Stitching and DeStashing--Week 26, 2019

Yesterday I had the rare pleasure of spending the day in a quilting class. I don't know how long it had been since the last time I pulled out my little travel featherweight for a class, but I had to spend some time the night before making sure it was running well and getting used to how it works again.

Our class was called "Practice What I Preach" by Pam Buda. It was a skill-building class filled with lots of tips and hints for how to get the best results with different techniques for making basic units like quarter-square triangles and flying geese. There weren't many techniques that I hadn't tried before, but Pam shared tons of helpful suggestions. Best of all, we got to try out several different specialty tools/rulers that she recommends, and what could be better than spending the day with a group of quilters! The photo below shows Pam's class sample.

"Practice What I Preach" class sample by Pam Buda

The project is a small wall quilt, finishing at 43" square. When I got home from class, I finished making all the different units for the blocks and got three of the blocks assembled. I hope to finish the other two blocks today.

I was going for a Christmas look, and the dark fabric does have green in it, but it sure looks black in this photo. Everything in this photo appears somewhat darker than it does in person.

I'm counting all the fabric cut and used so far for this project since it is has all been stitched into units that are almost made into blocks. All that will be left to do is add borders. I also finished my Tiny Tuesday blocks for June, using 1/4 yard for them. You can see those in yesterday's post. My numbers keep getting closer to even. 

2019 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                        1.875 yards

Used year to date:                   24.125 yards
Added last week:                          0.0 yards

Added year to date:                   27.75 yards
Net stashed year to date:       3.625 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 was on vacation this whole past week, so I spent lots of time quilting, even though I should have been taking care of other projects around the house. It felt great to indulge in some serious quilting time!

15 Minute Challenge:  

6/23 - 6/29              7 of 7 days

2019 Total         167 of 180 days

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

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 26, 2019

Here we are at week 26, the midpoint of 2019! My projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge keep moving along, with more deep blue blocks to share today. One disclaimer this week--I'm trying out a new camera, and not too happy with the results so far. Plus the photos were taken at night... 

It's always a treat following along with the Tiny Tuesday blocks. Sometimes I get so inspired that I make more than one version of the weekly blocks. I tried two different color combinations for the first (unnamed) block, then made two versions of the Grandmother's Fan block with different numbers of segments in each. Instead of making an applique basket, I found a pieced one in EQ. The last block is this week's Monkey Wrench.

The blues in my Orange Peel blocks are more on the medium/bright side because dark blues wouldn't show up on the black and grey background fabrics. I'm still playing with ideas for how these will end up getting used--a quilt of their own, or maybe a border on a medallion style quilt.

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

Stitching and DeStashing--Week 25, 2019

My destashing efforts this week ended up with decent progress, 3/4 yard used for the week. I made 12 blue Stairsteps blocks for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge project, plus 4 additional red blocks to finish out that color. I've had so much fun playing with different layouts for these blocks, similar to the variations for log cabin blocks. Here are a few possibilities, all using the same 16 blocks.

2019 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                            .75 yards

Used year to date:                     22.25 yards
Added last week:                          0.0 yards

Added year to date:                   27.75 yards
Net stashed year to date:          5.5 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. For the first time in many weeks, I didn't end up with a 7-for-7 week, having missed one day midway through. I don't even remember why I didn't do any quilting that day. My totals are still looking great--a 92.4% success rate!

15 Minute Challenge:  

6/16 - 6/22                6 of 7 days

2019 Total         160 of 173 days

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

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 25, 2019

There has been great forward progress on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects over the last week. I started by making one dark blue Framed Crumb Star block.

 Here are all of my crumb stars in their different colors.

After that I made my blue Stairsteps blocks. I couldn't resist putting them up on the wall with the star block. If these blocks were all stitched together, this would measure 24". I'm trying to decide if that is a useful size for me, because I do love how they look together.

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

Stitching and DeStashing--Week 24, 2019

I have been working away on a few different scrappy quilt projects this week, moving them all forward and using up some stash fabrics in the process. I have mostly been making crumb blocks and string blocks, which make a terrible mess of the sewing room but use up plenty of scraps. If only I'd made one more blue crumb block to fill that empty spot!

2019 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                          1.50 yards

Used year to date:                     21.50 yards
Added last week:                          0.0 yards

Added year to date:                   27.75 yards
Net stashed year to date:        6.25 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 back to splitting my time between several different projects, which adds up to quilting time every single day!

15 Minute Challenge:  

6/9 - 6/15                7 of 7 days

2019 Total         154 of 166 days

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

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 24, 2019

The color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is blue, especially the darker blues. I've had blue scraps scattered all over my machine cabinet, a little side table, and my cutting table. The mess was making me a little crazy, but I did manage to produce a bit of order from the chaos, making 4 blue string blocks and 7 blue crumb blocks. These will all finish at 6".

There are still plenty of blue bits and pieces hanging around, but it felt great to use up so many of them in these blocks!

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

Stitching and DeStashing--Quilt Top Finished!

One of my quilting goals for last week was to finish joining all of the Woven Squares blocks together and add the borders. Believe it or not, it actually got done--I now have a finished quilt top! I'd hoped to get some good outdoor photos of it, but it has been too grey and rainy here.

Woven Squares, 59.25" x 75.25"

The Woven Squares pattern was originally published in Fons and Porter's Easy Quilts magazine, Winter 2016. It is also available on their website HERE. My version has 48 blocks in it, rather than the 80 blocks of the original pattern. I needed to add borders to bring mine up to the right size for a Quilt of Valor. There wasn't enough of the RWB stripe fabric for a wider border, so I ended up adding a pieced border that extends the blue rings around the outside edges of the design. You might be able to see the seam in the lighter blue segment next to the striped border in the following photo--that is where the pieced border was added. 

This quilt was made entirely from my stash! That is such a good feeling. The background fabric and the stripe in the border are now used up--I might need to look for some more of that wonderful RWB stripe. I'm sharing with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge since I used stash/scraps for this, and our color of the month is dark blue. Total fabric used for the quilt borders was 1.375 yards (yardage for the blocks was counted last week.) No new fabric was added over the past week! 

2019 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                        1.375 yards

Used year to date:                      20.0 yards
Added last week:                          0.0 yards

Added year to date:                   27.75 yards
Net stashed year to date:        7.75 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. My push to finish this quilt top had me spending well over 15 minutes on quilting each day.

15 Minute Challenge:  

6/2 - 6/8                  7 of 7 days

2019 Total         147 of 159 days

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces. I'm also linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge at So Scrappy, Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework, Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Monday Making at Love, Laugh, Quilt and Moving It Forward at Em's Scrapbag.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stitching and DeStashing--Week 22, 2019

Last week was a good one for my stash reduction efforts. I tallied up the number of Orange Peel blocks made in the past six weeks (28 blocks, 1/2 yard used.) I also finished making the rest of the Woven Squares QOV blocks, using a total of 3.25 yards for all 48 blocks. No new fabric added. The YTD additions to stash are finally back down below 10 yards!

Woven Squares
pattern available from Fons and Porter

Here are all 48 of the Woven Squares blocks up on the wall. Please forgive the poor lighting in my nighttime photo. I'm hoping to finish joining them together today, then figure out a plan for a border or two. This might be a finished quilt top by this time next week!

2019 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                          3.75 yards

Used year to date:                   18.625 yards
Added last week:                          0.0 yards

Added year to date:                   27.75 yards
Net stashed year to date:         9.125 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've been able to get in some quilting time every single day, and I hope that pattern continues!

15 Minute Challenge:  

5/26- 6/1                 7 of 7 days

2019 Total         140 of 152 days

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

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 22, 2019

The beginning of a new month also means the beginning of a new color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. We spent May playing with our orange scraps, and for June we are moving on to deep blues and navy. For now, I can share my collection of orange blocks from May until I dig out some blue scraps and get started on some new blocks.

I made four Tiny Tuesday blocks (4.5" finished size) and have one butterfly block still to finish.

The rest of my orange blocks make a lovely medallion layout together on the design wall. There is a Framed Crumb Star block at the center, surrounded by 12 Stairsteps blocks, and Orange Peels along both ends. So much orange goodness!

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