Once again I am linking up with Judy's Patchwork Times for the Getting It Done challenge. The theory is that by publicly posting a list of our quilting goals for the coming month, we will be more motivated to reach those goals. I know it has certainly helped keep me focused this year. I knew that August was going to be a very busy month at work, so only posted 3 goals. Of those three, I accomplished two and barely touched the other. AUGUST GOALS 1. Dancing Stars--make at least 8-10 blocks in this month's color (red) for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 12 blocks made!
2. Scrappy Sampler BOM--make this month's set of blocks. Done! (the 3 in the middle plus 23 Bowtie blocks)
3. Finish making blocks for red, white & blue scrap quilt. 3 small (6") stars done, 12-15 still to make plus a few 12" blocks.
New project started: Scrap Hexies for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge
SEPTEMBER GOALS--This will be another busy month, so my goals are mostly to keep up with monthly projects. 1. Dancing Stars--I am not sure I will want to add any more colors to this quilt. I will make some sample blocks in the chosen color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge to help me decide. 2. Scrappy Sampler BOM--make this month's set of blocks. 3. Scrap Hexies--continue my new hand stitching project. 4. Uneven 9-Patch quilt--finish binding. See how well other quilters did at reaching their goals this month and what they hope to accomplish in the month ahead at Patchwork Times.
I don't have any new Dancing Stars blocks to show for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this week. The 12 red stars that I showed last week were all I needed to make this month. I now have just over 100 blocks made for this quilt, and 98 are needed for a throw size. I am still waiting to see what other colors are chosen for the next few months before I decide whether to make more or go ahead and join them together. Here are a few of each color up on the design wall.
My newest red scrap project has involved many hexagons. This turned out to be the perfect project to sew during my train commute to work each day. It worked out great to start my day with a little stitchery on the ride. I have made one "snowflake" and one bigger star with the hexies. I don't have a plan for what the finished quilt will look like, but I imagine the hexies will carry over into next year's scrap challenge. I am so excited by how they are turning out! I will link these up to Hexie Friday at A Quilting Reader's Garden.
I am linking up to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2013, where you can see all sorts of wonderful ways that other quilters have been using their red scraps this month. I am also linking up to Slow Stitching Sunday at Kathy's Quilts. Check out the other posts featuring hand-stitched projects. Julie in GA
It was a nice surprise to look at my calendar and discover that I managed to find time for quilting every day in the past week. I have spent very little time at my sewing machine lately, but I have been hand stitching hexagons on the train most days. I get some funny looks from other passengers, but they just don't understand this compulsion to quilt! 8/20 - 8/26 Tuesday--Scrap Hexies Wednesday--Scrap Hexies Thursday--Scrap Hexies Friday--Scrap Hexies Saturday--Scrap Hexies Sunday--Scrappy Sampler Monday--Scrap Hexies
Check out the 15 Minute Challenge posts at Life in Pieces to see how others are finding time for their creative pursuits.
My design wall currently holds blocks for two very different projects. There are my 12 Dancing Stars blocks in red for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. They have been up there for the past week and have appeared on my blog for the last couple days. I am looking forward to mixing these in with all the other colors I have used in the blocks.
Yesterday I made 23 more bowtie blocks for my Scrappy Sampler BOM. The quilt finishes with two rows of bowties as the final border, requiring about 170 blocks total. I have around 90 of them made so far. I can see from this photo that I will have to be careful to scatter my blocks with really pale backgrounds evenly around the quilt when I put my border together.
It's time for me to link up to Patchwork Timesfor Design Wall Monday. There is an incredible variety of ideas and inspiration there to enjoy, which is the reason why Monday has become one of my favorite days of the week!
For a change, I have some fabric used to report this week. I finished 12 red and 2 green Dancing Stars blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, using 1-3/8 yards fabric. Here is the collection of red blocks.
Used this week: 1.375 yards Used year to date: 62.875 yards
Added this week: 0 yards
Added year to date: 43.5 yards Net year to date: 19.375 yards used Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.
I finished the last of my red Dancing Stars blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this week. I ended up with 12 stars in red. I believe that brings me to just over 100 blocks finished at this point, and I need 98 of them for the throw size quilt. I haven't decided if I will keep making more blocks in the colors that are chosen for the remaining months of the year. I will probably try a few and see how well they fit in with the rest of the collection.
Lately my best opportunity for quilting time has been during my commute to and from work on the train each day. I started basting red scraps to hexagons, and this week I have been stitching them together. This is my first "snowflake" laid out and waiting for me to finish joining the hexies. I also have about 30 or 40 more red hexies basted and waiting their turn. I expect this project to carry over into next year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge.
I am linking up to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2013, where you can see all sorts of wonderful ways that other quilters have been using their red scraps this month. I am also linking up to Slow Stitching Sunday at Kathy's Quilts. Check out the other posts featuring hand-stitched projects. Julie in GA
I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I managed to find time to sew on six out of seven days last week. Time to quilt is in short supply these days due to long hours at work. I have been basting red scraps to make hexagons, although I don't know yet what I am going to make with them. At least it is something productive! Here is one possible layout.
Since January I have been participating in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge over at Angela's soscrappy blog. Each month has an assigned color, and every Saturday there are links where quilters show off their current scrap-busting projects in that color. You can see the most recent posts here. All year I have been making Dancing Stars blocks (pattern available at Amy's Creative Side.) These are the final six in red for August.
Dancing Stars
I have also been seeing Crossroads blocks on other people's posts and wanted to give that block a try. I had plenty of teal and turquoise strips left from my star blocks last month to throw together these four Crossroads blocks. I found two helpful tutorials here and here. The blocks went together very quickly. My teal scraps were cut into 2-1/2" x 4-1/2" rectangles, and the blocks will finish at 12". It is easy to make the blocks in other sizes too. I'm not sure I love the grey background with all the teal and turquoise fabrics, but it was a good starting point.
12" Crossroads blocks
It's time for me to link up to Patchwork Timesfor Design Wall Monday. There is an incredible variety of ideas and inspiration there to enjoy, which is the reason why Monday has become one of my favorite days of the week!
Another stash report with nothing used and nothing added. I keep trying to squeeze in a little time to quilt each day, but haven't been able to finish anything up this week. Used this week: 0 yards Used year to date: 61.5 yards
Added this week: 0 yards
Added year to date: 43.5 yards Net year to date: 18 yards used Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.
So many red scraps, so little time! I am trying to keep up with my blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. This week I finished another 3 Dancing Stars blocks, bringing me up to 9 in red. For anyone interested in this pattern, you can find it as a free download at Amy's Creative Side.
I have been trying to figure out a hand sewing project to carry with me, and decided that my many red scraps and strips would work well for hexagons. I haven't decided yet what these will become, but there are lots of pieces precut for me to baste while I ride the train to and from work.
I am linking up to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2013, where you can see all sorts of wonderful ways that other quilters have been using their red scraps this month. Julie in GA
This has become the week of "better late than never" blog posts. Long work days have drastically limited both my quilting and my computer time. I am still trying to find at least a few minutes a day for quilting; today it was during my train ride to work. I may get some funny looks from other passengers, but at least I am being productive! 8/6 - 8/12 Tuesday--Hexie Snowflakes Wednesday--Hexie Snowflakes, Dancing Stars Thursday--Dancing Stars Friday--Dancing Stars Saturday--Scrappy Sampler, Dancing Stars, blue/yellow Uneven 9Patch Sunday--Scrappy Sampler, Dancing Stars Monday--none
I have been enjoying Kate's recent posts at Life in Pieces about how sleep (or the lack of it) can affect so many different areas of our lives, including our creativity. That alone makes me think I should get to bed earlier tonight. Check out the 15 Minute Challenge posts at Life in Pieces to see how others are finding time for their creative pursuits.
The Scrappy Sampler BOM group met at Intown Quilters on Saturday morning, then I spent the rest of weekend making my blocks for August. For the remaining months of the year we will be making the 10" blocks that get added around the outside, followed by two rows of bowtie blocks as the final border. You can see the center of my quilt here. It is getting to be too big for me to get a photo of the whole thing together. The following photo shows the 10" blocks that I have completed so far. There will be 24 blocks that size altogether, 3 or 4 of each pattern for the remaining months.
Next I need to make more bowtie blocks for the border. I have 71 done so far, and I think I need 172 total. This is going to be a big quilt, finishing around 80" x 100". I am getting more and more excited as it nears completion. This is a photo of Taffy's quilt. She is the teacher/leader of our BOM group. Most members of the group are using kits with fabrics that are the same or very similar to those in this quilt. Mine is going to be about as far different as you can get!
It's time for me to link up to Patchwork Timesfor Design Wall Monday. There is an incredible variety of ideas and inspiration there to enjoy, which is the reason why Monday has become one of my favorite days of the week!
I spent most of yesterday working on this month's blocks for my Scrappy Sampler BOM. I made the three blocks for August, plus finished 71 bowtie blocks for the border (out of 172 total needed for this quilt.) Altogether, 2 yards used this week and nothing added. Used this week: 2 yards Used year to date: 61.5 yards
Added this week: 0 yards
Added year to date: 43.5 yards Net year to date: 18 yards used Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.
Today I finished up three more red Dancing Stars blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I also completed two green stars that were hiding in my box of leftovers. They make a nice Christmas looking combination on the design wall.
I am enjoying a day filled with quilting today. I will spend part of it prepping all the pieces and the paper foundations for the rest of my red stars to make it easier to be productive when I squeeze in some time to sew next week. I am linking up to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2013, where you can see all sorts of wonderful ways that other quilters have been using their red scraps this month. Julie in GA
Somehow I missed posting for last week's 15 Minute Challenge, so this post covers two weeks. It has been a busy stretch, but I still managed to quilt 12 days out of 14. Not too bad with everything else that's going on. I am discovering the value of advance preparation for my quilting projects. After a busy day at work, there are some nights when I would like to work on a quilt project in the evening, but don't want to have to think too hard. I don't have the energy to figure out what needs to happen next or to choose some fabrics in order to do some cutting. All I want to do is sit down and sew for a little while, and that is so much easier if there is something already planned out and waiting for me. I also like to have some hand sewing prepared in advance. It is rare for me to just sit and watch TV without doing something else too. Quite often I will be on my laptop, but I can also get lots of handwork done during baseball games and other TV watching. Again, I am much more productive if a project is all prepped and ready for stitching. Unfortunately, there is nothing ready to sew right now, so I mostly just collapse in front of the TV. 7/23 - 7/29 Tuesday--Dancing Stars, costume project Wednesday--Dancing Stars, costume project Thursday--Dancing Stars, Scrappy Sampler, costume project finished! Friday--Dancing Stars Saturday--Dancing Stars, Scrappy Sampler, quilting Uneven 9-Patch Sunday--Dancing Stars, quilting Uneven 9-Patch Monday--Dancing Stars 7/30 - 8/5 Tuesday--Dancing Stars Wednesday--Dancing Stars Thursday--Dancing Stars Friday--nothing Saturday--Uneven 9-Patch, Dancing Stars Sunday--none Monday--Dancing Stars Check out the 15 Minute Challenge posts at Life in Pieces to see how others are finding time for their creative pursuits.
My design wall hasn't changed much since last week. The only addition is the red Dancing Stars blocks on the left side. That is all I managed to get done last week. I hope to get some more Dancing Stars made this week, then we have our Scrappy Sampler group next Saturday. Maybe I will have more blocks to show with that in a week.
It's time for me to link up to Patchwork Timesfor Design Wall Monday. There is an incredible variety of ideas and inspiration there to enjoy, which is the reason why Monday has become one of my favorite days of the week!
No additions and no usage this week. I made 3 Dancing Stars blocks, but that yardage won't be counted until the end of the month. Unfortunately, not much time for quilting right now. Maybe next week will be better.
Used this week: 0 yards Used year to date: 59.5 yards
Added this week: 0 yards
Added year to date: 43.5 yards Net year to date: 16 yards used Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.
I started cutting red scraps for my Dancing Stars blocks before we even got to the end of July, just in hopes that I had guessed the right color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge for August. Luckily red is this month's color, but I didn't have much time to stitch blocks this week. I finally got these three done this evening. They will be a good addition to my rainbow collection.
I am linking up to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2013, where you can see all sorts of wonderful ways that other quilters have been using their red scraps this month. Julie in GA
I came very close to meeting my goals for Judy's Get It Done Challenge last month. I managed to complete four of my five goals, and made a good start on the other.
I know that August is going to be a very busy month at work, so I need to scale back my goals a bit. I hope to keep up with both of my BOM projects, and get some blocks made for one other quilt. JULY GOALS 1. Dancing Stars--make 8-10 blocks in this month's color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 14 blocks done
2. Scrappy Sampler BOM--make this month's set of blocks. Done
3. Turning Leaves quilt--finish binding. Done
4. Quilt and bind one more top. Almost done quilting, then need to bind. 5. Make pillowcases and placemats for guild charity drive. Made 7 pillowcases
AUGUST GOALS 1. Dancing Stars--make at least 8-10 blocks in this month's color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 2. Scrappy Sampler BOM--make this month's set of blocks. 3. Finish making blocks for red, white & blue scrap quilt.
See how well other quilters did at reaching their goals this month and what they hope to accomplish in the month ahead at Patchwork Times.
