15 Minutes and Stash Report Sunday 12/29/18

Wow, has it really been two weeks since my last blog post! And I've had only four previous posts for the entire month of December. That is a good indication of just how busy the past month has been. The craziness isn't over yet (at least another week or two to go), but I'm hoping to get back to a more regular blogging schedule very soon.

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces has us keep track of how many days each week we are able to spend at least 15 minutes quilting. Between the crazy work schedule and the Christmas holiday events, I feel fortunate to have gotten any stitching time on 11 out of 14 days. Most of that time was hand stitching, but I did manage to dust off the sewing machine over Christmas weekend. It felt great to get in some piecing time again!

15 Minute Challenge:  
12/16 - 12/29        11 of 14 days
2018 Total          350 of 363 days

The only usage for the last two weeks was 3/4 yard for some Moda Blockheads blocks. I'm not sure why I pulled out this patriotic project over the Christmas holiday, except that it was already in progress and didn't require a lot of planning.

2018 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                          .75 yards

Used year to date:                 74.875 yards
Added last week:                         0.0 yards

Added year to date:                  50.25 yards
Net used year to date:        24.625 yards

My stash goals for the year were to use at least 100 yards of fabric (not going to happen!) and to use more than I add. I should be able to meet the second goal, although I am hoping to do a shopping trip for a couple of quilt backings today.

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces. I'm also joining up with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework, since most of the fabrics in my Moda Blockheads blocks were scraps/leftovers.

Happy New Year and happy quilting to all!

Julie in GA

15 Minutes, Stash Report and Slow Stitching Sunday 12/16/18

It was another very long, very stressful week at work, and next week will be more of the same. It's always tough when we are working on a huge show over the holidays. We are all trying to hang on until our four-day weekend for Christmas.

One way I am dealing with the stress from work is by squeezing in some time for quilting. My prime times for stitching are during the train ride to work in the mornings and while "watching" TV in the evenings. I was able to finish joining the last of the hexagons to the center medallion for a wall hanging. This was my first hexagon project ever, started in 2012. I plan to share more about this project in tomorrow's design wall post.

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces has us keep track of how many days each week we are able to spend at least 15 minutes quilting. My hexie stitching added up to a 7-for-7 week!

15 Minute Challenge:  
12/9 - 12/15            7 of 7 days
2018 Total        339 of 349 days

My only stash usage for the week was 3/8 yard for the hexagons that were added to the medallion. No new fabric added to the stash this week!

2018 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                        .375 yards

Used year to date:                 74.125 yards
Added last week:                         0.0 yards

Added year to date:                  50.25 yards
Net used year to date:        23.875 yards

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate, join the 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces, and see many beautiful projects at Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts. I'm also joining up with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework, since most of the fabrics in my hexie medallion were scraps/leftovers.

Julie in GA

15 Minutes, Slow Stitching and Stash Report Sunday 12/9/18

Time for quilting continues to be in very short supply. The hours at work keep increasing. The past week started with a one-day trip to New York, up and back in the same day, with a bunch of costume fittings while we were there. There was no chance after that for recovery, just keep pushing through the rest of the week. I am fortunate to have worked only 3 hours on Saturday, and I have the whole day off today. It felt so good to sleep in this morning, helping me feel human again!

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces has us keep track of how many days each week we are able to spend at least 15 minutes quilting. Surprisingly, I managed to get 15 minutes every day, although there weren't many days with more than 15 minutes. All of my quilting time was spent on hand stitching, mostly on a quilt binding and trying out an idea for a new project. 

15 Minute Challenge:  
12/2 - 12/8              7 of 7 days
2018 Total        332 of 342 days

The new design that I'm playing with is hand-appliqued Orange Peel blocks. I've been needing a new handwork project and have seen many lovely versions of this design. My plan is to applique bright prints onto scrappy black background squares, probably following the color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

My biggest problem so far is keeping the points lined up at the corners of the background square. They want to shift around a bit as I am stitching them. I might scale the peel piece a little smaller so I can trim down the background after the applique stitching. If anyone has made this pattern and has suggestions, I would love to hear them. I'm linking up this project with Slow Stitching Sunday at Kathy's Quilts.

The stash report shows no usage and some sizeable additions this week. I may not have much time for quilting, but that doesn't mean there isn't time for quilt shopping. I had seen a quilt kit on Craftsy a week or so ago that looked like a great deal, but did not buy it at that time. Early this week Craftsy had a buy one kit, get one free sale, making it the perfect time to grab that kit plus another. The first pick was this Solar Flare quilt pattern with Craftsy's exclusive brand Boundless solids. This will be my first time using Craftsy fabrics, and these solids feel very nice. This kit contains just over 10 yards of fabric plus the pattern, and it is still on clearance for only $34!

This is the photo of the Solar Flare quilt from the Craftsy website. Finished size is 71" x 71".

For kit #2, my choice was based more on the fabrics than the pattern. I'm always looking for more red, white & blue prints for my QOV collection. These are from the Yankee Doodles collection by Lily and Loom, another Craftsy exclusive brand. There are 18 fat quarters, plus a 1-yard piece at the top.

The pattern that came with these fabrics is called Suburbia. A very simple design that shows off the great prints very well.

Suburbia Yankee Doodles quilt kit from Craftsy

Altogether, the two kits added 15.5 yards to my stash. It's a good thing that my usage is well ahead of additions for the year! I'm still hopeful of finishing 2018 in the black.

2018 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                          0.0 yards

Used year to date:                   73.75 yards
Added last week:                       15.5 yards

Added year to date:                 50.25 yards
Net used year to date:           23.5 yards

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

Julie in GA

15 Minutes and Stash Report Sunday 12/2/18

The weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas always seem to be extra busy, but it feels that way even more than usual this year. It started with the news over Thanksgiving weekend that my 15 year old car needs $3500 in repairs! That's not happening, so it's time to start shopping for another car. Then there was the work deadline that suddenly moved to three days earlier than originally planned, leaving us scrambling to finish projects. It also meant working lots of extra hours last week, which seriously cut into my quilting time!

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces has us keep track of how many days each week we are able to spend at least 15 minutes quilting. I missed posting my stash report and 15 Minute totals last week, and I was surprised to discover that there was only one day with no quilting time during that two week stretch. That is definitely better than expected, even though I don't seem to have a lot to show for it.

15 Minute Challenge:  
11/18 - 12/1        13 of 14 days
2018 Total        325 of 335 days

As for the stash report, over the last two weeks I used 1 yard for the sashing on my first Squared Away quilt top (see it in yesterday's post) and 5/8 yard for the binding on my Circling the Rainbow quilt. I'm up against a deadline on that quilt and need to get the binding finished today!

One last corner to miter!

2018 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                      1.625 yards

Used year to date:                   73.75 yards
Added last week:                        0.0 yards

Added year to date:                 34.75 yards
Net used year to date:           39.0 yards

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

Julie in GA

Rainbow Progress

There hasn't been much time for quilting lately, but I have been able to get the blocks joined into rows for my Squared Away sampler. These were all made over the past year as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, hosted by Angela. The block patterns/tutorials were posted each month by Mari at The Academic Quilter. Thanks to both of them for sharing this wonderful project with us!

RSC Squared Away sampler

My blocks finish at 7.5" square and the sashing is 1.5", so this little quilt should finish around 47" x 56". I used the background fabric as the sashing to let the blocks float on the background, plus a solid grey for a bit of contrast as the cornerstones.

The rows haven't been joined to one another yet because I am considering finishing this as another quilt-as-you-go project. One of my major quilting goals for next year is to finish more quilts, and I'm hoping that QAYG will help make that possible.

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and with Oh Scrap! 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