Saturday, December 31, 2016

Time to link up your Q4 2016 FAL Finishes!

2016 button 250 best

We hope you have enjoyed a lovely holiday season. We have made it to the end of the 2016 FAL and it's time to link up your Q4 finishes!

The 2016 FAL is now global - a community of bloggers across the world are jointly hosting the FAL. Our hosts are:
It's time to link up the projects on your 2016 Q4 FAL list that you finished. First, a huge thank you to our fantastic sponsors:



For the 2016 FAL, we also will feature a tutorial week. Here is the schedule so you can visit them all: 
The 2016 Q4 link for your finishes is now open below on my blog and on each of the hosting blogs - you only need to link on one blog for your finish to appear on each blog. Link-up "rules":
  • Add one link for each finish. If you want to link a round up post of all your finishes, use that link to enter one of your finishes and then link the rest of your finishes separately. Please, only one link per finish, as your link is an entry into the randomly drawn prize draws.
  • Please use the 2016 FAL button or the hashtag #2016FAL
  • Please ensure that the photo or blog post you link up contains a link or reference back to your original list so that we can verify your entry (make sure it is from the appropriate quarter)
  • Please become part of the FAL community. Please check out the links of others and comment. We all need encouragement so let's applaud each other. The 2016 FAL Facebook page is here and follow us on Instagram @finishlong and tag your photos #2016fal and #falq2yourname (substitute your name - this makes it easier for us to match your finishes with your lists. 
  • Our hosts will also link their finishes to share in the community, but they are not eligible for any of the prizes.

The Q4 Finishes link will stay open from now thru January 7, 2017 - link up your finishes early and if you have a last minute one, add that one later so you don't miss out. The prizes will be awarded as soon as we can verify all the entries and do the drawings. We will post the winners on each hosts' blog.

Stay tuned for the details for the 2017 FAL. We have a great global community of hosts, some continuing and many joining us for the first time. Start making your Q1 lists for the 2017 FAL lists as the Q1 list link opens on January 8, 2017.

I hope you  have had a lovely holiday season and all the best to you and yours for the New Year!

Best,

Leanne
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Friday, December 30, 2016

Winter / Holiday Napkins - A Q4 FAL finish

Winter napkins

I finished these winter / holiday napkins mid December. They have been used several times now, including for Christmas dinner and they work just fine. I love the bright reds and greens of Violet Craft's holiday fabrics.

Winter napkins

For this set, I cut 16" squares of holiday fabric and of silver grey Kona cotton. With right sides together, I sewed around the edges, leaving a 3" - 4" hole for turning. I turned and pressed the napkins. Then I sewed around the outside edge about 1/8", which also closes the turning hole. To keep the front and the back from separating in the wash, I then sewed an X across, which I marked with my hera marker. I do admit to also pressing my napkins after a wash, having made them myself I feel less imposed on to do that small bit of ironing.

Winter napkins

The silver is a nice compliment, light but not white which is a tough colour for napkins that actually get used.

Winter napkins

I backstitched at each end to secure the threads.

Winter napkins

These napkins are on my Q4 FAL list. 

2016 FAL

And this is my reminder to you that the link to post your Q4 finishes will open tomorrow, so maybe you, like me, will want to start getting those finishes you have not yet shared rounded up and ready. I also wanted to let you know that the 2017 FAL will kick off on January 8, 2017 so you can also start putting together your Q1 2017 to be finished list too.

And, congratulations to Krista - Poppyprint - for winning my instagram 9000 followers giveaway. I counted the numbers carefully twice, as Krista is a friend of mine and truly, the random number generator picked her number.

I have more to share, it's been a busy holiday at my house so I need a couple more days before I can get that happening.

Best,


Leanne


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Thursday, December 22, 2016

Check out my instagram giveaway


I'm having a celebration over on instagram for my now over 9000 followers. If you did not see it, please check it out and enter to win that lovely bundle of fabrics sponsored by Erica at Studio 39 Fabrics.


Confession time. I was rushing to get this up on instagram this morning before I started baking holiday cookies. My mind was on the cookies but since this giveaway ends on Christmas eve, I did not want to put off putting it up. So the above photo is the one I put up on instagram. Of course, some people did notice the error, but most have been too kind to mention it.  It is 9000 followers, not 9000K.

And it turns out that you cannot "correct" your instagram photo either - so although I made that new graphic at the top of this post, I cannot change the photos on instagram and I don't want to start another place for everyone to comment again. Sigh.

So, despite my lack of attention to detail, I hope you will enter over on instagram (comments here on the blog do not count).

Best,

Leanne
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Wednesday, December 21, 2016

December Scraptastic Tuesday Winners!




As we come to the end of this year of Scraptastic Tuesday, I have an old scrappy project to share.

Kaleidoscope - 5 years later

I wrote about the completion of this scrappy  quilt, Kaleidoscope on my blog on February 12, 2012. She was a Finish A Long finish, a late completed quilt a long finish and mostly a birthday present for my nephew who was then in his first year of university. I sent it off to him at his dorm. So this quilt is just 2 months shy of being 5 years old.

Last week I was at his house and he quietly brought it to me and asked me if I could repair the binding, which had come unstitched in many (but not all) places. He has used the quilt constantly, often washing and drying it, and he told me, yes, it could stay off his bed for one night to get fixed. Of course I fixed it and reminded him that quilts from me are guaranteed for life or happily replaced if damaged beyond repair.

What he does not realize is that he gave me the best Christmas present! There is nothing better than knowing that our handmade presents are used and enjoyed daily by those we give them too.

That photo is from last week, it is holding up well.

Here are our Scraptastic Tuesday December sponsors and their buttons:




A huge thank you to our generous sponsors for providing the following prizes which will be awarded randomly among those of you who link up.

If you are a winner, congratulations, and watch for an email from me this week to get you connected to your prize.

Please join Nicky from Mrs. Sew and Sow and I next month to link up your scrappy project or thoughts on taming your scrap mountain on the second Tuesday in January, January 9, 2017.

And if you are looking for some scrappy inspiration, visit the December links, they are awesome.

 Best,

 Leanne
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Monday, December 19, 2016

SMS Giveaway Day winner



I know, I am behind, but this morning I drew the winner of my giveaway for Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day. From 740 entries, the Random Number Generator picked Julie who blogs at Happy to be Scrappy.k


Thank you to everyone who entered, I now have a lot of book and movie ideas for the holidays and into the new year!


Also, if you have not yet linked up your scrappy project, in progress or finished, for December's Scraptastic Tuesday, please do that before 10 pm MST tonight. There are great prizes, after all, and a lot of scrappy inspiration.

It's a busy day at my house. A bit of day job then painting bedrooms and then purchasing and decorating the tree and then maybe even some cookies will be baked. We have a chinook wind too, so powerful weather to keep us moving.

Best,

Leanne
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Tuesday, December 13, 2016

The December Scraptastic Tuesday Link is Open


It's the second Tuesday of December, and the Scraptastic Tuesday monthly link is open. Can you believe it, the last Scraptastic Tuesday for this year, but don't worry, Nicky and I have a lot more scraps so we will be here for next year, we hope you will keep joining us too.

Imp

First, I have a couple of small updates. If you visit here often, you have already seen my Ta Da post for Imp. I have been showing off my progress on Imp for Scraptastic Tuesday for a while, so it only seems fair to show here all done here as well. In fact I love this quilt so much I could show it off every day but I will try not to do keep doing that.

Holiday Pillow top

And this holiday pillow is another scrappy project. I had these Violet Craft fabrics set aside to make napkins so I cut out the fabric for 10 new napkins. My plan was to use the leftover scraps to make a holiday paper pieced pillow using Violet's pine cone pattern. So far, I have the pillow top done, at 18" square.

I really like this pillow with this smooth dramatic look so right now I am leaning towards no quilting. I do need to do something to secure all those paper pieced seams and Krista (@poppyprint) suggested on instagram that I use fusible fleece backing which is brilliant. I can quilt it then if I like but if not all those seams will be secured and tidy. Now I just need to shop and maybe I can share the finished pillow next week. By the way, there is the #christmascusionalong on instagram that I joined as well and you can too.

Anyway, here are our Scraptastic Tuesday December sponsors and their buttons:




A huge thank you to our generous sponsors for providing the following prizes which will be awarded randomly among those of you who link up.

        Please join Nicky from Mrs. Sew and Sow and I by linking up a blog post or flickr or instagram photo sharing a scrappy project, in progress or finished, or your thoughts on dealing with your scrap mountain:
        • You don't have to have joined us before, everyone is welcome.
        • One link per person, and it will be your entry into the random draw for the prizes. It is the same link up here and at Nicky's blog - Mrs. Sew and Sow - so you only need to link up on one of our blogs.
        • This link is to share with our community about using your scraps, please don't use it to advertise your own products or events.
        • You can link up from your blog, instagram or flickr, but you have to link up to be entered in the prize draw.
        • Please visit at least a few of the links, they are very inspiring, and leave comments too as everyone loves to connect. 
        • Use the Scraptastic Tuesday button and invite your friends to join us too. Please share our button, or a link or the hashtag #scraptastictuesday in your linked post or photo. 
        • The link is open until next Monday night at 10:00 pm MST. We will announce the winners next Tuesday. 
        • If you have trouble linking up, let me or Nicky know and we will get you sorted.
        Best,


        Leanne


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