To-Do Tuesday 8/31/2021

Another Tuesday means it's time to update my to-do list for the week ahead and share how I did with last week's list. I'm linking up with the  To-Do Tuesday Weekly Link-up hosted by Chris at Chris Knits.

I got through all the goals on last week's list except one, and I'm okay with that. Not every week is going to be perfect, and I did end up with yet another squirrel invading the sewing room last week--more on that in a few days!

To-Do List for 8/24 - 8/30

1. Bowties 365--make one Bowtie block each day   ✔done

I made 14 Bowtie blocks last week.

2. Hearts Applique--stitch at least one block     ✔done

I stitched a couple hearts last week, ending up with 8 for the month.

3. Glorified 9Patch--prep turquoise/teal blocks   not done

4. Volcano 9-Patch--take photos, piece back   ✔done

You can see the photos in yesterday's post.

5. Positivity QAL--finish quilt top, take photos, and write OMG post  ✔done

The quilt top is done and the blog post is here.

6. Scrooge coat--make progress   ✔done

Some of my goals will be on hold until September's color of the month is announced for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, but I'm sure I can find plenty to fill the time.

To-Do List for 8/31 - 9/6

1. Bowties 365--make one Bowtie block each day

2. Hearts Applique--stitch at least one block/week

3. Glorified 9Patch--prep one set of blocks

4. Rainbow Scrap Challenge--make one set of blocks once the color for September is announced

5. Volcano 9-Patch--layer and pin baste for quilting

6. Scrooge coat--make progress

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 Chris Knits.

Julie in GA  

Volcano Quilt Top Finished!

Some refer to them as "squirrels." Sandra at mmm quilts came up with the acronym "DrEAMi" which stands for "Drop Everything And Make It." Whichever name you like, it refers to a totally unplanned project that completely takes over your time and your brain, leaving you unable to focus on anything else. That's what happened with my recent squirrel, the Volcano 9-Patch quilt. I shared the beginning of this quilt two weeks ago in this post, and now I have a finished quilt top to share!

Volcano 9-Patch, 42.75" x 54"

This quilt was made from the leftovers of a Blooming 9-Patch quilt that I made in 2000-2001. I had run across a Zip-loc bag of scraps, strips and strip sets, and couldn't resist playing with them again. I was lucky to have extra of most of the same fabrics and added in a couple of others to complete the flow of colors. Instead of the Blooming 9-Patch layout that alternates 9P blocks with larger squares, this quilt is made up entirely of 9-patches, 111 of them total. Here's a closer look at the fabrics and some of the piecing.

I decided to use this crazy tie-dye style flannel for the quilt backing. It only needed one seam to make it big enough. I'm hoping to get this little quilt finished sooner rather than later.

Linking up with:

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

DrEAMi #55 at mmm quilts

Favorite Finish at Meadow Mist Designs

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA 

Stitching and DeStashing--Week 35, 2021

My stash report shows a significant change this week, mostly due to the completion of another Positivity quilt top that I finished recently. I used 5.25 yards of fabric, all of it from my stash, for the top. I'm so happy with the way the background gradation worked out that I can't resist sharing this photo again.

My other usage for the week was 1.25 yards for 23 Kaleidoscope blocks made from my collection of 30's fabrics. Twelve of these blocks were made from fabrics sent to me by my sister Karen. I love the bright limey green at the bottom right!

2021 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                            6.50 yards

Used year to date:                     139.75 yards

Added last week:                            0.0 yards

Added year to date:                   101.50 yards

Net used year to date              38.25 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. Besides the two projects shared above, I also started yet another new project. There has been plenty of quilting time happening every single day!

15 Minute Challenge for 2021: 

8/22 - 8/28               7 of 7 days

2021 Total          238 of 240 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

Positivity Quilt Top is Finished!

My One Monthly Goal (OMG) for August was to finish piecing the top for my grey and turquoise Positivity quilt, and I am very happy to report that it is done! 

Positivity, 60" x 80"

This quilt was started as part of the Positivity QAL hosted by Preeti, with the quilts going to Mercyful Quilts in California. I struggled with deciding on my color palette, then I decided to go with the scrappy grey background and a variety of turquoise, teal and lime green fabrics for the plus signs. I liked the colors together so much that I decided to make another version to send in for the QAL so that I could keep this one for myself. 

You can see how others did with their August goals at Elm Street Quilts. 

Linking up with:

Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilts

Oh, Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework

This quilt wasn't made as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, but since our RSC colors for August are teal, turquoise and aqua, I'm going to link up there too.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

To-Do Tuesday 8/24/2021

Another Tuesday means it's time to update my to-do list for the week ahead and share how I did with last week's list. I'm linking up with the  To-Do Tuesday Weekly Link-up hosted by Chris at Chris Knits.

Much to my surprise, I managed to complete every goal on my list from last Tuesday. I'm hoping the next week will be equally successful.

To-Do List for 8/17 - 8/23

1. Bowties 365--make one Bowtie block each day  ✔done

2. Hearts Applique--stitch at least one block  ✔done

I've lost track of how many bowties I made last week, but I have a total of 26 so far this month, along with one little heart block.

3. 30's Kaleidoscope--make multicolored blocks  ✔done

I made 11 blocks and shared them in Saturday's post.

4. Volcano 9-Patch--finish top  ✔done

This quilt top is done, but I need to get some photos and write up a blog post.

5. Positivity QAL--make the last 6 blocks  ✔done

I finally finished the last group of blocks!

6. Make progress on Scrooge coat  ✔done

Progress has been made, but there's not much to show right now.

As usual, many of my projects will carry over into next week. The main goal is to finish the Positivity quilt top, since that is my One Monthly Goal for August.

To-Do List for 8/24 - 8/30

1. Bowties 365--make one Bowtie block each day

2. Hearts Applique--stitch at least one block

3. Glorified 9Patch--prep turquoise/teal blocks

4. Volcano 9-Patch--take photos, piece back

5. Positivity QAL--finish assembly of quilt top, take photos, and write OMG post

6. Scrooge coat--make progress

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 Chris Knits.

Julie in GA  

Design Wall Monday 8/23/2021

Half of my Positivity quilt has been hanging on the design wall, waiting for me to get inspired to make the last batch of blocks and join them together. Yesterday was finally the time to do it. Here are the final six blocks for my quilt.

After those were done, I started joining the blocks for the second half into rows, and here they are.

All that's left is to join these rows together, then stitch them to the first half of the quilt, which was completed more than two weeks ago. I hope to have a finished quilt top before the end of the week!

Check out what other quilters are working on this week:

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 34, 2021

My main quilting project over the past week and a half has been the Volcano 9Patch, which is now a finished top! I don't have any photos of the quilt ready to share yet, but here are the fabrics included in the quilt. I used 3.125 yards, all from the stash, for this quilt top. I hope to have photos ready to show by the end of the week--stay tuned!

2021 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                          3.125 yards

Used year to date:                     133.25 yards

Added last week:                            0.0 yards

Added year to date:                   101.50 yards

Net used year to date              31.75 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. After finishing the Volcano quilt top earlier in the week, I worked on a variety of other projects, getting in at least 15 minutes every day.

15 Minute Challenge for 2021: 

8/15 - 8/21               7 of 7 days

2021 Total          231 of 233 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 34, 2021

One of my on-going projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this year has been making kaleidoscope blocks using my collection of 30's fabrics. Each month I have made a set of blocks with our assigned color of the month. This month's color assignment is the blue-green family (aqua, teal, turquoise.) I love these colors, but I have only one piece of turquoise in my whole box of 30's fabrics, and I made a block with that fabric a few months ago along with the light blues.

What I do still have to use in the 30's collection are several multicolor prints, so I went ahead and made blocks from them this week. Some of them may end up being too pale to go into the quilt, but I might as well make blocks from all of my 30's fabrics. I will figure out later which blocks made the final cut.

Be sure to check out all of the wonderful scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge every Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday.

Julie in GA

To-Do Tuesday 8/17/2021

It's a very rainy Tuesday morning here in Georgia, thanks to Tropical Depression Fred.  It's the perfect time to update my Tuesday To-Do List. I will look back at my list from last week, see how I did on accomplishing those goals, then post a new list for the week ahead. I'm linking up with the  To-Do Tuesday Weekly Link-up hosted by Chris at Chris Knits. 

I got through most of the items on my list last week. Fortunately, I worked on them early in the week before getting completely obsessed with distracted by a new project, the Volcano 9-Patch that I blogged about in yesterday's post.

To-Do List for 8/10 - 8/16

1. Bowties 365--make one Bowtie block each day   ✔done

2. Hearts Applique--stitch at least one block   ✔done

I ended up with 10 turquoise Bowtie blocks and 1 cute teal heart.

3. Sew Colorful Stars--make 1 teal/turquoise block   ✔done

4. Positivity QAL--make the last 6 blocks   not done

I didn't touch this project at all. This is my OMG for August, so I need to get back to it soon.

5. Make progress on Scrooge cot   ✔done

I worked on this a little last week, but need to do more next week.

My to-do list for the next week includes most of the same projects, plus I'm hoping to finish the quilt top from last week's squirrel project, the Volcano 9-Patch.

To-Do List for 8/17 - 8/23

1. Bowties 365--make one Bowtie block each day

2. Hearts Applique--stitch at least one block

3. 30's Kaleidoscope--make multicolored blocks

4. Volcano 9-Patch--finish top

5. Positivity QAL--make the last 6 blocks

6. Make progress on Scrooge coat

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 Chris Knits.

Julie in GA  

Design Wall Monday 8/16/2021

Last week was one of those times when I had multiple quilting projects that I'd planned to work on, but I got totally distracted by something unplanned. Squirrel! I was digging through a box of leftover pieces and parts from previous quilt projects, and I came across a bag of scraps and partial strip sets from one of my all-time favorite quilts.

This is the Blooming Nine-Patch quilt that I started in a class back in 2000. The quilt was finished in 2001. I call it Volcano Island, envisioning the hot pink and orange fabrics as the center of the volcano, blending out to the cooler colors of the water. I love the way the fabrics blend together and hide the piecing seams. You should be able to click on the photo to enlarge it.

The bag I'd found had some leftover strips of these fabrics, and even a few partial strip sets and several blocks. When I checked my stash, I discovered that I had extra yardage of most of the same fabrics. I knew there wasn't enough to make a big quilt, but I started making more nine-patch blocks with what I had, substituting similar fabrics where necessary. Instead of the usual Blooming Nine-Patch layout, which alternates nine-patch blocks with larger squares, this quilt will be made up of just the nine-patches.

I started at the center of the quilt, but decided to add an extra orange fabric to punch up the color. I tried two different options, shown above, and decided to go with the second choice because it blended in better with the other fabrics. I'm continuing to make more nine-patch blocks, working my way out from that center. It looks like I should be able to make a largish baby quilt from the fabrics I've got here, and I hope to have it all together by the end of the week.

Check out what other quilters are working on this week:

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 33, 2021

This week's stash report shows a small change in the fabric used total, 3/8 yard for the Sew Colorful Stars block that I shared in yesterday's post. No new fabric was added to the stash.

2021 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                            .375 yards

Used year to date:                   130.125 yards

Added last week:                            0.0 yards

Added year to date:                   101.50 yards

Net used year to date            28.625 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. Most of my quilting time over the past week was spent on a new project made from the leftovers of an old project. I will share more about that soon! I quilted on 7 of the 7 days last week.

15 Minute Challenge for 2021: 

8/8 - 8/14                 7 of 7 days

2021 Total          224 of 226 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 33, 2021

I've been working my way through my projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and this week that included making my Sew Colorful Stars block using my teal, turquoise and aqua scraps.

Sew Colorful Stars, 16" finished block,

pattern by Fat Quarter Shop

I think my RSC project for the next week will be kaleidoscope blocks. I'm using 30's fabrics for those blocks, and I already used the only turquoise print along with the blues, but I have set aside some multi-colored 30's fabrics along with the rest of the pieces sent by my sister a few months ago.

Be sure to check out all of the wonderful scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge every Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday.

Julie in GA

To-Do Tuesday 8/10/2021

Today's to-do list post is going to be a rush job because I need to get moving sooner than usual for an appointment. I should have gotten this post written and ready to go last night, but it didn't happen. My apologies for the shortage of photos in today's post.

I did have a good week with the to-do list, posting check marks next to every item. 

To-Do List for 8/3 - 8/9

1. Bowties 365--make one Bowtie block each day   ✔done

Eleven bowtie blocks were made last week.

2. Hearts Applique--stitch at least one block   ✔done

Two teal/turquoise blocks completed.

3. Make a new pouch to hold my applique project   ✔done

Pouch is done and was shared in Sunday's post.

4. Scrap Magnet--make 2 teal/turquoise blocks   ✔done

These blocks were shared in Saturday's post, along with two Homespun blocks.

5. Positivity QAL--join rows of blocks together   ✔done

Half of my Positivity quilt is together!

The list for the next week includes one non-quilting project. I have been working on a coat for our local theater company's production of A Christmas Carol, and I need to put in some time on that. 

To-Do List for 8/10 - 8/16

1. Bowties 365--make one Bowtie block each day

2. Hearts Applique--stitch at least one block

3. Sew Colorful Stars--make 1 teal/turquoise block

4. Positivity QAL--make the last 6 blocks

5. Make progress on Scrooge coat

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 Chris Knits.

Julie in GA  

Design Wall Monday--8/9/2021

When looking for a set of fabrics that I used in a quilt several years ago, I found these four blocks that had been made as samples of the pattern I was considering for the vegetable print fabrics. They didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped, because I didn't like the way the star points blend into the diagonal chain of squares. They have been stashed away ever since, but I'm thinking about giving them another chance.

I started out with the red and orange fabrics coming together at the center, then flipped the blocks around to put the greens at the center. The second version is my favorite of the two.

These blocks measure 13" each unfinished. I'm not sure if I will do anything with them, but it's fun to pull them out again. I still have more of all the same fabrics.

Here is the original quilt I made with the vegetable fabrics. It was started in 2003, but not finished until 2011.

Veggie Log Cabins

52.5" x 74.5"

Check out what other quilters are working on this week:

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 32, 2021

The good news for my stash report this week is that there were no new additions to the stash. After adding over 40 yards in July, I'm hoping to keep fabric acquisitions to a minimum for the next few months. We'll see how that goes! 

The usage for the week totals 2-1/2 yards going out. I used 3/4 yard for the Scrap Magnet blocks and 5/8 yard for the Homespun blocks, all of which were shown in yesterday's post. I also used one yard to make a mat to cover the top of a teak cabinet near our front door. I have no memory of where the fabric came from, but it looks great here.

My other usage for the week went into a little zipper pouch, made to hold my current hand applique blocks. The pouch I had been using was just a little too small, so I decided to make a new one. I started with three turquoise/aqua crumb blocks that measured 6.5", added a row of 2" squares for the bottom, and lined it with a teal green fabric. There's even a pocket on the inside.

I'm counting only 1/8 yard as used for the pouch because the fabric for the crumb blocks had already been deducted when those blocks were made (2017 or '18?)

2021 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                            2.50 yards

Used year to date:                     129.75 yards

Added last week:                            0.0 yards

Added year to date:                   101.50 yards

Net used year to date              28.25 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 have been concentrating on my projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, with the new projects that I showed filling in at other times. I went 7 for 7 days this week!

15 Minute Challenge for 2021: 

8/1 - 8/7                   7 of 7 days

2021 Total          217 of 219 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 32, 2021

I've been getting back to a semi-regular routine of quilting time every day since we got back from our trip to Wisconsin last week. I prepped the pieces for a couple of different Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects, then started stitching up blocks. The first set to be done were the Scrap Magnet blocks. Since our RSC color for August is the whole blue-green family (aqua, teal, turquoise, etc.), I made one block in the teal/green family and one that is more turquoise/blue (at least, that's how I see them.)

Scrap Magnet pattern by Kirsty of Bonjour Quilts.

I also made a start on my Homespun blocks for the month. The first block features lighter aqua/teal fabrics, and the second has the darker shades.

Homespun design by Modernly Morgan

At one point while switching blocks on the design wall for photos, I ended up with one of each pattern up there. I decided to get a group shot of all four blocks. They are all almost the same size blocks and make a pretty grouping together.

Be sure to check out all of the wonderful scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge every Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday.

Julie in GA