SAHRR with Diamonds

Today is the deadline to post our progress for the second stage of the 2022 SAHRR (Stay at Home Round Robin.) This weeks assignment was diamonds. I ended up with two different types of diamond units, but haven't decided exactly how or where I am going to use them.

I wanted to add some deeper blues to the color palette, and I chose to use these two fabrics. I fussy cut squares of the diagonal print to make square-in-a-square diamonds, and I used my Tri-Recs tools to make the diamonds from the darker print. 

I'm considering two different options for how I will use these diamonds. My first idea was to place them at the corners of my quilt, then add whatever type of border units we are assigned next week to finish off that round.

My other idea is to make more of both types of diamond blocks and construct an entire border with them as shown at the bottom of the next photo. It would take some calculations to figure out how many units would be needed, and I might need to add a spacer border too, but I do like the way that looks with the rest of the quilt.

For now I'm going to wait until we get our next border suggestion, then I will decide how to incorporate these diamonds. I'm looking forward to finding out what our next step will be! I'm linking up with the other SAHRR participants this week at The Darling Dogwood.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stash Report and Stitching Time 1/30/2022

There is much to share in the stash report this week, most of it used in my projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Fabric used this week included 3/4 yard for the Charm Baskets, 1/2 yard for the Rail Fence blocks, and 1/2 yard for the borders on my Storm at Sea Heart. You can see all of these projects in yesterday's post.

I also used 1 yard for the spacer rectangles with my Bowties blocks. The blocks and spacers have all been joined together into four sections, each measuring 20-24" wide and 28-30" high. The sections will get quilted separately, then joined together.

2022 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:           2.75 yards

Used year to date:     7.625 yards

Added last week:         0.00 yards

Added year to date:     2.75 yards

Net used in 2022       4.875 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 stitching time. I've been plugging away at several projects and spending multiple hours in the sewing room most days. Even the shorter sewing days have been well over 15 minutes.

15 Minute Challenge for 2022: 

1/23 - 1/29         7 of 7 days

2022 Total       29 of 29 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

A Wall Filled With Red

My 2022 projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge got off to a slow start, partly because I was carrying over multiple projects from last year. However, when I gathered all the different RSC blocks together, they added up to a great collection of red scrappiness on my design wall.

The little applique hearts were one of the projects started in 2021. The applique portion gets trimmed to 4.5", then framed with 1.5" x 2.5" rectangles, bringing them up to 6" finished size. I've finished that step on only two of the blocks.

I shared the Charm Basket blocks in this post a couple weeks ago, but I later finished a few more, ending up with a total of 21 red blocks. I included a few of my sample blocks in other colors to fill out the photo. I've had a great time making these blocks and am very excited about this project.

One of last year's RSC projects was the Bowties 365, which had me attempting to make a bowtie block every single day of the year. This year I have taken an even easier approach to that goal with Rail Fence blocks--only 2 seams in each block! I ended up with 42 red blocks for January.

The most recent addition to my RSC projects list happened just yesterday. I have seen many versions of scrappy heart blocks and decided to go ahead and try one. This block was made from 2.5" squares and triangles, and the block will finish at 12". I hope I will have enough of my favorite Tula Pink background fabric (leftover from last year's Homespun quilt) to make a small quilt with these blocks.

One of my goals for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge in 2022 is to make progress on  some of my old UFOs. I was inspired by this quote from a post by Chantal in December:

"What is the Personal Rainbow UFO Challenge? It's very simple. Just tag one of your UFO quilts or projects to a colour. When Angela calls the colour of the month, you have to work on that UFO. You don't HAVE to finish it, but working on it, and bringing it forward is the name of this game."

I did something like this once before, and it really helped me move some old projects forward. I thought it was about five years ago, but in looking back at previous posts, I discovered that it was in 2015! It's definitely time to try this again. The red UFO that I pulled out was a small one that needed borders added. There is a major hearts theme happening here this month! This is my Storm at Sea Heart.

I added two scrappy borders to the center of this quilt, bringing it up to 30.5" wide x 27.5" high. I would love to get this quilted up and ready to hang for Valentine's Day.

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.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA 

To-Do Tuesday 1/25/2022

Welcome to another Tuesday To-Do List! Today we will review how I did on my previous list. then come up with a new set of goals for the week ahead. The Tuesday To-Do List link-up is hosted by Linda at Texas Quilt Gal.

The past week included time spent on machine quilting, hand applique, joining blocks and adapting a border. I am very pleased to have gotten through my entire list.

To-Do List for 1/18/22 - 1/24/22

1. Rainbow LeMoyne baby quilt--continue quilting       ✔done

All the stars have been quilted, and I've made a start on the background around them. Here's one star from both the front and the back (it's easier to see the quilting on the back.)

2. Bowties 365--cut setting fabric, begin joining blocks together  ✔done

The setting fabric is cut and I have started stitching blocks together into sections. 

3. Hearts Applique--stitch at least one red block   ✔done

Two more hearts blocks are done.

4. Storm at Sea Heart--add neutral border   ✔done

The first border is done, and you can read more about it in yesterday's post.

5. Feathered Star SAHRR--add curves to border   ✔done

You can see my progress in this post.

My list for the next week has all of the same projects on it. I'm hoping to continue moving forward on each of these quilts.

 

To-Do List for 1/25/22 - 1/31/22

1. Rainbow LeMoyne baby quilt--finish quilting and bind (my OMG for January)

2. Bowties 365--continue joining blocks together

3. Hearts Applique--stitch at least one red block

4. Storm at Sea Heart--add outer border

5. Feathered Star SAHRR--add diamonds to border

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 Texas Quilt Gal.

Julie in GA 

Storm at Sea Heart

After spending most of my quilting time last week either machine quilting on the Rainbow LeMoyne baby quilt or rearranging bowtie blocks on the design wall, I decided it was time to work on something different. I'm aiming to make progress on some old UFOs this year, and it was time to work on one of those.

Many years ago I went through a phase of being obsessed by Storm at Sea quilts. My first attempt at making one was in 1998 when I made two mini quilts, one with light background and one with dark. I tried to quilt them together into a reversible quilt, but they didn't line up quite right. I'm sure that little quilt is around here somewhere--this might be the time to dig it out.

In 2001 I decided to make another small SAS quilt, this time making it into a heart. I pieced this heart from scrap fabrics, then stashed it away. At this point it measures 21.5" wide x 18.5" high.

Yesterday I added a narrow scrappy neutral border to the center. That brings the size up to 24.5" x 21.5". I was able to find scraps of many of the same fabrics, plus others that blended in well with the rest.

The next step will be to add a red border. This one will also be scrappy, but wider. I'm planning to add 3" squares all the way around the heart, as shown on two sides below. 

With any luck, I might be able to get this bordered, quilted and finished in time for Valentine's Day! 

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 

Stash Report, SAHRR and Stitching Time 1/23/2022

We have been having some colder than usual weather lately (although nothing like the Midwest and northern states have gotten!) That plus the continuing covid concerns have kept us mostly at home, giving me plenty of time for quilting. 

With all that sewing going on, I'm surprised to discover that I have nothing to report for changes to the stash. I didn't buy any new fabric this week, but I don't have anything to count as used either. Much of my time was spent machine quilting, and all the fabric in that project has already been counted.

2022 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:            0.0 yards

Used year to date:     4.875 yards

Added last week:         0.00 yards

Added year to date:     2.75 yards

Net used in 2022       2.125 yards

One small piecing project that got completed was the first round for this year's Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR.) As I showed in last week's post, I have resurrected the Feathered Star that I was using for the SAHRR in 2021. I removed the outer borders and the green plus sign corners. Our assignment this week was curves, so I replaced those plus signs with curvy corner squares. 

The corner blocks finish at 3" square. I might have been able to piece them like Drunkard's Path blocks, but instead decided to machine applique them, which worked out very well. Here's my quilt center with the curvy corners.

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 stitching time. With the extra time at home plus the variety of projects that I have in the works, I've had no problem spending more than 15 minutes every day.

15 Minute Challenge for 2022: 

1/16 - 1/22         7 of 7 days

2022 Total       22 of 22 days

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces. The SAHRR link-up for this week is at Anja Quilts.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Cascading Bowties

While making the last batches of bowtie blocks recently, I've also been spending plenty of time playing with layouts on the design wall. I ended up with more than 350 bowtie blocks altogether, which will probably become two or three small quilts. They were mostly made last year as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

I decided on the plan for the first quilt last weekend and got ready to start joining the blocks together. Here's what I was planning.

The design changed once I got the spacer rectangles cut and ready to sew to the blocks. I realized that the seams would nest together better if my bowties were mostly pointing downhill from left to right instead of uphill. That meant switching everything around on the wall and also remaking the half blocks that finish off the tops and bottoms of a few columns.

This is how far I got on joining blocks and spacers together yesterday. The blocks are sewn into columns, but the columns aren't joined together yet. Right now I'm planning to construct this quilt in four sections, quilt each section, then join them together. Machine quilting is difficult for me, and I'm hoping that this method will make it easier to handle and help me finish more quilts.

The full photo shows the blocks that have been joined into columns at the top left. The blocks for the lower left are next to the sewing machine, waiting to be stitched together. After that, the other two sections will be constructed. You might notice that one of the orange blocks over toward the right end of the center horizontal space has been split into two halves. There's also one green block that got divided. All of the empty spaces between blocks will be filled with rectangles of the same background fabric.

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.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA 

To-Do Tuesday 1/18/2022

Welcome to another Tuesday To-Do List! Today we will review how I did on my previous list. then come up with a new set of goals for the week ahead. The Tuesday To-Do List link-up is hosted by Linda at Texas Quilt Gal.

Last week's list was a long one, and I managed to complete every goal on it! It took me until Monday afternoon to finish one of them, but it was definitely a successful week. 

To-Do List for 1/11/22 - 1/17/22

1. Rainbow LeMoyne baby quilt--quilting      ✔done

I avoided this project all week until yesterday, then decided to spend some time on it. As usual, the quilting wasn't as difficult as I'd expected, and I completed the quilting of the sashing around two rows of blocks (the double wavy lines.) This is the back of the quilt; the quilting is much harder to see on the front.

2. Bowties 365--continue making 4" blocks   ✔done

I am done making bowtie blocks for now, and have settled on a layout for the first quilt--see it HERE.

3. Charm Baskets--make more red blocks    ✔done

I ended up with 21 red basket blocks for the month. You can see 15 of them HERE.

4. Hearts Applique--prep red, stitch at least one block  ✔done

Two red hearts were stitched last week.

5. Pull a red UFO to work on   ✔done

I unearthed a very old UFO, this Storm at Sea Heart that I made in 2001! It currently measures 18.5" x 21.5" and needs borders.

6. Pull or make center block for SAHRR   ✔done

My center for this year's SAHRR is a repeat from last year, a Feathered Star block. I wasn't happy with all the borders on it last year and put it aside unfinished. I'm going to try again, and I have removed the outer borders and corners. See how it looked before these changes in this post.

My list for the next week is mostly about borders, quilt assembly or machine quilting rather than making blocks. That is very unusual for me, but it's time to get some projects closer to the finish line! 

 

To-Do List for 1/18/22 - 1/24/22

1. Rainbow LeMoyne baby quilt--continue quilting (my OMG for January)

2. Bowties 365--cut setting fabric, begin joining blocks together

3. Hearts Applique--stitch at least one red block

4. Storm at Sea Heart--add neutral border

5. Feathered Star SAHRR--add curves to border

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 Texas Quilt Gal.

Julie in GA 

Back to the Bowties

After sharing one possible arrangement of my collection of bowtie blocks last week, I've continued playing with some other options. Here's the layout I showed in last Monday's post.

Thanks to the viewers who suggested filling the blank areas with background fabrics for a modern type quilt. I hadn't planned to do that, but I am intrigued by the idea.

I did a partial layout of this design with the colors in rainbow order and filled in the top corner. I didn't put enough blocks on the wall for the whole quilt, but I do like it better than the random arrangement of colors.

My next idea was to separate each color from the next with a little spacer of background fabric. The close-up photo shows a gap of about 1" between the blocks. I liked the idea, but the full layout makes me feel a little off balance with the way the blocks seem to lean from the offsetting.

The next variation on that idea was to offset the blocks even more. This time they have 2" gaps in between, which is half the size of each block. That will give me seams to match up and nest together when joining the columns. The close-up photo shows rectangles of background fabric laid over the spaces between the blocks.

I'm planning to go ahead with this design for the bowties layout. I like the airiness that separating the colors brings to the quilt. I might decide to leave off the half blocks in the top and bottom rows and just fill in with more background. 

This quilt layout as shown will use 110 of my bowtie blocks, and the quilt should measure 44" x 58". That will leave about 250 more bowtie blocks still to be used in other quilts. Stay tuned for further design ideas!

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 

SAHRR--The Reboot

Last year, Gail and friends joined together for the Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR) and had such a good time that they are doing it again and inviting all of us to join the fun. There is more information on the SAHRR 2022 available at Gail's webpage HERE. 

The first step of the SAHRR is for everyone to share their choice of a center block. Each week, one of the cohosts will let us know what kind of border to add. There will be six rounds of borders, and we can add all of them or as many as we choose. At the end, each participant should have an original medallion style quilt!

I took part in last year's event, but got bogged down halfway through and didn't finish. I lasted through four rounds of borders, but I wasn't happy with the way my last border was looking, so I quit there. This is how far I got last year.

At this point, my quilt center measures 38" square. For the 2022 SAHRR, I'm going to try again with the same center. I am definitely going to remove the three plain outer borders, but might leave the flying geese and piano keys borders. I'm also thinking about changing those green plus sign corners of the piano keys border. Here's the plan for my revised center (although I might remove all the borders and get it back down to the feathered star block.)

You can see the center blocks that others have chosen for their round robin quilts at Quilting Gail. I'm looking forward to finding out what our next step will be!

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stash Report and Stitching Time 1/16/2022

The first part of the week was spent making the last sets of 4" blocks for my Bowties 365 quilt, one of my 2021 projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. My goal last year was to make an average of one block every day of the year. I ended up making 245 of the more pastel 5" blocks, and 180 of them were used in the Spikey Rainbow Bowtie quilt (see it HERE.)

My other set of bowties are 4" blocks with scrappy cream backgrounds. If I counted correctly, the total number of blocks made for that set is 364, with 88 of them having been made since the beginning of this year. You can see the latest additions in yesterday's post. I used almost 2 yards of fabric for the recent blocks. 

2022 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:         1.875 yards

Used year to date:     4.875 yards

Added last week:         0.00 yards

Added year to date:     2.75 yards

Net used in 2022       2.125 yards

I have been trying out some layout ideas for these bowtie blocks--here is one option. Not very interesting I'm afraid. More ideas coming tomorrow.

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 stitching time. Besides the bowtie blocks, I've also been making little basket blocks (shown in yesterday's post.) I spent much more than 15 minutes quilting every day last week.

15 Minute Challenge for 2022: 

1/9 - 1/15          7 of 7 days

2022 Total       15 of 15 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

Bowties and Baskets for the RSC

My plans for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge in 2022 seem to be focused on small blocks so far this year. I've been making more 4" bowtie blocks to finish out the collection from 2021. This week I made 48 teal/turquoise blocks, plus 12 blue and 16 green. 

The addition of these blocks brings my total number of bowtie blocks up to about 360. I'm planning to make at least two smallish quilts with them, maybe three. I've been playing with some layout designs (see one option HERE), but none are really exciting me yet. I will continue to try out different ideas on the design wall.

The other small blocks that I've been making this week are my Charm Baskets. This project was inspired by a pattern by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts. I'm not usually a big fan of basket quilts, but I couldn't resist over 200 little 4" basket blocks in a rainbow of colors. They are just too cute!

Charm Baskets, pattern by Laundry Basket Quilts

I've been making basket blocks in reds, our color of the month for the RSC, with scrappy light backgrounds. I've finished 15 basket blocks, and included one heart block that conveniently happened to be the same size. The appliqued hearts are another RSC project for 2022 (carried over from last year) that feature 4" blocks, but I've only finished the single red heart so far this month; hoping to make more before the end of January.

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.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA 

To-Do Tuesday 1/11/2022

Welcome to another Tuesday To-Do List! Today we will review how I did on my previous list. then come up with a new set of goals for the week ahead. The Tuesday To-Do List link-up is hosted by Linda at Texas Quilt Gal.

Most of my time last week was spent on goal #1, but I also completed two of the three other goals--not a bad week at all!

To-Do List for 1/4/22 - 1/10/22

1. Project Quilting 13.1--finish entry   ✔done

I finished my Rainbow Accordion quilt, and I love it! I can't resist sharing my favorite photo again.

2. Rainbow LeMoyne baby quilt--continue quilting    nothing done

3. Bowties 365--continue making 4" blocks  ✔done

I finished 12 red and 48 teal/turquoise blocks this week.

4. Charm Baskets--start making red blocks  ✔done

I made five red basket blocks to go with the two made earlier.

My regular projects all got pushed aside last week while I worked on the Project Quilting entry. This week I plan to do lots of prep work for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects, and hope to do a little machine quilting.

 

To-Do List for 1/11/22 - 1/17/22

1. Rainbow LeMoyne baby quilt--quilting (my OMG for January)

2. Bowties 365--continue making 4" blocks

3. Charm Baskets--make more red blocks

4. Hearts Applique--prep red, stitch at least one block

5. Pull a red UFO to work on

6. Pull or make center block for SAHRR

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 Texas Quilt Gal.

Julie in GA