Stash Report Sunday 8/31/14

Here we are at the end of August, two-thirds of the way through 2014! At this point I am feeling pretty good about my stash report. My goal for the year was to use at least 100 yards, which is less than 8 yards away. Looks like I should reach that goal easily. 

The other goal, and this will be tougher, is to use more fabric than I add to the stash. There isn't much difference between my yardage used vs. yardage added numbers, and one good sale could knock it all out of whack. I will just keep plugging away at my current projects, and see how it all turns out in December.

This week I used just over 2 yards. I made a pillowcase for my QOV Bowties Quilt, made the binding for my Scrappy Sampler, remade one of the blocks for the Tell It to the Stars mystery, and finished adding background hexies to my green hexie star.

QOV pillowcase

There hadn't been any additions to my stash since early July, which coincided with my return to work. All those Labor Day sales are tempting, but so far I have been able to resist. However, I do have one lovely addition to report. I was the lucky winner of the Ironing Board challenge at Jo's Country Junction. Jo sent me a layer cake of Moda's "Surrounded by Love" by Deb Strain. I am dreaming of a very girly baby quilt with these fabrics.

Used this week:                          2.125 yards
Used year to date:                    92.75 yards

Stashed this week:                      3.0  yards

Stashed year to date:               89.75 yards 

Net year to date:                      3.0 yards used  


Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie in GA

End of the Month Scrappiness

It's hard to believe that it is the end of the month already. August just flew by (but I probably say that almost every month!) For the most part, it wasn't a terribly hot summer around here, but we've had quite a few 90+ days over the last couple of weeks. I am looking forward to shifting into fall. I am also looking forward to switching over to orange, our color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

My main progress this week in the light and bright greens for August was to finish stitching background hexies around my scrappy green star. Orange is the last color I need to make for this project, then I can get serious about adding background to all the stars and snowflakes. 

I already have a pile of orange hexies basted, just need to finish a few more before I start sewing them together. I love the colors of autumn!

Check out this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts--lots of amazingly beautiful rainbow projects to inspire you! I am also linking up to the Hexie Weekend at A Quilting Reader's Garden, and to the Monday Morning Star Count at Life Under Quilts. Hexies all over the place--go check them out!

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 8/25/14--Tell It to the Stars

When I started making the August blocks for the Tell It to the Stars mystery, I was worried about the amount of black in my blocks. However, once I finished a few and put them up on the wall with my earlier blocks, I was much happier with the look of it all.

This is my guess at a possible layout for our blocks. The blocks for August are the triangles around the outside. I have quite a bit of my turquoise fabric left, plus we still have a few more months to go on this mystery. I am thinking we might be adding sashing at some point, and probably more borders. We know how Judy loves to use multiple borders!

I am linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times where you can see all sorts of amazing quilting inspiration! On September 1st, I will link up to Patchwork Times again for the Tell It to the Stars progress reports.

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 8/24/14

This week's stash usage may be my largest amount used in a single week all year! I realize it isn't a lot compared to how much some people go through, but I feel very good about getting my numbers back into the black.

I used 4.5 yards for the backing of my QOV Bowties, 1.375 yards for the August blocks for Tell It to the Stars mystery, and .75 yards for a new ironing board cover. No fabric added again this week. It has been more than a month since I got any new fabric. I may be going into withdrawal!

Used this week:                          6.625 yards
Used year to date:                   90.625 yards

Stashed this week:                          0  yards

Stashed year to date:               86.75 yards 

Net year to date:                    3.875 yards used  


Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie in GA

Return of the Scrappy Hexies

It has been several weeks since I showed the status on my Scrap Hexies project. I keep stitching away during my morning train commutes (and sometimes evenings too) but there hasn't been a lot to show lately.

I have been working on this project for over a year now, and I expect it will probably take another year to finish it. Last August I began making hexie stars and snowflakes as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. It has been the perfect handstitching project for those chunks of free time.

Since I had already made a green star and two snowflakes in May, this month I have started to add background hexies around the star. Progress has been slow, but I am very excited with the way it is turning out!

Check out this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts on Saturday--lots of amazingly beautiful rainbow projects to inspire you! I am also linking up to HeLP for Hexie-aholics over at Sarah Did It!,  to the Hexie Weekend at A Quilting Reader's Garden, and to the Monday Morning Star Count at Life Under Quilts. Hexies all over the place--go check them out!

Julie in GA

Ironing Board cover

A recent post over at Jo's Country Junction featured Jo's new ironing board cover. She showed a photo of her old cover, and talked about how easy it was to make a new one. I have been needing to make a new cover for some time, but never got around to it until now. Thanks for the inspiration, Jo!

Here is my old cover. It was starting to develop holes in that scorched brown area.

The fabric I used is an old drapery print that I've had for many years. I think it came from a yard sale or a thrift store. I used the old board cover as my pattern, cutting the new fabric about 1" larger all around. I finished off the raw edges on the serger. Then I folded under 1/2" all the way around, wrapping it around a narrow cord and stitching about 1/4" from the folded edge. I cut a small hole at the larger end to pull the cord through so I could tighten it up and tie it off. Here is my crisp and clean new cover.

The print may be a little busier than I might generally choose, but I am glad to use up some of this fabric. It has been hanging around much too long, and I still have quite a few yards left. I also added a layer of Hobbs 80/20 batting because the padding on my board was pretty well worn through. 

I had hoped to enter Jo's Ironing Board Challenge, but it turns out that I am a day too late. (Jo saw my post and added me to the challenge. Best of all, I won a Moda layer cake from Jo!) I'm  happy that she inspired me to finally replace my ratty old cover. It will be a treat to use this new cover.


Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday--another finished top!

I have another finished quilt top, my second in less than a week!! The borders finally got finished on my Quilts of Valor Bowties Quilt. All of the bowtie blocks were joined together several weeks ago, but I was having trouble figuring out what fabrics to use for the borders. The main problem was that I also wanted to use the same red print for the quilt back, and I wasn't sure I had enough for border and backing. I decided to go ahead with the border, and I will find something else to add to the red for the back.

Next I will piece the back for this quilt, plus make a pillowcase for it and maybe the binding. Can't forgot to make a label too. Then I can send it off for quilting and finishing.

If you are interested in finding more information about Quilts of Valor, check it out here. You can also see lots of great Quilts of Valor at Alycia's blog every Wednesday.

I am linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times where you can see all sorts of amazing quilting inspiration! On Friday I will also link up to Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 8/17/14

Despite a very busy week at work, I made good progress on my stash reduction efforts. I finished the borders on two different quilt tops and pieced the backing for one of them, using a total of 4.5 yards of fabric.

I showed the finished top for my scrappy greens Crossroads quilt in yesterday's post. Here is the back that I pieced yesterday. The selvage of the brighter green fabric said it was from 1996, which is not long after I started quilting. This fabric has definitely aged long enough! The back just needs a good pressing, then it can get layered and pin basted.

The other quilt that got the borders finished this week was my QOV Bowties quilt, which has been waiting for those borders for more than a month. It feels good to have that done too. I will show the finished top on my design wall tomorrow.

No fabric added again this week.  Once I piece a back for the QOV, I should be back to having used more than I have added for the year!

Used this week:                          4.5  yards
Used year to date:                    84.0  yards

Stashed this week:                          0  yards

Stashed year to date:               86.75 yards 

Net year to date:                    2.75 yards stashed  


Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie in GA

Scrappy Green Crossroads

I was feeling a little lost at the beginning of the month when we found out that our August color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is light/bright green. I had already made my allotment of green LeMoyne Star blocks a few months ago, not realizing that lighter green would pop up again. 

I decided to go an entirely different route and try to make a small quilt entirely in greens. The Crossroads block is one I had been seeing for a year or two and wanted to try. I dug out my 2-1/2" light and bright green strips, plus cut more strips off stash fabrics. The background fabric is a leftover from a quilt made around 12-14 years ago. Here is my finished Crossroads quilt top.

Crossroads
45" x 57"

My quilt blocks measure 12" finished, and there are 12 of them in the quilt. I might have made this quilt bigger, but I was limited by the amount of background that I had. Now I have the rest of August to piece a back and try to get this quilted. 

Check out this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts on Saturday--lots of amazingly beautiful rainbow projects to inspire you! I am also linking up to Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and joining in on The Purge over at Stitched in Color. It's time to conquer those scraps!


Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 8/11/14

For the first time in weeks, I have a completely finished quilt to show! Woohoo!!

This is the Musical Stars baby quilt. Two musician friends, a trumpeter and a viola player, are expecting a baby in October. These two fabrics, spotted by my husband when we were in a quilt shop a few months ago, were the starting point for the whole quilt.

The quilt top and the backing were pieced in a very short time in July, but it took longer for me to get around to doing the quilting. I got that done last week, then finished up the binding on Saturday. The quilting is very simple, mostly stitch-in-the-ditch. The quilt just needs to be washed up, then we can present it to the parents.

Musical Stars baby quilt
37" square

Musical Stars baby quilt back

Also on my design wall this week is the center area of my scrappy green Crossroads quilt. There are 12 blocks that finish at 12" each, all joined together and waiting for borders. I have figured out a plan for the borders and hope to get them done in the next few days.

I am linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times where you can see all sorts of amazing quilting inspiration!  On Friday I will also link up to "Let's Make Baby Quilts!" at Michelle's Romantic Tangle.

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 8/10/14

This has been a decent week on the stash reduction front. I finished the binding on the Musical Stars baby quilt (photo tomorrow), and I made 12 scrappy green Crossroads blocks. 

I also discovered that I never subtracted the fabric that was used for some teal/turquoise Crossroads blocks that I made last year, so I am counting that now. I wasn't crazy about these blocks when I made them, but they have grown on me. Maybe I will make some more with other colors like hot pink scraps. The grey background has faint designs in turquoise, pink and lavender.

No fabric added this week. My red number is getting smaller!!

Used this week:                          2.75  yards
Used year to date:                    79.5  yards

Stashed this week:                          0  yards

Stashed year to date:               86.75 yards 

Net year to date:                    7.25 yards stashed  


Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie in GA

Bright green scrappiness

My usual projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this year have been LeMoyne Star blocks and hexie stars and snowflakes. Our assigned color for August is light and/or bright green, and we did the darker greens back in May. Because I have already used greens in both of those projects, I decided to start something completely new this month. Just what I need, a new project! My hope is to keep it small and manageable, maybe even finish it by the end of the month. (Hey, I can dream, can't I?)

I have been seeing this pattern made by others for the past year or so and really liked the way it looks. Angela, our hostess for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge made one in similar colors last year and blogged about it here. Some call the pattern Crossroads, but the more traditional name seems to be Patience Corner (or Corners.) There are two great tutorials for the pattern here and here. The blocks are very easy to make, using only two different pieces. For my 12" blocks, each block requires 4 background squares cut at 4-1/2" and 10 green rectangles cut 2-1/2" x 4-1/2". Here is a single block so you can see how it goes together.

So far I have made 8 blocks and am planning to make 4 more for a small throw quilt. I thought about making more blocks and getting it up to a big enough size for a Quilt of Valor (might be a nice alternative to red, white & blue), but I don't have enough of the white fabric. 

I have had this fabric for more than ten years and used it in one of my favorite bed quilts. On the selvage it says "Song of Spring for RJR Fabrics For the Quilters by the Quilters." It is not terribly likely that I will come across more of this fabric, but if anyone has some, I would be happy to buy it from you. Otherwise, this project will end up a lovely little lap quilt.

Check out this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts--lots of amazingly beautiful rainbow projects to inspire you!


Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 8/4/14

I have been digging through my scrap drawers and leftover blocks looking for anything that features light/bright greens, the August color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I found a small pile of green nine-patch blocks from a quilt my sister and I made together a couple years ago for our mother. Some were extra blocks from the quilt, and others were rejects with fabrics that didn't make it into the quilt. No idea what I might make with them, but it was fun to pull them out again.

The two blocks at the bottom are 12" Crossroads blocks made with my green scraps. You can find tutorials for this pattern here or here.

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

I had hoped to have more usage to report, but all I managed to get done this week was stitching my scrappy red 12" LeMoyne Star block, using 1/4 yard of fabric. Here it is with the 6" stars.

Used this week:                          .25  yards
Used year to date:                   76.75  yards

Stashed this week:                          0  yards

Stashed year to date:               86.75 yards 

Net year to date:                    10 yards stashed  


Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie in GA

New month, new color

Our August color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is light/bright green. We already did the deeper greens earlier in the year. Unfortunately, I haven't had any time to figure out what to make this month, but I did pull out my two drawers of green scrappy strips. 

I used to keep my scrap strips in bins. They were sorted by size but not by color. Whenever I wanted a specific color, I had to go through all the stacks of strips in whatever sizes I needed. Not very efficient, and my strips were getting frayed from the frequent movement. I still like keeping my strips organized by size, but sorting them by color is very helpful too, especially for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects. I bought three sets of these drawers at Joann Fabrics in the spring, and now my scraps are all beautifully organized. I love that I can pull out whole drawers of whatever color I need.

My only show-and-tell for this week is my collection of LeMoyne Star blocks in red, our color from July. I finished the 12" star a day late, but I am enjoying it with the 6" stars.

Check out this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts--lots of amazingly beautiful rainbow projects to inspire you!


Julie in GA