Design Wall Monday 6/29/15

My post today will be brief because I am having computer problems and have to borrow my husband's computer to post this, plus I am using photos from my phone.

I took a fantastic class on Saturday with Mickey Depre. The pattern was the Castle Wall block, and we hand pieced it. Mickey is a wonderful teacher, and it was so nice and relaxing to all be sitting around sewing by hand instead of trying to socialize over the noise of sewing machines. I finished my block yesterday.

Castle Wall
class with Mickey Depre

Alycia has been hosting a quilt-along that she is calling "Starry Night for Josh." She posted the final layout of the blocks today, and it looks fabulous! I haven't made the last set of blocks yet, but this is what I have so far. Her layout looks so much better than this!

Starry Night for Josh
alyciaquilts.blogspot.com

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 at Love Laugh Quilt.

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 6/28/15

For the first time in a few weeks, there was no new fabric added to my stash this week! I didn't use enough to get back to even, but I am chipping away at getting there.

As far as outgoing fabric, I used 1/2 yard finishing up my turquoise bowties for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I also used 1/8 yard for a Castle Wall block in a great class with Mickey Depre yesterday plus 2.75 yards for the stars and nine-patch blocks in Alycia's Starry Night for Josh QAL. I will show both of those projects on my design wall tomorrow.

TOTALS:

Used this week:                   3.375 yards     
Used year to date:             85.375 yards

Stashed this week:                   0  yards

Stashed year to date:         91.25 yards 

Net year to date:              5.875 yards stashed

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.  

Julie in GA

The Turquoise Collection

We are nearing the end of our month of light blue and greenish blue for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. My focus has been on using my turquoise scraps. I have completed 10 appliqued circle blocks and 48 bowtie blocks. I still have a couple more of the circles prepped for stitching. To save time I decided to put both kinds of blocks up on the design wall together for a photo, and they look pretty good to me.

I haven't made much progress on a turquoise UFO this month. I did pull out a box that had already-cut pieces and extra blocks from the Storm at Sea quilt that I finished a couple years ago (you can see it HERE.) I have no idea what the leftovers might become, but maybe I will have something to show next week.

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

Julie in GA

WIP Wednesday--Improv Scrappy blocks

When visiting family in Wisconsin a few weeks ago, my sister and I started making scrappy blocks using some of the huge collection of scraps at our mother's house that had accumulated over the past several decades. You can read more about that visit and see plenty of photos of our project HERE.

We are hoping to have enough blocks made when I return there in a couple of weeks so that we can start putting them together into throw quilts. I finally started making some additional blocks this week. It's not as much fun making them by myself as it was working as a team, but I hope to have a dozen blocks done when I go back.

These blocks feature some old favorite friends--Holly Hobbie, Raggedy Andy, and the Cheshire Cat. None of us remembers what the piece of Alice in Wonderland fabric was used for, but it is adorable!

I am linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced. Check it out for tons of amazing ideas and inspiration. 

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 6/22/15

Yesterday I finished making turquoise bowtie blocks, one of my projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this year. I ended up with 48 blocks this month and decided to combine them on the design wall with the blue blocks from earlier in the year. This represents two colors out of six that are done so far this year, 96 blocks out of close to 300 that have been made. Probably another 200 - 250 blocks more by the end of the year. They could turn into several bowtie quilts eventually.

I saw a bowtie quilt that used the same layout of blocks at a quilt show recently, and I really liked the look of that quilt. Of course, it helps that their blocks finished at 2". If my math is correct, this quilt has 768 blocks in it. My blocks finish at 4", and a quilt with the same number of blocks would measure 96" x 128". Far too big for any of our beds! I still have several months to go before I have to decide how to join all my blocks together.

"Little Bowties" by Linda Simons and Shawn Hooten
displayed at ECQG show 6/2015

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 at Love Laugh Quilt.

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 6/21/15

I knew my stash busting efforts wouldn't get far this week since we were out of town for most of the week. I did get the borders finished on my Rainbow LeMoyne Stars last Sunday and Monday, using 1 yard of fabric. You can see it in yesterday's post.

We spent most of the week visiting the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was one of the most beautiful and peaceful places I have ever seen. The lack of traffic was such a treat, and the views were absolutely amazing!

We didn't see any fabric stores or quilt shops on the way up to the parkway, but our drive home took us directly past Mary Jo's in Gastonia, NC. I thought it would be a good idea to just drive right by, but it didn't take much arm-twisting to persuade me to stop after all. I bought three fabrics that will end up becoming pajama pants and/or shorts. They aren't intended for quilts, but I will count them as part of my stash since they will be added to the overflowing collection of fabrics in my sewing room.

TOTALS:

Used this week:                      1.0 yards     
Used year to date:                82.0 yards

Stashed this week:               10.5 yards

Stashed year to date:         91.25 yards 

Net year to date:              9.25 yards stashed

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.  

Julie in GA

Scrappy Turquoise Saturday

Quilting took a back seat to travelling this week, leaving me with little to show for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge today. I did add a few more turquoise circle blocks to my previous group. I agree with everyone who left comments last week saying that the blocks look better on point like this.

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

Before we left town, I finished the borders on my quilt of 12" LeMoyne Star blocks. These blocks were made for the RSC in 2014. The first version had a wider border of the bright striped fabric, but I ended up cutting it down so it would be less prominent. Those scrappy stars need to be the focus of this quilt. It was a small change, but I am much happier with it this way.

Rainbow LeMoyne Stars
53.5" x 68"

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

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 6/15/15--Border Indecision

On my design wall this week is my scrappy rainbow of 12" LeMoyne Star blocks. These were one of my projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2014. The blocks have been sewn together since early January, but I was undecided about the border. I tried making a pieced border for the quilt, but didn't like the way it looked. All my other attempts seemed too dark, until I got a new (to me) white on black fabric. I decided to use it along with a narrow border of a colorful stripe.

My indecision right now is whether the colorful stripe should be narrower. It's hard to see in the photo, but I have pinned the right side border to cover up part of that stripe and see if that improves things. Maybe some close-ups would help show what I mean.

In the top left corner, the colorful borders finish at 1". On the right side of the final photo, that border is about 1/2". I will continue to ponder changing this and appreciate any opinions or suggestions.

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 at Love Laugh Quilt.

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 6/14/15

A week ago, my stash usage was ahead of additions for the year by over 20 yards. Today it is ahead by a mere 1/4 yard. My STASH took a CRASH!

Oh, but it was such fun! Is there anything better than buying new fabric? I don't think so. And especially when it is on sale--that's the best! (Except maybe free fabric!)

Unfortunately, most of my purchases came about because of the unhappy news that one of my favorite quilt shops may be closing. One of the co-owners is moving away. It is possible that someone else may buy the business, but the current shop is still going ahead with their liquidation sale, and I took full advantage of it. I got a few pieces of yardage and a ton of fat quarters.

After a visit to the East Cobb Quilters' Guild show on Saturday, we continued north to the lovely town of Dahlonega, where my sweet husband (the enabler) insisted on visiting both of the quilt shops in town. Here's what came home with me from there.

As you can see, the main themes were light neutrals, black and white, red and white, some music prints, and a few assorted other pieces.

The only fabric used this week was 1/2 yard for some turquoise bowtie blocks. It was just enough to keep my total in the black.

TOTALS:

Used this week:                        .5 yards     
Used year to date:                81.0 yards

Stashed this week:            21.125 yards

Stashed year to date:          80.75 yards 

Net year to date:              .25 yards used--still in the black!

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.  

Julie in GA

Rainbows and Scraps

There isn't much of my own quilting to show for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this week, although I did finish up a few appliqued circles. I'm not sure if I like them better on point or set straight.

I had hoped to get a batch of bowtie blocks done, but they are not ready to show yet. I was out of town for most of the past week and have fallen behind on my rainbow projects, but it was so worth it to spend time with family!

Since there is so little of my own to show, I will share some quilt show photos. Yesterday I went to the "Georgia Celebrates Quilts" show presented by the East Cobb Quilters' Guild.  This show happens every other year, and there are always many wonderful quilts to see. Since our RSC color for June is light blue, I wanted to share this lovely sampler in blues.

"Blue Soiree" by Daryl Wilson Miller

This bowtie quilt really caught my attention. The rainbow bowtie blocks I have been making all year will finish at 4". The bowties in this quilt measure only 2"! Love this setting for the blocks.

"Little Bowties" by Linda Simons and Shawn Hooten"
Honorable Mention, Two Person Pieced
Judge's Recognition by Carol Butzke

Here are some of my favorite rainbow quilts from the quilt show:

"Celestial Orbs" by Sylvia Schaefer
1st Place, Modern

"Lone(ly) Rainbow" by Pam Cobb
Honorable Mention, Modern

"Rainbow Explosion" by Jan Cunningham and Bella Bamert
Honorable Mention, Two Person Modern

"A Colorful Life" by Ellen Plattner and Andi Settlemoir Barney

I hope I credited the correct names and prizes on all of the quilt show photos. Sometimes I forget to get an extra photo of the tag with that info. These are all a wonderful source of inspiration, and I congratulate every one of them!

Check out all of the terrific scrappy rainbow projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

Julie in GA

Improv Scrappy blocks

The past few days have been a wonderful scrappy quilt-a-thon. My sister and I have been sorting through a multitude of fabrics scraps accumulated over several decades of family garment sewing. We decided to use them in improvisationally-pieced blocks to make at least 3 throw quilts, one for each of us plus our mother.

We got together on Sunday and began working our way through a basket of scraps, cutting strips and piecing the first few blocks. We each continued working on more blocks the next day, then got together again today to join forces again. We decided to finish 36 blocks today, 12 for each quilt. Once we got them all done, we laid them all out on the floor to admire our work. 

We all agreed that we preferred the blocks with spacing between, and will probably go with a medium grey sashing similar to the color of the carpet. Unfortunately, when we reduced the layout to our planned 12 blocks, the effect was rather disappointing. However, when we switched to 20 blocks, the result was much more satisfying. That means more blocks to make, but it's worth the extra effort.

Most of the scraps and strips will remain at our mother's house, although my sister took some pieces home to continue making blocks. Our original plan of 36 blocks has now been bumped up to 60, which may require another trip to Wisconsin and mini quilting retreat. It's been a wonderful few days visiting with family and quilting together.

I am linking up to Scraptastic Tuesday at Mrs Sew and Sow and to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced. Check them both out for tons of amazing ideas and inspiration. 

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 6/8/15

There's no design wall for me to show today, but I do have parts of a new project to show. My sister and I have been given the task of sorting through the many fabric scraps that have been accumulating at our mother's house for over 50 years. It has been so much fun looking at the many fabrics and trying to figure out what they were used for.

We looked around online for scrappy ideas, and decided to try a casual, improvisational style of piecing. We were especially inspired by Amanda Jean's "Scrap Vortex" quilt and by Kelly's Improv Piecing tutorial.

Yesterday we started with a laundry basket stuffed full of fabric scraps. Don't you love that 70's hot pink and bright green plaid (and it's a seersucker-like texture!) The fabrics had all been rolled up into little bundles, so it took lots of pressing to get rid of the wrinkles. Then we started slicing them into strips of a variety of widths ranging from about 1.5 to 3.5 inches. 

The strips got stitched together, trimmed down, more strips added, etc. Here are a few chunks of piecing, ready for the next strips to be added. We got a couple of blocks finished yesterday, but I didn't get a photo of them yet.

There's still a mountain of fabric that hasn't even been pressed or cut yet. It's time for me to get to work on making a dent in that pile of scraps!

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 at Love Laugh Quilt.

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 6/7/15

There was fabric added to my stash this week, but fortunately there was also even more fabric used. I am keeping up with my goal of using more than I add.

Usage: 

Improvisation in Green--borders        1.0 yard

Hanging sleeve for quilt in show          .5 yard

Green Blooming 9-Patch--back        4.25 yard

Turquoise Scrappy Trips block           .25 yard

My only addition was this fabric that I found at JoAnn's. I already have a piece of this print, but was very happy to find more of it yesterday. I am dreaming of a gradation of yellow/lime/bright green/turquoise/dark teal with grey accents and using this print as a border. Maybe someday...

I am visiting my mother in Wisconsin for a few days, and one thing she wanted me to do was go through the bags of fabric scraps that were stashed in the attic. Mom has always sewed, including making clothing for me and my three siblings for many years. She is the one that taught us to sew and instilled my love of creating with fabric.

She and I had a huge laugh last night when I read a comment on yesterday's blog post that said "you must be getting low on scraps." At the moment when I read that comment, this is what I could see all around me. I don't think I will every run out of scraps!

This started with bags of scraps that were roughly sorted by color, plus separate bags of stripes, plaids, checks, and solids. Some of the scraps in these bags go back 50 years or more. Mom and I had a great time looking through the collection and trying to remember the garments that were made from all the fabrics.

After we were done reminiscing, I went through all the bags and pulled out the fabrics that were too heavy or too flimsy for quilting. Next I started opening up all the little bundles and sorting the scraps by size. Soon I will be ready to press up the smaller pieces and try to figure out how to use them. My sister and I have talked about trying to make small quilts to show off the huge variety of these wonderful fabrics. I can't wait to get started!

TOTALS:

Used this week:                        6.0 yards     
Used year to date:                80.50 yards

Stashed this week:                    2.0 yards

Stashed year to date:           59.625 yards 

Net year to date:             20.875 yards used

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.  I will also be linking up on Sunday to Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework.

Julie in GA

Scrappy Saturday

Our color for the month at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is light blue and/or greenish blue. My focus this month will mostly be on using my teal, turquoise and aqua scraps. I haven't made much progress on my regular RSC projects yet, although I did lots of cutting for my Rainbow Bowties in shades of turquoise, plus I prepped some circles to be appliqued. 

This block was a test sample for trying to use up some of my stash of 3" strips left from a long-ago strip exchange. It is a larger version of Bonnie Hunter's Scrappy Trip Around the World block. My block finishes at 15". I might end up making a whole batch of these in an attempt to empty that drawer of strips.

Check out all of the terrific scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

Julie in GA

350 Blocks Project--May 2015 Report

It's time for me to add up and report the number of blocks I made in May
for the 350 Blocks Project over at Prairie Moon Quilts. Every month Shelly sets the goal for how many blocks to make, with the grand total for the year being 350. The target for May is 30 blocks. I had a productive month in May, but it's a little hard to come up with a final number.

Counting the number of blocks I made isn't difficult. The problem is figuring out how to count other quilty sewing, like putting on a binding, stitching blocks together, or adding borders to a quilt. It's up to each participant to figure out their own way to count those things.

Here are my numbers of blocks for May:
RSC Circles blocks                    11
Rainbow Bowties                      40
Green Blooming 9Patch             54
Green 9Patch #2                      18


Dancing Stars binding                 2
Boston Fiesta--fix blocks             4
Boston Fiesta--join blocks           5
Boston Fiesta--border                 1
Boston Fiesta--back                    1
Green Blooming 9Patch--
   join blocks, add borders          14
Green 9Patch #2--join blocks/
   sashing/setting triangles           6

May Total:                               156

You can find out more about the 350 Blocks Project HERE. There is a prize drawing every month for all entrants who reach the monthly goal, plus prizes at the end of the year.

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 6/1/15

My design wall is currently filled with the quilt top I finished yesterday. It started as an attempt to use up a box of leftover blocks and fabrics from a 10-year old project, and turned into this. I call it "Improvisation in Green." You can't see borders on the left side, but believe me, they are there. Photography through a doorway has many challenges!

Soon I will be pulling together some fabrics to make into backings for this quilt and its partner, the Green Blooming Nine-Patch.

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 at Love Laugh Quilt.

Julie in GA