Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 44, 2020

Happy Halloween to all of my quilt blog readers and friends. Halloween tends to be a huge deal in our neighborhood, with houses decorated at least as much as they do for Christmas, and there are overwhelming numbers of children out trick or treating. I've been glad to see signs in front of many houses nearby saying that they won't be doing trick or treating this year. I'm sorry that the kids are missing out on the fun, but it certainly seems like the right thing to do this year.

After many positive responses to the setting ideas for my Scrappy Bear Paw blocks last week, I spent some time moving forward with that project. The most popular setting choice by far, which is also my favorite, was the on-point setting with a single bear paw in each of the side setting triangles. 

I rearranged the blocks for the center of the quilt, then took apart my dark green and dark blue blocks to use them in the setting. The next decision is what to add to those single paws to finish off the side triangles. I wanted to keep the quilt from turning too dark, so I cut pieces from the same layer cake as the block backgrounds, "On the Lighter Side" from Robert Kaufman Fabrics. The shapes are meant to mimic the piecing in the blocks.

Since I am working with 10" squares, I had to include several different fabrics in this setting idea. I'm not thrilled with how busy and jumbled it looks. My next attempt will be to look for a single light fabric in my stash that could finish off those side triangles. I might even end up with a light beige or grey because I like the way the setting looks in the first photo against my taupey design wall fabric. Another question that hasn't been answered yet is whether or not to add sashing. To be continued...

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. I hope you are all staying well and getting lots of quilting done!

Julie in GA 

Stitching and DeStashing--Week 43, 2020

The majority of my quilting time over the past week was spent on making more blocks for the Alaska Quilt-Along, hosted by Edyta Sitar at Laundry Basket Quilts. I've been trying out different fabric combinations and finally settled on my choices. That made it possible to start mass producing my blocks. I made 20 blocks for that quilt last week, using 2.5 yards of fabric. I also used 1/4 yard for my latest Scrappy Bear Paw block, shown in yesterday's post.

2020 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                             2.75 yards

Used year to date:                      173.25 yards

Added last week:                              0.0 yards

Added year to date:                        53.0 yards

Net used year to date             120.25 yards

Here are some of the blocks I've been making for the Alaska quilt. This would be the top right corner of the quilt. I need to make three more blocks like the 8-pointed star in the second row toward the right, then there are the final five blocks still to be made for the center of the quilt.

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 have been pushing hard on those Alaska blocks and spent much more than 15 minutes on them every day last week.

15 Minute Challenge:  

10/18 - 10/24            7 of 7 days

2020 Total          289 of 298 days

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

Happy quilting and stay safe everyone!

Julie in GA

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 43. 2020

October is the last month of the year that gets an official color assigned for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and this year it is yellow. Once we get to November and December, we can either make blocks in neutral colors, or we can catch up on any colors that are unfinished, or we can start joining our rainbow blocks into quilts!

Here is my yellow Scrappy Bear Paw block for October. I love working with yellow--so bright and cheery!

Scrappy Bear Paw, 14" block

Soon I will need to figure out how to set these blocks together. I keep looking at them set on-point, but that means figuring out what to do for the side triangles. I could do half blocks around the outside like this photo shows (the two side blocks are full blocks folded in half.) To do this version would require remaking the blocks for the side triangles, unless I just want to slice them in half and end up losing a bit in the seam allowances. I would also need to make two more blocks for this setting.

Another on-point option would be to use single paws in the setting triangles. I wouldn't need to make any more blocks for this one, but I'd need another fabric to fill out those setting triangles.

Option number 3 is a straight setting, which would need two more blocks made. I could easily add a tan/brown block and a black/grey block to the collection.

As usual, decision making is hard for me. That's why so many of my quilt projects get bogged down at this point. I need to just make a choice and go with it! I will keep you posted when that happens.

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. I hope you are all staying well and getting lots of quilting done!

Julie in GA 

To-Do Tuesday 10/20/2020

Good morning on this beautiful October day! It is time once again for the To-Do Tuesday Weekly Progress Update and Link-up hosted by Roseanne and Sue at Home Sewn By Us. Last week was a good one, with check marks next to all of my goals for the week. I hope I can do as well again this week!

To-do list for 10/13 - 10/19:

1.  Square Dance blocks--finish yellow/green blocks                    ✔ done

I made the last set of yellow/light green blocks. All of my blocks for October were shared in this post.

2.  Alaska QAL--make next set of blocks                                     ✔ done

This week's blocks are done, and I have figured out my final fabric decisions. This block was finished yesterday.

3.  Glorified 9Patch--finish at least one block                               ✔ done

 Glorified 9Patch block #2

4.  Cleaning/organization--spend one hour or more                 ✔ done

I have been concentrating on going through some of the piles of paperwork that are sitting around the sewing room.

Once again, next week's goals are mostly continuing to make progress on the same projects as last week.

To-do list for 10/20 - 10/26:

1. Scrappy Bear Paw--make yellow block

2. Square Dance blocks--complete any colors that need more blocks

3. Alaska QAL--make next set of blocks

4. Glorified 9-Patch--make yellow block #3

5. Alycia's QOV Mystery--do the next step

That should be more than enough to keep me busy for the next week. I'll report on my progress and post a new set of goals next Tuesday. I'm linking up with other To-Do Tuesday lists at Home Sewn by Us .

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 10/19/2020

Most of my quilting time over the weekend was spent working on more blocks for the Alaska Quilt Along at Laundry Basket Quilts. I'm still uncertain about a couple of my fabric choices and have been looking at switching them around a bit. 

Because I wanted to make sure my fabrics would work well together, I jumped ahead on the order of blocks and made one of the eight-pointed stars. The pattern called for a single fabric for the star points, but I thought it would be more interesting with two. My first attempt was the block on the left. It seemed rather dark, so I switched both of the star fabrics for the second block. 

Here are each of those blocks on the wall with some of the other blocks that were already made.

I cut some extra pieces of the star points and played with a couple of different combinations, laying the cut pieces on top of the already made blocks.. The geometric print from the first block worked nicely with either of the fabrics in the second block.

I realized that there is another version of the star block in the pattern, and it uses a different fabric for the small wedges next to the star points in my blocks. That fabric seems too similar to the brightest fabric in the second and fourth blocks below.

I'm still undecided about which combination of fabrics to use for these blocks. Until I make a choice, this project will be stalled out. I don't want to lose my  momentum with this quilt, so I need to just make a decision and go forward with it. It's only fabric, right?

Linking up with:
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA 

Stitching and DeStashing--Week 42, 2020

It was a bit of a surprise when I sat down to figure out my stash report this morning. I knew I had been doing lots of cutting this week, but I also got more blocks stitched up than I'd realized. I made the last eight yellow and green blocks for my Square Dance quilt. That's a total of 3/4 yard used for all 32 of those blocks, which you can see in yesterday's post. I also made 16 more blocks for the Alaska quilt along, using 1.875 yards. There's also one completely new project joining the list--Alycia's latest QOV mystery #A11 started, and I have already finished the first step, using 1.5 yards. Grand total for the week--4.125 yards used! No new fabric was added to the stash.

2020 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                            4.125 yards

Used year to date:                       170.50 yards

Added last week:                              0.0 yards

Added year to date:                         53.0 yards

Net used year to date              117.50 yards

One of the best things about Alycia's mysteries is that they tend to go together quickly with fairly large pieces. We've just started, so it's not too late to join in. You can learn more HERE at Alycia's blog. I found a fun patriotic background fabric and used scrappy blue squares with it for the first step. Here's twelve of the 17 blocks I made this week. The blue squares finish at 3", and the blocks will be 9".

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 time spent quilting over the last week tended toward hours rather than minutes each day. That would explain the larger than normal stash usage for the week.

15 Minute Challenge:  

10/11 - 10/17            7 of 7 days

2020 Total          282 of 291 days

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

Happy quilting and stay safe everyone!

Julie in GA

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 42, 2020

My latest batch of Stashbuster Square Dance blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge was completed this week. Our color for October is yellow, and my blocks combine that with light/bright greens, which makes for a set of blocks that practically glow on the design wall!

This is the tenth and last group of blocks to be made for this quilt. I should have a total of 320 of these 4" blocks. My next step will be to decide whether to make one 64" x 80" throw quilt using all of the blocks or maybe two smaller kid's quilts. Once that decision is made, it will be time to play with layout options.

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. I hope you are all staying well and getting lots of quilting done!

Julie in GA 

To-Do Tuesday 10/13/2020

I'm getting this posted later than usual, but at least it is still Tuesday, which means it is time once again for the To-Do Tuesday Weekly Progress Update and Link-up hosted by Roseanne and Sue at Home Sewn By Us. I did well with last week's list, completing three out of four of my goals, and I hope for the same or better this week.

To-do list for 10/6 - 10/12:

1. Glorious Hexagons--take photos and write blog post           ✔ done

You can see that blog post HERE.

2. Square Dance blocks--continue with yellow/green blocks        ✔ done

Twelve more blocks done, only eight left to make!

3. Cleaning sewing room--spend at least one hour cleaning up     not done

No cleaning/organization of the sewing room happened last week.

4. Alaska QAL--make first set of blocks.  ✔ done

You can see those blocks in yesterday's post.

My goals for the next week include most of the same projects, plus a new one has been added to the list.

To-do list for 10/13 - 10/19:

1.  Square Dance blocks--finish yellow/green blocks

2.  Alaska QAL--make next set of blocks

3.  Glorified 9Patch--finish at least one block

This was my first Glorified 9Patch block.

4.  Cleaning/organization--spend one hour or more

That should be more than enough to keep me busy for the next week. I'll report on my progress and post a new set of goals next Tuesday. I'm linking up with other To-Do Tuesday lists at Home Sewn by Us .

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 10/12/2020

Last week I showed my fabric pull for a new project, the Alaska Quilt-Along by Laundry Basket Quilts. This week I can share my first group of blocks. Our assignment for the week was to make four each of blocks #1 and #3. I got those done, plus I also figured out that Block #9 was a mirror image of #3. so I went ahead and made those blocks right away too. This is not the way the blocks will be positioned in the final quilt.

I've already switched out one of my original fabric choices, and I'm still debating one of the others. I will leave it for now and decide when I get further along.

The quilt along just started last Friday. It's not too late to join the fun. You can find more information at the Laundry Basket Quilts blog HERE. 

Linking up with:
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA 

Stitching and DeStashing--Week 41, 2020

It seems like I've spent more time shuffling fabrics on and off my shelves over the last week than I have been cutting and sewing. That's just part of the process when starting new projects, but it's one of my favorite parts despite the mess I make. That means there's not much change to the stash report--just 3/8 yard used on my first set of blocks for the Alaska Quilt-Along at Laundry Basket Quilts.

I'm a little worried that the corner wedges seem awfully dark. Today I might cut some pieces of an alternate fabric and see how it looks there before I make any more blocks.

2020 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                              .375 yards

Used year to date:                     166.375 yards

Added last week:                              0.0 yards

Added year to date:                         53.0 yards

Net used year to date            113.375 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. Not only did I get started on the Alaska QAL blocks, I also started a new hand-piecing project, which was shared in yesterday's post. Those two new projects plus a couple of older ones kept me busy for well over 15 minutes every day.

15 Minute Challenge:  

10/4 - 10/10             7 of 7 days

2020 Total          275 of 284 days

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

Happy quilting and stay safe everyone!

Julie in GA

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 41, 2020

I have been participating in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge for several years now, ever since 2013. I started out with a single project that year, but by August I had added a hand-stitching project to work on during my train rides to and from work. 

Even though I'm not working anymore, I still like having a regular hand-stitching quilt project in the works. I finished the hand applique on my last one, the Orange Peel Rainbow quilt, a couple months ago and haven't started a new one yet--until a few days ago. In the past I've done English paper piecing and hand applique projects. In the interest of learning something new, I've decided to try hand piecing this time. 

One pattern I've had a long-time interest in making is Glorified Nine-Patch (also known as Improved Nine-Patch.) The curved seams would be a good option for hand piecing. I found a free pattern at American Patchwork and Quilting which included templates for 9" blocks.

Glorified Nine-Patch wall hanging, free pattern at American Patchwork and Quilting

I reduced the block size for my project down to 6" finished blocks. The nine-patch portion is easy to piece by machine, although I could certainly do those by hand too. I made my own templates from the reduced pattern for cutting the curves. This photo shows two 9-patches before trimming, one partially completed block, and my templates.

You might notice that my larger template is missing the seam allowance along one side. I did that so I could mark my stitching lines on the back of the pieces. I'm hoping that with some practice, I will be able to stitch a consistent 1/4" seam without having the lines marked, but that is not the case yet.

I have finished one block at this point and am becoming more comfortable with the stitching. My first block seemed a little puckered after I finished stitching it, but it smoothed out nicely after pressing.

Glorified Nine-Patch, 6" finished size block

If anyone out there has any suggestions for hand piecing, I would love to hear them. I've been using Aurifil 28 weight thread because I have seen that recommended by Jinny Beyer, an expert on hand piecing. I also have her book on hand piecing, which I should pull out as a refresher.

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework and Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts on Sunday. I hope you are all staying well and getting lots of quilting done!

Julie in GA 

Glorious Hexagons--a Finished Top!

My most recent finished quilt top is Glorious Hexagons, an English paper pieced quilt that was started early in 2016.

Glorious Hexagons quilt, 62" x 71.5"

My quilt was started when I joined the English paper piecing group at a local quilt shop. The two quilts below were the inspiration for our quilts. The Garden Hexagons was made by Liza Prior Lucy, and the Carnival Hexagons was made by Kim McLean, and both quilts feature Kaffe Collective fabrics. They have published a pattern to make the Glorious Hexagons quilt, but  you would also need the book The New Hexagon by Katja Marek for the individual  block patterns. Each hexagon measures 3" along the finished edges.

Garden Hexagons		Carnival Hexagons

The EPP group was set up as a block of the month, but we actually received the paper pieces for 28 blocks each month. The two quilts shown above are made with 247 blocks (Garden Hexagons) or 330 blocks (Carnival Hexagons.) To make that many blocks each month would have meant making one almost every day! I knew there was no way I could keep up with that, nor did I have the fabric stash to provide enough variety for all those blocks.

Many of the people in our group worked primarily with Kaffe Collective fabrics. I had some Kaffes and purchased more for this project, but included many other fabrics from my stash. The starting point for my quilt's color palette was the fabric shown below. The date on the selvage of the fabric is 1998, and it was probably purchased for a Stack and Whack quilt that never happened.

I included many fabrics in my quilt and had great fun fussy cutting the prints for the individual blocks. The next photo will give you a closer look at some of the fabrics, plus it gives a better view of the block piecing. The number of pieces in the hexagon blocks ranged from one to 24, although I  think the most complicated block I made had 18 pieces (top row, 2nd from right.)

Instead of joining the hexagons together block to block, I decided to add the dark triangles in between plus for the borders. This gave some breathing room between the hexagons, and the dark color really makes the bright prints pop. It also got my quilt to a good size with fewer blocks. My finished quilt size is 62" x 71.5", and it has 83 hexagon blocks.

I had a great time making the blocks for this quilt and have been considering starting another EPP project. I always like to have a hand stitching project in the works.

Linking up with:

Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Whoop Whoop Friday at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

To-Do Tuesday 10/6/2020

It's October, the weather is feeling like fall, and it is Tuesday, which means it is time once again for the To-Do Tuesday Weekly Progress Update and Link-up hosted by Roseanne and Sue at Home Sewn By Us. I completed half of the items on my list from last week, mostly because I got distracted by a new project late in the week.

To-do list for 9/29 - 10/5

1. Glorious Hexagons--finish joining blocks together                       ✔ done

The blocks are all stitched together and the borders have been added--it's a finished quilt top! Reveal post coming soon. Here a portion of the quilt. The blocks were English paper pieced.

2. Square Dance blocks--begin making yellow blocks                      ✔ done

Twelve blocks done, twenty to go. They certainly are bright and cheery!

3. "Practice What I Preach"--figure out quilting design for border    no

I didn't even touch this quilt all week. It is in a heap on a chair waiting to be finished.

4. Cleaning--finish clearing cutting table          no

The cutting table is now back to the same state it was a week ago, but it was much worse for several days. I was pulling possible fabrics for a new project and had them scattered all over the place. 

To-do list for 10/6 - 10/12:

1. Glorious Hexagons--take photos and write blog post

2. RSC Square Dance--continue with yellow/green blocks

3. Cleaning sewing room--spend at least one hour cleaning up the cutting table

4. Alaska QAL--make first set of blocks. This is the new project. It's a quilt along with Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts, and it starts this Friday, 10/9. Here's the pattern for the QAL.

Alaska Rainbow, pattern by Laundry Basket Quilts

My version is going to be in autumn colors instead of the rainbow. You can read more and see my fabric choices in yesterday's post. 

That should be more than enough to keep me busy for the next week. I'll report on my progress and post a new set of goals next Tuesday. I'm linking up with other To-Do Tuesday lists at Home Sewn by Us .

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 10/5/2020

The title of my post should probably be Design Table Monday, because that is where I've been most of the time recently. Much of the weekend was spent pulling out tons of fabrics from my shelves, all in a search for the perfect combination for a new project. Does that perfection exist within the confines of my stash? Probably not, but I'm okay with where I ended up, and the search itself is kind of fun.

It all started with an email last week from Edyta Sitar at Laundry Basket Quilts. She is going to be hosting a quilt along of her Alaska Rainbow quilt. Here is one of the photos of the beautiful quilt from her blog post announcement.

Alaska Rainbow quilt along, Laundry Basket Quilts

The quilt along is starting this Friday, Oct. 9th, and will last for six weeks. It seems like a lot to do in six weeks, but I'm up for the challenge. There are links in her blog post to purchase the pattern, which is necessary. You can also buy a set of templates for cutting, you can buy a kit of the same fabrics, or you can even get a kit with all the fabric pieces already cut out for you.

Alaska Rainbow, pattern by Laundry Basket Quilts

Now I love a good rainbow quilt design as much as the next person, but I just can't bring myself to make the same quilt as everyone else. I guess I'm a rebel in that regard. I've been wanting to make another quilt with fall colors and decided to use those for this pattern. The challenge was in choosing the right combination of fabrics. I make so many scrappy quilts and find it much easier to choose 20 or 30 or 50 fabrics for a quilt rather than just six or eight. I got my inspiration for color selection/placement from an alternate version of the Alaska quilt.

Alaska, quilt pattern by Laundry Basket Quilts

I like the gradation of blues from light to dark in this quilt. I am trying to achieve a similar gradation with my autumn colors. To test them out, I laid the fabrics in value order (light to dark) on the cutting table and took some black and white photos. After rearranging and/or replacing things a couple times, this is where I am right now. I have multiple fabrics for some pieces, and I might go ahead and use most of them to keep it interesting.

I'm very curious to see how all of these rather busy prints work together. It's very likely that some of the fabrics will still get replaced with something else. It will be fun to see how it all comes together. Wish me luck!

Linking up with:
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA 

Stitching and DeStashing--Week 40, 2020

There was an afternoon early last week when I was having some trouble deciding what quilt project to work on. I had a couple of UFOs sitting out that I should have continued with, but they required more brain power than I had at that time. I just wanted something that I could sit and sew without having to make decisions like "what quilting design should I put in this border."

Instead, I pulled out an older project that just needed the blocks joined together. That seemed more like the right amount of challenge at the time. The quilt is my Glorious Hexagons quilt, which was started early in 2016. The blocks are all English paper pieced. Instead of joining them together block to block like the pattern showed, I added dark blue triangles on two opposite sides to each block. It was time now to sew them all together. Here's a preview of a few rows of blocks.

I got all the blocks stitched together and even added the outer borders. The fabrics used for the blocks had all been counted earlier, but my usage for the week includes the dark triangles and the borders for this quilt. No new fabric was added to the stash.

2020 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                            2.625 yards

Used year to date:                        166.0 yards

Added last week:                              0.0 yards

Added year to date:                         53.0 yards

Net used year to date                113.0 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. The majority of my quilting time last week was spent on the hexagons quilt, but there were a couple of other projects in the works too. 

15 Minute Challenge:  

9/27 - 10/3                7 of 7 days

2020 Total          268 of 277 days

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

Happy quilting and stay safe everyone!

Julie in GA