CHARM ABOUT YOU

It might be hard to believe but we have made it to the end of the second quarter of the 2017 FAL and it's time to link up your Q2 finishes!

The 2017 Q2 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":

And don't forget to start making your Q3 lists as the Q3 list link opens on July 2nd.

The FAL is hosted by a community of bloggers across the world. Our hosts are:

For those of you who are new to the FAL, it is a place to find motivation and encouragement to complete those unfinished projects that are hanging about becoming UFOs. Every quarter you post a list of projects you hope to finish in the next three months, and then at the end of the quarter, you post a link from your blog, Flickr or Instagram of each successful finish from your original list. Each finish is an entry for wonderful prizes from our sponsors. There is no penalty for not finishing a listed project, so feel free to make your list long or short, as you wish. The 2017 Schedule and Rules for the FAL are on my permanent FAL page, let me know if you have any questions. Here are the fantastic and generous sponsors for Q2 of the FAL - you can see each of their prizes listed under their logo (think about visiting them and saying thank you):
 

As you may recall from last year, there was a return of tutorial week at the end of each quarter, between the opening of the link for finishes and the day that link closes. Are you enjoying this? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below! This will take place each quarter. Each host works hard to put these together so I hope you are visiting their blogs to encourage them. If you have a tutorial that you would like to share, please let me or another host know. It's time to round up those projects you want to finish over the next three months, take a photo of each one and make your list. Please ensure that you have at least started your projects - pulled fabric with a pattern is now considered a UFO, and remember it is only finished projects 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. It is very helpful if you tag your list as #2017FALQ2yourname when posting on social media: Flickr, Facebook & Instagram. Using the same hashtag over the quarter when sharing progress or finishes before the link, helps the hosts find your original list quickly - especially when this is done over a 3 month period. IMPORTANT: Don't forget to link your finishes up when the quarter closes.

If you are using Facebook, Flickr or Instagram, link a mosaic and put your list in the description. Katy of The Littlest Thistle has a great tutorial on how to link-up if you need it. 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. 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 those lists together and get linked up. The Q2 proposed finish linky party will stay open until 11 pm EST, April 8, 2017- as we are global, you might want to check your time zone to determine your last possible time to link. Remember: you only need to link up on ONE hosting blog and it will automatically show up on all hosting blogs.

I haven't done much this week, there's a bright shiny thing in the sky that keeps distracting me and making me want to be outside!! We don't usually get much sun here, not in April anyway, so we're making the most of it and hanging out in the garden.

A good place to work on my green tea and sweet beans blocks though and I managed a little bit more appliqué:

Today I had intended to finish up Catherine's row for Bee A Brit Stingy but that will have to get done tomorrow because today was taken up with playing, cooking and eating. I made some biscuits (cookies if you prefer) from oats, butter, wholewheat flour, almonds, honey, sugar and a linseed mix that had goji berries, pumpkin and sunflower seeds in it. Now I decided to go sugar free for April so I didn't have any but the kids loved them! The sugar free things is going well, I'm losing weight and only cheated a couple of times (may have involved my sister and a small glass of coke and my mum's birthday and a profiterole!!). We've mostly been enjoying lots of fruit - I'm only giving up processed sugar - and Lois happily had a plum.

 (excuse the creases. I only pressed the 'outside'!)

That's finish off my Q2 Finish-Along list and a happy Nanny with warm tea!

A reminder in case you missed it, Black Sheep Wools are having a 20% off sale - that includes fabric! Enter code BSW20 at checkout to take 20% off your basket. They stock Tula Pink, Denyse Schmidt and other great designers so jump over and take advantage, the offer ends 9am BST tomorrow (23/4/15). If you miss that you can still use the code CHARMED10 to take 10% off (valid until 20/8/15)!