September NewFO and review of goals.

Oh where did September go? I have hardly got started on my projects this month and here we are with no more time. So how did I do on my goals?

Goal 1. Quilt my Anniversary quilt and give it to my friends.

The top was all finished and the quilt sandwich made at the beginning of the month. It should have been an easy goal BUT you have to take into account that if it can go wrong it will. When I started the quilting I thought it was going to be easy. My machine had been sewing very nicely but it had made an odd grumbling noise a couple of times. As I put my foot on the pedal it groaned and snapped the needle and the stitch was awful. I tried everything I could to get it working properly but in the end I rushed it to the service doctor. My machine was gone a week and a half and now I was running late with other commitments. Sadly goal 1 will move to October's list

Goal 2 was to complete my project for the Pin It blog hop at Sew We Quilt. This was a really good hop with lots of lovely pin cushions appearing everywhere. Henry, my cockerel and Mouse took centre stage on my blog.

So goal 2 was a success. Yippee! On the down side Picasso has run off with mouse and I can't find him anywhere. It's a good job I hadn't put any pins in him. Henry is proving to be a very useful pin cushion.

Goal 3 was my September NewFO. Apart from my pin cushions I have two other NewFO's this month. First I started the baby quilt I had been asked to make. During the first week of the month I was asked if I would be interested in teaching a beginners quilting class with the possibility of further and more advanced classes later. Being me I said yes (and then panicked later!) Anyway when planning what to make I decided to use the blocks from Moda.. the cutting table size matters blog hop. This had 9 days worth of designers showing how to make and use different blocks. The cutting instructions were given for a variety of sizes which is such an amazing resource. I decided to use these blocks for my quilt and then the photos could be a teaching aid in future.

The top is finished and I just need to quilt it which is a job for this weekend. I have also made several other blocks from the hop for use in another small quilt. I'm taking this with me tomorrow when I teach the first class. For this class we are sticking with blocks made using squares and rectangles.

My second NewFO was made for the Crazy about Wool blog hop at Denise's blog Pieced Brain. For this I made a skirt and showed a photo of myself. 

I was really pleased at being able to match the seam so well.

The icing on the cake with this hop was that I won the Blogger's give away from the sponsors Denise had found. Lovely packages to look forward to.

Goal 4 was to complete the blocks for my Votes for Women quilt. Unfortunately due to the machine being in for service and repair this didn't happen but I did add several more blocks to the collection. Nearly done now. In fact it should be possible to finish these up in October.
Here's 4 of the blocks I managed to complete. The blue on these pics is actually violet / purple.

Goal 5, my final goal was to complete my first block for the 'It's a dogs life' quilt. I was also using fabri solvy for the first time. What a genius invention! It worked really well and because I cut off all the excess sheet I could when I washed it out it dissolved very quickly and didn't leave any sticky residue.

In fact the first block worked so well I started on the second one. This one is very straightforward so shouldn't take very long.

So my score for this month is 3 goals completed out of 5. Not too bad considering the machine was out of action for a while. I'm linking this post with Melissa at Sew Bittersweet Designs for her September finishes party and  Barbara at Cat Patches for her September NewFO party.

On the side bar you will find a new button. Madame Samm from Sew We Quilt has designed a cute button to show what type of blog Sew We Quilt is. She organises loads of blog hops covering all sorts of themes which enables all of us to sew and show folks what we've made. I love hopping around the blogs as you get so many great ideas for projects. I currently have a list as long as my arm with ideas that are perfect for some of my Christmas gifts. I just need to get on with the sewing. Madame Samm has lots of ideas for future hops so check regularly to see what's going on.

Now I must go and marshal my thoughts for my October goals. Realistically what can I achieve this month?

I hope you have enjoyed the last day of September and here's hoping that October will be a good month for sewing.

Lyndsey