Design Wall Monday 7/25/16

Alycia in Colorado is one of the biggest supporters of Quilts of Valor that I have found. Every Wednesday on her Alycia Quilts blog, she shares photos of a new group of QOVs. She has become a constant source of inspiration for me.

Last year Alycia started designing quilts for the Mystery Quilts 4 Military group on Yahoo. The most recent mystery began in early June, and I decided to quilt along with Alycia and others. I have done a couple of her previous mysteries, and they are very manageable. A new clue is posted every Friday, and each clue takes approximately an hour to complete.

Unfortunately, I made a mistake with one of my fabrics for this project and ended up short of background fabric. I think I realized that on Clue #3. Last week we received Clue #6, and I could finally see enough of the overall design to decide how to substitute another fabric for some of the background. I got half of the star blocks made. There are also chain blocks that alternate with these.

I am sharing with Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times, Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt, and Moving It Forward at Em's Scrapbag.

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 7/24/16

There was a little usage from my stash this week, 3/4 yard for the sashing and cornerstones on my Shooting Stars project, plus 1/2 yard for the RSC Sampler blocks that I showed in yesterday's post. Unfortunately, I can never seem to ignore a big sale at Connecting Threads. Quilt fabrics at $3 - $4 a yard are too irresistible to me. I added 7.25 yards to my stash, mostly light fabrics for backgrounds. I feel a new Quilt of Valor coming soon with that RWB star print.

STASH TOTALS: 

     Used this week:             1.25 yards     

Used year to date:        54.75 yards

Stashed this week:         7.25 yards

Stashed year to date:      47.5 yards 

 Net year to date:   7.25 yards used

I am joining Kate at Life in Pieces in tracking the number of days each week that I spend at least 15 minutes quilting. I had another good week for spending at least a small chunk of time quilting every day.

15 Minute Challenge:  
July 17 - 23                 7 of 7 days

Year to date         192 of 205 days

350 Block Challenge at Prairie Moon Quilts: 

Blocks made this week: 35

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.  

Julie in GA

Playing in the Pink Scraps

One of my projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this year has been the 2016 RSC Sampler. I have been following along each month, making the blocks Angela has chosen in the assigned colors. It's fun to stitch along with everyone else, but not have to decide what blocks to make or what colors to use. Even though we are all making the same blocks, the results can turn out so differently.

This month our block was the easiest one yet, the Indian Hatchet block. I have also seen this pattern called Half Snowballs or Kansas Dugout.

I enjoyed digging through my pink scraps for a variety of watermelon colored fabrics. These blocks were the perfect leader and ender project to have sitting next to my machine while I worked through other quilt projects. The blocks will finish at 3". As usual, I made a few extra blocks so I can choose my favorites.

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

Summer Solstice

I'm a little late to the party, but I couldn't resist joining in on the Summer Solstice quilt-along over at Happy Quilting, hosted by Melissa Corry. This is Melissa's four-block version of her design, and she has instructions for the pattern in several block sizes and different numbers of blocks. You can find the introductory post HERE. 

I kept seeing other quilter's posts about their fabric choices, and I was intrigued by Melissa's block design, but it took me awhile to figure out what colors to use. Then I received a bag of beautiful batik scraps, and the decision was made! I am using a grey solid for the background to go with the lovely greens and blues.

I haven't done all of my cutting yet, but I did complete the current step, making Flying Geese units. Here they are, and I am anxiously waiting to see what come next!

I am linking up with the Summer Solstice QAL over at Happy Quilting. There are many flocks of flying geese in beautiful color combinations to see there!


Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday

The Shooting Stars blocks have all been framed and are now being joined together with the sashing. The lower half of the quilt is done. Once I get the rest of it together, I will need to decide on a border. I'm not sure if I want to use a single fabric or go scrappy. I couldn't get a decent photo of all the blocks, so just imagine these two photos joined together.

There were a few comments last week from readers who were not familiar with this star pattern. You can find a tutorial for this block at Anyone Can Quilt. I call this design "Shooting Stars" because that was the name of the class when I learned this pattern, but I have also heard it called "Wink and a Smile."

I am sharing with Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times, Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt, and Moving It Forward at Em's Scrapbag.

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 7/17/16

The stash usage continued to go up a little bit again this week. The angled frames were stitched to all of my pink and brown Shooting Stars blocks. You can see the first six finished blocks in yesterday's post. The next step will be adding sashing to give the blocks a little breathing room.

STASH TOTALS: 

     Used this week:           1.875 yards     

Used year to date:         53.5 yards

Stashed this week:          0.0 yards

Stashed year to date:    40.25 yards 

 Net year to date:   13.25 yards used

I am joining Kate at Life in Pieces in tracking the number of days each week that I spend at least 15 minutes quilting. I had another good week for getting time in the sewing room every single day.

15 Minute Challenge:  
July 10 - 16                 7 of 7 days

Year to date         185 of 198 days

350 Block Challenge at Prairie Moon Quilts: 

Blocks made this week: 8

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.  

Julie in GA

Pink UFO Sighting

It's pink month over at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, the weekly color-themed, scrap-busting link up. Besides making the blocks for my ongoing RSC projects, I have been spending some time on a pink UFO. Last weekend I made four more of the pink and brown Shooting Stars blocks, bringing my total number of blocks up to 12, enough for a throw quilt. Here are two of the newest blocks. You can find a tutorial for this pattern at Anyone Can Quilt.

The next step is framing the blocks. I am alternating pink and brown tilted frames on each block. Half of them have been finished so far, and I hope to get the rest done this weekend.

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

Design Wall Monday 7/11/16

I spent a large portion of the weekend working on an old UFO project, the Shooting Stars blocks that I started in a class in 2010. I have also heard this pattern called "A Wink and a Smile," but Shooting Stars is the name I first learned, and that is what I continue to call it.

I made four of these blocks over the weekend, which gives me enough for a decent-sized throw quilt. The blocks finish at 14". I have been auditioning pink and brown fabrics for the frames that make the blocks twist and turn back and forth.

 

I got a few of the framing fabrics cut, but I still need to cut most of the pieces and stitch them to the blocks. There was one I couldn't resist stitching up right away though--the flamingo fabric. I love the flamingos surrounding the star!

I am sharing with Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times, Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt, Moving It Forward at Em's Scrapbag and Scraptastic Tuesday at Mrs. Sew and Sow.

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 7/10/16

There weren't any big finishes this week, but I did make good progress on a couple of different projects. I seem to be working in multiples of four--I made four Folded Box blocks for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge project (see them in yesterday's post.) I also pulled out an old UFO, my pink and brown Shooting Stars, and made four more of those blocks.

On July 4th I was feeling the need to sew some red, white & blue. I discovered that Kat's July block drive for Covered in Love is asking for 12" finished star blocks, any pattern, made in red, white & blue. I spent some time looking through my quilting books and lots of on-line sources before I settled on these first few designs. I should go back and figure out the names of the blocks and find sources for the patterns--I'll try to put that info together later.

12" Star blocks for Covered in Love block drive

STASH TOTALS: 

     Used this week:           2.625 yards     

Used year to date:     51.625 yards

Stashed this week:          0.0 yards

Stashed year to date:    40.25 yards 

 Net year to date:   11.375 yards used

I am joining Kate at Life in Pieces in tracking the number of days each week that I spend at least 15 minutes quilting. I had another good week for getting time in the sewing room every single day.

15 Minute Challenge:  
July 3 - 9                    7 of 7 days

Year to date         178 of 191 days

350 Block Challenge at Prairie Moon Quilts: 

Blocks made this week: 13

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.  

Julie in GA

Fun with Pink and Purple

This has been one of those weeks where I bounced around between several different quilting projects. It's hard to tell if I am making significant progress on any of them until I start putting my blocks up on the wall. One of my main projects for the past week was making more of the Folded Box blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Our color for July is hot pink, and I finished five of those blocks, plus there are a few more cut out and ready to stitch. I have also been playing catch-up for previous months--we had purple as the color of the month back in March, and I got three of those done too.

Folded Box blocks, tutorial by Donna Lynn Thomas

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

OMG July 2016 Goal

It's time once again to link up my goal for OMG (One Monthly Goal) at Red Letter Quilts . Our color for July at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is hot pink, and I plan to work on a UFO that features pink this month.

This is one of the Shooting Stars blocks that was started in a class I took in 2010. I made two blocks in the class, then two more last year and four more earlier this year. I think 12 blocks will be a good number for a throw quilt. Here are all the blocks that are done so far.

I haven't decided if I will go ahead with the tilted framing on the blocks like the two have at the top. My goal for July is to make some more blocks and get them all joined together into a finished quilt top by the end of the month.

In case you are curious about how to make this block, HERE is a tutorial for this pattern.

I'm heading over to the link-up for OMG at Red Letter Quilts to see what everyone else hopes to get done this month!

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 7/3/16

It's hard to believe that we are past the half-way point for 2016. This seems like a good time to evaluate my stash-busting efforts so far this year. My fabric goals for the year are the same as they have been for the last three years--use at least 100 yards of fabric, and use more than I add to the stash. I just looked back at my end-of-the-year stash reports from the last 3 years. 2015 was the only year where I was successful at both goals, using 167 yards and adding 150. I am currently on track to finish in the black for this year, but far behind last year's total usage. It's time for a few finishes!

I did not add any fabric this week, and used some on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks, plus I even gave some away. (That was hard for me!) Here are my current RSC blocks.

Folded Box blocks, pattern by Donna Lynn Thomas

STASH TOTALS: 

     Used this week:           1.75 yards     

Used year to date:       49.0 yards

Stashed this week:          0.0 yards

Stashed year to date:    40.25 yards 

 Net year to date:   8.75 yards used

I am joining Kate at Life in Pieces in tracking the number of days each week that I spend at least 15 minutes quilting. It was a good week for getting time in the sewing room every single day.

15 Minute Challenge:  
June 26 - July 2            7 of 7 days

Year to date          171 of 184 days

350 Block Challenge at Prairie Moon Quilts: 

Blocks made this week: 20

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.  

Julie in GA

Pulling Out the Pinks

Our new color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge for July is hot pink, almost to red, with accents of bright green. Angela's inspiration is watermelon, one of my favorite summertime treats.

I haven't gotten any cutting or stitching done with my pink fabrics yet, but I have been making quite the mess by pulling out scraps to choose fabrics for my Folded Box blocks. It's a challenge finding the right combination of light, medium and dark for every block. The squares across the top are for the RSC sampler blocks.

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