Stitching and DeStashing--Week 19, 2021

Happy Mother's Day! I'm very excited to be going to visit my mother and other family in Wisconsin soon. It has been a year and a half since I saw any of them in person. My mother was the one who taught me to sew, which led to both my career of making theater costumes and to my favorite hobby (obsession), quilting. Thanks, Mom! I can't wait to see you!

My stash totals have been steadily increasing on the fabric used side of the tally. The amount used last week is relatively small, but every little bit helps. I used 5/8 yard for my Homespun blocks in bright and dark reds.

Homespun pattern by Modernly Morgan,

I didn't think I would have any new fabric to report, but an order I had placed surprised me by showing up yesterday. Has anyone else had trouble with the tracking system for the USPS? My most recent additions are a good example of the risks of online fabric shopping. Part of my order was extra wide backing fabrics, and I'm very unhappy with the appearance of the printing. Instead of an overall mottled effect, it looks like the fabric is water stained. Naturally, I got the biggest amounts of those pieces. I ordered 10 yards of fabric, but I'm counting it as 16 yards because of the wide pieces.

Above are the fabrics I'm not so happy about. Below is the rest of my order.

2021 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                              .625 yards

Used year to date:                         96.75 yards

Added last week:                             16.0 yards

Added year to date:                       40.75 yards

Net used year to date                   56.0 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. Now that we are fully vaccinated, we have been getting out quite a bit more and it is cutting into my stitching time. I've still managed to stitch at least 15 minutes every day, but it's getting more difficult every week. 

15 Minute Challenge for 2021: 

5/2 - 5/8                    7 of 7 days

2021 Total           128 of 128 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 19, 2021

Last week I showed the beginnings of my first scrappy red block of May for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I made two blocks with the Homespun pattern by Modernly Morgan, one in bright reds and the other in darker reds.

This pattern makes large blocks (16" finished), and they go together quickly. I'm still restraining myself from speeding ahead and making the rest of the colors that I will need for this quilt. In the meantime, here's a photo of all my blocks so far.

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

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 5/3/2021

Yesterday I made Block #29 for the Sewcialites Quilt Along at the Fat Quarter Shop. It is this cute little Cake Stand block.

This is a block that I like better in an on-point setting as shown above. That got me thinking about how to set my blocks for this quilt. There will be 36 blocks total, and mine will all finish at 6". Here is the setting layout from the Fat Quarter Shop design.

I got to thinking about the Tiny Tuesday sampler quilt that many quilters made as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge in 2019. That quilt design had some blocks set straight and the rest were on point. Here is my finished Tiny Tuesday quilt top from December, 2019.

Tiny Tuesday Sampler, 52.5" x 60"

I decided to audition my Sewcialites blocks in a similar setting. I have some yardage of a light aqua fabric that was meant for another project made from 30's prints, but I chose a different fabric for that quilt. I think the aqua might work very nicely for this setting.

I have 29 finished blocks for this quilt, and there are seven block patterns still to be released between now and the middle of June. If I decide to go ahead with this setting, I could start cutting and stitching the aqua fabric to all of these blocks now, which would make the final assembly very quick.

The patterns for the Sewcialites Quilt Along blocks are available at the Fat Quarter Shop's blog HERE.

 

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 18, 2021

My stash report for the past week includes some usage, and some new fabric added as well. The new fabric is a batch of 30's fabrics from my sister Karen, who is also a quilter. She sent me this collection of strips that each measure approximately 4" x 9". Total added is 3/4 yard. These will be used for more of the kaleidoscope blocks that I've been making this year. I'm especially excited to add the lavender fabrics because my stash of that color is rather low.

My usage for the week was 1.625 yards for the setting triangles and border on my Dakota Inspired quilt, Alycia's latest mystery project. I shared the finished top for that quilt in Friday's post.

As I was figuring up the usage for the 36 light blue bowtie blocks that I shared in yesterday's post, I discovered that I had never counted the 36 medium and dark green bowties from March. I used 1.375 yards for the light blue bowties and .75 yards for the green bowties. This photo gives an indication of the reason for the difference in yardage used. The green bowtie blocks each finish at 4", and the light blue blocks will finish at 5".

2021 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                              3.75 yards

Used year to date:                       96.125 yards

Added last week:                              .75 yards

Added year to date:                       24.75 yards

Net used year to date              71.375 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 spent the majority of my quilting time last week getting the Dakota Inspired quilt top done, and I have started pulling out my red scraps for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks in May.

15 Minute Challenge for 2021: 

4/25 - 5/1                  7 of 7 days

2021 Total           121 of 121 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 18. 2021

It's the beginning of a new month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and our new color for May is red. I pulled out some red squares and strips to start laying out two red Homespun blocks yesterday. The pieces for a brighter red block are already cut and sitting next to the sewing machine.

I'm still debating if I need to switch out any of these pieces for more variation in this dark red block so it doesn't all look like one single fabric from a distance. There's one piece in the lower right that seems much brighter than the rest, but I think it's partly because the light was shining directly on it.

The last of my light blue blocks to be finished for April were the bowtie blocks. I'm trying to make one bowtie block every day, and I have been averaging 36 blocks per month so far this year. Here is the light blue collection.

I actually ended up with 38 blocks this month, but one of them is such a pale blue that it barely shows against the background. The other one leans more toward turquoise and will join that group when that color is assigned. Besides, 36 blocks fits much better in a photo.

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

Julie in GA

Dakota Inspired--Quilt Top Done!

My most recent finish is the quilt top from Alycia's Dakota Inspired mystery quilt-along. This one wasn't much of a mystery for me because I didn't start piecing mine until around the time that Alycia was giving the clues for assembling blocks.

Dakota Inspired, 67.5" x 83.25"

I always enjoy Alycia's mystery quilts because the piecing is fairly easy and goes quickly. I didn't have enough of any single red fabric, so each red churn dash is a different print. Some are red, white & blue prints, others are red tone-on-tones.

I added a border that was cut at 3" wide to finish off the outer edges. I love the way the dark blue fabric frames the rest of the quilt.

My best spot for taking quilt photos is with the quilt or top hanging off the railing of our back deck. It can be tricky if there is too much wind or sun, but I was fairly lucky out there today.

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 4/27/2021

Happy To-Do Tuesday once again!  It's time to look back at my to-do list from last week, see how I did on accomplishing my goals, then post a new list for the week ahead. I'm linking up with the  To-Do Tuesday Weekly Link-up hosted by Chris at Chris Knits. 

Life seems to be very busy lately as we have been getting out of the house more. We reach the "fully vaccinated" stage tomorrow (two weeks since our 2nd shot.) It feels good to get closer to normal, but it has definitely cut into my quilting time. I am so thankful that I have this wonderful hobby which helped me stay sane  through the past year.

To-Do List for 4/20 - 4/26

1. Bowties 365--make at least 1 bowtie block every day not done

I finished 5 of 7 blocks last week, but I'm still ahead for the month with 33 total so far.

2. Sewcialites QAL--make block #28   ✔done

3. Sew Colorful Stars--make 1 light blue block  ✔done

4. Alycia's mystery #A12--make 8 red blocks   ✔done

Not only did I make the 8 red blocks, but I also finished the 6 remaining blue blocks. All the blocks for this quilt are done!

5. Glorified 9Patch--prep background for light blue blocks  ✔done

6. Around the Twist--figure out a plan for quilting  not done 

It's time to be realistic and cut the list down a bit since I will have less time to spend quilting. 

To-Do List for 4/27 - 5/3

1. Bowties 365--make at least 1 bowtie block every day  

2. Sewcialites QAL--make block #29

3. 30's Kaleidoscopes--make pink and yellow blocks from new fabrics

4. Alycia's mystery #A12--cut setting triangles, start joining together

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 Chris Knits.

Julie in GA  

Design Wall Monday 4/26/2021

My larger design wall is covered with my blocks for Dakota Inspired, Alycia's most recent mystery quilt. The wall is so full that some of the blocks are cut off around the outer edges, but you get the idea. There is probably some rearranging of blocks still to come. It looks to me like I need to move one brighter red block to the bottom row.

The next step is to find a dark blue fabric for the outer setting triangles and final border. I don't have many options for that in my stash, but I did find an old Jinny Beyer paisley print that might have enough yardage. I couldn't get a good photo of the color--here is a washed-out version with the flash, followed by a too-dark shot without. The real color is somewhere in between. I hope the faint line down the middle of the second photo is just the fold catching the light and not a fade line.

 

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 17, 2021

My quilting time was somewhat limited last week, but I did manage to make the rest of the blocks for Alycia's latest Quilts of Valor mystery. Those blocks used two yards from my stash, and I hope to cut the setting triangles and get the quilt top put together this week. No pictures of my new blocks yet, but you can see my first batch of blocks in last week's post.

Sew Colorful Stars, 16" finished size

My other stash usage for the week was 3/8 yard for the light blue Sew Colorful Stars block for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. No new fabric has been added to the stash, but I'm eager to visit a quilt shop again once I get past the two weeks wait post-vaccine.

2021 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                            2.375 yards

Used year to date:                       92.375 yards

Added last week:                              0.0 yards

Added year to date:                         24.0 yards

Net used year to date              68.375 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. It has been more difficult to get in my quilting time this week as we have been getting out more during the day, but I'm still hanging on at 100% for the week and the year!

15 Minute Challenge for 2021: 

4/18 - 4/24                7 of 7 days

2021 Total           114 of 114 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 17, 2021

I'm later than usual with my post for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this week, but that's because I didn't have anything to share until a few minutes ago. I just finished making my Sew Colorful Stars block in light blues for April.

Sew Colorful Stars, 16" finished size

I don't really enjoy making these blocks. All those triangles get rather tedious to me, but I keep going with them because I love the finished product!

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

Julie in GA