First Finishes of 2017 & FNwF

 My first finish of 2017 came from the UFO pile! My sister sent my mom and I blocks using the Moda Sampler Block Shuffle patterns and Bonnie and Camille's Hello Darling fabrics starting in January of 2016. The blocks were fun to make and finished at six inches--I have had the blocks done for a long time. In the fall, I had picked up the aqua dot fabric from Joann's on the clearance for $3.50 a yard. I came across everything when I was reorganizing my sewing room this last week, so I decided to put my extra day off on Friday--an unexpected snow day--to work on finishing this up.

 I got it all pieced on Friday and then spent Friday Night with Friends (FNwF) marking it for quilting.  My cross hatch quilting is at a 45 degree angle and about 1.5 inches apart on both diagonals. This is pretty easy to quilt this design with the help of a walking foot and pencil. I used a number 2 mechanical pencil and my big ruler to mark the quilt.

You can find out what everyone else worked on Friday night here:

https://stitchingcubbyhole.blogspot.com/2017/01/all-starts-again.html

I got it pinned and all quilted up yesterday. I trimmed it and attached the binding last night.

Here is the backing--the red and pink--it was also a Joann clearance fabric for $3.50 a yard. I added a B&C strip of fabric to make it wide enough. I spent most of today stitching the binding down for Slow Sunday Stitching:

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2017/01/slow-sunday-stitching.html

I will get better pictures, but it was already dark when I got it out of the dryer a little while ago. My sister wanted to know what I am going to do with it--it has shrank enough to fit in a space in my sewing room and coordinates with my new color scheme-- it will be MINE!

Speaking of my color scheme, my handy hubby finished painting my ironing station cabinet (this was an old cabinet from the garage that was here when we moved in) and delivered it to my sewing room today. The aqua is the cabinet--he used Behr paint from Home Depot called "Rainwater" and the black and white is 100% cotton canvas from Joann's.

He had originally cut the plywood for the top at 30x72 inches, but I decided it was too big for my tiny space. My sewing room is 12x12 feet with a small walk in closet. He took it back and trimmed it down to 24x60 inches and then covered it with four layers of cotton batting and the canvas. I picked up some black fabric cubes for the underneath storage, but I am rethinking that. My daughter saw some wooden crates with chalkboards at Walmart that I will be checking out after work tomorrow. They are a little more expensive than I planned, but just may be worth it.

I love my ironing station! Now, my ironing board is not in the middle of my room and I gained some storage. Previously, I had my hope chest in this spot and of course it was loaded up with completed quilts and UFOs. They were all moved to the guest room--see I gained more storage. Plus, the table that left the guest room to make room for my hope chest is a vintage Duncan and Phyfe drop leaf that will be going to the consignment store to be sold for more decorating money!

So there you have it, two finishes for 2017 a quilt one and a furniture one! But alas, I cannot take credit for the furniture finish that was all my hubby and I am already plotting my next idea--a design wall...Don't tell him! I will probably suggest it for my Valentine's Day, then how can he say no? 

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