Design Wall Monday--11/30/2020

We had a quiet Thanksgiving day here, just the two of us with way too much food. The highlight of the day was a Zoom call with my mother, siblings and their spouses, and almost all of the nieces and nephews plus their kids, including two babies born over the summer who we haven't met yet. The last time we were all together was early November of last year for a niece's wedding in Wisconsin. We are anxious to see them all again, but won't do so until it is safer to visit.

I finished the quilting and binding on a small quilt in time to put it up with the rest of the Christmas quilts. I wish I had used a brighter green fabric instead of one that looks so black, but that's the way it goes--live and learn. 

This quilt was started last year in a class with Pam Buda. She called the design "Practice What I Preach" because she taught us several different methods for making all the various units in the quilt like flying geese and half-square triangles. I haven't come up with a better name for it yet. The finished size after quilting is 41.75" square.

The next photo gives a closer view of the outline quilting of the background motifs, the very dark green/black fabric, and the spiral quilting in the red border.

While pulling out some Christmas quilts to hang up around the house, I ran across a small unquilted top that I'd forgotten. I know that several of us in our quilt guild made versions of this, and I believe it was a Thimbleberries design. According to my old notes, that was back in 2001! I think it's time to finish it off.

It looks like the outer border is too long and wavy, so the first step of finishing will be to remove that, starch the pieces, remeasure and reapply the border. Then it's time for quilting. I would love to get this little piece done in the next week or so. It would be a great addition to our holiday decor.

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 48, 2020

It was a pleasant surprise when I added up my stash usage numbers for the week. I had spent most of the week concentrating on finishing a quilt, but I also worked on a couple of other projects. I used 7/8 yard for the border on Alycia's Mystery #A11 (posted HERE) and 5/8 yard to bind a wallhanging.

I also used 1/2 yard for a couple of quick napkins to use on Thanksgiving day. The placemats and tablerunner in the photo were made several years ago, and I still have extra of the same fabrics. We only needed two napkins right away, but I should go ahead and make more to have enough to match all 8 of the placemats.

The total used last week was 2 yards, and no new fabric was added. So far I've been able to resist all the black Friday sales. I should look around and figure out if I need to pick up any large pieces for backing while the prices are good.

2020 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                              2.00 yards

Used year to date:                       185.00 yards

Added last week:                              0.0 yards

Added year to date:                        64.0 yards

Net used year to date             121.00 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 for the week was spent on finishing the quilting of a wallhanging, then making and applying the binding. I will share photos of it soon.

15 Minute Challenge:  

11/22 - 11/28              7 of 7 days

2020 Total            324 of 333 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

Alycia's Mystery #A11

My latest finish is the quilt top from Alycia's most recent mystery, #A11 (she is still trying to decide on a better name!)

Mystery #A11, 60.75" x 81.75"

Alycia's mystery quilts are geared for quick assembly, with each step planned to take about an hour or so per week. Mine took longer than that because I went scrappy with the reds and blues. I also made the border with dark blue scraps.

I could tell from the very first step that the scale of the piecing would work well with my background fabric. Those big pieces in the blocks with the chains of blue squares show off the background print perfectly! The background was a line from Connecting Threads called "Hometown Summer," and the date on the selvage says 2014. That fabric had aged long enough and needed to be used!

This is the third quilt top to be finished here this month--that may be a new record for me! It feels very good to have a quick finish like this. I'm still undecided about starting Bonnie Hunter's new mystery on Friday, and we know that project will not be quick and easy with big pieces! Maybe I will concentrate on figuring out the borders for Frolic, last year's Bonnie Hunter mystery, instead of starting the new one. (Who am I kidding--that won't happen!)

I'm  linking up with Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts.

Julie in GA

To-Do Tuesday (on Wednesday) 11/25/2020

Not only did I miss posting my to-do list last week, I'm a day late getting it posted for this week. The days just run together sometimes. Today I will catch up with the To-Do Tuesday Weekly Progress Update and Link-up hosted by Roseanne and Sue at Home Sewn By Us. I finished everything on my last to-do list and need to figure out what to include on the next one.

To-Do List for 11/10 - 11/16:

1. Alaska QAL--finish joining blocks together                ✔ done

The blocks are all joined together into a finished quilt top! Blog post is HERE.

2. Alycia's QOV Mystery--do the next step                    ✔ done

The next two steps are done, which means a finished top! I will blog about this one later in the week--here's a little sneak peek photo.

3. Scrappy Bear Paws--cut the sashing, begin joining    ✔ done

Not only did I start joining blocks and sashing, I got everything stitched together into ho

yet another finished quilt top. Do you wonder why I missed posting last week? You can read more about this one HERE.

4. Glorified 9-Patch--stitch one brown block                  ✔ done

One brown block is done, another started.

To-Do List for 11/17 - 11/23:

1. Practice What I Preach--finish quilting + binding

2. Glorified 9-Patch--stitch one brown block

3. Frolic (Bonnie Hunter 2019 mystery)--figure out plan for borders (unless I decide to go ahead and start her new mystery)

4. Sewcialites QAL--make block #10

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 .

Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving everyone!

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 11/23/2020

Alycia posted the final step of the most recent Quilt of Valor mystery last week. You can find out more about it on her website HERE. I've started stitching my rows of sashing to the rows of blocks. You can see five sets up on the design wall, and there are two more at the ironing board waiting to be pressed.

All that's left to do after I get the rows stitched together is to add one border, blue with red cornerstones. Since my blocks are scrappy, I will probably make the blue border scrappy too. I hope to have this top finished very soon!

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 47, 2020

There has been a flurry of quilt assembly happening around here lately, with two quilt tops completed in recent weeks. The latest was the Scrappy Bear Paws quilt, a Rainbow Scrap Challenge project which I showed in yesterday's post. I had been making one block per month and counting that fabric usage in the stash report each month. The final usage was 1.75 yards for the pretty blue sashing, setting triangles and borders on the quilt.

Another project this week that used up part of the stash was modifications on some pajama pants, replacing the waist casings on two pairs and adding pockets to another. It may not involve quilting, but the fabrics, shown in the photo below, are quilting weight novelty prints.  5/8 yard used. No new fabric added to the stash this week

2020 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                            2.375 yards

Used year to date:                       183.00 yards

Added last week:                              0.0 yards

Added year to date:                        64.0 yards

Net used year to date             119.00 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. Since finishing the Bear Paws top, I've been catching up on a few different projects and trying to clean up the sewing room a bit.

15 Minute Challenge:  

11/15 - 11/21              7 of 7 days

2020 Total            317 of 326 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 47, 2020

My first project for the 2020 Rainbow Scrap Challenge is now a completed quilt top! This is my Scrappy Bear Paws quilt.

Scrappy Bear Paws, 47.75" x 68.75"

Finishing this quilt top was definitely one of those cases of the quilt letting me know what needed to be done. I was determined to finish this quilt with fabrics from my stash. Many different fabrics were auditioned for the sashing and setting triangles, and I shared some of those options in last week's post. Then I tried the light blue fabrics, and it brought a huge sigh of relief--there's the right answer!

That's one rainbow project assembled, with one more still to be done before the end of the year. I'm also playing with ideas for next year's RSC projects.

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 

Alaska Quilt Top

My version of the Alaska quilt is a finished top!

Alaska quilt top, 63.5" x 81.5"

my variation of a pattern by Laundry Basket Quilts

Even before the announcement of a quilt-along to make the Alaska Rainbow Quilt at Laundry Basket Quilts, I had been intrigued by the possibilities of this pattern. It is a beautiful variation on a traditional kaleidoscope design. I decided to make mine using autumn colors. Here's a closer shot of the center so you can get a better look at the fabrics.

The pattern made a quilt that measures 63" square before borders. I did a little redesigning, adding an extra row of blocks at the top and bottom to make my quilt rectangular. 

 

The Alaska Rainbow quilt along is still going on at Laundry Basket Quilts. You can also buy different versions of the pattern or precut kits at their website. 

Finishing this quilt top was my One Monthly Goal for November. I will link up at Elm Street Quilts at the end of the month.

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

Stitching and DeStashing--Week 46, 2020

The past week included plenty of stitching time, mostly joining already-made blocks together. I've reached the assembly stage of a few different projects. The only stash usage to be counted this week is 5/8 yard for the sashing strips that were stitched to blocks in Step 5 of Alycia's mystery #A11. There are four more rows to go along with these. No new fabric added.

2020 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                             .625 yards

Used year to date:                    180.625 yards

Added last week:                              0.0 yards

Added year to date:                        64.0 yards

Net used year to date           116.625 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've mostly been working on quilt assembly and need to pull out a project that has blocks to piece, just to have some variation.

15 Minute Challenge:  

11/8 - 11/14              7 of 7 days

2020 Total          310 of 319 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 46, 2020

As usual, the comments from other Rainbow Scrap Challenge participants and readers were extremely helpful as I wrestled with decisions on the setting for my Scrappy Bear Paw blocks. In a previous post, I showed an option that wasn't working for me. It had no sashing and included scrappy backgrounds for the setting triangles around the outside. Here's a rerun of that photo.

I decided that sashing would be a good addition, then went searching through my fabric shelves for options. Over the past week, I have spent several hours auditioning different sashing and border possibilities with my blocks. I knew that I wanted to keep the sashing fairly light. Here are a few of the fabrics I considered.

This is a very pale aqua print. It's not terrible, but not very interesting.

This fabric blends in with the block backgrounds too much; doesn't add anything to total look.

No, no, no! Much too busy!

Here is where I landed--a soft blue mottled for narrow (1" finished) sashing, and a slightly darker blue, shown across the bottom, for the setting triangles and a small border. 

Once the fabrics were chosen for the sashing and setting triangles, I was able to start cutting and piecing. So far I have got the side triangles made. I will start adding sashing to the blocks next. I hope to have a finished quilt top before the weekend is over!

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 11/10/2020

Today 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. The to-do list really helped me stay focused on my goals during the last week.

To-Do List for 11/3 - 11/9:

1. Glorified 9-Patch--prep more blocks                   ✔ done

I finished the fourth yellow block (see them HERE) and started working on the next set of blocks.

2. Alaska QAL--plan new rows and begin piecing     ✔ done

All of the blocks for the added rows have been made, and I have started joining blocks together.

3. Scrappy Bear Paws--figure out sashing/setting fabrics    ✔ done

The fabrics chosen for the sashing and setting triangles/border are both light blues.

4. Square Dance blocks--complete any colors that need more blocks  ✔ done

All blocks are made, layout has been decided, ready to start assembly.

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

I'm up to date with the steps for this mystery.

The Square Dance blocks are getting a break this week, but the rest of the projects from last week's list continue for another week.

To-Do List for 11/10 - 11/16:

1. Alaska QAL--finish joining blocks together

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

3. Scrappy Bear Paws--cut the sashing and setting triangles, begin joining 

4. Glorified 9-Patch--stitch one brown block

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 11/9/2020

For some reason, Monday has turned into the day when I share the progress on my Alaska quilt, and that is true once again this week. A few days ago I finished making the new blocks needed to turn my version of this quilt into a rectangle, then spent much of Sunday sewing blocks together.

As you can see, I have been joining the blocks together into groups. I find it much easier to handle medium-sized chunks like these rather than many long rows of blocks. The blocks that will run down the left side, mirroring those on the right, are at the machine waiting to be stitched together. I hope to have a completed quilt top by the end of the week! I can't wait to get some outdoor photos of this once it is finished for a better representation of the colors.

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 Stashing--Week 45, 2020

It was another very productive week for quilting, with time spent on several different projects. However, my stash totals are going up instead of down because I also received a couple of fabric orders. 

The additions to the stash are both large pieces, and strangely enough, they are both grey. The piece on the right is a gridded flannel by Kaffe Fassett, and it is going to become my new design wall fabric. The grid lines should help keep my blocks straight and evenly spaced when I put them up on the wall. I bought 6 yards of that and 5 yards of the grey print on the left. That one is planned to be used for Bonnie Hunter's Grassy Creek mystery starting the day after Thanksgiving.

My usage total for the week came to 3.5 yards. That included 3/4 yard for Step 4 of Alycia's mystery, 1.5 yards for the remaining blocks for the Alaska QAL, and 1.25 yards for some more face masks.

Alycia's mystery, Step 4--strips are folded in half for the photo

10 more face masks, mostly batiks

2020 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                             3.50 yards

Used year to date:                      180.00 yards

Added last week:                            11.0 yards

Added year to date:                        64.0 yards

Net used year to date             116.00 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 Tuesday To-Do List has really helped keep me on track this week, and I have checked off almost everything from that list!

15 Minute Challenge:  

11/1 - 11/7                7 of 7 days

2020 Total          303 of 312 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 45, 2020

My participation in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge over the past several years has almost always included some kind of hand-stitching project. Most of my hand sewing used to happen on my train ride to work, but even though I'm not working anymore, there are still plenty of moments when I need some kind of handwork project.

My most recent hand-stitched project was the Orange Peel Rainbow quilt that I worked on from December, 2018 until August of this year. In October I started a new project, hand piecing Glorified 9-Patch blocks. My first blocks all feature yellow because that was our color of the month for October. I finished the 4th block last night.

My blocks will finish at 6". The 9-patch centers are machine pieced, then the curved background seams have been stitched by hand. The one change I am planning to make on future blocks is to cut my background pieces wider so that I can square them up after the hand piecing is done. 

I'm planning to alternate light and dark background fabrics. It's time to figure out which colors will go with which background, then prep some more blocks for stitching. It helps so much to have something keeping my hands busy while we are watching the endless election coverage.

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 

30's Thursday - Sewcialites Blocks

Cathy at Sane, Crazy, Crumby Quilting has been sharing "30's Thursday" blog posts for the last few weeks. I liked the name so much that I decided to follow her lead. Cathy, I hope you don't mind my stealing the name!

My only current project that uses 30's fabrics is a new project that I haven't shared before. I've been playing along with the Sewcialites Quilt Along at the Fat Quarter Shop. A new block pattern is posted every Friday, and there have been six patterns so far, but I've only finished five blocks.

My blocks will finish at 6". The patterns include instructions for 3", 6" or 9" blocks. I can't imagine making any of these blocks in a 3" size! I am using a constant white-on-white for my background and a different 30's print for each block. There will be a total of 36 blocks when the QAL ends in late June. It's not too late to join the fun! The Sewcialites page at the Fat Quarter Shop blog has all the information you would need.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

One Monthly Goal--November, 2020

I have been working steadily on my blocks for the Alaska Quilt-Along at Laundry Basket Quilts. In fact, I've already finished all the blocks in the pattern a couple weeks ahead of schedule. The center of the quilt before borders finishes at 63" square.

I would prefer to end up with a rectangular quilt and have been playing with some ideas for how to extend the design and add a row at the top and bottom. Yesterday I replaced portions of some blocks that were already made. Here is how they looked before and after the changes. These blocks are at the center of the top and bottom rows in the photo above.

Before 

After

The next step is to finalize my plan for the added rows, then begin piecing those blocks. My One Monthly Goal for November is to make the extra blocks, then to put all the blocks together into a finished quilt top.

Linking up with:

One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilts

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

To-Do Tuesday 11/3/2020

Good morning on Election Day 2020. If you haven't done so already, please get out and vote at some point today. It is a right and a privilege that every American citizen has earned, and it is important that everyone do their part. We were among the many who voted early, and it feels good to have it out of the way. 

Today is also 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 missed posting a list last week, and I can't even remember why, but here's a recap of my list from two weeks ago.

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

1. Scrappy Bear Paw--make yellow block     ✔ done

2. Square Dance blocks--complete any colors that need more blocks  not done

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

I've made all the blocks from the pattern, but I'm thinking about adding another row top and bottom to make the quilt rectangular. You can read more about this project in yesterday's post.

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

Here are my three completed yellow blocks.

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

We have made a total of 17 chain blocks and 18 Friendship Star blocks so far.

All in all, good progress on my projects. Let's check out the list for the week ahead.

To-Do List for 11/3 - 11/9:

1. Glorified 9-Patch--prep more blocks

2. Alaska QAL--plan new rows and begin piecing

3. Scrappy Bear Paws--figure out sashing/setting fabrics

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

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