Design Wall Monday 9/29/2025

There is a brand new project up on my design wall this week! This is my Exploring Complex Curves quilt top. I think it looks like planets and the moon in the night sky.

Exploring Complex Curves, 24.5" square

I'm not terribly up to date on what's happening in the modern quilt world, but I did go to QuiltCon when it was here in Atlanta in 2023, and that's when I first saw some of Audrey Esarey's works. Let me tell you, they knocked me out! My favorite was her quilt Aura No.1, which took 1st place in the Minimalist Design category. 

Aura No.1, 2022 by Audrey Esarey

The simplicity of this quilt blew my mind. Audrey explained in her presentation to the guild that there are only two seams in this quilt, one on each side of the light blue ring which is pieced, not appliqued, to the purple background. It looks like the background is four squares pieced together, but it is actually a single piece of fabric, and the different colors of her quilting stitching are what make the color change. You can see many more of her amazing quilts on the gallery page of her website Cotton and Bourbon.

I had the very good fortune to get a spot in one of Audrey's workshops over the weekend. Our class was called Drafting Complex Curves. We learned how to draft our own patterns with curves, then we also did some piecing of curves. We began by drafting a Drunkard's Path block, and then we pieced that block in fabric. No more need to buy acrylic templates for this kind of block.

Drunkard's Path block, 6.5" square

The next exercise was making a larger piece with curves. We had the choice of doing the Quick Curves exercise... 

Quick Curves exercise, 13" x 17"

or we could start with the larger Exploring Complex Curves piece. Since I already had a fair amount of experience with sewing curves, I dove right into the larger project, which is the piece shown at the top of this post. I made the Quick Curves block the next day, and added borders to get it to the right size for a placemat.

Here are all three of my pieces together.

The workshop was very informative and a lot of fun. Audrey is an excellent teacher who really makes both the drafting and the piecing part of dealing with curves manageable. I hope to be able to take more classes with her in the future. She has a wide variety of quilt patterns available on her website Cotton and Bourbon, and she teaches some of her patterns as virtual classes. I urge you to check out her amazing quilts!

I'm  linking up with:

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Monday Musings at Songbird Designs

Wednesday Wait Loss at Inquiring Quilter 

Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stash Report and Stitching Time 9/28/2025

For the first time this month, my stash report finally includes some fabric used! It's not a large amount, 2 yards for my finished Mondo Bag, but it feels good to have a finished project that was totally made from my stash. 

In the good news/bad news category, I had a chance to do a little shopping at Hancock's of Paducah last week. It's always fun to get in there and see what's new, but it's usually bad news for my stash report. 

Fortunately, I was able to restrain myself and ended up with only 4 yards added to the stash. The two turquoise pieces look very similar, but they are different fabrics. The bright dots fabric was bought to replace a similar piece that was recently used up.

2025 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                   2.0 yards

Used year to date:            50.25 yards

Added last week:                 4.0 yards

Added year to date:        62.375 yards

Net added in 2025:    12.125 yards

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces has us tracking how many days each week we get in at least 15 minutes of quilting time. The visit to Hancock's last week was part of a long weekend trip to St. Louis, which cut into my quilting time a bit. There was one day during that time away from home that I didn't do any quilting.

15 Minute Challenge for 2025

9/14 - 9/27           13 of 14 days

2025 Total         267 of 270 days

Success rate              98.89 %   

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces. Thanks so much to Donna and Kate for continuing to host these link-ups. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Mondo Bag Finished!

I have a finish! This is my Mondo bag, which was started a couple weeks ago in a guild workshop led by Martha, one of our members. Most of my fabrics were leftovers from a previous project, all of them batiks. This photo gives a hint of how big this bag is--it is hanging in front of a louvered panel that measures 15" across. The body of the bag is made from 192 squares that were cut at 2.5".

The lining  was cut from stash yardage of a dark blue mottled batik. I included two contrast pockets inside plus a key clip. The lining color is lighter in the photo than in real life because I had to use a flash for the interior photo. 

Here's a closer look at the batiks used for the outside of the bag.

I've already got a few things loaded up in my new bag, ready to take it to our next guild meeting on Thursday. I keep thinking about other color combinations that I could put together for the next one!

Linking up with:

Wednesday Wait Loss at Inquiring Quilter

Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stash Report and Stitching Time 9/14/2025

Once again, there were no changes to my stash numbers for the past week. I finished the Mondo bag that I shared in last week's post, but I'm holding off on reporting the fabric used until I get some photos and write up my blog post about it. I didn't buy any new fabric last week, but I did get a new pattern for an upcoming class that I hope to attend.

This is Mobius Radial by Audrey Esarey, a well-known modern quilter. Check out her website HERE. I'm on the waitlist for the workshop at the end of the month, and I really hope there will be an opening for me. If not, I'll just have to make it on my own at home.

2025 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                   0.0 yards

Used year to date:            48.25 yards

Added last week:                 0.0 yards

Added year to date:        58.375 yards

Net added in 2025:    10.125 yards

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces has us tracking how many days each week we get in at least 15 minutes of quilting time. I worked on a wide variety of projects last week, including finishing the Mondo bag, making a batch of blocks for my Temperature quilt, and starting the machine quilting on a kid's quilt.

15 Minute Challenge for 2025

9/7 - 9/13                7 of 7 days

2025 Total         254 of 256 days

Success rate                99.2 %   

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces. Thanks so much to Donna and Kate for continuing to host these link-ups. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stash Report and Stitching Time 9/7/2025

There are no changes to my stash report for the past week. Our guild held a Mondo bag workshop on Friday, and I was able to pull together a collection of scraps and other fabrics from my stash for that project, but I still need to add up the total usage once I get my bag done. Here are some of the fabrics used for the bag.

2025 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                   0.0 yards

Used year to date:            48.25 yards

Added last week:                 0.0 yards

Added year to date:        58.375 yards

Net added in 2025:    10.125 yards

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces has us tracking how many days each week we get in at least 15 minutes of quilting time. I've been busy catching up on guild business, but I did finish a couple more of the applique blocks that were prepped before our recent trip, plus I attended the Mondo bag workshop. I hope to share that as a finished project very soon.

15 Minute Challenge for 2025

8/31 - 9/6                7 of 7 days

2025 Total         247 of 249 days

Success rate              99.20 %   

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces. Thanks so much to Donna and Kate for continuing to host these link-ups. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stash Report and Stitching Time 8/31/2025

My stash report posts (and all other blog posts) have been missing in action since early in the month, but I have a good reason--we went to Alaska! It was the trip of a lifetime, with time spent in Anchorage and at Denali National Park, followed by a fantastic cruise from Seward to Vancouver, BC. We got home late Monday night, and I'm finally feeling like I've adjusted back to normal life.

We saw all sorts of wildlife, plus lots of amazing scenery, but I thought I would share a couple of photos geared more to the quilting audience. This garment was in the Anchorage Museum, but I don't have any information about it.

We saw this wall of hexie panels outside a food court in Seward.

There are some small changes to the stash that have happened this month. Of course I visited quilt shops when I had the chance in Alaska, but showed great restraint in my purchases, adding less than 2 yards to the stash (some fat quarters and one panel.) We didn't see the Aurora Borealis, but these remind me of it.

The usage for the month happened before we left town. I used 1-5/8 yards to enlarge both the top and the back of my Star Pulse quilt, plus the binding (see it HERE.) I also used 1/2 yard for a simple tote bag made as a guild project.

2025 STASH TOTALS

Used in August:                2.125 yards

Used year to date:            48.25 yards

Added in August:              1.875 yards

Added year to date:        58.375 yards

Net added in 2025:    10.125 yards

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces has us tracking how many days each week we get in at least 15 minutes of quilting time. Thanks to lots of prep before we left for Alaska, I had plenty of applique with me and found time to work on it every day except one. It sure felt good to get back to my sewing room this week!

15 Minute Challenge for 2025

8/3 - 8/30             27 of 28 days

2025 Total         240 of 242 days

Success rate              99.17 %   

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces. Thanks so much to Donna and Kate for continuing to host these link-ups. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Star Pulse is a Finished Quilt!

Star Pulse started as a quilt-along and pattern by Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl. The quilt-along ran from November 2023 until June of 2024. My quilt top was made in June 2024 with the intention of entering it into a challenge at the Great Wisconsin Quilt Show, but it didn't get quilted in time to be entered. This year it was added to my list for the guild's UFO Challenge, and now I can present my finished Star Pulse quilt!

Star Pulse, 41.5" square

Yvonne's pattern makes a quilt that finishes at either 60" square or 60" x 72". The rules for the quilt challenge required that it finish at 30" x 40". For my original quilt top, I made the units in the quilt half the size of Yvonne's pattern and adjusted the rows at the top and bottom to get it to the right size.

Star Pulse quilt top 2024

30" x 40"

When I pulled this quilt top out for finishing earlier this summer, I decided that I would like it better if it were extended at the sides to complete the design. I'm so glad that I took the time to make that change because I'm much happier with the way it looks now.

Star Pulse quilt top before quilting

My quilting is very simple, and for the most part it barely shows. I would have stitched in the ditch next to the red, but that didn't work because my seams were all pressed open as suggested in the pattern. Instead, I quilted very close to the red bands, then added a triple star quilted in red at the center of the quilt. 

I had marked the center star with a blue wash-out marker, and it hasn't been washed away completely yet, just spritzed with a spray bottle. Unfortunately, spraying to remove the blue marks made the red dye run in a few spots. You can see traces of it in the music note fabric right next to the red. I'm very frustrated by that because I tested the fabrics before  making the quilting, and there wasn't any bleeding on the sample piece. I'll need to work on soaking that out later.

Backing fabric

That's one more finished project crossed off my UFO Challenge list. You can find more information about Yvonne's Star Pulse Quilt Along at her website, or go straight to her store to buy the pattern.

Linking up with:

Favorite Finish for August 2025 at Quilting Jetgirl

Wednesday Wait Loss at Inquiring Quilter

Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stash Report and Stitching Time 8/3/2025

My stash report doesn't show any changes for the past week. Most of my quilting time was spent on quilt guild projects with fabric that did not come from my stash. I also worked on quilting a small quilt, but all of the fabric used in that project has already been reported.

July 2025, Temperature Quilt blocks

I did spend some time yesterday getting caught up on making blocks for my temperature quilt. When I put them up on the wall together, it was quite a surprise  to see how little variation there had been in temperatures for the month of July. The diamonds in the blocks indicate the high temperature for each day, and they varied from 86 degrees up to 99 just a few days ago. Each color represents a 3 degree range of temperature. 

The background in each block indicates the low temp for that day, and the lack of variety there is especially striking. Except for the one block in the top row with the greenish-yellow background, there are only two other fabrics for the lows. The yellow is for lows of 73-75 degrees, and the deep orange shows lows of 76-78 degrees. It was a very warm month, but we are now getting a dramatic change for the next several days, with forecasts for our high temps in the mid 70's. 

I'll add up the yardage used for these blocks at a later date, probably combining it with the temperature blocks from another month or two.

2025 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                  0.0 yards

Used year to date:         46.125 yards

Added last week:                0.0 yards

Added year to date:           56.5 yards

Net added in 2025:    10.375 yards

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces has us tracking how many days each week we get in at least 15 minutes of quilting time. Along with the temperature blocks, I machine quilted a small quilt plus enjoyed a guild sewing day working on a community service project. It was another 7-for-7 week!

15 Minute Challenge for 2025

7/27 - 8/2                7 of 7 days

2025 Total         213 of 214 days

Success rate                99.5 %   

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces. Thanks so much to Donna and Kate for continuing to host these link-ups. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stash Report and Stitching Time 7/27/2025

My stash report is currently headed in the wrong direction, with the addition of some new fabric but no usage to report for this week. I've spent plenty of time sewing, but most of it used fabric that had either already been counted in an earlier stash report, or the fabric used didn't come from my stash, like a new guild project.

The fabrics added to the stash were purchased to supplement what I already have been using for my temperature quilt. I was worried about running out of some colors before the end of the year. I might not need all of them, but I'd rather have extra than run short. The fabric line is "Glaze" by Libs Elliott for Andover. 5.5 yards added to the stash.

2025 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                  0.0 yards

Used year to date:         46.125 yards

Added last week:                5.5 yards

Added year to date:           56.5 yards

Net added in 2025:    10.375 yards

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces has us tracking how many days each week we get in at least 15 minutes of quilting time. I finished joining blocks together for a small quilt top at the beginning of the week. After that, most of my quilting time was centered on an upcoming guild project, making library tote bags. 

My first challenge was figuring out how to use a friend's overlock machine, because she is going to be out of town for our sewing day next week. Unfortunately, I broke a needle on my first attempt, which delayed progress for a couple days. I was able to get the machine running properly by the end of the week and finished off a couple of tote bags. I also cut out 30-35 more bags for our upcoming sewing day, all from fabric that had been donated.

15 Minute Challenge for 2025

7/20 - 7/26              7 of 7 days

2025 Total         206 of 207 days

Success rate                99.5 %   

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces. Thanks so much to Donna and Kate for continuing to host these link-ups. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday

The main design wall in my sewing room has the blocks for a project that originated almost three years ago when I won a container full of triangle cut-offs at our guild auction. I blogged about this project for the first time HERE. I stitched the pieces into half-square triangles as my leader and ender project for many months, then later joined the HSTs into groups of four to make pinwheel blocks. Each pinwheel block was trimmed down to 3" square (2.5" finished size.) Here's one group of blocks made in 2023.

Earlier this year I made the last pinwheel blocks, ending up with a total of close to 370 blocks. I sorted them into groups by color, then arranged them on the wall in concentric rings. The colors blend together more than I anticipated (except for the light/cream blocks,) but I like the way they work together. This layout used 340 blocks, set 17 across and 20 high.

I started stitching the blocks together over the weekend. Getting all those triangle points to match where the blocks come together is challenging, and getting the seams to lay flat when I press them isn't easy either. I started with the lower half of the quilt, dividing it into four groups. Each group is 10 blocks high, and most are 4 blocks wide, but one of them has 5 across.

When the blocks had been assembled into the four groups, it was time to join the sections to one another. The lower half of the quilt is together!

I hope to have enough time in the next few days to get the rest of these little pinwheels joined together. This quilt top is one of the projects on my list for the guild's UFO Challenge, which has really helped motivate me to get it done!

I'm  linking up with:

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Monday Musings at Songbird Designs

Wednesday Wait Loss at Inquiring Quilter

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA