Design Wall Monday--Tell It to the Stars

We are halfway through the year on the Tell It to the Stars mystery block of the month from Patchwork Times. This is my first time sewing along with one of Judy's projects, and I am having a great time! At first I wasn't sure about my color palette, but I like it more and more each month as we complete more blocks. My biggest change was to go scrappy rather than using just 6 fabrics. I was going for a Southwest-type color scheme.

Here are my June blocks, followed by all the blocks from the first six months.

I can't wait to see what's ahead for the rest of the year!

I am linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times where you can see all sorts of amazing quilting inspiration! You can also see other sets of Tell It to the Stars blocks here.

 

Julie in GA

June/July 2014 goals

Here we are at the mid point of the year. I seem to spend lots of time quilting, but don't feel like I have much finished to show for it. So many of my projects are ongoing block of the months, and those take a long time to see progress. The good thing about BOM projects is that I enjoy having a variety of different quilts to switch between depending on what I feel like doing--cutting, machine sewing, hand stitching.

I will continue posting my monthly goals and keep working away on my assortment of projects. By the end of the year or early 2015, I should have a good collection of finishes to show.

 JULY GOALS:
1.  QOV Bowties--I finished making the blocks for this quilt and got them all joined together in June. My goal for July is to get borders on the quilt top, plus make the back, binding, and pillowcase, then turn it in for longarm quilting. This is also my goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes

 

2.  Rainbow Scrap Challenge--make 6-8 LeMoyne Stars in July's color, red.
3.  Scrap Hexies--make hexie star & snowflakes.
4.  Tell It to the Stars (Judy L. mystery)--make July blocks.
5.  Make one Mariner's Compass block.
6.  Spend at least 15 minutes each day quilting--cutting, sewing, designing, etc. 


JUNE GOALS AND RESULTS:
1.  My June goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes was to finish the center block of the Mariner's Compass quilt, plus piece one more block. Well, that center block is nearly done, but I didn't start any other blocks. I did buy a few more fabrics to use in this quilt.

2.  Rainbow Scrap Challenge--make 6-8 LeMoyne Stars in June's color, yellow.
     Made 8 small stars (6") and two large stars (12")

3.  Scrap Hexies--make hexie star & snowflakes in yellow  Done! (Completed after this photo was taken)

4.  Tell It to the Stars (Judy L. mystery)--make June blocks.  Done!

5.  Spend at least 15 minutes each day quilting--cutting, sewing, designing, etc. 

That covers my quilting plans and goals for July and my results from June. Watch for the next update at the end of July.

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 6/29/14

It's hard to believe that we are at the halfway point of the year--where did the weeks go?! My summer break has just flown by, and soon I will be returning to work. Financially that is a good thing, but I sure do like having more free time for quilting. How much longer until I can retire? (Too long!)

After my shopping spree at Mary Jo's a week ago, this was a week focused on fabric usage. I made two 12" LeMoyne Star blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, one Mariner's Compass block, two hexie snowflakes and one hexie star, plus contributed solid white fabric for a signature quilt being made for a retiring co-worker. That will all make a bit of a dent in that red number.

12" Scrappy LeMoyne Stars

Hexie star and snowflakes

Used this week:                              2.75 yards
Used year to date:                        68.0  yards

Stashed this week:                              0 yards

Stashed year to date:                  82.25 yards 

Net year to date:                       14.25 yards stashed  


Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie in GA

Scrappy Saturday in yellow 6/28/14

This is the last week for yellow at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and I am in good shape with my projects. I finished up all of the 6" LeMoyne Star blocks, plus made a 12" block and even completed my 12" purple star from last month.

6" LeMoyne Stars

12" LeMoyne Stars

My two yellow hexie snowflakes are finished, and there is just one line of stitching left on the hexie star. Two more days to get that done before we change over to a new color. I wonder what July's color will be? My guess is either red or orange.

Check out the Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts every Saturday to see how others are using up their scraps. So many beautiful scrappy projects! 
I am also linking up with Hexie Weekend at A Quilting Reader's Garden and Monday Morning Star Count at Life Under Quilts. Check both of those out for great EPP inspiration.

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 6/23/14

I have developed a great fondness for bowtie blocks over the years.  They are quick and easy to make, and there are endless layouts similar to log cabin quilts. It started many years ago when I made a set of placemats with teeny little bowties. Those baby bowties finished at only 2" each! I still have a stack of extra blocks and parts to make more.

Last year I joined a block of the month group, and our project had bowties as the final border. This is my Scrappy Sampler quilt.

Earlier this year, I made a bowtie baby quilt for a coworker. I got so carried away making bowtie blocks that I have enough blocks left over to make at least one more baby quilt.

The current bowtie project is a set of red, white & blue bowtie blocks that will become a Quilt of Valor soon. They are all up on my design wall, waiting to be stitched together into a quilt top. You can see about 80% of the quilt in this photo.

I am linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times where you can see all sorts of amazing quilting inspiration! 

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 6/22/14

My Stash Report covers the last two weeks because we were out of town last Sunday and I didn't file a report then.

Our trip included a visit to Mary Jo's Cloth Store in Gastonia, NC near Charlotte. If you like charming, cozy quilt shops with lots of quilt samples to look at, this is NOT the place for you. If you want a huge selection and good prices, definitely plan a stop at Mary Jo's when you are in the area. It is one of the biggest fabric stores I have ever been in (and I have been to A LOT of fabric stores all over the country.) What the store lacks in ambiance, they make up for with selection and price.

As expected, the stop at Mary Jo's led to a hefty increase to my stash. Fortunately, I went there with a list and mostly managed to stick to it. I got several reds, yellows, and oranges for the Mariner's Compass quilt. I also needed some light purples to balance out my stash, and I got some great black and white prints. These are all 1/4 yard pieces.

I also got a few larger pieces. The blue check with ducks will become part of a kid's quilt someday. The next piece is a camo-style FSU print to become pj pants, and the two black prints with music notes will join my collection of music themed fabrics. 10.625 yards total.

On the last day before we came home, we went to the Western North Carolina Quilters Guild Garden of Quilts show. Seeing the show was a real treat, and it got even better when they called me about an hour after we had left to say that I had won a raffle prize. It was this wonderful fat quarter bundle of patriotic fabrics. I see another Quilt of Valor in my future! 3.75 yards total.

Fortunately, I do have some fabric usage to report too (although nowhere near as much as the additions.) I made the last 41 QOV bowtie blocks, and I hope to get them joined into a top soon. I also finished my two June blocks for Judy L's Tell It to the Stars mystery and made 8 yellow LeMoyne Stars for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. It will be tough to get my numbers back to even, but I am hopeful that I can do it by the end of the year.


Used this week:                              2.75 yards
Used year to date:                       65.25  yards

Stashed this week:                      14.375 yards

Stashed year to date:                  82.25 yards 

Net year to date:                       17 yards stashed  


Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie in GA

Happy Scrappy Yellow

Yellow is one of my favorite colors in quilting, so bright and cheery. I was very happy when Angela announced that it would be our color in June for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

I've had lots of time for hand stitching lately. My two yellow hexie snowflakes are completed, and the hexie star is nearly finished too.

My other project for the RSC 2014 is my Rainbow LeMoyne Stars. I made four yellow stars with light background, and there is one star on black background left from my earlier attempt with these blocks (2001!) I need to make three or four more stars with the black background, plus one larger (12") blocks.

My design wall got cleared off this week, so I decided it was a good time to take a look at the LeMoyne Stars in all the colors we have done so far. This is about half of the blocks I have made this year. They are all 6" blocks. I am so excited about how these are looking together!

Check out the Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts every Saturday to see how others are using up their scraps. So many beautiful projects! 
I am also linking up with Hexie Weekend at A Quilting Reader's Garden and Monday Morning Star Count at Life Under Quilts. Check both of those out for great EPP inspirations.

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 6/16/14

We have been out of town for the past week, so there was no time in the sewing room. Fortunately, I did have some long stretches in the car for stitching hexies. I finished up these two yellow hexie snowflakes, which I have been making as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. The larger yellow hexie star is still in the works.

I finished the small star for the center of this Mariner's Compass block before we left home. I might try again because the center doesn't line up quite right and the seam allowances are quite lumpy. On the other hand, I might decide that it is just fine and go on to the next block.

I am linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times where you can see all sorts of amazing quilting inspiration! I am also linking up to the Monday Morning Star Count at Life Under Quilts. You will find great EPP (English paper piecing) posts!

Julie in GA

Scrappy yellow Saturday

After finishing up basting my yellow hexies last weekend, I have had some long stretches in the car when I could stitch them together. I have finished one yellow snowflake and am working on my second of those.

Check out the Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts every Saturday to see how others are using up their scraps. So many beautiful projects! 


Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 6/9/14

My main design wall shows the first block for the Mariner's Compass quilt, minus the tiny star that goes in the center (that is in the works.) On the right is a very different kind of project. That is the "Stabilstor Stabilizer Storage System." There will be 10 pockets, and I have six finished, four to go.

This organizer is similar to a hanging bag for purses or shoes, but wide enough to hold rolls of stabilizer and/or interfacing. I got the pattern from Nancy's Notions a couple years ago, but their website doesn't show it anymore. The designer's info on the pattern is Nancy Adam, email is nancyadam@comcast.net, and phone number 248-650-0546.

The furniture has been rearranged a bit in my sewing room, which should make it easier to use this second design wall. In the past, I had to lean over a chest of drawers to reach the wall, and inevitably I would drop a piece or a block behind the dresser. That wall holds my hexie stars and snowflakes. I have been making these for almost a year as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. This month's color is yellow, a favorite of mine! I need to make two more big stars (yellow and orange) plus nine more snowflakes to complete the planned layout. Then there will be lots of background hexies to make and join, unless I get fed up and decide to applique them all to the background.

I am linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times where you can see all sorts of amazing quilting inspiration! I am also linking up to the Monday Morning Star Count at Life Under Quilts. Great EPP (English paper piecing) posts!

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 6/8/14

No change to my stash this week.  I did some cutting and basted hexagons, but nothing that can be counted yet. 


Used this week:                              0 yards
Used year to date:                       62.5  yards

Stashed this week:                          0 yards

Stashed year to date:              67.875 yards 

Net year to date:                       5.375 yards stashed  


Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie in GA

Sunny Scrappy Saturday

Most of my time in the sewing room this week has been spent trying to clear away some of the piles of books, catalogs, sketches and scraps that have accumulated over the last several months. It feels so good to have some open space on my cutting table again. It had gotten to the point that I had to move things out of the way every time I needed to do any cutting, and that was driving me nuts. Time for a cleaning spree!

After clearing space on the cutting table, I enjoyed choosing and cutting pieces for my Rainbow LeMoyne Stars for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Our color for June is yellow, one of my favorites for quilts. The completed star was from when I first made a few of these blocks back in 2001.

I have also been basting up my yellow hexagons and am almost ready to start stitching them together. Did I already mention how much I love yellow?!

Check out the Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts every Saturday to see how others are using up their scraps. So many beautiful projects! This week I am also linking up to the Hexie Weekend at A Quilting Reader's Garden.


Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 6/2/14

I finally started working on the first block for the Mariner's Compass quilt that has been in the planning stages for several months. This block will be the center of the quilt. I need to add the final piece to each of the outer sections, then join them together, plus piece the small star for the center of the compass.

There is a long way to go on this quilt, but it feels good to have made a start. My husband requested a Mariner's Compass quilt and had very specific ideas about the layout for it, none of them matching any of the patterns I showed him. That meant I had to come up with my own design, which is why it took so long to get this project off the ground. Keep your fingers crossed that it all works out!

I am linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times where you can see all sorts of amazing quilting inspiration! 

Julie in GA

May/June 2014 goals

I don't know what it is about this time of year that makes it harder for me to get much quilting done. I think it is the fact that my days are much less structured. Every year around this time I have a long stretch (10 - 12 weeks) when I am not working at my regular job--similar to a teacher's schedule, but our break is usually mid April until sometime in July. I always have lots of big ideas of quilt projects to get done during that time, but it rarely happens. Right now I am attempting to get my sewing room cleaned up and better organized, in the hope that I can then be more efficient when I do get in there to quilt.

Here is my list of goals from last month with an update on how I did on them, plus a new list for June.

MAY GOALS:
1. My May goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes was to finalize the design for a Mariner's Compass quilt, choose the background fabric, and make at least one block. I did buy the background, but have only a small portion of the first block assembled. The parts here remind me of Bird of Paradise flowers.

2.  Rainbow Scrap Challenge--make 6-8 LeMoyne Stars in green DONE 5/10 (plus finished the last 2 purple stars from April)

3.  Scrap Hexies--make RSC hexie star & snowflake (and finish April's star)
5/25 Finished 2 stars and 1 snowflake

4.  Tell It to the Stars (Judy L. mystery)--make May blocks.  DONE 5/19

5.  Spend at least 15 minutes each day quilting--cutting, sewing, designing, etc.  28 days out of 31


JUNE GOALS:
1.  Mariner's Compass--finish the center block and piece at least one more block.  I am planning to approach this quilt as my own personal block of the month project.  This is also my June goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes.

2.  Rainbow Scrap Challenge--make 6-8 LeMoyne Stars in June's color, yellow.
3.  Scrap Hexies--make hexie star & snowflake in yellow
4.  Tell It to the Stars (Judy L. mystery)--make June blocks.
5.  Spend at least 15 minutes each day quilting--cutting, sewing, designing, etc. 

That covers my quilting plans and goals for June and my results from May. Watch for the next update at the end of June.

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 6/1/14

I made a little progress in reducing my stash this week, and had no additions! It's time for me to do some serious cleaning up and clearing out in the sewing room, plus maybe get a quilt top finished! I hope to get back into black numbers soon.

I used 1.75 yards for more QOV Bowtie blocks and .25 yd. for my rainbow of hexies.


Used this week:                              2.0 yards
Used year to date:                       62.5  yards

Stashed this week:                          0 yards

Stashed year to date:              67.875 yards 

Net year to date:                       5.375 yards stashed  


Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie in GA