Stitching and DeStashing--Week 41, 2019

There's not much to tell for my stash report this week. I have spent some time quilting every day, but I'm getting to the point of joining blocks together on a couple of projects, and the fabric used in those blocks has already been counted. That means no fabric used to report this week, but fortunately also no new fabric added (although I was seriously tempted by a sale at the Fat Quarter Shop!)

2019 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                             0.0 yards

Used year to date:                    48.375 yards
Added last week:                            0.0 yards

Added year to date:                    50.75 yards
Net stashed year to date:       2.375 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've continued finding stitching time every day, usually hand applique on the train in the mornings and some time at the machine in the evenings. 

15 Minute Challenge:  

10/6 - 10/12             7 of 7 days

2019 Total         268 of 285 days

Here's a little preview of my Orange Peel hand applique project. You can read more about it and see more photos in yesterday's post.

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

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Playing with Peels

Ever since the beginning of the year, I have been hand applique stitching little 3" Orange Peel blocks as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Actually, I believe I started late last year with a few sample blocks to make sure I liked the idea before committing to it. I've made over 100 blocks since then, and I'm feeling like the time has come to make a plan for how I'm going to use them all.

My original inspiration was a design I saw from a company called Honest Fabric. This company makes custom printed quilt tops in a wide variety of designs. The quilt tops can be used for free-motion quilting practice or to make a quick quilt without spending long hours piecing it. You can learn much more about them at the Honest Fabric website.

I'm not sure I would ever want a pre-printed quilt top, but I sure love this Orange Peel design that they produce.

Honest Fabric "Orange Peel" 

That design was my starting point. I have been trying to make 12-16 Orange Peel blocks per month with a variety of scrappy black and dark grey background fabrics. To reproduce the above design in my quilt would require a total of 320 blocks, which means at least another full year of making Orange Peels, maybe more. I'm not sure I can keep going for that long, so it's time to look at some other options. Here a few of my layout ideas.

The last photo is my attempt to mimic the layout from the Honest Fabric version, and I must admit that it is my favorite of the bunch. I'm a sucker for a good gradation of colors, especially the whole rainbow. Maybe another year isn't out of the question (but I'm going to need to get some more background fabrics!) I'd love to hear what you think about these choices.

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework and Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts on Sunday. On Monday I'm linking up with Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Moving it Forward at Em's Scrapbag and Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Stitching and DeStashing--Week 40, 2019

The leftover pieces from another old project were unearthed last week. This time it was a bundle of partial strip sets left from making a Many Trips Around the World quilt top as a class sample back in the fall of 2000. Here's a photo of half of the original quilt top.

I had just enough parts left for a single Trip, plus I was able to dig out enough pieces of the same fabrics to finish it off. The border is one of my favorite old Paula Nadelstern fabrics, probably from the late 1990's or early 2000's.

Trip Around the World
37.5" square

This little quilt used 1.25 yards of fabric, and I also  used 5/8 yard on my brown Stairsteps blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (see them in yesterday's post.) No new fabric added to the stash!

2019 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                         1.875 yards

Used year to date:                    48.375 yards
Added last week:                            0.0 yards

Added year to date:                    50.75 yards
Net stashed year to date:       2.375 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. Hubby has been working more nights lately which means more quilting time in the evenings than usual.

15 Minute Challenge:  

9/29 - 10/5              7 of 7 days

2019 Total         261 of 278 days

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

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 40, 2019

Our assigned colors for October at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge are brown, black and grey. I've been eagerly waiting for these colors so I could make my last sets of blocks for my Stairsteps quilt, and here they are. They may not be the most exciting colors, but they will be the perfect addition to my quilt.

Now that the last blocks are made, I can finalize the layout and get this quilt put together. I can hardly wait! I might start as soon as I finish this post.

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Something Old Becomes Something New

One of my recent goals in the sewing room has been to sort through the boxes and bags of leftovers from previous projects. I never know what to do with the bits and pieces, partial strip sets and extra blocks when I finish a quilt. Most of the time, they languish in a box while I jump on to a new project. The accumulation has become rather ridiculous.

While sorting through a box of parts and pieces from several old projects, I ran across some partial units from a challenge quilt that I made in 1999! Here is a scan of a 1999 photo of the original quilt. I couldn't do much in editing to improve the quality of the photo, but you can get an idea of the quilt design. Finished size of the quilt is probably between 36" and 40".

Here are some of the leftover pieces that were in that box. There were enough parts to make 5 or 6 star blocks, but not enough of the background fabric. The pattern is "Santa Monica Stars" from the book Even More Well Connected by Mary Ellen Hopkins, published in 1995.

I decided to switch the fabric at the center of the stars and auditioned a couple of other options.

I decided to go with the last choice, and also had just enough of that fabric to use it for the sashing and border on my new little wallhanging. 

Santa Monica Stars
22.75" square

I must be ready for the hot weather to be done, because I keep wanting to dig into the fall colors in my fabric collection. Unfortunately, our forecast still shows highs over 90 for another week!

I'm linking up with Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Moving it Forward at Em's Scrapbag and Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt. Check them out for lots of great inspiration.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stitching and DeStashing--Week 39, 2019

It has been a very good week for quilting time and productivity. I am counting 4.375 yards as used from my stash for the past week, and there was no new fabric added. I used 2 yards for the blue and yellow baby quilt that I shared in last Monday's post, plus 1.375 yards for the backing of a Christmas wallhanging, .75 yard for a new autumn wallhanging, and .25 yard for my Tiny Tuesday blocks. Here is a sneak peek of the fall quilt--the full reveal will be tomorrow.

2019 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                          4.375 yards

Used year to date:                        46.5 yards
Added last week:                            0.0 yards

Added year to date:                    50.75 yards
Net stashed year to date:         4.25 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. I had Friday off from work, and I was able to spend lots of time both Friday and Saturday in the sewing room, plus I got in at least 15 minutes all the other days too. 

15 Minute Challenge:  

9/22 - 9/28              7 of 7 days

2019 Total         254 of 271 days

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

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 39, 2019

It's almost the end of our month of playing with purple scraps for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I made good progress on all of my different RSC projects.

Here we have a Framed Crumb Star (12" block") surrounded by twelve Stairsteps blocks. On the right are eight Orange Peel blocks, plus five Tiny Tuesday blocks.

I also made some Quarter Log Cabin blocks as a sample for a possible RSC project next year.

It seems like we will probably have black and grey or brown as our assigned colors for October. It's almost time to finish making blocks and start getting these quilt tops put together!

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA