Stash Report Sunday 5/31/15

May was another very productive month for quilting. I finished the binding on one quilt, turned one UFO into a finished quilt top and back, pieced two more quilt tops out of the leftovers from an old project, and kept up with my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects.

Some of the yardage used for this week was 5/8 yard for the borders on the Blooming 9-Patch quilt top (formerly known as the Green 9-Patch Leftovers.) You can see a photo of the finished top in yesterday's post.

The Green 9-Patch Leftovers #2 turned into "Improvisation in Green." This top still needs the borders added. 4-1/8 yards used so far on this.

Improvisation in Green

TOTALS:

Used this week:                       4.75 yards     
Used year to date:                 74.50 yards

Stashed this week:                    0.0 yards

Stashed year to date:           57.625 yards 

Net year to date:             16.875 yards used

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times. 

Julie in GA

Surrounded by Greens

This has been a very busy month of playing with my green scraps as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I made blocks for my two ongoing RSC projects, plus I finished two quilt tops that feature green, and I have a third top getting close to completion.

My two regular RSC projects for 2015 have been the Rainbow Bowties and the appliqued circles blocks. Here is what I finished on those for the month. I might make a few more green bowties before June arrives, and one of the circles still needs to be stitched down.

I couldn't resist putting all of my circle blocks up on the wall to see the different colors together. I am so excited with the way this quilt is looking!

"True Colors" pattern by Nancy Mahoney
from her book Simple Circles and Quick Curves

My first green UFO for the month was the Boston Fiesta quilt. I completed the quilt top two weeks ago and pieced the backing a few days later. 

Boston Fiesta backing

Boston Fiesta 60" x 74"

After completing the Boston Fiesta, I pulled out a box of leftovers, most of them green, from a quilt I made in 2005. There were nine-patch blocks, strip sets, pre-cut strips and chunks of fabrics. With that collection plus a few additions from my stash, I had enough to make two quilt tops. The first is a Blooming Ninepatch, and the second (unfinished) I am calling Improvisation in Green. I hope to finish assembling that top today.

Green Blooming Ninepatch
57" x 76"

Improvisation in Green

Check out all of the terrific scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I will also be linking up on Sunday to Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework.

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 5/25/15

Yesterday I finished joining together the sections of the Green Blooming 9-Patch that I have been making with the 10-year-old leftovers from an earlier quilt. All that's left to be done for the quilt top is adding a border of the same dark green as the setting triangles.

Green Blooming 9-Patch

In my continuing attempt to use up all of the leftover blocks and scraps from that earlier quilt, I started piecing the rest together for the back. I ended up with the group of blocks below. Now I'm unsure if I should use them on the back, or begin yet another quilt top. I had intended the Blooming 9-Patch to be a Quilt of Valor, but I like it so much that I'm not sure I can give it away. Maybe the blocks below will continue to grow and take its place as a QOV.

Despite all my efforts, I still have this collection of blocks and strips to use up. They must breed and multiply when I'm not paying attention!

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 5/24/15

This week ended up with movement of fabric both in and out of my stash. I received a group of fabrics ordered from Fabric.com, 6 yards total. My usage was 4.75 yards for the back of my Boston Fiesta quilt (you can see the quilt top HERE) and 4 yards for the center of the green Blooming 9-Patch Quilt.

New fabrics

Boston Fiesta back

Green Blooming 9-Patch

TOTALS:

Used this week:                       8.75 yards     
Used year to date:                 69.75 yards

Stashed this week:                    6.0 yards

Stashed year to date:          57.625 yards 

Net year to date:             12.125 yards used

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times. 

Julie in GA

Going for the Greens

Green is the color for May at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Green is also one of my favorite colors for quilting. My shelf of green fabrics is stuffed full, and I have lots of scraps and pieces for use in my rainbow projects. I made progress on four different projects that include green this week (although they are not all scrap quilts, but they do include the right color.)

I made a little progress on both of my on-going RSC projects, the applique circles and the bowtie blocks. I have been stitching circles on the train, and the bowties have been my leader/ender blocks. I will be making more of both kinds of blocks before the end of the month.

"True Colors" by Nancy Mahoney

from the book Simple Circles and Quick Curves

Rainbow Bowties
4" blocks

The majority of my quilting time over the past week was spent on my green UFO project, the leftover Blooming 9-Patch parts. I finished making more blocks to go with the ones I already had. I had been auditioning a couple of border fabrics last weekend, but was very happy to discover that I had another piece of the darkest green (like the setting triangles at the bottom) and can use that for the border. I have started joining the parts together and hope to have a finished top to show next week.

Voting has begun for the Blogger's Quilt Festival which includes my Dancing Stars Quilt in the ROYGBIV category. This was my RSC project from 2013. You can vote by going HERE and click on the little heart on your favorite to cast a vote.

Dancing Stars 60" x 77"
pattern by Amy Ellis

Check out all of the terrific scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I will also be linking up on Sunday to Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework.

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 5/18/15

There wasn't a whole lot of time for quilting over the weekend. Most of the time was spent preparing for a party held here Sunday night--lots of cooking and cleaning got done. It was a great party though and worth all the effort, especially since we now have a clean house as a result.

I did manage to attach the borders to the Boston Fiesta quilt that I showed partially together last week. You can see the completed quilt top HERE. Now it's time to figure out what to use for the backing.

I have been fooling around with a collection of 9-patch blocks left over from a Blooming 9-Patch I made 10 years ago. I want to use up as many of the leftovers as possible, and I keep changing the parts around on my design wall. Here is where it all stands at the moment. Two different border fabrics are being auditioned. I'm not totally in love with it, but I think it might be time to say "good enough," stitch it all together, and move on.

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 Monday Making over at Love Laugh Quilt.

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 5/17/15

I made a bit of a dent in my stash this week, but nothing significant. I finally finished the binding and hanging sleeve on my Dancing Stars quilt (which has been waiting patiently for about six months since coming back from quilting.) That used 1 yard of fabric. I also added the border to the Boston Fiesta quilt top. Up next will be the backing for that quilt.

Dancing Stars 60" x 77"
pattern by Amy Ellis available HERE

Boston Fiesta quilt top
60" x 74"

TOTALS:

Used this week:                        1.5 yards     
Used year to date:                  61.0 yards

Stashed this week:                      0 yards

Stashed year to date:         51.625 yards 

Net year to date:             9.375 yards used

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times. 

Julie in GA

Playing with Greens

This was a week where I developed a bad case of quilter's ADD. I just couldn't seem to settle down and work on my ongoing projects. Instead I kept pulling out all sorts of UFOs and playing with the remains from past quilts, trying to turn them into something new.

As part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, I have been working on UFOs based on the color of the month. Green is our color for May, and I realized that I have made 3 different 9-patch quilts that were each primarily green. I pulled out this collection of leftovers from a Blooming Nine-Patch that I made around 2005. The box contained leftover blocks plus sample blocks with fabrics that weren't used in the final quilt. There were also quite a few pre-cut strips, some of which were already sewn up into strip sets, plus I have some yardage of all the fabrics.

I have been trying out different arrangements of blocks on the design wall and making more blocks from the pre-made strip sets. I need to find something with a little more punch to it for the center, but otherwise this is coming together nicely.

The other UFO that features green is my Boston Fiesta quilt, which is now a finished top! I finished joining all the blocks together a couple days ago and added the green border today. I have a fabulous bright print that I was planning to use for the back, but when I went to press it, I discovered that it is stretchy on the crosswise grain. There must be some spandex or something like that in there. I bought the fabric at a discount fabric store 10 years ago, so there is no way to tell now. I am searching my stash for other backing options.

Boston Fiesta top
60" x 74"

Boston Fiesta reject backing

Even better than finishing the Boston Fiesta top was completing the binding on my Dancing Stars quilt. This was my first project as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I made the star blocks in 2013, made the top and had it quilted in 2014, and finally finished the binding this week. I have entered this quilt in the ROYGBIV category of the Blogger's Quilt Festival; you can read my entry post HERE.

Dancing Stars 60" x 77"
pattern by Amy Ellis

Check out all of the terrific scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I will also be linking up on Sunday to Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework.

Julie in GA

Blogger's Quilt Festival--Dancing Stars

Once again it is time for the spring Blogger's Quilt Festival, the wonderful online quilt show organized by Amy at Amy's Creative Side. There is always an overwhelming array of amazing quilts entered in the festival. I can't wait to start working my way through the entries and seeing the beautiful quilts!

My entry for this spring started as part of the Dancing Stars quilt-along designed by Amy Ellis, our hard-working hostess for the Blogger's Quilt Festival. Here is the pattern design from Amy's Craftsy store. Not only is it a spectacular pattern, it's also available for free! 

I made my blocks all throughout 2013 as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. The blocks are foundation pieced, and the finished block size is 6". We were assigned a monthly color, and I made about a dozen blocks each month, ending up with a total of 135 stars at the end of the year. 111 of those blocks were used in the finished quilt.

Dancing Stars 60" x 77"
pattern by Amy Ellis

The quilt back is just as much fun as the front. The wonderful batik fabric for the back came from a skirt that I bought at a rummage sale. It was made up of rectangular pieces of fabric, which I took apart and pieced back together for this quilt back. The binding is the same solid black as the background of the stars.

QUILT SPECS:

Dancing Stars

Finished size: 60" x 77"

Pattern: "Dancing Stars" by Amy Ellis, available HERE

Blogger's Quilt Festival ROYGBIV Category

Bloggers will be posting their entries in 11 different categories for the Blogger's Quilt Festival until May 21st. Check out the incredible quilting artistry on display HERE. Voting for your favorites runs from May 22nd until the 29th. The rainbow quilts, including my Dancing Stars, can be found HERE.

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 5/11/15

My design wall hasn't changed much since last week due to lack of quilting time. I did manage to fix another group of my Boston Fiesta blocks, changing the direction of some seams so they nest together.  They have been joined together into a row, but they have not been stitched to the main section yet. Only one more group of blocks left to be fixed, then the center will be complete.

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 Monday Making over at Love Laugh Quilt.

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 5/10/15

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. Thanks to my mother for teaching me to sew and instilling my love of fabric and stitching.

A very simple stash report this week--nothing added and nothing used. 

I did make this vest, but it wasn't from my fabric.

TOTALS:

Used this week:                           0 yards     
Used year to date:                  59.5 yards

Stashed this week:                      0 yards

Stashed year to date:         51.625 yards 

Net year to date:             7.875 yards used

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times. 

Julie in GA

Finding Time for Green

My super-productive month of quilting in April slowed way down now that we have hit May. I had an extra work project that took up most of my lunch breaks and evenings this week, limiting my quilting time to the morning train rides. I have made a start on my applique circle blocks in medium and dark green. Here are three completed blocks and three more ready to be stitched.

Check out all of the terrific scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I will also be linking up on Sunday to Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework.

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 5/4/15

Green is the assigned color for May at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. My continuing quest to finish up UFOs based on the color of the month led me to pull out my Boston Fiesta blocks and start joining them together. 

The last time I worked on this quilt was last fall. I have 80 blocks finished, which would make a good-sized throw or wallhanging. For a while I was thinking about making 16 more blocks so that I could make 2 smaller quilts, one to keep and one to give away. However, to do that would require more fabric for the additional blocks and the borders than I have available. I think I will use all 80 blocks in one quilt and keep the border very simple, just the green fabric shown here, and probably the darker green for a binding.

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 Monday Making over at Love Laugh Quilt.

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 5/3/15

It was totally unexpected, but somehow I managed to use 28 yards of fabric in the month of April. I'm sure some quilters go through that much on a regular basis, but it is an unusually high total for me. In the 3+ years that I have been tracking my stash additions and subtractions, the most I've used in any previous month was about 22 yards.

The reason I had such a good total was because I have been finishing quilt tops and making backs to go with them. I completed 4 tops and backs in April: 16-Patch Stars, Dutch Tiles, Bowtie Chevrons, and Easy Street. You can see a little bit of each quilt in the photo or click on any of the names to go to a post with photos and background info. 3 of those 4 projects were UFOs. It feels SO GOOD to have those tops done! The Bowtie Chevrons is completely quilted and bound, the 16-Patch Stars will go to Quilts of Valor to be quilted, and the other two are waiting to go in for longarm quilting. 

(L to R) Dutch Tiles, Easy Street, 16-Patch Stars
Bowtie Chevrons

The irony of the month was that my fabric additions were almost exactly the same amount as my usage. A large order from Hancock's of Paducah and some gifted fabric gave me a total of 27.75 yards added for the month (but none to report this week.) At least my usage this week puts me back in the black!

Used this week:

Easy Street--borders                    2.5 yards

Easy Street--back                       5.25 yards

Bowtie Chevrons--binding            .375 yards

TOTALS:
Used this week:                    8.125 yards     
Used year to date:                  59.5 yards

Stashed this week:                      0 yards

Stashed year to date:         51.625 yards 

Net year to date:             7.875 yards used

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times. 

Julie in GA

Hands 2 Help--Bowtie Chevrons Finished!

I have finished up my first quilt for the Hands 2 Help Charity Quilt Challenge 2015, which is hosted by Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Bowtie Chevrons
48" x 58"

The Bowtie Chevrons Quilt started with some leftover blocks from a Bowtie Baby Quilt I made last year. I made some more blocks, then had lots of fun playing with different layouts. That is one of the best things about bowtie quilts--so many possible ways to arrange the blocks. You can see more layout ideas here and here and here. The possibilities are endless, and bowtie blocks are so easy to make too!

This quilt will be donated to either Happy Chemo or Layers of Hope--Quilting 911. I hope to finish another quilt or two so I can send at least one to both charities. It's not too late to join in--check out Sarah's Hands 2 Help post. You can go HERE to see what other quilters are making for H2H. I have also linked up to Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday (even though I am a day late!) 
 



Julie in GA

Rainbows and UFOs

One of my plans for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this year is to work on UFOs based on our monthly assigned color. Last week I showed my Easy Street quilt (a Bonnie Hunter mystery from 2012) which was in need of borders. I had pulled it out to work on as my purple UFO for the month of April. I am thrilled and amazed to let you know that it is now a finished quilt top! And the back has been pieced too!

The Dark Side of Easy Street
60" x 81"

Here is a closer shot of one corner of the border. I had hoped to use up the leftover parts from making the center of the quilt, but ended up making about 100 more black and grey 4-patches for the border. Those extra flying geese and such are still tucked away in a box, waiting for another chance to come out and play.

The back is a giant nine-patch, with the fabric that was the inspiration for my color choices on this quilt at the center. 

I have pulled out two UFOs that feature green, our RSC color for the month of May. Most of the time I just fantasize about finishing up UFOs, but right now it is feeling really good to be getting through some of those old projects. I hope I can keep the momentum going! I am also continuing with my 2015 RSC projects, the applique circles and bowtie blocks, but I don't have any green blocks to show yet.

Check out all of the terrific scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I will also be linking up on Sunday to Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework and to Scraptastic Tuesday at Mrs Sew and Sow.

Julie in GA