30's Thursday

The latest blocks for the Sewcialites Quilt Along at the Fat Quarter Shop are up on the design wall. A new block pattern is posted every Friday, and these are numbers 6 - 10.

I'm having so much fun playing with my 30's fabrics, although making one block a week doesn't make much of a dent in the box of fabrics. My blocks will finish at 6". The patterns include instructions for 3", 6" or 9" blocks. There will be a total of 36 blocks when the QAL ends in late June. It's not too late to join the fun! The Sewcialites page at the Fat Quarter Shop blog has all the information you would need.

Cathy at Sane, Crazy, Crumby Quilting has been using her 30's fabrics too. She has finished lots more than five blocks! She gets credit for the 30's Thursday name.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

December One Monthly Goal

The One Monthly Goal (OMG) link up, hosted by Patty at Elm Street Quilts, is one that I've participated in sporadically over the past few years, with very mixed results on my success rate. I'm hoping that having more time for quilting in retirement will help improve my number of completions.

I've shown this quilt top, along with other projects, a couple times over the past few days, but decided it deserved a blog post of it's own as my One Monthly Goal.

My goal for December is to quilt and finish this little wallhanging. It measures about 28" square, and I believe it is an old Thimbleberries pattern (can anyone confirm that?) Before I can get it layered for quilting, the outer border needs to be removed and made smaller. There's definitely too much fabric around the outside edge. 

I may not get this done in time to hang it up for Christmas this year, but it would be great to have it ready to go next year.

Linking up with:

One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilts

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

To-Do Tuesday 12/1/2020

Today it's time to catch up with the To-Do Tuesday Weekly Progress Update and Link-up hosted by Roseanne and Sue at Home Sewn By Us. I spent most of last week finishing up a small quilt, but I also completed most of the other tasks on my list.

To-Do List for 11/17 - 11/23:

1. Practice What I Preach--finish quilting + binding     ✔ FINISHED!

This quilt is finished and hanging on the wall. Read more and see photos HERE.

2. Glorified 9-Patch--stitch one brown block               ✔ done

Another block hand stitched, but needs to be trimmed.

3. Frolic (Bonnie Hunter 2019 mystery)--figure out plan for borders (unless I decide to go ahead and start her new mystery) 

I didn't touch Frolic, but I did start the new mystery, Grassy Creek. Our first step is making half-square triangles. I am using a single grey fabric with my scrappy golds.

4. Sewcialites QAL--make block #10                         ✔ done

I changed the layout of my block--the original pattern had the diagonal bars pointing out toward the corners.

I'm hoping that having a to-do list will help keep me focused next week. As we get closer to Christmas, life just seems to speed up more and more.

To-Do List for 12/1 - 12/7/2020

1. Grassy Creek (Bonnie Hunter 2020 mystery)--finish step 1, start step 2

2. Sewcialites QAL--make block #11

3. Glorified 9-Patch--stitch one brown block 

4. Thimbleberries wallhanging--fix border, begin quilting

I shared this little quilt top in yesterday's post. It is an oldie that I rediscovered and would like to finish before Christmas.

That should be more than enough to keep me busy for the next week. I'll report on my progress and post a new set of goals next Tuesday. I'm linking up with other To-Do Tuesday lists at Home Sewn by Us .

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday--11/30/2020

We had a quiet Thanksgiving day here, just the two of us with way too much food. The highlight of the day was a Zoom call with my mother, siblings and their spouses, and almost all of the nieces and nephews plus their kids, including two babies born over the summer who we haven't met yet. The last time we were all together was early November of last year for a niece's wedding in Wisconsin. We are anxious to see them all again, but won't do so until it is safer to visit.

I finished the quilting and binding on a small quilt in time to put it up with the rest of the Christmas quilts. I wish I had used a brighter green fabric instead of one that looks so black, but that's the way it goes--live and learn. 

This quilt was started last year in a class with Pam Buda. She called the design "Practice What I Preach" because she taught us several different methods for making all the various units in the quilt like flying geese and half-square triangles. I haven't come up with a better name for it yet. The finished size after quilting is 41.75" square.

The next photo gives a closer view of the outline quilting of the background motifs, the very dark green/black fabric, and the spiral quilting in the red border.

While pulling out some Christmas quilts to hang up around the house, I ran across a small unquilted top that I'd forgotten. I know that several of us in our quilt guild made versions of this, and I believe it was a Thimbleberries design. According to my old notes, that was back in 2001! I think it's time to finish it off.

It looks like the outer border is too long and wavy, so the first step of finishing will be to remove that, starch the pieces, remeasure and reapply the border. Then it's time for quilting. I would love to get this little piece done in the next week or so. It would be a great addition to our holiday decor.

Linking up with:
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA 

Stitching and DeStashing--Week 48, 2020

It was a pleasant surprise when I added up my stash usage numbers for the week. I had spent most of the week concentrating on finishing a quilt, but I also worked on a couple of other projects. I used 7/8 yard for the border on Alycia's Mystery #A11 (posted HERE) and 5/8 yard to bind a wallhanging.

I also used 1/2 yard for a couple of quick napkins to use on Thanksgiving day. The placemats and tablerunner in the photo were made several years ago, and I still have extra of the same fabrics. We only needed two napkins right away, but I should go ahead and make more to have enough to match all 8 of the placemats.

The total used last week was 2 yards, and no new fabric was added. So far I've been able to resist all the black Friday sales. I should look around and figure out if I need to pick up any large pieces for backing while the prices are good.

2020 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                              2.00 yards

Used year to date:                       185.00 yards

Added last week:                              0.0 yards

Added year to date:                        64.0 yards

Net used year to date             121.00 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 majority of my quilting time for the week was spent on finishing the quilting of a wallhanging, then making and applying the binding. I will share photos of it soon.

15 Minute Challenge:  

11/22 - 11/28              7 of 7 days

2020 Total            324 of 333 days

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces. 

Happy quilting and stay safe everyone!

Julie in GA

Alycia's Mystery #A11

My latest finish is the quilt top from Alycia's most recent mystery, #A11 (she is still trying to decide on a better name!)

Mystery #A11, 60.75" x 81.75"

Alycia's mystery quilts are geared for quick assembly, with each step planned to take about an hour or so per week. Mine took longer than that because I went scrappy with the reds and blues. I also made the border with dark blue scraps.

I could tell from the very first step that the scale of the piecing would work well with my background fabric. Those big pieces in the blocks with the chains of blue squares show off the background print perfectly! The background was a line from Connecting Threads called "Hometown Summer," and the date on the selvage says 2014. That fabric had aged long enough and needed to be used!

This is the third quilt top to be finished here this month--that may be a new record for me! It feels very good to have a quick finish like this. I'm still undecided about starting Bonnie Hunter's new mystery on Friday, and we know that project will not be quick and easy with big pieces! Maybe I will concentrate on figuring out the borders for Frolic, last year's Bonnie Hunter mystery, instead of starting the new one. (Who am I kidding--that won't happen!)

I'm  linking up with Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts.

Julie in GA

To-Do Tuesday (on Wednesday) 11/25/2020

Not only did I miss posting my to-do list last week, I'm a day late getting it posted for this week. The days just run together sometimes. Today I will catch up with the To-Do Tuesday Weekly Progress Update and Link-up hosted by Roseanne and Sue at Home Sewn By Us. I finished everything on my last to-do list and need to figure out what to include on the next one.

To-Do List for 11/10 - 11/16:

1. Alaska QAL--finish joining blocks together                ✔ done

The blocks are all joined together into a finished quilt top! Blog post is HERE.

2. Alycia's QOV Mystery--do the next step                    ✔ done

The next two steps are done, which means a finished top! I will blog about this one later in the week--here's a little sneak peek photo.

3. Scrappy Bear Paws--cut the sashing, begin joining    ✔ done

Not only did I start joining blocks and sashing, I got everything stitched together into ho

yet another finished quilt top. Do you wonder why I missed posting last week? You can read more about this one HERE.

4. Glorified 9-Patch--stitch one brown block                  ✔ done

One brown block is done, another started.

To-Do List for 11/17 - 11/23:

1. Practice What I Preach--finish quilting + binding

2. Glorified 9-Patch--stitch one brown block

3. Frolic (Bonnie Hunter 2019 mystery)--figure out plan for borders (unless I decide to go ahead and start her new mystery)

4. Sewcialites QAL--make block #10

That should be more than enough to keep me busy for the next week. I'll report on my progress and post a new set of goals next Tuesday. I'm linking up with other To-Do Tuesday lists at Home Sewn by Us .

Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving everyone!

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 11/23/2020

Alycia posted the final step of the most recent Quilt of Valor mystery last week. You can find out more about it on her website HERE. I've started stitching my rows of sashing to the rows of blocks. You can see five sets up on the design wall, and there are two more at the ironing board waiting to be pressed.

All that's left to do after I get the rows stitched together is to add one border, blue with red cornerstones. Since my blocks are scrappy, I will probably make the blue border scrappy too. I hope to have this top finished very soon!

Linking up with:
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA 

Stitching and DeStashing--Week 47, 2020

There has been a flurry of quilt assembly happening around here lately, with two quilt tops completed in recent weeks. The latest was the Scrappy Bear Paws quilt, a Rainbow Scrap Challenge project which I showed in yesterday's post. I had been making one block per month and counting that fabric usage in the stash report each month. The final usage was 1.75 yards for the pretty blue sashing, setting triangles and borders on the quilt.

Another project this week that used up part of the stash was modifications on some pajama pants, replacing the waist casings on two pairs and adding pockets to another. It may not involve quilting, but the fabrics, shown in the photo below, are quilting weight novelty prints.  5/8 yard used. No new fabric added to the stash this week

2020 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                            2.375 yards

Used year to date:                       183.00 yards

Added last week:                              0.0 yards

Added year to date:                        64.0 yards

Net used year to date             119.00 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. Since finishing the Bear Paws top, I've been catching up on a few different projects and trying to clean up the sewing room a bit.

15 Minute Challenge:  

11/15 - 11/21              7 of 7 days

2020 Total            317 of 326 days

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces. 

Happy quilting and stay safe everyone!

Julie in GA

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 47, 2020

My first project for the 2020 Rainbow Scrap Challenge is now a completed quilt top! This is my Scrappy Bear Paws quilt.

Scrappy Bear Paws, 47.75" x 68.75"

Finishing this quilt top was definitely one of those cases of the quilt letting me know what needed to be done. I was determined to finish this quilt with fabrics from my stash. Many different fabrics were auditioned for the sashing and setting triangles, and I shared some of those options in last week's post. Then I tried the light blue fabrics, and it brought a huge sigh of relief--there's the right answer!

That's one rainbow project assembled, with one more still to be done before the end of the year. I'm also playing with ideas for next year's RSC projects.

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. I hope you are all staying well and getting lots of quilting done!

Julie in GA