Stash Report and Stitching Time 10/27/2024

Placemats were my main quilting focus for the past week. Our guild had a community service sewing day to make placemats for Meals on Wheels on Thursday. The community service stash of fabric provided the blue and brown fabrics that I used for this group. None of these fabrics came from my stash, but I'm planning to pull some of my own blue and brown fabrics to make more.

After that, I finished off a set of placemat tops that had been assembled in August. The little bowtie blocks finish at 2" each, and many of them were made in 1999! The second photo shows the two different backing fabrics used to finish the placemats, and those fabrics also date back to at least 1999. I used 7/8 yard for the backings.

My other project for the week was joining the Birthday Blocks from Laundry Basket Quilts into a finished quilt top, which was shared in yesterday's post. The yardage used in making the blocks was already counted, but I used an additional 1.25 yards for framing the blocks.

Altogether, I used just over 2 yards of fabric last week, and there were no new fabric additions to the stash.

2024 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                  2.125 yards

Used year to date:           121.625 yards

Added last week:                    0.0 yards

Added year to date:             88.75 yards

Net used in 2024:          32.875 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 enjoyed making placemats and plan to continue with more of those, plus I need to get back to quilting one of the Rail Fence Spinners quilts.

15 Minute Challenge for 2024

10/20 - 10/26            7 of 7 days

2024 Total          295 of 300 days

Success rate               98.33 %   

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

Birthday Blocks Rainbow

One of my 2024 projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge has been the weekly Birthday Blocks at Edyta Sitar's Laundry Basket Quilts blog. Each week a new block pattern was posted, and I followed along, making the blocks in the color of the month of the RSC. Half of my blocks were made with a light background and half with dark.

When the RSC got to September and October and moved into neutral colors like black, brown, and light neutrals, I decided to stop making more blocks. I already had 36 blocks made, each finishing at 6", and I knew I'd be able to figure out a way to get a small quilt out of them.

I wanted the quilt to feature the fact that the blocks have two different backgrounds. Unfortunately, that didn't show up as well as expected in my first layout, shown above. The problem was the differing amounts of background fabric in the blocks, especially if the background wasn't at the block's outer edges. My solution was to add a 1" finished frame of background to each block, which really emphasizes the contrast of light vs. dark background fabrics. Here are a few of the blocks after framing.

To further emphasize the light/dark backgrounds, I went with a basic checkerboard layout of the blocks. They have all been joined together into a small quilt top that measures approximately 40" x 56". I expect to finish it off with a binding of the dark background fabric.

LBQ Birthday Blocks

40" x 56"

Be sure to check out all of the wonderful scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge every Saturday and Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stash Report & Stitching Time 10/20/2024

It has been a fairly busy week in the sewing room, which led to a decent amount of fabric in the outgoing tally of the stash report. Our guild is having a community service sewing day next week to make placemats for Meals on Wheels, and I made a few placemats to show as samples. The pink and brown placemats were done quilt-as-you-go style, making them very quick and easy.

I also made three placemats using some 12" blocks that were left from a long ago (late 90's?) Block of the Month at a quilt shop. They just needed the side borders added, then batting and backing.

Besides the placemats, I also finished the top for my second Rail Fence Spinners quilt, which was shared in yesterday's post. The fabric for the blocks had been counted as they were made, but this week's usage (1.25 yards) counts the setting triangles and borders.

Altogether, I used just over 4 yards of fabric last week, and there were no new fabric additions to the stash.

2024 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                  4.125 yards

Used year to date:              119.5 yards

Added last week:                    0.0 yards

Added year to date:             88.75 yards

Net used in 2024:            30.75 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. All those placemats, plus finishing the Rail Fence Spinners top, certainly filled up plenty of quilting time last week, and I've started prepping even more placemats for the week ahead.

15 Minute Challenge for 2024

10/13 - 10/19            7 of 7 days

2024 Total          288 of 293 days

Success rate               98.29 %   

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

Rail Fence Spinners--Quilt Top #2 Done!

The Rail Fence quilt collection continues to grow! This week I finished assembling the top of my second Rail Fence Spinners quilt.

Rail Fence Spinners #2, 40" x 48.5"

I was especially happy with the way the border fabric worked with the rainbow of colors in the blocks. I knew it wouldn't be possible to get the white diagonal grid design in the border and the setting triangles to line up perfectly, so the dark pink inner border is there to give a separation between them. The same dark pink will be used for the binding.

My Rail Fence collection started in 2022 as one of my projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I made blocks for a few months in 2022, then continued in 2023. At that end of that year, I was able to make two small quilts, one with the blocks set straight, and the other with the blocks on point.

Rail Fence Stairsteps, 39" x 48"

Rail Fence Zigzag, 39" x 41.25"

There was still a stack of Rail Fence blocks left after I made those two quilts. I discovered that joining them together into groups of four made pinwheel-type designs that I dubbed Spinners. I made Spinners through 2024, using up last year's Rail Fence blocks and making even more. I ended up with enough for two small quilts, the one at the top of this post, and the straight-set quilt from last week.

Rail Fence Spinners #1, 42.5" x 54.5"

I think it's time to take a break from Rail Fence blocks! I still have just a few left over, but I'm ready to move on to something new.

Be sure to check out all of the wonderful scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge every Saturday and Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housqework on Sunday. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stash Report and Stitching Time 10/13/2024

The main focus in my sewing room this week was on the Rail Fence Spinner blocks that I've been making all year as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I started the week by making five blocks, which used a total of 1/4 yard of fabric. That brought my total number of blocks up to 80.

The next step was to start stitching blocks together. I joined 48 blocks together to make a small quilt top, which you can see in yesterday's post. I used 1/2 yard of fabric for the border.

The rest of my spinner blocks are in the process of being joined together in an on-point setting. Here's the planned layout. I still need to figure out a border for this version.

2024 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                      .75 yards

Used year to date:           115.375 yards

Added last week:                    0.0 yards

Added year to date:             88.75 yards

Net used in 2024:          26.625 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. Besides the Rail Fence Spinners projects, I've also been spending plenty of time on quilt guild business.

15 Minute Challenge for 2024

10/6 - 10/12              7 of 7 days

2024 Total          281 of 286 days

Success rate               98.25 %   

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

Rail Fence Spinners Quilt Top #1

One of my 2024 projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge has been the Rail Fence Spinner blocks that I started making as a way to use up leftover Rail Fence blocks from a 2023 RSC project. I counted up my 6" blocks at the end of September and had 75. I made five more blocks using black and brown scraps, our colors for September. 

Adding those last blocks brought my block total up to 80, which could have been joined together 8 x 10 to make a small throw quilt that would measure 48" x 60" before borders. However, I couldn't decide if I liked them better set straight or on point. I chose to make both versions as baby quilts. Here is Rail Fence Spinners #1 with the blocks set in straight rows. 

Rail Fence Spinners #1

42.5" x 54.5"

I auditioned several different fabric for the border and ended up choosing this fun print with all the colors of the rainbow in it.

I've got the remaining Rail Fence Spinners blocks joined together on point, just waiting for the borders to be added. I hope to get that top done before next Saturday.

Be sure to check out all of the wonderful scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge every Saturday and Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stash Report and Stitching Time 10/6/2024

It has been a good week in the sewing room, with time to catch up on a couple of my on-going quilt projects. I made the September blocks for the RSC Hen & Chicks sampler, which I also shared in yesterday's post. These 8 blocks are so small (3" and 6" blocks) that they only used 3/8 yard of fabric. They were also quite time consuming, with plenty of small pieces. 

After that, it was a relief to switch over to the latest blocks from Jen's 2024 Color Challenge. These blocks finish at 12", which seemed massive after the tiny 3" blocks. These are the blocks for September and October, and I used 3/4 yards of fabric in them. 

I've been making two blocks each month, one using light and dark of the assigned color, and the other set of blocks all have dark blue backgrounds. I'll end up with enough blocks for two kid's quilts at the end of the year.

2024 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                  1.125 yards

Used year to date:           114.625 yards

Added last week:                    0.0 yards

Added year to date:             88.75 yards

Net used in 2024:          25.875 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 still have a couple more projects to catch up, but it feels so good to get back to making progress on them.

15 Minute Challenge for 2024

9/29 - 10/5               7 of 7 days

2024 Total          274 of 279 days

Success rate                 98.2 %   

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

Scrappy Dark Saturday

Much of my quilting time this week was spent catching up on my September blocks for the RSC Hen & Chicks Sampler. Our color assignment for the month was dark colors, and I decided to use black and grey for my blocks. It wasn't easy finding enough batik scraps in those colors.

The finished sizes of the blocks are 3" and 6". We have only one more set of blocks left to make for this sampler, and I'm planning to use brown and tan for those. Then it will be time to figure out how I want to set them all together.

Be sure to check out all of the wonderful scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge every Saturday and Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stash Report and Stitching Time 9/29/2024

My stash report for the last week doesn't show as much change as the previous few weeks, mostly because we were out of town for several days. Before we left, I was able to finish off one last set of placemats for the guild's Christmas market. These feature another very old Hoffman print.

I would have used the bright print for the placemat backs, but I didn't have enough of that fabric. Instead I combined what I had left with more of the black solid background. These 6 placemats used 2-5/8 yards of fabric. I also used 3/8 yard for the Hollow 9-Patch block shared in yesterday's post. No new fabric was added last week.

2024 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                     3.0 yards

Used year to date:              113.5 yards

Added last week:                    0.0 yards

Added year to date:             88.75 yards

Net used in 2024:            24.75 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. After finishing off the last set of placemats, I pulled out my ongoing hand stitching project, the applique hearts, to take along on our trip. That made it possible for me to get in my stitching time every day last week.

15 Minute Challenge for 2024

9/22 - 9/28               7 of 7 days

2024 Total          267 of 272 days

Success rate               98.16 %   

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

Returning to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge

September has been an unusually busy month, including two separate trips. Most of my limited quilting time has been devoted to quilt guild projects, but I finally found the time to make a set of black and grey Hollow 9-Patch blocks, one of my projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

I expect to add a set of brown blocks to the collection next month. I believe that would bring me to a total of 90 blocks. Each block will finish at 6". I will also spend October trying to catch up on the blocks that didn't get made for other RSC projects in September.

Be sure to check out all of the wonderful scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge every Saturday and Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA