Design Wall Monday 3/30/15

I am so excited to have finished putting together the center of my 16-Patch Stars Quilt of Valor. It was a bit of a puzzle getting all the different sections together, but I am very happy with the result. Here (in my very unevenly-lit photo) you can see the finished center, plus two border options off to the right side. I am leaning toward the bottom choice, the red stripe running lengthwise.

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 with Monday Making over at Love Laugh Quilt.

Julie in GA

Crossroads tutorial for Hands 2 Help

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict is hosting the Hands 2 Help Charity Quilt Challenge once again. This is the fifth year of the challenge, and there were 145 quilts donated to the selected charities in 2014.

Today is the time for participants to share ideas for the challenge with tutorials on quilt patterns or techniques. The tutorial I would like to share is from Connie at Freemotion by the River for the Crossroads block. This is a very easy block to cut and piece, and Connie's wonderful tutorial includes instructions for making the block in 3 different sizes.

I made this quilt last year using Connie's instructions, and I hope to finish quilting it as my first project for this year's Hands 2 Help Challenge. My blocks measure 12", and the quilt will finish at about 45" x 57".

Check out all the links at Confessions of a Fabric Addict to get lots of ideas for quick and fun quilt patterns. 

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 3/29/15

There wasn't much time for quilting this week, but I have almost finished joining together all the stars and background sections for my 16-Patch Stars quilt top. After that it will just need a border or two, then the top will be complete. I have used 3.5 yards on this so far. No new fabric added this week!

I wish I had a photo to share, but there is no time this morning because I have to go in to work for a couple of hours. I will try to post a photo of the quilt center tomorrow.

Used this week:                     3.50 yards     

Used year to date:             30.125 yards

Stashed this week:                    0  yards

Stashed year to date:        23.875 yards 

Net year to date:              6.25 yards used

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times. 

Julie in GA

Scrappy Yellow Moons

I have continued making my appliqued circles all month long for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Here is the collection of yellow blocks. At the end of the year when I am ready to start sewing these together, I will cut away the background behind the circles and trim all the blocks down to the same size. 

"True Colors" by Nancy Mahoney

from the book Simple Circles and Quick Curves

It's hard to believe that March is nearly over. It seems like the month just started! I still need to finish up the last of my yellow bowtie blocks for the month, and soon we will find out what our new color is for April. The background on Angela's blog has changed over to purple, so I am guessing that will be the next assigned color.

Check out all of the terrific scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. On Sunday I will also link up with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than housework. 

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 3/23/15

I had to work most of the day on Saturday, which was Worldwide Quilting Day. Fortunately, I got to spend the whole evening quilting, and I made the most of my time in the sewing room then.

This quilt was started in January when I was inspired by the Sweet 16 Quilt-Along at Confessions of a Fabric Addict. I made 10 blue and white 16-patches, but had no plan beyond that. Then I decided to turn them into stars with red points. I made four stars, then tried to decide how many more I would need and how to set them together.

At first I was planning to make twelve blocks and put them together in a 3 x 4 setting with sashing. That just seemed too boring, and I decided to play with some other ideas. I drew up several ideas on graph paper, and finally settled on this one.

On Saturday I cut all the background pieces that will fill the spaces between the blocks. I had started out with 2-1/2 yards of background, and ended up with a piece that measures about 3" x 15". I sure hope I cut everything correctly! I also started making the blue Friendship Stars, which were finished on Sunday. Now I need to figure out how to join the sections together. There will be lots of partial seams, but the final look should be worth the effort!

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 3/22/15

I can finally report some fabric used (and a quilt finished!) I completed the music quilt I have been making for a friend with colon cancer. That used a total of 9.75 yards of fabric. You can see a picture of the finished quilt and read more about it HERE.

While doing some tidying up in the sewing room, I came across this stack of fabrics which were an order I received from Connecting Threads about a month ago. I guess they were sitting around, waiting for their chance to appear in my stash report. Total fabric added 4.75 yards.  

Used this week:                     9.75 yards     

Used year to date:             26.625 yards

Stashed this week:                4.75 yards

Stashed year to date:        23.875 yards 

Net year to date:              2.75 yards used

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times. 

Julie in GA

Worldwide Quilting Day and Yellow Scrappiness

Happy Worldwide Quilting Day to all my blog-reading quilting friends! I hope you get lots of time to spend for quilting today. Unfortunately, I have to work during the day, but I will definitely be quilting this evening!

I made a slow start on my yellow bowtie blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, but this week I finished 29 blocks. I have plenty of pieces cut to make another batch of bowties before the end of the month. I have to  be careful not to use really pale yellows in these blocks because they blend in with the beige/cream background fabrics too much.

Check out all of the terrific scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. On Sunday I will also link up with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than housework. 

Julie in GA

Music Quilt Finished

For the past month or so, I have been working on this quilt for a friend who is undergoing chemotherapy for colon cancer. The fabrics are all music-themed prints because he is a musician. I adapted the quilt-as-you-go idea from Sharon Pederson's book "More Reversible Quilts."

Music Quilt for Dave
61.5" x 74"

The backing is a nice snuggly flannel. All that's left to do is add a label to the quilt and a tag with washing instructions, then it can be packed up and shipped off.

I am linking up to Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict. 

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 3/15/15

I don't have much to count on my stash report this week, but I am SO CLOSE to finishing a quilt! That will help my numbers get back into black, and I hope to be able to count it all next week.

My only usage this week was 1/8 yard for the background hexies on my turquoise hexie star. Only two more stars need the background added, then they can all start getting joined together. Now that spring training games are back on TV, I have been getting more hand stitching time in the evenings.

Used this week:                     .125 yards     

Used year to date:              16.875 yards

Stashed this week:                   0  yards

Stashed year to date:        19.125 yards 

Net year to date:               2.25 yards added

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times. I am also linking up to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts. Thanks to Kathy for the weekly reminder to slow down and enjoy the process.

Julie in GA

Stitching Up Some Sunny Yellow

Between work and getting all of our tax info organized, there hasn't been much time for quilting this week. Thank goodness for MARTA, the Atlanta area transit system. That 20-minute ride to work in the morning is almost exactly enough time to stitch one of my applique circles (if I have it all prepped before I get on the train.) It's a much more relaxing way to start the day than fighting Atlanta traffic.

Here are the yellow blocks I have made so far this month as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I will definitely be cutting away the background behind the circles, and the blocks also need to be trimmed/squared up to the right size, but all of that will wait until I am ready to join them together. 

"True Colors" by Nancy Mahoney

from the book Simple Circles and Quick Curves

Kathy is another participant in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and she had been seeing my blocks over the past couple of months. Check out her blog to see the incredible challenge quilt she made using this pattern. I am so honored to have provided some inspiration. You can see her quilt in process here and here or view the finished quilt here.  Go over and take a look--it's fabulous!

Check out all of the terrific scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. On Sunday I will also link up with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than housework. 

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 3/9/15

I had hoped to finish up the music quilt last week, but needed to spend most of my time getting our tax info together.

The blocks are all joined into rows, and the bottom two rows are joined together. Just a few more long seams to finish up, a binding, and it will be complete!

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 3/8/15

It's not a quilt, but I did use this fabric from my stash to make a pair of pajama pants as a birthday gift for my husband. The fabric had been sitting in my stash for over 5 years. Is anyone thirsty? 

Used this week:                      3.0 yards     

Used year to date:               16.75 yards

Stashed this week:                   0  yards

Stashed year to date:        19.125 yards 

Net year to date:               2.375 yards added

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times. 

Julie in GA

Sorting Out the Yellows

The first week of March has flown past. Our color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this month is yellow, one of my favorite colors for quilting, so bright and cheery. I have been sorting through my yellow scraps, choosing which ones to use for my applique circle blocks. A few blocks were made, and several more circles are being prepped.

"True Colors" by Nancy Mahoney

from the book Simple Circles and Quick Curves

One thing I discovered once I started making the yellow blocks is that I will definitely need to cut away my background fabric behind the lighter-colored circles. You can see the seam between the black and white fabrics, especially in that polka dot circle at the lower left. A question to all of you is whether you would cut out the background on all blocks so they are all the same thickness, or just on the ones where it shows through?

I have also been organizing fabrics to cut squares for my Rainbow Bowtie blocks. Each block needs 2 squares cut 2-1/2" and 2 squares cut 1-1/2", plus 2 background squares cut 2-1/2". I start out by sorting through the 2-1/2" strips, then finding 1-1/2" strips that match them. Cutting from those sizes means no waste. For the pieces that don't have a match in the right size, I move into my 2" and 3-1/2" strips. I hope to start cutting these today.

Check out all of the terrific scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. On Sunday I will also link up with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than housework. 

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 3/2/15

I have been pushing hard on the music-themed quilt for a friend with colon cancer. I finished making all the blocks a couple days ago and have begun joining them together. This photo shows half of the quilt, three groups of blocks joined into rows. The same black sashing will join those rows together plus be used for the binding.

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 3/1/15

My focus this week has been working on the music quilt for the friend undergoing chemo treatments, but there is nothing to report as used on that project yet. Here's a sneak peek at a couple of the blocks.

I can count 3/8 yard out for the pink applique blocks I made for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this month. You can see them in yesterday's post.

Used this week:                    .375 yards     

Used year to date:              13.75 yards

Stashed this week:             7.375  yards

Stashed year to date:        19.125 yards 

Net year to date:               5.375 yards added

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times. 

It's also time to make my monthly report for the 350 Blocks Project over at Prairie Moon Quilts. Every month Shelly sets our goal for how many blocks to make, with the grand total for the year being 350. I had a really great month in February, making 105 blocks altogether. And here I've been feeling like I haven't gotten much done!

Julie in GA