To-Do Tuesday 3/2/2021

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. 

I didn't do very well with my list from last week, just one item done and progress made on another. However, I did finish the quilting and binding on a different project that wasn't even on the list, so I call that a win! This is my Sister's Choice quilt.

Sister's Choice, 52" x 66"

To-Do List for 2/23 - 3/1:

1. Bowties 365--make one bowtie block every day     ✔done    

I ended up with 36 yellow bowtie blocks for February.

2. Grassy Creek mystery--write blog post   not done

3. Stay-at-Home Round Robin (SAHRR)--plan the next border    not done

4. Finish secret projects/birthday gifts!         progress

I'm keeping the list super short for the next week. I want to stay on track with my daily bowtie blocks, and the secret/gift projects must get finished this week. Besides those, I also need to finish getting our tax info together, plus do some cleaning up in the sewing room.

1. Bowties 365--make one bowtie block every day    

2. Finish secret projects/birthday gifts!   

That should all 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 Chris Knits.

Julie in GA 

Design Wall Monday 3/1/2021

We were so fortunate with our weather over the weekend here in north Georgia, with beautifully warm days just meant for long walks and sitting on the front porch. That warm weather has also helped the spring flowers. This was the first of our daffodils to bloom, and there are many more now. 

The anticipation of spring always makes me want to play with bright, cheery fabrics in my quilt projects. Fortunately, I have two current projects using 1930's reproductions that fill that requirement. Yesterday I pulled out all 20 of the blocks I've made for the Sewcialites QAL, sponsored by the Fat Quarter Shop. 

My blocks will finish at 6", but the patterns also include cutting instructions for 3" and 9" blocks. Imagine how tiny some of those pieces would be for 3" blocks! It has been so much fun to go through my box of 30's fabrics each week and choose which one to use for the next block. The patterns are scheduled to continue until mid-June, for a total of 36 blocks. Here is the official final design, but I probably won't do this layout with my blocks.

You can still find the patterns for all of the Sewcialites blocks at the Fat Quarter Shop blog. They are a great source for fun quilt-alongs, with a new one, the Serendipity quilt, scheduled to start in two weeks. 

I'm linking up to:

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 9, 2021

When I started tallying up the numbers for my weekly stash report, I made the happy discovery that none of the fabric used in my recently finished Sister's Choice quilt had been previously reported. Most of the time, I count fabric as used as I make progress on a quilt. For instance, I will report the fabric in the blocks when they are all made, then later count the fabric in the sashing and/or borders when that step is complete, and the backing and binding after those tasks are finished. For the Sister's Choice quilt, the numbers had already been calculated, but never listed on a stash report. The total amount of fabric used in that quilt was 7.5 yards.

My other usage for last week was 3/4 yard for six Blooming Onion blocks (which I showed in yesterday's post) and 1.25 yards for 36 yellow bowtie blocks. My plan for the year is to make one bowtie block every day, following the color of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge when possible. I've managed to get ahead a bit, making a total of 72 blocks in the first 58 days of the year.

My usage for the past week totals 9.5 yards, and no new yardage was added to the stash!

2021 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                               9.5 yards

Used year to date:                      51.375 yards

Added last week:                              0.0 yards

Added year to date:                      11.50 yards

Net used year to date             39.875 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. Finishing the Sister's Choice quilt became my top priority for the week, and I worked on that every day.

15 Minute Challenge for 2021: 

2/21- 2/27                7 of 7 days

2021 Total              58 of 58 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

Sister's Choice Quilt Finished!

In an attempt to finish some of the many UFOs that are hanging out in my sewing room,  I am participating in the One Monthly Goal link-up at Elm Street Quilts. 

My goal for February was to finish the quilting on my blue and yellow Sister's Choice quilt. I didn't touch this quilt until the very last week of the month, but I am very happy to report that not only is the quilting is done, but I also added the binding to this quilt. It needs to be washed, but otherwise, it's FINISHED!

Sister's Choice, 52" x 66"

This quilt has been an on-again, off-again project for several years. It started in 2013 as a pile of scrappy blue and yellow 9-patch blocks. In 2018 I added the blue triangles to turn the 9-patches into Sister's Choice blocks. I stitched the blocks together into rows, then quilted each row before joining them together, my own variation on quilt as you go. The only part that still needed quilting was most of the border sections, and now those are done too!

This is one of my favorite blocks in the quilt. I especially love the center fabric with the bees. You also get a good look at some of the other fabrics, plus the quilting shows up well. There's straight-line quilting in the center star, meandering in the white background, wavy lines in the sashing (especially visible across the top,) and a diagonal grid in the border at the right.

The back of the quilt was pieced from chunks of several older blue prints. The horizontal seams line up with the seams where the rows of blocks and sashing were joined together on the front of the quilt. The colors don't really look as grey as they appear in this photo.

Linking up with:

One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilts

Rainbow Scrap Challenge at soscrappy

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework

Favorite Finish at Meadow Mist Designs

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 9, 2021

February has been the perfect month to play with yellow scraps for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. The sunny warmth has brightened up many dreary days.

I have three regular projects in the works for the RSC this year, and I decided to put the yellow blocks from all three up on the wall together. 

I made two Scrap Magnet blocks (upper left), one Sew Colorful Stars block (upper right) and 27 bowtie blocks. Putting them all up on the wall together gives a good look at the size differences--the blocks in the top row all finish at 16 or 16.5", and the bowtie blocks will finish at 5".

As soon as that last sentenced was written, I realized that there is another RSC project that I missed--my 30's kaleidoscope blocks. That means I have four RSC projects this year. Here are the kaleidoscope blocks, 26 of them altogether.

Since I had finished all of my regular RSC projects early this month, I pulled out some yellow crumbs and made four 6" blocks. These will join a stack of crumb blocks in other colors from previous years.

I also stitched together the last of the yellow blocks that I had cut back in January when I was getting ready to start my Blooming Onion quilt. That gave me a total of six of those blocks.

I've had a great time stitching up yellow scraps this month, but now I am ready to get started on a new color. Maybe Angela will let us know today what the color will be for March.

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

To-Do Tuesday 2/23/2021

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. 

My list from last week has three check marks, and one of the other items is halfway done. Instead of concentrating on the list, I got sidetracked by making backings for multiple Quilts of Valor, which you can see in this post.

To-Do List for 2/16 - 2/22:

1. Bowties 365--make one bowtie block every day     ✔done

I ended up with nine blocks made over the last week, bringing my count up to 27 so far in February.

2. Grassy Creek mystery--photos and blog post

I finally managed to get some decent photos yesterday, but no blog post yet.

3. Stay-at-Home Round Robin (SAHRR)--add next round (wonky stars)   

I'm stuck on trying to figure out how to move ahead with this project.           

4. Sewcialites QAL--make block #20               ✔done

The new block pattern was not posted last week because of the storms/power outages in Texas, but it was easy enough to figure out the piecing on my own. 

5. Sew Colorful Stars--make 1 yellow block     ✔done

You can see my block in Saturday's post.

My list for the next week is shorter, mostly because I have a couple of birthday gifts that need to be the top priority. I also need to regroup  on some of my other

quilting projects and get back on track.

To-Do List for 2/23 - 3/1:

1. Bowties 365--make one bowtie block every day    

2. Grassy Creek mystery--write blog post

3. Stay-at-Home Round Robin (SAHRR)--figure out a plan for the next border       

4. Finish secret projects/birthday gifts!.              

   

That should all 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 Chris Knits.

Julie in GA 

Stitching and DeStashing--Week 8, 2021

Georgia was one of the few lucky places to not have the bitter cold and snow or ice that hit so many parts of the country last week. I lived in Houston for a couple of years after finishing college, and I can't even imagine what residents there have been going through. I hope power is restored for everyone soon. We had several days of chilly, rainy weather, which just makes me want to hide out in my sewing room.

My stash report shows a major increase in fabric used last week. That is because I made quilt backs for five different red, white & blue/Quilts of Valor tops. The oldest of the quilt tops dated back to 2016, and the newest one is from last year. Now they all have backs hanging with them, ready to be quilted. You can see them all in THIS POST.

The quilt backs used a total of 25.75 yards of fabric. I also used 1/2 yard for the most recent borders on my Feathered Star Round Robin, plus 3/8 yard for my yellow Sew Colorful Stars block. The grand total for the week was 26.625 yards used, and no new fabric was added last week.

2021 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                          26.625 yards

Used year to date:                      41.875 yards

Added last week:                             0.0 yards

Added year to date:                      11.50 yards

Net used year to date             30.375 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. The weather has kept me indoors lately, which tends to mean plenty of time in the sewing room.

15 Minute Challenge for 2021: 

2/14 - 2/20                7 of 7 days

2021 Total              51 of 51 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 8, 2021

February will be over before we know it, and it seems like there are very few of us who will miss it. I'm certainly ready for March and (I hope) the beginning of spring.

I made one very bright and sunny block for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this week. This is my second block using the pattern "Sew Colorful Stars" from the Fat Quarter Shop. 

These blocks are bigger than I usually make, 16" finished size. I certainly wouldn't want it to be any smaller with all those triangles. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to press all the seams. That's one thing not addressed in the pattern--no pressing instructions.

Two blocks down, ten more to go. Once a month is plenty for me with so many triangles, but I do love the way the blocks are turning out!

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

Making Backings for Quilts of Valor

There was a national sewing day for Quilts of Valor a couple of weeks ago. I didn't have a current QOV project going, and I didn't want to start a new one (very unusual for me!) Instead, I decided to focus on making backings for some Quilts of Valor tops and other red, white & blue quilt tops.

When I checked the quilt closet, I found six different RWB tops. There are three definite QOVs, and the other three I might keep for now. They are all throw-sized tops, around 60" x 80". My goal was to come up with backings for every top. I had a bin of larger yardages of RWB fabrics which had been set aside to become quilt backs. I started with single fabric backs, then combined the leftovers to make pieced backs. 

The first one was the easiest. It is a wide backing fabric from the line "Saltbox Village" by Country Essentials for Connecting Threads, and I bought it in 2013. It will be the back for my version of Allietare, Bonnie Hunter's 2015 mystery, now available as a digital pattern.

Allietare, top finished 2/3/2016
67" x 81"

Up next is my Woven Squares quilt top, made in May/June 2019. This quilt is my version of a pattern from Fons and Porter's Easy Quilts magazine, Winter 2016

Woven Squares, top finished 6/6/2019
59.25" x 75.25"

I used another fabric from Connecting Threads for the back. It is "Patriotic Patchwork" from the "Liberty for All" line, made in 2015.

The last of the single-fabric backs was for my Musical Stars quilt. I made this top in 2018, using a block pattern called "Double Delight Star" by Lynne Hagmeier of Kansas Troubles Quilters. Her pattern was originally shared as part of the 2017 Moda Blockheads QAL.

Musical Stars, top finished 8/15/2018
59.5" x 76.5"

For the back, I used yet another Connecting Threads fabric. This one is "Cartouche" from the line "Symphony in Blues" by Jenni Calo, 2014. There is one long vertical seam running through my quilt back, but I got the pattern to match up so well that it is practically invisible!

At that point I had run out of big enough pieces to make whole backs. It was time to start piecing together the leftovers. First up was my Meadow Mystery quilt. This is my variation of the mystery pattern designed by Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs.

Meadow Mystery, top finished 3/12/2017
60" x 84"

The back for this quilt was made from pieces of the leftover "Patriotic Patchwork" print plus two other Connecting Threads fabrics. The light blue is "Bunting" from the "Liberty for All" line, 2015, and the red/white print is from the "Rhapsody of Reds" line, 2014. The quilt back is more symmetrical than what you see here--the left side is cut off by a doorway.

The final quilt back to be made is for one of the mysteries by Alycia of Alycia Quilts. This was Mystery #A-11, later named "Under the Starry Sky." If you aren't familiar with Alycia's QOV mysteries, you should definitely check them out. She just listed the fabric requirements for #A-12 "Dakota Inspired" a couple days ago. Get more info HERE.

Alycia's Mystery A-11, top finished 11/22/2020
60.75" x 81.75"

Like the last back, this one was pieced from multiple fabrics. The flag print was given to me; it is by Fabri-Quilt. Again, the left side is cut off by the doorway. The flag fabric is actually the same width on both sides of this back.

I have only one more RWB quilt top that needs a back. It is another of Alycia's mysteries, this was her Winter Quilt-Along from November and December of 2019.

Alycia's Winter QAL, top finished 12/24/2019
60.5" x 72.5"

My leftover pieces are running low. I might have to go back to the stash for some more options, or else do more piecing in the back for this quilt. That's feeling like a project for another time. I think five finished quilt backs is very good for this week!

Linking up with:
Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Whoop Whoop Friday at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA  

To-Do Tuesday 2/16/21

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. Starting this week, the link-up party is moving to Chris Knits. Many thanks to Roseanne and Sue at Home Sewn by Us for hosting us over the last year and a half!

My lengthy list of goals for last week turned out to be more than I could handle. I got bogged down in decision making on the Stay at Home Round Robin, and that pushed almost everything else to the weekend. I managed to get through six of my seven goals for the week.

To-Do List for 2/9 - 2/15:

1. Bowties 365--make one bowtie block every day   ✔done

Nine Bowtie blocks were made last week

2. Grassy Creek mystery--add borders     ✔done

The Grassy Creek quilt top is complete, but our rainy weather has kept me from getting any photos of it yet.

3. Stay-at-Home Round Robin (SAHRR)--add next round (checkerboard)  ✔done  

This goal is the one that slowed me down last week. You can see my progress in yesterday's post.

4. Sewcialites QAL--make block #19   ✔done

Another cute little 6" block.

5. Scrap Magnet--make 2 yellow   ✔done

I love these blocks!

6. Sister's Choice (OMG)--quilt 3 border sections  not done

I never got around to making the switch over to machine quilting.

7. Super Bowl Mystery--finish making blocks   ✔done

It may have been last on the list, but it was the first project I worked on, mostly because all the pieces were cut and sitting by the machine.

I'm cutting down the list a bit for the week ahead, although I do have a couple of alternate choices if I finish this list quickly.

To-Do List for 2/16 - 2/22:

1. Bowties 365--make one bowtie block every day    

2. Grassy Creek mystery--photos and blog post

3. Stay-at-Home Round Robin (SAHRR)--add next round (wonky stars)              

4. Sewcialites QAL--make block #20   

5. Sew Colorful Stars--make 1 yellow block

If I get through all of that and am feeling inspired, I will try to do some machine quilting, either the Sister's Choice quilt or starting to quilt the Super Bowl mystery blocks.

That should all 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 Chris Knits.

Julie in GA