking over on August 23rd. Check out her blog right here. Please give her a lot of support as the new host of Finished {or Not!} Friday and link up lotsa projects and leave her loads o' comments. You will be in very good hands!
The Finished {or Not!} Friday party has been great for me. It's brought me in touch with so many quilters all over the world, and I'm glad to have met you all. ♥ So if you're aren't a blog follower yet, scroll right on down a bit and hit the FOLLOW button so we can stay in touch. If you'd like more day-to-day happenings with fabric pulls, quilts in progress, quilts on the longarm, and a hint of my personal life, follow me on Instagram.
Last Week's Finished {or Not} Friday Features!
Do you want your quilt featured here?
A link back to Busy Hands Quilts in your post is required to get a shoutout here! It's a small favor in return for the time and money it takes to host this linky party.Irish Chain by Sewing Out of My Comfort Zone! I've long loved this quilt pattern. You'll find it in this book right here.
It's your turn to share your finish {or not}! What's welcome at this party?
- Any in-progress or finished project made with fabric, yarn, or thread.
- Projects from this week only.
- ♥ ♥ PLEASE! Link to the actual blog post, not your home page.
- LINK BACK with the Finished or Not Friday button or a text link.
To grab the code for the button below, left click in the box, press Ctrl-A for Select All, then Ctrl-C for Copy, then go to the HTML code for your post and press Ctrl-V to paste it where you want it to appear.
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I'm sorry to see you go on Finished Or Not Friday, but know that Alycia will do you proud. I'm a follower of hers already, so I know your FONF will be in good hands. I'll keep checking in on you and your patterns. It has been fun to have a space to push me to work at something every week. A reason is sometimes needed to get me motivated to do more that peruse my stash and the latest magazine or blog post. ( I can lose myself in Blogland pretty easily!)
ReplyDeleteBest wished in your future of quilt design!
Congrats on your FONF history! I've enjoyed being a part of it. I wish you well on your new adventures. I know you've got some great patterns coming up!
ReplyDeleteThank you for beeing the hist of this linky party. Now I also follow Alycia, and I certainly keep on following you too. Good luck with your projects.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for all the Finished Or Not Fridays! It was so nice to share projects that weren't necessarily finished, and to see what everyone else was working on. Good luck with your pattern business, I'm sure you'll do well.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the new pattern. Good luck with your new adventures.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck amping up your business during the extra hours you'll have with Alycia running FONF!!
ReplyDeleteIt's great that you passed the baton instead of just dropping it, and Alycia is one of my favorite bloggers, so that's great, too! I loved reading all your stats, being a math person. That was fun. I wish you the best of luck with all the new things you are doing. Why shouldn't you go to Houston? It's a great show, you meet some wonderful people, and your products are selling already, so you can have confidence you have fans out there who will be happy to see your Busy Hands Logo on a booth! Take a good friend with you so you can have bathroom breaks, though! And get to see a little of the show while you're at it.
ReplyDeleteSo glad for your success with your pattern writing and perfect that you found a good person to take over the linky party. It is a lot of work and have enjoyed participating when I can!
ReplyDeleteThank you for so faithfully hosting FONF. I have met so many great patchwork quilters through the link up and been inspired by so many of the projects shared.
ReplyDeleteI think you should carry your quilt pattern writing to the next level and find out about going to Quilt Market. :-)