2015 Quilting Summary

Like many bloggers, the end of the year is a good time to share a look back at my quilt production for the year. 2015 was an especially good year for me on working through some of my UFOs. I made great progress on several UFOs, assembling 9 UFO quilt tops and completely finishing two UFO quilts. I also finished four other quilts and 5 tops that were started in 2015.

For the past few years, one of my quilting goals has been to finish more projects than I began in that year. For 2015, I started many more new quilt projects than in recent years, a total of 21 throughout the year. A few were ongoing projects, some were started in classes, and others were test blocks to see if I wanted to move ahead with an idea or pattern. 

Of the unfinished new projects I started in 2015, there are two that I hope to turn into finished tops in the next couple of weeks, and two or three others will become on-going projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2016. There are only a couple of new projects from 2015 that are joining the UFO collection.

Click on any of the quilt names for more info about that quilt.

2015 FINISHED TOPS

Blue/yellow QOV 1/4 log cabins (started 2013)

          

Blue 16-Patches/QOV Stars, 61" x 77"

Dutch Tiles (begun in 2002), 88" x 97"

   

 Easy Street (Bonnie Hunter's 2012 Mystery), 60" x 81" 

 Boston Fiesta (started 2005), 60" x 74"

 Green Blooming 9Patch (leftovers from a 2005 project), 57" x 76"

Improv in Green (leftovers from a 2005 project), 62" x 78.5"

 Rainbow LeMoyne 12" Stars (RSC 2014)  53.5 x 68"

Alycia's Starry Night mystery (QOV) 63" x 81" 

          

Curves and Cornerstones  (started 1996!), 59" x 79"

Hidden 9Patch Leftovers (from 2000?), 59" x 69.5"

 Diagonal Squares baby quilt  40.5" x 48.5"

Wonky Stars QOV (made with my sister) 60" x 78"

Circling the Rainbow (RSC 2015)  51" x 62"

FINISHED QUILTS

Quilt-as-you-go Music Quilt, 61.5" x 74"

Bowtie Chevrons (blocks leftover from 2014 quilt), 48" x 58"     

Dancing Stars (started 1/2013 for Rainbow Scrap Challenge) 60" x 77"

Strippy Baby Quilt, 36" x 43"

        

Improv Scrappy x 3 from Mom's saved scraps (made with my sister)

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all and HAPPY QUILTING!

Julie in GA

Bowties and Allietare

There were some good chunks of time for quilting over the holiday weekend, and I took full advantage of them. I got all caught up through part 4 of Bonnie Hunter's Allietare Mystery, and have made a good start on the next step. I am making mine as a Quilt of Valor and switched some of the colors around--where Bonnie used blacks and a constant grey, I used dark blues and light blues. Here are some of my units from Step 5.

Allietare Mystery, Step 5

On my design wall are the first sets of bowtie blocks that have been joined into 9-patch groups. I have been making bowties all year as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and I ended up with over 500 4" blocks. The current plan is to make two throw quilts from them.

Rainbow Bowties

I will be sharing with the following linky parties.:

Allietare Mystery Link-Up at Quiltville
Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt
Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 12/27/15

It was a very quilty Christmas for me, but none of the gifts I received were fabric, so no effect on my stash report. I got a rotating cutting mat, a swing-arm lamp for my cutting table, and the book The New Hexagon by Katja Marek. Along with the book, I have been signed up for the new Glorious Hexagons club at a local quilt shop (we will be making blocks from the book) and got two quilt shop gift certificates--those will do some damage to the stash report!

For the first year since I started tracking my stash usage and additions, I managed to achieve my goal of using more fabric than I added for the year. I added a total of 150 yards, almost the identical amount as last year, but this year I used more than 167 yards. I finished in the black!! My last usage for the year was 3 yards of Santa fabric on a pair of pajama pants for my favorite Santa collector, my husband. 

TOTALS: 

Used this week:                   3.0 yards     

Used year to date:           167.25 yards

Stashed this week:                0.0  yards

Stashed year to date:        150.0 yards 

Net year to date:           17.25 yards used

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.  

Julie in GA

Rainbow of Bowties

I haven't had much time for sewing on my 2015 Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects lately, but that doesn't stop me from playing with my blocks from time to time. I have been trying out different arrangements of my bowtie blocks, mostly working in EQ7 because it is so much easier to change them around with that rather than arranging over 500 blocks on the design wall.

I saw this very unique bowtie layout on Bonnie Hunter's blog a couple years ago and have been dying to make it ever since. I'm trying to decide if I want to make one big quilt with all the blocks or a couple of smaller quilts. Here is my EQ7 mock-up of the same layout without any borders.

If I decide to make more than one quilt, this version would be another possibility .

Fooling around in EQ7 is lots of fun, but now it's time to sew! Be sure to check out all of the wonderful scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge every Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. 

Julie in GA

Keeping Up with Allietare

The last month of the year is a tough time to be starting a new quilting project, but I just couldn't resist joining in on Bonnie Hunter's Allietare mystery. The last time I made one of Bonnie's mystery quilts was Easy Street back in 2012. Bonnie's color scheme of red, black, gold, grey and light/neutrals was easy to switch up just a bit for a patriotic quilt by changing the black and grey to dark blue and light blue. 

Here are just a few of my finished parts, arranged in a guess at what might be the layout. (It wasn't until I posted this photo that I realized one of my 4-patches is turned the wrong way.) My goal is to make this as a Quilt of Valor, which means a smaller size than the pattern. I have been making 2/3 - 3/4 of each kind of unit that Bonnie's pattern calls for, and I will figure out if I need to make more parts at the end.

I will be sharing with the following linky parties.:

Allietare Mystery Link-Up at Quiltville
Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt
Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 12/20/15

No fabric added to my stash this week--hurray!! I used 3 yards for a pair of pajama pants made as a Christmas gift for a nephew. He loves flying and hopes to become a pilot, so the Blue Angels fabric was perfect for him.

There's only one more stash report left for the year, and I am so hopeful of finishing in the black. I have at least one more Christmas gift to finish, and I'm not counting the yardage I have used so far on Bonnie Hunter's Allietare mystery until I get the blocks put together. As long as I don't go crazy buying fabric at some end-of-the-year sale, I may finish with more used than added for the first time since I started tracking my stash usage.

TOTALS: 

Used this week:                   3.0 yards     

Used year to date:           164.25 yards

Stashed this week:                0.0  yards

Stashed year to date:        150.0 yards 

Net year to date:           14.25 yards used

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.  

Julie in GA

Design Wall: Allietare

Both of my design walls are empty, and I have been spending most of my free time stitching on Christmas gifts. I did start on the third step of Bonnie Hunter's Allietare mystery, but haven't completed any of the 4-patch units yet.

I was running low on neutral scraps for the mystery, so I had a little scavenger hunt through my sewing room. My goal was to find more fabrics with white backgrounds and red or blue patterns on them. In some cases I stretched it to bright pink or turquoise. 

I discovered that I had two wonderful sources of additional neutrals for this project. The first was a bin of leftover fabrics from the collection of scraps my mother had saved through the years. My sister and I made scrappy quilts from this collection over the summer (see mine HERE.) The scale of these prints might be a little too overwhelming, but I can't resist including them in my quilt.

The other group of fabrics that have been added to my neutrals for Allietare are from a box of old shirts that have been deconstructed. This seems especially appropriate for a Bonnie mystery because she is so fond of using shirt scraps.

I have started making strip sets for the 4-patches, but this is as far as I have gotten on that step.

I will be sharing with the following linky parties.:

Allietare Mystery Link-Up at Quiltville
Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 12/13/15

There are only two more stash reports left for 2015 after this one. For the first time since I started tracking my stash usage in 2012, this could be the year when I actually end up using more fabric than what comes in. That has been my goal every year, but I have never reached that goal. Just a couple short weeks ago, I was over 20 yards in the black; now I am much lower than that. The numbers have been getting closer together, but I have a few projects in the works that should help balance out any end-of-the-year purchases (fingers crossed!)

I had one addition of 3 yards this week for a secret Christmas project. My only usage was 7/8 yard for the remaining String Pinwheel blocks that I made for Kat's Covered in Love block drive.

String Pinwheels for
Covered in Love block drive

TOTALS: 

Used this week:                   .875 yards     

Used year to date:           161.25 yards

Stashed this week:                3.0  yards

Stashed year to date:        150.0 yards 

Net year to date:           11.25 yards used

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.  

Julie in GA

String Pinwheel blocks

There are a couple of Christmas projects in the works that I can't show here yet. In between those I spent some time last week making String Pinwheel blocks to send to Kat for her Covered in Love block drive. Each month Kat chooses a block design and color palette, then takes all the blocks she receives and makes them into quilts for the families of patients who pass away in the hospital where she works as a nurse.

Here are the 9 String Pinwheel blocks that I will be sending to Kat soon. Her requested color scheme this month was peacock colors of green, sky blue and purple for the string section, and browns for the corner triangles. It's not a color combination I would have put together, but the finished blocks look terrific as a group. They are also a greay way to use up scraps. Kat, these blocks will be on their way to you soon.

I am linking up with Scraptastic Tuesday at Mrs Sew and Sow and with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Julie in GA

Allietare Mystery Link-Up

Bonnie Hunter is world famous for her scrappy quilts, and every year she conducts a mystery quilt-along beginning the day after Thanksgiving. I have done one of her previous mysteries, and was undecided about whether I would participate this year until I saw her fabric palette. I always prefer to go my own direction on fabrics/colors rather than copying the designer's choices, but this can be quite nerve wracking on a mystery quilt.

Bonnie's colors for this year's mystery "Allietare" are deep red, gold, black, grey, and light neutrals. I realized that it would work nicely to switch out just a couple of those colors to turn it into a patriotic palette for a Quilt of Valor. Where Bonnie is using grey, I am substituting light blue, and I will use deep blue instead of her black. The red, gold, and lights will remain in my version.Here is my inspiration fabric.

I got a late start on the first step due to being out of town over Thanksgiving. My plan is to make 1/2 - 2/3 as many units as Bonnie's instructions call for to make a large throw size. I have about 140 HSTs finished from Step 1, and have just started on Step 2.

I will be sharing with the following linky parties.:

Allietare Mystery Link-Up at Quiltville
Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 12/6/15

Only a few more stash reports left for 2015. There's a good chance I will finish the year in the black for the first time since I started tracking my stash usage in 2012. I just need to stop buying fabric from the many holiday deals going on this month, but that's easier said than done. It's so hard to resist fabric when it's on sale!

This week I used 3/8 yard on String Pinwheel blocks as part of Kat's block drive for Covered in Love. I also added 7 yards of a patriotic print that will become the back for a Quilt of Valor.

String Pinwheels
Block drive for Covered in Love

"Patriotic Patchwork" from Connecting Threads

TOTALS: 

Used this week:                   .375 yards     

Used year to date:         160.375 yards

Stashed this week:                7.0  yards

Stashed year to date:        147.0 yards 

Net year to date:           13.375 yards used

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.  

Julie in GA

RSC 2016 Plans and Ideas

As we approach the end of 2015, it's time to finish up some of this year's projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Last week I finished off the top of the applique quilt, Circling the Rainbow, that I have been working on all year, and it has been delivered for quilting. Can't wait to see the finished quilt!

My second RSC project for this year has been bowtie blocks. According to the tally I've been keeping all year, there are 540 blocks done. They will finish at 4". I haven't decided yet how I want to put them together. There is still a stack of teal/aqua squares cut for more bowties, so I might continue making these as leaders/enders with the goal of having 600 blocks at the end of the year.

The other fun part with the RSC at this time of year is thinking about possible projects for next year. I have been contemplating a couple of options for a new hand-stitching project. Since I did English paper piecing last year and hand applique this year, I was thinking maybe it's time to try hand piecing. I just haven't settled on the perfect project yet. Here are a few sample tumbling blocks that I made recently. 

The tumbling blocks were okay to make, but aren't exciting me right now. If anyone has a suggestion of a fun block to piece by hand, I'd be very happy to hear about it. I think I might prefer something that I could piece the blocks by hand, but then end up joining them by machine. The thought of hand stitching a whole pile of tumbling blocks together at the end of the year is just too much for me at the moment.

It's quite possible I will end up doing another hand applique quilt. One option would be hearts--something like this adorable little baby quilt. Melissa Corry at Happy Quilting has a great tutorial for this quilt (although her version is for hearts that are fused and machine stitched.)

I have also been thinking about making a 30's style butterflies quilt. My mother has talked about remembering a quilt like this from her childhood. Here are a couple versions I found on ebay and saved to Pinterest.

There are so many wonderful quilt designs out there, it can be overwhelming to choose what to make next. I'm not committing to any of these ideas yet since I still have a few weeks left of 2015.

Be sure to check out all of the wonderful scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge every Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. 

Julie in GA

Throwback Thursday--Santa's Block Party

It is time once again for Throwback Thursday, and this week we are getting into the holiday spirit. I have a very special Christmas quilt to share this week. The story begins with the fact that my husband collects Santas of all sizes and styles. We have Santa teapots, cookie jars, ornaments, figures, plates, mugs, nightlights, salt and pepper shakers, glasses, etc., etc....There is no telling how many Santas live at our house!

Back in 2006, before we were married, I found this fabulous Santa fabric at a quilt shop in Edmonton, Alberta. The line of fabrics was "Good Tidings" by Diane Knott for Clothworks. I knew I had to make him a quilt featuring this fabric. My photo shows six of the nine different Santa figures.

I played with a variety of design ideas for the quilt, and settled on framing out the Santa blocks, then alternating them with log cabin blocks. There are a zillion green fabrics in this quilt, yet my shelf of greens is still packed full! 

Santa's Block Party

The finished quilt measures about 56" x 72", and it was completed in 2009. My friend Jan at Cat's Meow Quilting did the fabulous machine quilting on it, which you can see better in the detail photo. It is always a treat to get this quilt out when we are decorating for the holidays and hang it right next to our Christmas tree.

Check out other Throwback Thursday quilt posts at both Krista Quilts and at A Quarter Inch from the Edge. Even better, add your own post to the link-ups. We'd love to see your quilts from the past! 


Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 11/29/15

I keep thinking there will be a significant reduction in my stash of fabrics because I have been using more than usual this year, but I keep on buying more fabric too. The shelves in my sewing room are still bulging with yardage. There are a couple of projects I hope to finish for Christmas that will help reduce my numbers.

This week I used 4.5 yards for the borders and back of my Circling the Rainbow quilt (see it HERE.) I also bought 1 yard of RWB for more Quilts of Valor and 5.5 yards for a secret project.

TOTALS: 

Used this week:                    4.5  yards     

Used year to date:             160.0 yards

Stashed this week:               6.5  yards

Stashed year to date:        140.0 yards 

Net year to date:              20 yards used

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.  

Julie in GA

Ready for Quilting!

I have been pushing hard to finish assembling the top for the appliqued circles quilt that I have been working on all year as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I am happy to report that my "Circling the Rainbow" top is finished!

Circling the Rainbow  51" x 62"
based on the pattern "True Colors" by Nancy Mahoney
from her book Simple Circles and Quick Curves

back for Circling the Rainbow

I will be dropping off this top and back with my wonderful LAQ Jan tomorrow, which is the reason I worked so hard to get it done. After many, many hours of hand stitching circles while riding the train to work, I am thrilled to have this top completed! I knew Nancy's pattern was perfect for an RSC project, and it turned out even better than I had hoped.

The other top going in to be quilted isn't scrappy, but it does include some light/lime green, our color of the month for the RSC. This is my Boston Fiesta top, along with the wild tropical print backing.

Boston Fiesta  60" x 74"

Boston Fiesta back

Be sure to check out all of the wonderful scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge every Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. 

Julie in GA