September NewFO Linky Party and Giveaway

Another month has passed already, and it's getting dangerously close to Christmas.  Have you started anything new this month?  Anything for Christmas per chance?  Well I don't have a thing started for Christmas, so don't feel bad.  Either way, it's time to show off your September starts.

My NewFO's for September were small projects, and so I violated the rules of the NewFO challenge (all starts and no finishes required) and finished both projects.  The first is a little wall hanging I made for the Dots on Dots Blog Hop.  Did you enjoy the hop?  It was fun, huh?  How could it be anything other than fun with all those polka dots in the mix?  Here's my project, called Smitty's World

It was polka dots all the way, including the back.

Then, I made a doll quilt for my partner in the monthly Doll Quilt Swap.  

The doll quilt swap is always looking for new members, so check out the blog and join in if you like!  Even if you don't join us, you can follow along.  We have a talented and enthusiastic group of swappers, and the quilts are always adorable.

The theme for September was "Harvest Time".  This is the quilt I made for my partner.  It is 19 x 25 inches.  I adapted the design from a free pattern I found at TLC Home.

The quilt is raw edge applique and features raffia at the feet, hands, and neck of the scarecrow.  

The raffia wanted to fight me a little bit, but I cut the strings longer than I needed them and first appliqued them down.  Then I set my straight stitch very tiny and stitched over the edges of the applique twice to hold them in place.  They didn't give me any more trouble after that.  (Never underestimate the power of a woman and her sewing machine.)  Then I trimmed them to the length I wanted.

I used regular straight stitching for the top-stitching on the pumpkins and the leaves and then free motion quilted it.

I used the same "court jester" motif that we learned in the August FMQ Challenge.  (My sincere thanks  to Wendy Sheppard!)

That was the extent of my sewing for September because we took off on a trip September 8th and only returned home a few days ago.  But I couldn't possibly leave you hanging out there with all those new starts to show off, so I scheduled this party ahead!  

Don't let my finishes scare you off because finishes are definitely not required in this challenge.  The only thing you need to do to link up is to start something new during the month.  And if you link up, you'll be entered to win this month's quilt pin:

To win, please link-up with your newly started projects, finished or not.  If you feel like it, show us the progress you've made on your other 2012 NewFO projects.  Please link to your blog post, not your blog.  To do that, just click on the title of your post to isolate it from the rest of your blog.  Then copy the URL and use that to link up.  If you have questions about how to do that or about how to link up, please email me.  And if you're having trouble posting your image, email it to me as an attachment, and I'll do it for you.

I'm looking forward to see your new projects!  I'll leave this linky open for one week...until 10/7 and then announce the winner.  International entries are welcome.  Party on!

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