Getting It Done--September/October 2013

Judy's Get It Done Challenge at Patchwork Times has really proven to be a good motivator for me all year. I have found that writing out a list of goals and posting them on my blog has kept me much more focused on reaching those goals and has cut down on bouncing around between too many different projects. That doesn't mean I haven't played around with some new ideas, but for the most part I have stuck with my plans. 

SEPTEMBER GOALS:
1. Dancing Stars--9 blocks made 9/24

2.  Scrappy Sampler BOM--make this month's set of blocks.  Done 9/14

3.  Scrap Hexies--One star and one snowflake done 9/25

4.  Uneven 9-Patch quilt--finish binding. Done 9/30 (yes, on the last day of the month!)

OCTOBER GOALS--I hope that work will settle down a bit this month. I plan to continue keeping up with my monthly projects, plus make a start on some Christmas gifts.

1. Dancing Stars--make a set of blocks in this month's color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

2.  Scrappy Sampler BOM--make this month's set of blocks. 

3.  Scrap Hexies--continue my new hand stitching project.

4.  Begin at least one Christmas gift.

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.

Julie in GA

Slow Stitching Sunday 9/29/13 & Design Wall Monday 9/30/13

Since August I have been working on scrappy English Paper Pieced hexagon stars and snowflakes for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I finished my second star a few days ago, which brings me up to two stars and three snowflakes. Now I am waiting to find out what color will be chosen for October.

After finishing the hexie star, I was trying to come up with another hand-stitching project to keep me going. I pulled out a hexie project that was started in April, 2012 for the Color Palette Challenge at Patchwork Times. Each month Judy posted a picture to be used as inspiration for a project, and this is the photo that was my starting point.

Yes, that is a photo of a moldy custard pie. Disgusting, sure, but a great grouping of colors! I drew out a design, pulled fabrics, and started stitching, but didn't get far before it was pushed aside for other projects. It has been sitting in a box, patiently waiting for me to pull it out again. I have the center portion together, and two of the six side sections nearly complete.

I am linking up with Slow Stitching Sunday over at Kathy's Quilts. Here's to taking it slow on Sunday! I am also linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times.

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 9/29/13

I made a small dent in my stash this week. I used 1 yard for the Dancing Stars blocks in light blues for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I also used another .25 yard of light blues for my Scrappy Hexies project. No additions this week.

Used this week:         1.25  yards
Used year to date:   68.5 yards

Added this week:           0  yards

Added year to date:   46.5 yards

Net year to date:    22 yards used


Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie in GA

Scraps and Hexies and Stars, Oh My! 9/27/13

One of the greatest things about blogging is discovering the unlimited creativity of other quilters. I am constantly amazed by all the incredible ideas floating around, and it is overwhelming how generous quilters are in sharing their designs and their tips and tutorials.

I especially love taking part in the link-ups on other blogs. Today's post is going to be linked to two blogs that I just discovered in the last few weeks, Hexie Friday at A Quilting Reader's Garden and the Paper Piecing Party at Quiet Play. On Saturday, I will also link up to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and also to Scrap Basket Sunday at Kim's Big Quilting Adventure.

Both of my projects this week were started as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. For September our chosen color has been baby blue. I paper pieced nine light blue Dancing Stars blocks to add to those I have been making all year. Here they are on their own, plus combined with my darker blue blocks. If you are interested in this pattern, it is available as a free download at Amy's Creative Side.

Since August I have been working on some English Paper Pieced hexagons, also in the colors of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. The hexies have been the perfect portable project for me, and they generally go most everywhere with me. There will definitely be more hexies to come in future months.

Happy quilting!

Julie in GA

15 Minute Challenge 9/24/13

Somehow I missed making my 15 Minute Challenge post last Tuesday. I think I discovered it around Thursday, so just added on another week. Over the last two weeks, I managed to spend some time quilting every day except one. Progress on my projects has been slow but steady.

9/10 - 9/16
Tuesday--Scrap Hexies, Rainbow Scrap Challenge
Wednesday--Scrap Hexies
Thursday--Scrap Hexies
Friday--Scrap Hexies
Saturday--Scrappy Sampler, Scrap Hexies
Sunday--Scrappy Sampler
Monday--Scrap Hexies, Dancing Stars

9/17 - 9/23
Tuesday--Scrap Hexies, Dancing Stars
Wednesday--Scrap Hexies, Dancing Stars
Thursday--Scrap Hexies, Dancing Stars
Friday--Scrap Hexies
Saturday--Dancing Stars
Sunday--Dancing Stars
Monday--none


Check out the 15 Minute Challenge posts at Life in Pieces to see how others are finding time for their creative pursuits. 


Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 9/23/13

I had taken a little break from making Dancing Stars blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, but last week I decided it was time to get back in gear. Our assigned color this month is baby blue, and I made 9 of these blocks in the past week or so. The darker blue blocks were made a few months ago, but I like the way they all look together.

It's time for me to link up to Patchwork Times for 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!

Julie in GA

Slow and Scrappy Sunday 9/22/13

Progress on my Scrappy Hexie star has slowed to a crawl. I have the center all together and need to join the remaining points. Once I finish the star, I will see if there are enough hexagons left to make one more snowflake in baby blue.

I am linking up with other bloggers for Slow Stitching Sunday over at Kathy's Quilts. Here's to taking it slow on Sunday! I am also linking up to Scrap Basket Sunday at Kim's Big Quilting Adventure.

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 9/22/13

For the second week in a row, my stash reduction efforts are headed in the wrong direction. I have been doing lots of sewing, but can't count anything as used yet. Then yesterday I went to the Georgia Quilt Show and bought a couple of very cute Halloween fabrics. I'm thinking these are going to become gifts for my sister-in-law since we always do Halloween at her house. However, who knows if either will get done in time for Halloween this year!

The vendor booth where I got both fabrics showed the owl stripe made up as a tablerunner, and that is what I am planning to make with my piece.

Used this week:         0  yards
Used year to date:   67.25 yards

Added this week:          1.625 yards

Added year to date:   46.5 yards

Net year to date:    20.75 yards used


Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie in GA

Return of Dancing Stars 9/21/13

Last weekend I kept fooling around with my collection of light blue scraps, trying to figure out what to make this month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I realized that I had several light blue fabrics that hadn't already been used in previous blue Dancing Stars blocks. After struggling to come up with something else to make from my scraps, it was rather comforting to get back to making these blocks. 

I have also continued hand stitching hexies during little chunks of time, especially riding the train to work in the mornings. It's such fun to see these pieces come together. I thought I would get the star finished last night, but we ended up going out to dinner and I had no energy for stitching by the time we got home.

You can see all sorts of wonderful ways that other quilters have been using their baby blue scraps this month at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2013.

Julie in GA

Paper Piecing Party and Hexie Friday 9/20/13

The more time I spend quilting and blogging, the more other blogs I find with link-ups that interest me. Just in the past few weeks I have discovered Hexie Friday at A Quilting Reader's Garden. Also on Fridays is the Paper Piecing Party hosted by Kristy at Quiet Play. This week I am going to link up to both with one blog post.

Since January I have been participating in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge hosted by Angela at soscrappy. Every month she assigns a color for our scrappy projects. On Saturdays everyone links up with posts and photos of their progress. My project for the year has been making Dancing Stars blocks from a pattern I found at Amy's Creative Side. This month we are working with baby blue, and here are the paper-pieced blocks I have finished so far. They will join approximately 100 more blocks in other colors that have been made throughout the year.

My other current scrappy project is making hexie stars and snowflakes, also in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color. I have finished one snowflake, and just have to attach the outer points to my star. I'm not sure what size quilt these will become a part of, but I am greatly enjoying having this little hand-work project to carry with me.

Those are my current scrap-happy projects. I will be linking them up to Hexie Friday and to the Paper Piecing Party. Check out both places for great ideas and inspiration.

Happy quilting!

Julie in GA

HeLP for Hexie-aholics 9/17/13

I had hoped to get more done on my scrap hexie snowflake today, but had no time during the day, then cut my hand while cleaning up after dinner. Nothing too serious, but I won't be doing any hand stitching tonight. This photo shows how far I had gotten a couple days ago.

I wanted to post this today so I could link up with the monthly "HeLP for Hexie-aholics" party over at Sarah Did It! Today Sarah shows how she makes her beautiful Rose Star blocks, plus there are other English paper piecing posts to check out. Check back each month on the 17th.

Design Wall Monday 9/16/13

My Scrappy Sampler BOM quilt has reached the point where it is getting too big for me to get a photo of it in a single shot. Of course part of the reason for that is because my design wall is across a narrow hallway from the bathroom. To take photos of any project up on the wall, I have to go into the bathroom and shoot through the doorway. The lighting isn't very good in that hallway either, and my photos tend to be too dark. It's not the best set-up, but I am still glad to have a spot to hang my projects and stand back to look at them.

I added three "Flock of Geese" (or maybe it's Flock of Birds) blocks this week. We have three more sets of blocks to make for this quilt, and then there are two rows of bowtie blocks as the border. Use your imagination to join these two photos together across the middle.

It's time for me to link up to Patchwork Times for 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!

Julie in GA

Slow Stitching Sunday 9/15/13

I finished basting my collection of baby blue hexies a few days ago and started joining them together. I have one snowflake together and have started assembling a hexie star. There should be some time this afternoon while watching baseball games to continue on the star.

I am linking up with other bloggers for Slow Stitching Sunday over at Kathy's Quilts. Here's to taking it slow on Sunday! I am also linking up to Scrap Basket Sunday at Kim's Big Quilting Adventure.

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 9/15/13

Over the past several weeks I have been steadily making a dent in my stash by using small amounts and not buying any new fabric. This week I continued using a little bit of fabric, but I also added even more than I used. 

The Scrappy Sampler BOM group met yesterday, and our leader Taffy had been going through her sewing room with the goal of purging some things from her quilting collection. We counted off and she drew numbers to present the kits and other pieces she was giving away. I received this packet of 8" squares from Judie Rothermel's 25th Anniversary collection.

Later in the day I made the three September blocks for our Scrappy Sampler BOM. Lots of triangles this month for these "Flock of Geese" blocks.

Used this week:        .75 yards
Used year to date:   67.25 yards

Added this week:          1.3750 yards

Added year to date:   44.875 yards

Net year to date:    22.375 yards


Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie in GA

Singing the scrappy blues 9/14/13

For some reason, this month's Rainbow Scrap Challenge just isn't coming together like I had hoped. Last week I pulled together a good collection of baby blue scraps and strips and squares. I tried out a couple of ideas for what to make with all those bits and pieces, but none of the blocks I've made so far are making me happy. I just can't figure out where I am going.

The only real progress I have made is with my scrappy hexies. I basted about 50 or so hexies and have started joining them together. One snowflake is together, and I think I have enough hexies left to make a star with them.

You can see all sorts of wonderful ways that other quilters have been using their baby blue scraps this month at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2013.

Julie in GA

Hexie Friday--Baby Blues 9/13/13

Last week was the first time I linked up to Hexie Friday over at  A Quilting Reader's Garden. Since then, I have continued making more baby blue hexies. Here is my collection of blue hexies so far. Next week I should have some of them joined together and ready to show.

Check out Hexie Friday at Angie's blog to see some incredible hexie projects. I am so glad she invited me to join the fun!

Julie in GA

Dazzle block test 9/11/13

Not too long ago I discovered the Paper Piecing Party on Fridays at Quiet Play. I love the accuracy possible with paper piecing and was happy to see examples of other quilter's projects. One design that really spoke to me was "Dazzle," a new block designed by Esther who blogs at ipatchandquilt.wordpress.com. The following photo shows a gorgeous pillow she made from this block. Isn't that fabulous!

Since it is a new pattern, Esther was looking for volunteers to try it out for her, and I offered to be one of her testers. She emailed me the pattern with instructions and color options. One of my favorite things that she included was a page with line drawings of the design so I could try out my color scheme ideas. Here are a couple of versions. I decided to go with the second one, and you can see my fabric swatches for it at the bottom.

This pattern is constructed in 12 wedge-shaped sections with a total of nearly 100 pieces. You can see the numbers below my fabric swatches. I coded my foundations with these same numbers to help me get the right fabrics in the right places. I printed an extra set of foundations which I cut up to use as patterns for pre-cutting my fabrics. I like to rough cut my fabric to match the shape it needs to cover. You can see the red arrows in two areas which are there to help me keep the straight grain of the fabric at the outer edge of the block.

Piecing the pattern went pretty smoothly. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of that part of the process...except when I screwed up! I pieced all 12 of the wedges and started joining them together in groups of three, then into two halves of six wedges each. Unfortunately, I had gotten a couple of the groups of three switched in position, which left me with this: 

The biggest problem I had in making this block was in my fabric selection. I like the color scheme, but the two lightest yellow-orange fabrics are too close to the same and blend together too much. Not surprisingly, the most difficult part in making this block was matching up the twelve points at the center of the block. Mine isn't perfect, but it turned out pretty well. I need to go back in and close up the little hole where all the seams meet up at the center.

Here is my finished "Dazzle" block.

Thank you to Esther for allowing me to test your beautiful new block design. For anyone else interested, you can see her other patterns at Craftsy, or check out her blog here. I am linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced and to the Paper Piecing Party on Friday at Quiet Play.

Julie in GA

15 Minute Challenge 9/10/13

The past week was a good one for finding time to quilt. I managed to do at least a little bit every day. Some days weren't much more than 15 minutes, but even that little bit makes a difference. Most days included hand stitching on my Scrap Hexies project, plus I finished paper piecing a block that I offered to test for the designer. Check back tomorrow to see how that turned out.

9/3 - 9/9/13
Tuesday--Dazzle paper piecing
Wednesday--Dazzle paper piecing, Scrap Hexies
Thursday--Dazzle paper piecing, Scrap Hexies
Friday--Scrap Hexies, pull scraps for Rainbow Scrap Challenge
Saturday--Scrap Hexies, Dazzle paper piecing, lunch bag
Sunday--Scrap Hexies
Monday--Scrap Hexies, Rainbow Scrap Challenge


Check out the 15 Minute Challenge posts at Life in Pieces to see how others are finding time for their creative pursuits. 


Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 9/9/13

I have been playing on the design wall with different arrangements of the quarter log cabin blocks I made for the Quilts of Valor block drive over at Alycia Quilts (more info/pattern here.) It is such fun to see the many ways these blocks can go together. I thought my favorite version would have the blocks on point, but then I turned them around into a stairsteps arrangement that I really love! Now I'm thinking about the possibility of making more of these in red, white & blue.

It's time for me to link up to Patchwork Times for 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!

Julie in GA

Slow Stitching Sunday 9/8/13

Every Sunday at Kathy's Quilts is Slow Stitching Sunday with blog posts linking up to show hand stitching projects. There will be everything from hand applique and English paper piecing (EPP) to embroidery and hand quilting.

My current (and possibly long-term) hand-work project is EPP hexagons. I have been making these as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge where last month's color was red. For August I finished up two hexie snowflakes and one star.

Our scrap challenge color for September is baby blue. I don't have a lot of that color in my scrap bins, but I pulled out what I could find and started basting more hexies. I might have to add some brighter blues to get enough for another star, or maybe it will just be snowflakes this month.

I am linking up with other bloggers for Slow Stitching Sunday over at Kathy's Quilts. Here's to taking it slow on Sunday!

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 9/8/13

It was a huge treat to have two full days off last weekend over Labor Day. I had big plans to get a ton of quilting done, but of course didn't do nearly as much as I had hoped. It never seems to work out quite as planned, does it? Oh well, it also felt good to sit around and do nothing some of the time.

I did manage to finish a total of 20 blue & yellow quarter log cabin blocks, using 1.75 yards of fabric. These are for a Quilts of Valor block drive over at Alycia Quilts. You can find the pattern and more info here. The blocks were easy to make, and they are so much fun to play with on the design wall. Here is a preview, with more photos to come tomorrow. I may get inspired to make some more of these blocks later today.

I also finished paper piecing a test block of a new pattern called "Dazzle." This wonderful pattern was designed by Esther who lives in the Netherlands. She has several other beautiful patterns available on Craftsy and she blogs here.  I will have a separate post with more info about my experience testing this pattern coming one day this week.

My most recent project was another little lunch bag. I used two cute citrus print fabrics plus a layer of Insul-Brite for body and insulation. The bag finished at 9" x 4-1/2" x 10" high. I might still add a handle or some velcro to keep it closed. This used .75 yards.

Used this week:         2.75   yards
Used year to date:   66.5 yards    

Added this week:          0 yards

Added year to date:   43.5 yards

Net year to date:    23 yards used 

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie in GA

Beginning with Baby Blue 9/7/13

I am taking a little break from the Dancing Stars blocks to decide if I want to make more in new colors or go with what is already finished. Right now I like the colors in the blocks that are done and am leaning toward just joining them together into a lap quilt or large wall hanging. Stay tuned for further developments.

I finished up my scrappy red hexies by making another "snowflake" at the top left. The hexies have turned out to be a great portable project for me, so I expect to continue with those in other colors.

I wasn't too excited when I found out that baby blue is our chosen color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this month. My Dancing Stars blocks had both bright and lighter colors in each block, so I had already used some of my light blue fabrics. However, after digging through my bins of strips and scraps, I discovered that I have a pretty decent collection of light blue fabrics, plus a few brighter blues and some whites with blue thrown in. I cut out some hexies to get me started. Who knows what else will come out of this grouping over the next few weeks!

You can see all sorts of wonderful ways that other quilters have been using their baby blue scraps this month at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2013.

Julie in GA

Hexie Friday 9/6/13

I have been stitching scrappy red hexies since early August for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, where every Saturday quilters link up blog posts showing their scrappy projects in the chosen color for that month. Last week I received an email from Angie who blogs at A Quilting Reader's Garden. She left a comment about my hexie project and invited me to join in for Hexie Friday at her blog.

This week I finished up a second red hexie snowflake. Next I will begin making baby blue hexies, our designated color for September.

Check out Hexie Friday at Angie's blog to see some incredible hexie projects. I am so glad she invited me to join the fun!

Julie in GA

15 Minute Challenge 9/3/13

I was almost giddy with excitement over the prospect of 2-1/2 days off over the weekend. We have been putting in long hours at work lately, but it has let up enough that we unexpectedly got both Sunday and Monday off, plus we finished up around 2:00 on Saturday.

I spent a big chunk of Monday straightening up my sewing room which was looking like a tornado hit. Clearing away some of mess should reduce the frustration next time I need to do any cutting.

I managed to do some quilting every day of the past week. Most days I hand stitched hexies, especially while riding the train to work.  Over the holiday weekend I made 20 quarter log cabin blocks for Alycia's QOV Block Drive.

8/27 - 9/2
Tuesday--Scrap Hexies
Wednesday--Scrap Hexies
Thursday--Scrap Hexies, RW&B Scrap Club blocks
Friday--Scrap Hexies
Saturday--Scrap Hexies, RW&B Scrap Club blocks
Sunday--Scrap Hexies, QOV Block Drive
Monday--clean sewing room, QOV Block Drive


Check out the 15 Minute Challenge posts at Life in Pieces to see how others are finding time for their creative pursuits. 


Julie in GA

Labor Day Design Wall 9/2/13

There are a few different projects taking turns in my sewing room these days. I have been bouncing back and forth between them depending on my mood--do I want to hand sew hexies or cut and stitch for something else. 

Yesterday I decided it was time to whip up some blocks for the Quilts of Valor Big Blowout Block Drive over at Alycia Quilts.  There are two different block choices to make, and I decided to go with the blue and yellow quarter log cabin blocks. I will need to cut some more 2" yellow strips if I decide to make any more of these blocks.

It's time for me to link up to Patchwork Times for 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!

Happy Labor Day to all!

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 9/1/13

Wow, September already?!! The year is going by so very quickly. I should do some serious thinking about any Christmas gifts I might want to make.

I have continued to chip away at my goal of using at least 100 yards of my stash this year, and also to use up more than I add. By my count we are 2/3 of the way through this year, and 2/3 of 100 yards used would be 66.67. I am not too far off that. No big finishes to report this week, but I used almost a yard and didn't buy anything new. I count that as a successful week! 

I used .5 yards making 23 Bowtie blocks for my Scrappy Sampler and .375 yards for the red scrappy hexagons.

Used this week:         .875 yards
Used year to date:   63.75 yards    

Added this week:          0 yards

Added year to date:   43.5 yards

Net year to date:   20.25 yards used 

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie in GA