Design Wall Monday 2/26/18

The current set of blocks on my design wall began life back in the summer of 2013. I had made a pile of 6" nine-patch blocks using yellows and golds with blue centers. 20 of those original blocks were joined together into this cute little quilt top (which is still waiting to be quilted.)

Nine-patch quilt top, 38.5" x 45.5"

There were still several leftover blocks plus some already-cut squares, and they all moved around from place to place in the sewing room over the years. I ran across them again in January and decided it was time to do something with them. I turned the 9-patches into Sister's Choice blocks with blue star points around the outside of each block. Here are a few of my favorite blocks.

 

The next step was to audition sashing and cornerstone fabrics. I looked at several different options for the sashing and have it narrowed down to one of  these two blue prints. There are three choices for the cornerstones in this shot, and the darker blue along the left end and top will be the outer border. 

I'm linking up to Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt, and Moving It Forward at Em's Scrapbag. Check out all of them for tons of amazing quilting inspiration! 

Julie in GA

15 Minutes and Stash Report Sunday 2/25/18

This week's stash report shows a small change in the fabric used total, but none was added once again! I made an assortment of different blocks last week--two Scraptastic Stars and two purple crumb blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, plus two more Flying Dutchman blocks. Altogether, 3/4 yard used.

2018 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                 .75 yards

Used year to date:              7.0 yards

Added last week:                0.0 yards
Added year to date:         2.125 yards
Net used year to date:   4.875 yards

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces has us tracking how many days each week we get in at least 15 minutes of quilting time. There were a couple of evenings last week when I was very tired after work and considered skipping my time in the sewing room. Once I got in there and started on a project, I enjoyed myself and quilted for at least 45 minutes or more. I've maintained my 100% success rate for another week!

15 Minute Challenge:  
2/18 - 2/24           7 of 7 days
2018 Total         55 of 55 days

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate, and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces.

Julie in GA

Purple Scraptastic Stars

There are still a couple of other scrappy purple projects in the works around here, but at least I finished my two Scraptastic Stars blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. The Scraptastic Stars pattern was designed by Melissa Corry, and it is available HERE.

Scraptastic Star
12" block made from 2" squares

Scraptastic Star
16" block made from 2.5" squares

Here are the two blocks together. Purple is proving to be very difficult to photograph.

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

15 Minutes and Stash Report Sunday 2/18/18

My stash report doesn't show any changes this week--no new fabric added and no fabric used. On most projects, I deduct my usage as I get blocks made rather than waiting until the quilt is complete. I prefer to see those numbers change in small increments every week rather than waiting for weeks and weeks for one big deduction when a project is together--that's just too discouraging for me!

One current exception right now is On Ringo Lake, the Bonnie Hunter mystery. I didn't figure out my usage as I was making all the units for the quilt because I didn't know how many units I would actually use in my smaller version. I am in the process of joining the parts together, with the goal of having it all assembled by the end of the month. I will calculate my usage and report the grand total then. Here is a preview of one corner that is together and waiting for some trimming.

On Ringo Lake, pattern by Bonnie Hunter

2018 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                  0.0 yards

Used year to date:            6.25 yards

Added last week:                0.0 yards
Added year to date:         2.125 yards
Net used year to date:   4.125 yards

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces has us tracking how many days each week we get in at least 15 minutes of quilting time. I'm still plugging away at getting in 15 minutes or more every day. I've maintained my 100% success rate for another week!

15 Minute Challenge:  
2/11 - 2/17           7 of 7 days
2018 Total         48 of 48 days

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate, and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces.

Julie in GA

Plenty of Purple

When it was announced that the February color assignment for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is purple and lavender, I wasn't sure I would find many scraps to use in my current RSC projects. I went digging through my boxes, bins and drawers and found all sorts of purple goodies!

The first place I looked was my drawer of 3" strips (the same strips that were used for my Scrappy Trips blocks last year.) I found several strips of purple, a few 3" squares, and a couple dozen four-patches.

3" strips and squares

4-patches made from 3" squares

The 3" purple strips have been cut up into squares to make more 4P blocks. There may be enough in that pile for a small quilt.

Miscellaneous scraps

There was a small pile of miscellaneous purple scraps. Some of these were used to make a few more sampler blocks to add to the Squared Away blocks. The pattern for these is from the 2017 Fat Quarter Shop Patchwork Quilt Along.

FQS Sampler blocks

After all the favorable comments on my Baby Blue Boxes top last month, I thought I might make a block or two each month in the RSC colors. Here is the first one in purple and lavender scraps. I love how the block looks on point! Now to come up with a name for this block pattern--maybe Spinning Boxes or Boxed In? Other suggestions would be appreciated. 

Spinning Boxes block

The final source of purple scraps was this bag of little 1.5" squares that was sent to me a few months ago by Jennifer in PA, a fellow RSC participant. There must be hundreds, maybe even a thousand or more squares in there! 

Bag of 1.5" squares

I sorted out a couple handfuls of the squares, then started making little nine-patch blocks from them. These are my current leader/ender project. So cute! Thanks for the scraps Jennifer! 

3" nine-patch blocks

Wow, that's a lot of purple scrappy projects in the works! I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 2/12/18

There's good news and bad news about my On Ringo Lake quilt project:

Good news #1:  All the parts for the quilt have been made!

Good news #2:  Assembly of the parts has begun!

Bad news: Lots of thick seams making assembly/pressing very difficult. I have taken down all of the blocks and sashing from the design wall, pressing some of my seams open to make joining them together a little easier (I hope.)

This is the center of my quilt, with a few stray cornerstone squares still on the wall.

On Ringo Lake, pattern by Bonnie Hunter

I'm linking up to Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt, and Moving It Forward at Em's Scrapbag. Check out all of them for tons of amazing quilting inspiration! 

Julie in GA

15 Minutes and Stash Report Sunday 2/11/18

It was another week with a fair amount of quilting time, but there's not much to report for stash usage. The good news--no new fabric added! My usage was on the blocks I made for the Squared Away Sampler at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I'm also making some of the blocks from the 2017 Patchwork Quilt Along at the Fat Quarter Shop. Here are my blocks for January and February, which used 3/4 yard of fabric.

2018 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                  .75 yards

Used year to date:            6.25 yards

Added last week:                0.0 yards
Added year to date:         2.125 yards
Net used year to date:   4.125 yards

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces has us tracking how many days each week we get in at least 15 minutes of quilting time. Work is getting busy and likely to continue that way for a few weeks, but I still managed to get in 15 minutes every day. I'm maintaining my 100% success rate for another week!

15 Minute Challenge:  
2/4 - 2/10            7 of 7 days
2018 Total         41 of 41 days

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate, and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces.

Julie in GA

Squared Away in Purple and Lavender

The February color assignment for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is purple and lavender. There hasn't been much purple sewing happening around here yet, but I did pull out a batch of scraps and make my blocks for the Squared Away sampler. I'm making my blocks to finish at 7.5", and they all include the same grey background print. I'm finding it to be quite a challenge to choose fabrics that look good/show up well against the grey, and I'm even thinking about switching to a different background fabric and starting over.

Wishing Ring blocks for the
Squared Away Sampler

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 2/5/18

Today is the final link-up for Bonnie Hunter's 2017 mystery "On Ringo Lake" where everyone can show the progress on their quilt. I would have loved to show a completed quilt top, but that just wasn't possible. Last night I made five more blocks, with four left to make for my planned 32 blocks total. I also need to make 8-10 more chevron sashing sections, and maybe a few more corner units, plus all but one of the outer setting triangles. After that I can start joining everything together.

On Ringo Lake mystery quilt
Pattern by Bonnie Hunter

Here's a shot of the upper half of my design wall, giving a slightly better look at fabrics, plus the single setting triangle at the top center. My setting triangle is slightly different than Bonnie's design. The red squares around the outer edges will actually be triangles; I just haven't cut any of them yet and had the squares available. 

I'm anxious to regain the use of my main design wall which has been filled with this project for several weeks. I'm hoping to get this quilt top assembled by the end of this month. Once all the remaining blocks and parts are made, I will spend some time rearranging pieces on the wall before stitching everything together.

The other thing still needed is a name for my version of On Ringo Lake--that name just doesn't seem to fit. Any suggestions will be very welcome, since I am drawing a total blank!

I'm joining the link-up for the On Ringo Lake mystery over at Bonnie's Quiltville blog. I'm also linking up to Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt, and Moving It Forward at Em's Scrapbag. Check out all of them for tons of amazing quilting inspiration! 

Julie in GA

15 Minutes and Stash Report Sunday 2/4/18

Last week was one of those times when I felt the need to do some very simple piecing, and I ended up finishing the top for a little baby quilt. This started with five blocks made several years ago, and I cut and pieced many light/medium blue strips to make the rest of the blocks. Total fabric used 2.25 yards, and no new fabric added to the stash again!

Baby Blue Boxes, 40" x 50"

2018 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                2.25 yards

Used year to date:            5.50 yards

Added last week:                0.0 yards
Added year to date:         2.125 yards
Net used year to date:   3.375 yards

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces has us tracking how many days each week we get in at least 15 minutes of quilting time. Work is getting busy and likely to continue that way for a few weeks, but I still managed to get in 15 minutes every day. I'm maintaining my 100% success rate for another week!

15 Minute Challenge:  
1/28 - 2/3             7 of 7 days
2018 Total         34 of 34 days

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate, and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces.

Julie in GA

Not Ready for Purple

Our color assignment for February at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is purple and lavender, but I am not quite ready to stop playing with my light blue scraps. Last week I discovered five blue blocks that I had made more than four years ago, and I decided it was way past time to do something with them. Here are the original blocks.

Blocks from 2013

I pulled out my drawers of 1.5", 2" and 2.5" blue strips and began cutting and piecing more blocks. I ended up with a total of 20 blocks which each finish at 10". They have all been joined together into this little quilt top.

Baby Blue Boxes, 40.5" x 50.5"

This certainly wasn't a challenging project for me, but sometimes it's a nice break to pull together something quick and easy. It felt especially satisfying to put those old blocks to good use. I'm hoping to get this quilted and finished in the near future so I can donate it as part of the Hands2Help 2018 Challenge at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

On a separate note, I shared photos of all three of my Scrappy Trips tops in this post a few days ago. This is the third top, which was made from my leftover blocks after making one top in warm colors and the second from all cool colors. 

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

February 2018 One Monthly Goal

I thought I had my One Monthly Goal all figured out for February, but now I'm second guessing myself. My plan was for the goal to be finishing the top for my version of On Ringo Lake, Bonnie Hunter's 2017 mystery. My main design wall is covered with all the parts that are done so far, and I would love to get the top assembled and reclaim the wall for other projects.

The reason I'm hesitating? February is a short month, and I know we are going to be very busy at work. I'm not sure I will have the energy to deal with all those little pieces (I still have more flying geese and sashing units to make before I can make any more blocks.) On the other hand, I really want to see how this quilt ends up looking in my color scheme. 

Okay, decision made--I'm going for it. One quilt top coming up (I hope!) I will report back at the end of the month and let you see how it turned out . I am joining the One Monthly Goal link-up for February at Elm Street Quilts. Check it out to see what others are hoping to get done this month!

Julie in GA