Two more finishes for 2017- Getting ready for the quilt show!

I started quilting my Arcadia Avenue BOM.  I'm two diamonds in on this lovely motif.  It does show up better on the front in real life than in this picture, but you can see it very well on the back.  I'm using Fabulux 40 wt. polyester on the front and 80 wt. Decobob in the bobbin.

This quilt is my third finish of 2017 and is the guild challenge quilt for this year's Tewksbury Piecemaker's Quilt Show.  I was wracking my brain over what to make for the 12" or smaller challenge.  I couldn't decide and time is running out (quilt show is April 8 & 9).  I picked this magazine up in the Baltimore airport on my last business trip and loved this block!

Quilt top done and partially marked out for quilting

The flying geese in this pattern were an off-size for using my Quilt in a Day rulers so I dug out my Wing Clipper for the first time. I found the ruler very simple to use.  I didn't find the sewing as easy to do as the QIAD  method, but I think the ruler works great!  Sadly though, I didn't completely read the instructions and constructed the block wrong twice before finally assembling it properly.  Oops.....it happens to the best of us.

Flying geese complete and trimmed.

Quilting partially complete...

 I used So Fine 50 thread for quilting this little beauty.  I'm very happy with how it came out.  I did all the straight lines and stitch in the ditch with my walking foot on my home sewing machine since the project is so small.  I did the FMQ on my Sweet Sixteen.

I used scraps from the Posy (Moda) fabric line.  These were leftovers from making The Cozy Posy Triangle Quilt from the Moda bake shop.  I absolutely HAD HAD HAD to make that quilt as soon as I saw it.  I use it as the springtime throw on my couch.  I have a ton of scraps left from this project and the small size of the pieces in this quilt lent themselves perfectly to making this pretty little project.  I know there are at least another couple projects worth of scraps left of my beloved Posy fabric.  I'll be savoring it for a while.

Complete!!  I'm in Love!

 In other news, I'm caught up with my guild's current mystery quilt.  I'm using fabric from my stash that I bought about 6 years ago.  Hooray for stash busting!  The mystery is finally at the block assembly stage. I really like how these are coming out.

Guild mystery quilt blocks

 My second finish of 2017 is the Bonnie Hunter En Provence Mystery Quilt.  This quilt will be entered into the local quilt show.  Since its 87" x 87" the hand binding and attaching of the hanging sleeve took me some time, but it was well worth it. This quilt is a stunner!  My mom's machine quilting and perfect thread choice was just the icing on the cake for this beauty.

Last but not least, I finished my first Bargello quilt top.  This is the perfect pattern for Tonga Strips because it takes 4 sets of 20 matching strips.  Each Tonga Strip pack has 2 sets of 20, so with 2 packages you can perfectly make this beautiful Fire & Ice Bargello.  I found this quilt very easy to make and the end result is stunning.  I can't wait to see this quilted!

That's it for now.....I have one hanging sleeve to sew on before the quilt show and then I'll be completely ready.

Fire and Ice Bargello Quilt Top