Stash Report and Stitching Time 2/27/22

The Stash Report numbers have been slow to move in either direction so far this year, with relatively small changes to both my stash usage and fabric additions. I have been spending more time on small projects, with no large amounts of yardage being used.

The good news for the week is that I do have usage to report, and no new fabric added for the week. My usage was 1/2 yard for 36 Rail Fence blocks (you can see them in yesterday's post HERE), plus 1.875 yards for the baby quilt top that I completed a couple days ago.

Florida Fishies, 40.5" x 47"

I've got the baby quilt layered and pin basted with batting and flannel backing. It's all ready for me to start the machine quilting on it.

2022 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:          2.375 yards

Used year to date:    13.625 yards

Added last week:          0.00 yards

Added year to date:      6.75 yards

Net used in 2022     6.875 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. The baby quilt took up most of my quilting time, along with working on a secret project plus a little hand stitching on my Feathered Star quilt for the Stay at Home Round Robin. I had another week of 7 days with at least 15 minutes of stitching time.

15 Minute Challenge for 2022: 

2/20 - 2/26         7 of 7 days

2022 Total       57 of 57 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 Sea of Turquoise, Teal and Aqua

We are nearly at the end of another month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Our color assignment for February was all of those wonderful blue-green colors that I love so much--aqua, teal, turquoise, etc.

I've been working on three new RSC projects this year, and I have them all up on the design wall together. There are 36 Rail Fence blocks, one Scrappy Heart block made from 2.5" squares, and 26 Charm Baskets. 

Besides the RSC blocks, I also finished the top of the baby quilt that I was working on last week. Thanks to everyone who shared their opinions on my sashing choices in comments on last week's post. I went with the light grey stripe for sashing, and the navy with stars will be the binding. You can see the completed quilt top in THIS POST.

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 

Florida Fishies Baby Quilt

The fishy quilt top is finished! After many debates and auditions of fabrics for the sashing/framing, I made a decision and got it done!

The finished size is 40.5" wide x 47" long.  The breeze flipped one of the corners under in the outdoor photo. Here's an indoor shot that is squared up better. 

All of the fabrics in this quilt top came from my stash, and many of them are well aged. The featured fish print is called "Mod Fish" by Michael Miller. I originally bought two remnant pieces of that fabric about five years ago for an earlier baby quilt. The checkerboard panels are a mix of old and newer fabrics. 

The real oldies are the two sashing fabrics. The selvage of the green with swirls says "Virginia Robertson for Fabri-Quilt, 1992." I didn't even start quilting until 1995! The light grey stripe is by Country Threads for Benartex, and I bought that piece in 2001.

The next step is to get this top layered and ready for quilting. I bought a great flannel print last week to use on the back, and I've already found a batting in the right size. Everything is ready to go!

Linking up with:

Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA 

To-Do Tuesday 2/22/2022

I'm back for another Tuesday To-Do List! I was shocked to discover that it has been four weeks since I last posted a to-do list. I know these lists help me stay focused, and it's time to get back in that habit. 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.

I completed all of the tasks but one from my previous list, posted in late January.

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

1. Rainbow LeMoyne baby quilt--finish quilting and bind    not done

This quilt has been set aside for now, in favor of a different baby quilt.

2. Bowties 365--continue joining blocks together   ✔done

The Rainbow Bowtie blocks have been joined together into 4 sections, ready to be quilted.

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

I think I ended up with eight red hearts appliqued at the end of January, and two of them have been framed.

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

I finished the border on this little quilt, and it is ready to be layered and quilted.

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

I've added multiple borders to this quilt since my last to-do list. You can see the latest photos in THIS POST.

My list for the next week has a couple of the same projects as my previous list, but also some new entries. It's an ambitious list for one week. I'm just hoping to move these projects forward.

 

To-Do List for 2/22/22 - 2/28/22

1. Fishies baby quilt--finish top, prep for quilting

2. Secret project--begin quilting

3. Hearts Applique--finish one red block

4. Rail Fence--finish making teal/turquoise blocks for RSC

5. Feathered Star SAHRR--finish hand stitching applique

6. Feathered Star SAHRR--start making Shoo Fly blocks

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 

Baby Quilt on the Design Wall

There was some progress over the weekend on the baby quilt that I shared in Saturday's post. The second checkerboard panel has been pieced, and I cut the wide bands of the fish print plus all of the sashing strips. None of the various strips of fish fabric and sashing have been stitched together yet; they are just laid out on my design wall.

The navy blue shown along the top and right side had been my top choice to frame the checkerboards, but I decided it stole the focus too much from the fish fabric. It is going to become the binding instead and will end up narrower than what you see here. I thought I had decided on the grey print around the pieced sections, but now I'm second guessing my choice. I swapped out a couple of the strips for a lighter grey option.

Yes, that might be a better choice. It blends in with everything more and leaves the main focus on the fish. I also like the way the stripes mimic the lines on the light grey fish. I'm going to leave everything up on the wall for another day or so to be sure of my decision, then get to work on stitching it all together.

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 Round 5 - Applique

It's the end of week #5 for the Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR) and there is only one more border to be added. For our assignment this week, we got a choice of adding applique or rail fence blocks. I decided to go the applique route for my quilt. I even decided to try a form of applique that I haven't done before, Broderie Perse.

According to the Quiltipedia Database at The Quilt Show", Broderie Perse is French for "Persian Embroidery". It is a technique where elements, such as flowers or birds, are cut from fabric and appliqued onto a solid piece of fabric..." The feathered star at the center of my quilt features a beautiful floral print, and I have been trying to figure out how to incorporate more of that print in the quilt. Broderie Perse was the perfect answer!

I cut out many flowers from my fabric and auditioned them on the quilt top before settling on my favorites. I chose four small sprigs of roses for the corner squares around the feathered star.

The photo above shows my sample for testing a variety of ways to stitch down the applique after it had been fused to the background. Along the top edge there is some zigzag stitching, which was difficult to line up exactly at the cut edge of the fabric. If you follow around clockwise, there is some blind hem stitching along the right edge, which did not work well at all. My machine does not include a blanket stitch. I switched to a presser foot that made it easier to see where I was stitching, but zigzagging along the lower right still looks messy to me and frays out the fabric. At the lower left, around the bottom of the stem, is my sample of hand blanket stitching, and that turned out to be my favorite.

This is the only applique piece to be stitched down so far. In the first photo of the post, it is the one in the upper right corner of the feathered star. I used regular poly-cotton thread because it was the best color match I had in my thread stash. The next photo, which is taken at more of an angle shows the stitches a bit better.

It's time for me to link up my post with the other SAHRR folks at Quilting Gail. I'm also going to join the Slow Sunday Stitching party at Kathy's Quilts. Stitching around these flowers is definitely slow going, but I'm very happy with how it looks. We will get the assignment for the last border on the SAHRR tomorrow. I can't wait to see how we finish these off!

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stash Report and Stitching Time 2/20/2022

It has been a busy week in my quilting room. I started out by finishing Round #4 on my Feathered Star Medallion quilt for the Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR). The most recent addition was the outer zigzag border.

After that was done, I spent much of my quilting time on my latest entry for the Project Quilting Challenge. This week's theme was "Mining for Diamonds", and I made a small purse with one side covered in black diamonds. You can see it and read more in my post HERE.

For the Stash Report, I used 1/2 yard on the Feathered Star border, plus another 1/2 yard for the Black Diamonds purse, for a total of 1 yard used. I also made my first fabric purchase of the year. I bought a piece of dark grey Kona cotton (with a sale coupon at JoAnn's) and flannel to back a baby quilt; 4 yards total added to the stash. 

2022 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:            1.00 yards

Used year to date:      11.25 yards

Added last week:          4.00 yards

Added year to date:      6.75 yards

Net used in 2022       4.50 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. Between the SAHRR project, the Diamonds purse, and starting a new baby quilt, I definitely spent more than 15 minutes on quilting every day!

15 Minute Challenge for 2022: 

2/13 - 2/19         7 of 7 days

2022 Total       50 of 50 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 Squares and Fishies Quilt

A friend and former co-worker is expecting her first baby in a few months. I took a look at her baby registry, and there is a definite ocean theme. There are sharks and whales and other sea creatures, mostly in blue, aqua, teal and turquoise. The timing is perfect, since those colors fit right in with the February colors for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. It's time to make a baby quilt!

My starting point for the baby quilt was this fun fish print. It's an older Michael Miller fabric called "Mod Fish." The largest deep blue fish with white scales measure 7" across. The colors in this fabric will be perfect with the rest of the nursery decor.

I wanted to add some pieced panels to the quilt, so I pulled out 2.5" squares from my scrap bins, focusing on the blue-greens, bright blues, and a few grey fabrics. The background fabric is a very light grey pattern on white. 

After I completed one checkerboard panel, it was time to look at the combination on the design wall. My plan is to add sashing strips between the fish fabric and the pieced panels, but choosing the sashing fabrics turned out to be more difficult than expected. 

I'm pretty set on using the green fabric shown in these photos next to the fish print, but I kept trying different options against the checkerboard panel. Last night I had decided that the last choice was my favorite, but now I'm not so sure. I'd love to hear your opinions. Clicking on any of the photos should enlarge them. 

1. Pale grey (two different options)

2. Medium grey (4 options)

3. Darker grey (1)

4. Navy with teal and turquoise stars

My plan for the finished quilt is three bands of the fish print alternating with two pieced checkerboard panels. I'm hoping to end up with a quilt that measures 38-40" across and 44-48" long. Today I will work on piecing the second checkerboard, then start the quilt assembly.

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 

Project Quilting 13.4--Mining for Diamonds

This week is Challenge #4 in the current season of Project Quilting, hosted by Kim Lapacek at Persimon Dreams. The theme for this week's challenge is "Mining Diamonds," any project inspired by diamonds, and it had to be started and finished within the week! My entry is a small purse called Black Diamonds.

Black Diamonds purse

I started by cutting a pile of diamonds from a wide variety of 1.5" strips in different black and dark grey prints. I laid a selection of them out on my cutting mat to see how they looked together, then started piecing them into diagonal strips. Here's the panel I made with the diamonds, before and after I trimmed it to size (7.75" x 9.5".)

I quilted the panel to thin black batting and a piece of light weight black cotton, stitching diagonal lines across the piece.

For the back I used a solid black twill, and I quilted that in a diamond grid. I also added a zipper pocket on the back, deep enough to hold my cell phone.

There's also a zipper across the top of the purse, and a strap long enough to wear it as a cross-body bag. This will be the perfect bag when I don't need to carry my usual big purse and just need a small bag for the basics. The finished size is about 7" x 9".

I'm very happy to have completed another Project Quilting challenge, and with days to spare! It's time to link up and see the other diamond-inspired projects.

Linking up with:

Project Quilting 13.4 at Persimon Dreams

Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

TGIFF (Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday)

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA 

SAHRR Round #4

Yet another border has been added to my Feathered Star Medallion quilt, which I'm working on as part of the Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR.) If you don't know about the SAHRR, you can read the intro post at Gail's blog HERE.

This week's assignment for the fourth round came from Wendy at Pieceful Thoughts of my Quilting Life. Her choice for the next border was signature blocks. There are many different patterns that can be used as signature blocks, but I wanted to keep it simple. I chose to use a diagonal block, but the colors are a reverse of the usual. For a signature block, the center diagonal would be a light fabric where the signature would go.

I found a burgundy and pink stripe fabric in my stash that looks great with the other fabrics in my quilt, and the stripes add some extra interest. My border units are very small--each little block like the two shown above measures 2" square and will finish at 1.5". 

I made many of the little units, being careful to keep the stripes going in the right direction. I then stitched them all together into four zigzag borders. The zigzags connect with the star points at the outer corners of the quilt.

The one thing that might still change is the outer corners. I'm thinking about replacing the diagonal blocks of the upper quilt photo with background squares as shown in the next photo. (The background squares are just laid on top.)

The current size of my quilt top is 37" square. I haven't decided how big I might want this quilt to finish, but I should probably come up with a plan before we get to the last couple of rounds. I'm very happy with how it is coming together at this point, and I look forward to finding out the assignment for our next border.

You can check out more versions of the SAHRR at Pieceful Thoughts of my Quilting Life. I'm also linking up with Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt and Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stash Report and Stitching Time 2/13/2022

We've had a busy week around here, both at home and away. There has been lots of cooking, some of it for other people, and we even got to visit with my former coworkers one day. In the sewing room, I had a variety of quilts in process, including one secret project that won't be shared yet.

Fabric usage for the weekly stash report totaled 1.625 yards, and no new fabric was added to the stash. This includes 1/4 yard for the two bowl cozies that I made for the Project Quilting Challenge 13.3--Kitchen Inspired. You can see them in my post HERE. I also used 1 yard for my teal and turquoise Charm Baskets blocks (shared in THIS POST.) and 3/8 yard in two scrappy hearts blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. The teal/turquoise block was finished over a week ago, but I forgot to count the yardage last week--I guess I needed to include them now and wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day!

2022 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:          1.625 yards

Used year to date:      10.25 yards

Added last week:          0.00 yards

Added year to date:      2.75 yards

Net used in 2022       7.50 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. Despite a busier week and more time away from home, I still had plenty of time in the sewing room and spent more than 15 minutes quilting every day.

15 Minute Challenge for 2022: 

2/6 - 2/12           7 of 7 days

2022 Total       43 of 43 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

Charm Baskets in Turquoise and Teal

My project of the week for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge was making blocks for my Charm Basket quilt using teal, turquoise and aqua scraps. I love these colors and have plenty of fabric scraps to choose from.

Charm Baskets, pattern by Laundry Basket Quilts

I ended up with 26 blocks for the month. I could have made even more, but didn't want to have too many of any color group. My goal is to produce 20-25 blocks each month. I'm having such a fun time making these adorable little blocks! The finished size of each block is 4".

The baskets in these two blocks were made from two of the oldest fabrics in my stash. I started quilting in 1995, and I bought 5 yards of each of these fabrics  for 50 cents/yard in 1998 at a rummage sale. The name along the selvages is "Hi Fashion Fabrics." They seem to appear in every scrappy quilt I make that includes turquoise.

The baskets in the blocks shown above were all made from fabric squares that I won in a giveaway last month from Ann of Fiber Designs by Ann. When I entered her drawing, I knew that if I won I would be using many of the squares in my basket blocks. The fabrics fit in with my stash perfectly! Thanks, Ann! As you can see, I am using a wide variety of light/low volume prints for the backgrounds of the basket blocks.

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 

Project Quilting 13.3--Kitchen Inspired

This week's theme for the Project Quilting Challenge 13.3 is "Kitchen Inspired." I had several ideas and plenty of fun veggie print fabrics, but there were other projects that took priority during the week.

When I was checking out some of the other entries for the challenge this morning, I saw that several people had made bowl cozies, something I've never made but knew would be very handy to have. I looked up some free patterns, pulled out some fabric, and dove in.

I mostly followed a pattern from American Patchwork and Quilting, although all the patterns I looked at were very similar. I used 10" squares of fabric and batting (Warm and Natural). I rounded off the points to make it a little easier to turn after stitching around the outside edges. It was very easy and quick to make.

Both photos are the same cozy, just with and without a bowl. I have a second cozy in the works, but wanted to get this one posted before the challenge closes (5 minutes to spare!)

Linking up with:

Project Quilting 13.3 at Persimon Dreams

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA 

Stash Report and Stitching Time 2/6/2022

The main project in my sewing room this week was the next border on the Feathered Star quilt for the Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR.) I used one yard of fabric for the border of diamonds and stars, plus the curvy corners closer to the center. You can read more about this quilt in THIS POST. No new fabric was added to the stash last week.

2022 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:           1.00 yards

Used year to date:     8.625 yards

Added last week:         0.00 yards

Added year to date:     2.75 yards

Net used in 2022       5.875 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. We didn't have much going on away from home last week, so I had no trouble getting in my 15 minutes every day.

15 Minute Challenge for 2022: 

1/30 - 2/5           7 of 7 days

2022 Total       36 of 36 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