FAL Q3 Link Up

Hello everyone! It is time for Quarter 3 of the Finish-A-Long (FAL)!

As you can see, a new quarter of the Finish-A-Long is starting today.  If you missed participating the first half of the year, you can join us now for a brand new start. Those of you who did join us for the first and second quarter, thank you and I do hope you finished some things and plan to continue on with us for Q3.

So let's get to it!
You can now link up your list of projects that you want to finish in Quarter 3 of 2019. We are hoping that the FAL community will inspire you to work on your unfinished projects this quarter, and to get them finished!

Our 2019 Finish-A-Long Hosts

The 2019 FAL is hosted by a great community of bloggers. This year our hosts are:

• Sandra - Sew of Course - Ireland
• Marci - Marci Girl Designs - USA Louisiana
• Leanne - She Can Quilt - Canada
• Ella - Throw a Wench in the Works - USA Georgia
• Karen - Capitola Quilter - USA California
• Lynne - Tinking Along - USA Maryland
• Izzy - Dizzy Quilts - Canada
• Sarah G - Sarah Goer Quilts - USA California
• Sarah Z - Cedar Fork Stitches - USA Montana
• Julie - That’s Sew Julie - USA Iowa
• Sharla - Thistle Thicket Studio - USA Kansas
• Nicole - Handwrought Quilts - Canada

For those of you who are new to the FAL, here is an explanation: The Finish-A-Long is a community aiming to motivate and encourage each other to complete those unfinished projects that are hanging around, sometimes for far too long. At the start of the quarter you post and link up a list of projects you hope to finish in the next three months. Then, at the end of the quarter, you link up each successful finish from your original list.

Each linked up finish is an entry into the draw for wonderful prizes from our sponsors. There is no penalty for not finishing a listed project, so feel free to make your list as long or as short as you wish. The 2019 Schedule and Rules for the FAL are on my permanent 2019 FAL page, let me know if you have any questions.

Our 2019 Finish-A-Long Sponsors

Here are the fantastic and generous sponsors for Q3 of the Finish-A-Long. you can see each of their prizes listed under their logo. Please think about visiting them and saying thank you for their their support of the FAL.

Winner's Choice of 1 Large 12 Spool Collection

$80 Gift Certificate

$50 Gift Certificate

$50 Gift Certificate

$25 Gift Certificate

3 PDF Patterns

2 PDF Patterns

2 PDF Patterns

1 Six Month Subscription

2 PDF Patterns

$30 Fabric Voucher

Make your Q3 List of Unfinished Projects

So now it is time to sort out the projects/UFOs/WIPs that you want to finish over the next three months. Take a photo of each one and make your list. If you like you can use our Finish-A-Long Planner to list your projects and keep track of progress. It also has all link-up dates for the year, and the hashtags that we would use. Or use any method that works for you. Please ensure that you have at least STARTED your projects - pulled fabric with a pattern is considered a project started - and remember it is only a FINISHED project that will get you an entry toward the above listed prizes. So while we love to see your bee blocks, the "finish" is when they are a completed, usable project.

Post Your Q3 List

Post your list either on your blog, on Instagram, or on Flickr if you prefer. If posting on social media (Flickr, Instagram), it will be very helpful if you tag your list with #2019FALQ3yourname (where yourname is unique to you). Using the same hashtag over the quarter when sharing project progress or finishes helps the host to make the connection to your original list quickly and easily.
IMPORTANT: Don't forget to link up your finishes at the end of the quarter! We will be posting a reminder on the blog and on Instagram, but do keep an eye out...

Link-up Your Q3 List

The 2019 Q3 link for your list of proposed finishes is now open below, on my blog and on each of the hosting blogs. You need only link your list once, on ONE host blog, and the link will show up on all the host blogs. If you are using Flickr or Instagram, post a mosaic of your projects and put your list in the description. Don't forget to include your unique hashtag.
If you need a little help, Katy of The Littlest Thistle has a great tutorial on how to link up if you need it, and Marci has a post on how to link up from Instagram.

Join the FAL Community

We also ask that you become part of the FAL community. Please check out the links of others - visit and comment on their lists. We all need encouragement to get those finishes done, so please share some of your own too.

If you want you can follow us on Facebook: Finish-A-Long and/or on Instagram: @finishalong, too. We'll post encouragement during the quarter and reminders when the finishes link up opens at the end of the quarter.

When creating your list there is one thing to remember - No deductions for not completing something so - Aim High! Nothing to lose!! Well now, get that list together and get linked up.

LET THE FUN BEGIN!

Feel free to use and share the FAL button at the top and this one too:

Remember: you only need to link up at ONE hosting blog and it will automatically show up on all hosting blogs.

An InLinkz Link-up

FAL Q2 Tutorials and Link Up Reminder

Today I'm popping in for a quick reminder that the Quarter 2 link up for all your finishes closes on Tuesday, July 9, 2019 at 11 pm EST.  So you still have a few more days to finish that project or two and link them up to be eligible for prizes.  The link up can be found HERE or on any of the 2019 FAL hosts blogs.


A few reminders for linking up:

• Please only one finished project for each post that you link up, so that each finish can be an entry in the (random) prize draw. 
• Please include a link to your original list in each post of your finishes (on Instagram the link is the unique tag #2019FALQ2yourname to be used in the Q2 list post, and in any Q2 finish post).
• Please visit some of the other participants and leave a friendly comment, we all love to get those! 

I also wanted to share with you that we just wrapped up "Tutorial Week" which has been part of the Finish-A-Long since it's inception.  The tutorials are varied, interesting, and usually helpful, so take some time to investigate and visit the blogs below!

• July 2, 2019 - Marci of Marci Girl Designs - Fabric Ball Tutorial
• July 3, 2019 - Karen of Capitola Quilter - "In A Bubble" Quilt Block
• July 4, 2019 - Izzy of Dizzy Quilts - Simple and Quick Quilt Labels
• July 5, 2019 - Julie of That's Sew Julie - Crochet Self-Folding Hot Pad

And whether you had a lot of finishes, or none at all this quarter, or you missed Finish-A-Long Q2 altogether, you can always join in for Quarter 3 which is taking off on July 10th, with the link up opening for your List of Proposed Finishes. We hope you will join us!

Crochet Self-folding Hot Pad Tutorial

My friend showed me her favorite crochet hot pad.  It was a self-folding one that had been made years ago.  I studied it for a few minutes and I decided to go home and give it a try.  It was so super easy! Now I'm going to show you how it's done.

I took a ton of pictures to help guide you step by step making this. With this pattern size you can get one hot pad out of a Peaches and Cream cotton 120 yard skein. 

Note: The solid colors have 120 yds per skein but the variegated only have 95 yds.  For the solid chain 33 but for the variegated only chain 30 (and it's tight if you tend toward loose crochet better stick to 29). 

Supplies:
1 ball of Cotton yarn - 2 or 2.5 ounces
YARN MUST BE COTTON! Otherwise, when used as a hot pad, it will melt to whatever you touch it to.
H size crochet hook
Yarn needle

Pattern:

Chain 30 (or 33 for solids)

Turn skip one chain space.

Make 3 single crochet (sc) in the second from the hook.

Make a single crochet in each chain across stopping one from the end.

Make three SC in the last chain. This will help you start to work the other side of the chain.

This is what it looks like when you've done the three single crochets in the last chain. You are now oriented to work on the wrong side of the chain or the braided looking side.

Simply put one single crochet in each chain space across.

You'll notice a bump at the end. You work right up until you get to the bump with your single crochet.

Once you get to the bump you've reached the three single crochets you did at the start of the last row. Do not join or turn your work.

Put a single crochet in the first of the group of three and then continue around putting one single crochet in each stitch. You will do this until it is hot pad sized.

More pictures just adding a single crochet to each stitch.

At this point my kids said it looked like bacon.

As you keep going the ends will start to curl over. This is normal and should happen to help your hot pad be self-folding.

As you keep working the side folds will get larger.

At this point I have made enough rounds of single crochet. The centers naturally come together and I'm ready to whip stitch in place. Cut a tail 24" long and fasten off.

Now get your yarn needle and sew the ends together. Just whip stitch them by putting the needle down through a stitch on one side and then back up another stitch on the other side.

Here's a close up of what it looks like sewing the ends together.

Tie a knot in the end and weave in the remaining yarn.

Here are some samples in a few other colors...

In payment for making washcloths for my friend I got this fabulous yarn! I was so excited to have Christmas hot pads on my table this year. It's funny because they are both the same yarn but I made one slightly smaller than the other and the variegation worked out in such a way to produce blobs of color. It was so weird!  The larger one I chained 35 and used the leftover yarn from this small one which I chained 30 on the first step.

These are two more I made in a different color way.  The purple, blue, and green worked really well together.

FAL Q2 Link Up

We have reached the end of Quarter 2 of the 2019 Finish-A-Long already!!  Of course, that means it is now time to link up those finishes from the list you linked up in April. We hope that you have been able to complete a bunch of the UFOs on your list and if you haven't, we'll do it all over again for Quarter 3...

The 2019 FAL is hosted by a great community of bloggers. This year our hosts are:

• Marci - Marci Girl Designs - USA Louisiana
• Sandra - Sew of Course - Ireland
• Leanne - She Can Quilt - Canada
• Ella - Throw a Wench in the Works - USA Georgia
• Karen - Capitola Quilter - USA California
• Lynne - Tinking Along - USA Maryland
• Izzy - Dizzy Quilts - Canada
• Sarah G - Sarah Goer Quilts - USA California
• Sarah Z - Cedar Fork Stitches - USA Montana
• Julie - That’s Sew Julie - USA Iowa
• Sharla - Thistle Thicket Studio - USA Kansas
• Nicole - Handwrought Quilts - Canada

Each finish you link up will be in the draw for great prizes, so let's give a huge thank you to our fantastic sponsors:

Winner's Choice of 1 Large 12 Spool Collection

$80 Gift Certificate

$50 Gift Certificate

$50 Gift Certificate

$25 Gift Certificate

3 PDF Patterns

2 PDF Patterns

2 PDF Patterns

1 Six Month Subscription

2 PDF Patterns

$30 Fabric Voucher

The 2019 Quarter 2 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 all host blogs.

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 ensure that the photo (Instagram or Flickr) 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, too). On Instagram the best way to do that is to tag your photos with #2019FALQ2yourname (where yourname is unique to you), this makes it easier for us to match your finishes with your list, which also should have this tag.

Please become part of the FAL community.  Check out the links of others and leave a comment. We all need encouragement so let's applaud each other.  The 2019 FAL Facebook page is HERE and you can follow us on Instagram @finishalong.

Our hosts will also link up their finishes to share in the community but they are not eligible for any of the prizes.

The Q2 Finishes link will stay open from now thru 11 pm, EST, Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - as we are global, you might want to check your time zone to determine your last possible time to link. You can also see how much time is left below the linked up images on the right.  It is best to 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 host's blog.

Lastly, don't forget to start making your Q3 list as the next LIST link opens on Wednesday, July 10, 2019.

2019 Q2 Finishes Link Up:

An InLinkz Link-up