Placemat Prep

In anticipation of an upcoming Community Service sewing day for our guild, I spent much of my quilting time last week piecing together some placemat tops. The finished placemats will be donated by the guild to the local chapter of Meals of Wheels for distribution to their clients.

The photo above shows just a few of the placemats I've been making. There are more copies of each design, with a total of 19 placemat tops at this time. My starting point for all of these was my box of orphan/leftover and sample blocks. It's funny to see them up on the wall together and realize that they all feature green and orange as main colors. I guess that's a combination I've always liked. Or maybe it's just the color combo I was in the mood to play with last week.

The Ohio Stars placemats were made from sample blocks for a quilt made in 2002 when I was teaching quilting classes. The Ohio Stars quilt was the third in a series of beginning classes, this one featuring quarter-square triangles and setting blocks on point. It took some serious digging through my closet of quilts to locate it, but here is the finished quilt.

Ohio Stars, 47" x 58.5"

The next set of placemats originated from a Super Bowl Sunday mystery quilt-along in 2021. You can read more about that in this post. It was a late decision on my part to join the mystery, and I pulled fabrics quickly from my stash. I wasn't thrilled with the final result, so the blocks were stashed away until they got pulled out last week. I have twelve placemats with these blocks. I especially like the two with the striped fabric running horizontally in the borders, but the vertical stripe was primarily what was available to use.

Most of the fabrics in the above set of placemats were leftover from a quilt I call Boston Fiesta, one of my all-time favorites. I discovered a few leftover blocks from that quilt, plus extra pieces to make even more blocks. I was able to put together a total of twelve blocks, which were turned into three placemat tops.

The Boston Fiesta quilt was started in 2005, but it wasn't finished until 2022. You can read more about it in this post.

Boston Fiesta, 60" x 74"

Most of these placemat tops have been basted to batting. The next step will be to stitch them to backing fabrics, right sides together, then turn right side out and finish them off with some quilting. I still have plenty of work left to do before they are finished.

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

Sunday Stash and Stitching 7/19/2026

I didn't expect to add any new fabric to the stash this week, but plans changed when I won the guild's monthly drawing. The prize included this beautiful batik jelly roll plus a coordinating 3-yard piece. I have many ideas on how I might use these beauties! 5.75 yards added, and no usage to report for the week.

Batik jelly roll and yardage

2026 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                   0.0 yards

Used year to date:          105.75 yards

Added last week:                5.75 yards

Added year to date:         113.25 yards

Net added in 2026:            7.5 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. We had guests at the beginning of the week, and the rest of the week was spent prepping for, then taking, a quilted jacket workshop. I hope to share some photos of my newest project soon.

15 Minute Challenge 2026

7/12 - 7/18             7 of 7 days

2026 Total        197 of 199 days

Success rate               99.0 %   

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

Sunday Stash & Stitching 7/12/2026

My stash totals for the year moved a little closer to even with the completion of the Rainbow Rail Fence Zigzag quilt. I used 1.5 yards for the backing and binding of this quilt. The fabric used in the top was all counted in earlier stash reports.

Rainbow Rail Fence Zigzag

Rainbow Rail Fence Zigzag back

2026 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                   1.50 yards

Used year to date:            105.75 yards

Added last week:                    0.0 yards

Added year to date:             107.5 yards

Net added in 2026:            1.75 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. The beginning of the week was spent finishing the Rail Fence quilt, then I started working on the April block for my 2026 Temperature Quilt.

15 Minute Challenge 2026

7/5 - 7/11               7 of 7 days

2026 Total        190 of 192 days

Success rate               98.9 %   

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

Another Rainbow UFO Finished!

Our assignment for July in the guild's UFO Challenge was #6. That meant I needed to quilt and bind my Rainbow Rail Fence, and it was another successful month. Here is my finished Rail Fence Zigzag quilt.

Rail Fence Zigzag

37.25" x 38.75" after washing

The blocks for this quilt were made as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge in 2022 and 2023. The quilt top was assembled in 2023, then it was deposited in the quilt closet. This UFO Challenge finally motivated me to get it done! 

I got rather carried away with my quilting on this little quilt. I did loops in the light rectangles, waves in the colors, and lots of feathers in the grey border and setting triangles. I love quilting feathers!

The backing fabric is a fun tie-dye looking swirl design. I have a second Rail Fence quilt ready to be quilted with the same backing, and I might try quilting from the back following those swirls.

I'm  linking up with:

 Rainbow Scrap Challenge at So Scrappy

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Monday Musings at Songbird Designs

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

2026 Temperature Quilt

It has been a few months since I made any progress on my 2026 Temperature Quilt, but I pulled out the fabrics last week and made my block for March. The little safety pin near the top marks the first of the month. Just 3 more blocks to make, and I'll be caught up!

The design I'm making is Jo Avery's Sea Urchin pattern, which is included in her online Supernova class at The Thread House Academy. The wedges in the outer ring represent the daily high temperatures, and the inner ring is the daily lows. The warmest temperature in March was 83 degrees, and the coolest was 29.

It's fun to see how the colors have changed over the first three months of this year. I'm eager to get more of the blocks made. There should be lots of red and hot pink showing up by the time I get to the June block.

You can find more details about my temperature quilt project for 2026 in THIS POST.

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

Sunday Stash & Stitching 7/5/2026

Last week's large donation of fabrics to the quilt guild brought my stash changes for the year close to even, and this week the numbers moved closer still. No new fabric was added this week, and I used 2.25 yards for my Patriotic Table Runner. I've got my fingers crossed that I can get that yearly total back to even very soon.

Patriotic Table Runner

2026 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                   2.25 yards

Used year to date:            104.25 yards

Added last week:                    0.0 yards

Added year to date:             107.5 yards

Net added in 2026:            3.25 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. A large portion of my quilting time was spent watching videos and trying out some new free-motion quilting designs as options for my next project to be quilted.

15 Minute Challenge 2026

6/28 - 7/4               7 of 7 days

2026 Total        183 of 185 days

Success rate               98.9 %   

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

Patriotic Table Runner

I had one more finish in June, and this week leading up to July 4th seems like the perfect time to share it. This is my Wedge Swirl Table Runner.

The Common Threads guild had a Red, White and Blue Challenge this year to coincide with our country's 250th anniversary. We were each given a fat quarter of the challenge fabric, and we could make whatever we wanted with it. Our entries were due at the June meeting, and they had to be completely finished to be entered for the prize drawing.

Challenge fabric

My wedge swirl table runner design was inspired by similar versions I had seen at Vicki's Crafts and Quilting. It is made using a 10-degree wedge ruler. I just happened to have one of those and had never used it before. Vicki has a tutorial on her blog for a round table topper that is made in much the same way. For the table runner, the wedges are joined into two identical halves, which then get joined into the swirl shape. I was able to squeak out two more wedges from my fabric scraps, ending up with 32 wedges total.

My finished table runner is the perfect length for our drop-leaf dining table when it is folded up, as shown below, and it will look wonderful down the middle when the table is opened up.

I'm  linking up with:

Wednesday Wait Loss at Inquiring Quilter

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Sunday Stash & Stitching 6/28/2026

The additions to my fabric stash earlier this month have left me wondering where it's all going to get stored since my fabric shelves are already close to full. It was time to clear out some older fabrics to make room for the new. Looking at this photo really lets me know that I wasn't in the mood for dark prints that day. These fabrics were all donated to the quilt guild's Community Service committee, 35.5 yards total (which is one yard more than what I bought at the other guild's recent fabric sale.)

Along with that donation, my outgoing number for the week also includes 7/8 yard for the bindings on my two latest finishes, the Chandelier quilt and Scraptastic Stars. No new fabric was added this week.

Chandelier quilt

Scraptastic Stars

2026 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                36.375 yards

Used year to date:              102.0 yards

Added last week:                    0.0 yards

Added year to date:             107.5 yards

Net added in 2026:              5.5 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. Our schedule was fairly light this week, with very few appointments or meetings, which meant even more quilting time for me!

15 Minute Challenge 2026

6/21 - 6/27             7 of 7 days

2026 Total        176 of 178 days

Success rate               98.9 %   

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

Scraptastic Stars is Finished!

2026 has turned into my best year ever for finishing quilts, with a total of 10 quilts completed before the half-way point of the year. The most recent finish is my Scraptastic Stars quilt.

Scraptastic Stars, 40" x 52.5"

The blocks for this quilt were made as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge back in 2018. The Scraptastic Stars pattern was designed by Melissa Corry of Happy Quilting. The blocks in my quilt finish at 12". I also made a second set of blocks which finish at 16" each, but they haven't been joined together yet.

Indoor photo

Before the end of 2018, I had the blocks and sashing all joined together into a top and layered with batting and backing. I started the quilting with diagonal lines through the chains of white squares, but then I got stuck on what to do next. The quilt was stashed in the closet, waiting for inspiration to strike.

I've been making a dedicated effort to finish some of the many quilt tops from that closet, and the fact that this quilt was already layered and the quilting started helped it jump to the top of the list for finishing. 

The quilting is all straight lines, a combination of stitch-in-the-ditch and diagonal lines around the stars. I switched thread color for the quilting within each block, probably an unnecessary step, but I like the way it turned out.

The backing fabric is a print of black and white checks alternating with bright clusters of fruit.

I'm  linking up with:

 Rainbow Scrap Challenge at So Scrappy

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Monday Musings at Songbird Designs

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Chandelier Quilt Finished!

The June assignment for our guild's UFO Challenge was #7, and for me that meant quilting and binding a quilt top that I made last year. This is my finished Chandelier quilt.

Chandelier, 47" x 57"

The Chandelier quilt was made from a free 3-yard quilt pattern at Sew Can She. I received the fabrics from our guild's Community Service stash, and the quilt will go to the local Meals on Wheels chapter to give to one of their clients when the weather gets cold.

One new thing that I tried on this quilt was to use a home-made basting spray. I found the recipe for it at String and Story. I hate pinning quilt layers together and trying to avoid the pins while quilting, and the aerosol basting sprays have gotten very expensive. This home-made version uses water, flour, salt and rubbing alcohol, so it is very inexpensive. You have to let it dry completely after you baste the layers together before you can start quilting, and it makes the layers a little bit stiffer, but I am very willing to deal with those facts in order to save so much on the cost of the spray. The basting spray washed out easily when the quilt was finished, a necessary step with this spray.

Chandelier Quilt back

Our UFO assignment for July is #6, and I already have that quilt top layered with the batting and backing, all ready to be quilted.

I'm  linking up with:

Wednesday Wait Loss at Inquiring Quilter

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA