Stash Report and Stitching Time 11/26/2023

The stash report for the past week shows no new additions to the stash despite the temptation of the Black Friday fabric sales. Fabric usage for the week included 1/4 yard for the last sets of Rail Fence blocks plus five yards for the two Pinwheel Christmas Tree quilt tops shared in Friday's post. Here's my favorite one again.

2023 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                       5.25 yards

Used year to date:                122.25 yards

Added last week:                       0.0 yards

Added year to date:            102.625 yards

Net used in 2023:             19.625 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. It was a very good week for quilting time, with three quilt tops being assembled and a fourth is nearing completion!

15 Minute Challenge for 2023: 

11/12 - 11/18            7 of 7 days

2023 Total          317 of 329 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

Rail Fence Rainbows

When I shared the progress on my Rainbow Rail Fence blocks two weeks ago (see it HERE), my plan had been to use 320 blocks to make a small quilt measuring 48" x 60". The very next day, I changed my mind and decided to use fewer blocks and make them into a baby quilt. I ended up setting my 3" blocks 13 across x 16 long, for a quilt that finishes at 39" x 48".

Of course, that meant I had a pile of extra blocks left over. My first idea was to join them into groups of four that would make little pinwheel spinners.

I like the look of the spinners, but most of my extra blocks were already stitched into groups of four in a totally different configuration. Instead of taking all of them apart, I would rather find a way to use them. Playing with those groups led me to this layout.

I'll need to remove the green blocks from the reds at the right end, but there will be very little unstitching other than that. I've pulled out a grey fabric to finish off the outer edges as the setting triangles and border. Depending on the size of the border, this quilt should finish around 38-39" square.

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

Pinwheel Christmas Trees

My newest projects were inspired by a friend's quilt that was displayed in our guild's booth at the Christmas fair a few weeks ago. This is Martha's Pinwheel Christmas Tree quilt.

For my first attempt, I wanted to get more colors into the design, sort of like the colors of the ornaments on a Christmas tree. I used a bright green print of Christmas tree lights along with scrappy green fabrics for the pinwheel blocks.

I liked the added colors in that version, but decided to make another one that is more like the original, with the background fabric in the pinwheel blocks. Here is my second tree. Both of my versions measure approximately 40" x 48".

Making my first version helped me realize that my favorite thing about this quilt is the airiness of the design with the background included in all of the pinwheels. This second version also includes a cute print of Christmas tree lights, but this time it's the cream background fabric. Click on the photo for a closer look.

I hope to get version #2 layered with batting and quilted up in the next week so that we can enjoy it for the Christmas season this year. I haven't decided what will happen with the other quilt top yet.

Linking up with:

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

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

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

Peacock Party at Wendy's Quilts and More

Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday (TGIFF) at Slice of Pi Quilts

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA 

Stash Report and Stitching Time 11/19/2023

For the first time in several weeks, I have additions to the fabric stash to report. Unfortunately, there is no usage to be counted to balance out the additions for the week. Most of my stitching time was spent joining blocks together, and the fabric used to make those blocks had already been counted.

I have been working on a new Christmas project, but haven't gotten to the point of having anything ready to count, and there's not much ready to show either. Here are the first few blocks.

The additions to the stash were mostly Christmas fabrics from JoAnn's. The Santa fabric at the top will become a pair of pajama pants for my Santa collector husband. I hope to get those made very soon, so the fabric shouldn't stay in the stash long. The jewel-toned fabric at the bottom of the photo was on the clearance shelf, and I couldn't resist the colors.

My other addition for the week came after I won the monthly raffle at our guild meeting. My prize included a jelly roll of the line "Sunflowers in My Heart" by Kate Spain. My jelly roll is still wrapped in plastic, so I've lifted a photo from the Fat Quarter Shop to let you see the beautiful prints in this collection.

2023 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                        0.0 yards

Used year to date:                 117.0 yards

Added last week:                   10.25 yards

Added year to date:            102.625 yards

Net used in 2023:             14.375 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. Once again, I've been quilting every day. I'm still hoping to finish assembling the Rail Fence blocks that I shared in last Sunday's post into a finished quilt top very soon, then I can get to work on using up some of those new Christmas fabrics.

15 Minute Challenge for 2023: 

11/12 - 11/18            7 of 7 days

2023 Total          310 of 322 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

Stash Report and Stitching Time 11/12/2023

It was looking like there wouldn't be any fabric usage to count on my stash report for the week because I spent most of my quilting time joining Rail Fence blocks together (see them in yesterday's post.) Yesterday I realized that I didn't have quite enough blocks for my planned layout, so I made a few more and used 1/4 yard of fabric. 

There was no new fabric added to the stash last week.

2023 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                         .25 yards

Used year to date:                 117.0 yards

Added last week:                       0.0 yards

Added year to date:              92.375 yards

Net used in 2023:             24.625 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 been quilting every day and hope to have a completed quilt top soon!

15 Minute Challenge for 2023: 

11/5 - 11/11              7 of 7 days

2023 Total          303 of 315 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

Building Fences

November at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge means it is time to start assembling those piles of blocks into quilt tops. This week I pulled out the many little (3" finished size) Rail Fence blocks that I started making early in 2022. Before I could start joining them together, I needed to plan my layout, which I did with the help of EQ7.

I've started by joining the blocks together into groups of 4. The tricky part was figuring out which colors needed to go together into each group. Here's one of my first 4-block segments.

I joined groups of all of the color combinations, then tried them out on the design wall. This would be half of the total blocks in the quilt, so I still have plenty more blocks to stitch together. Actually, I've figured out that I need to make a few more blocks in some of the colors. Time to pull out those scraps again!

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

Stash Report and Stitching Time 11/5/2023

I've been feeling a little lost as far as my quilting projects lately. After the push to finish projects for the guild Christmas market, I've struggled to figure out what to work on next. The first thing I should be doing is cleaning up the sewing room, but instead I've been bouncing around between a few different projects, but accomplishing very little.

Speaking of the Christmas market, it has been happening all weekend at the Coweta County, GA fairgrounds. I helped with the set-up on Thursday, and we have a fantastic mix of different products for sale. This is just one part of the display.

I missed filing a stash report last week, so my numbers cover the past two weeks. In that time, I used 1.25 yards for the blocks made from shirting samples, shared in Monday's post. I also used 1.375 yards for the two placemats shared in yesterday's post. There was no new fabric added to the stash over the past two weeks.

2023 STASH TOTALS

Used last two weeks:                2.625 yards

Used year to date:                  116.75 yards

Added last two weeks:                  0.0 yards

Added year to date:                92.375 yards

Net used in 2023:               24.375 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. Despite my problems with figuring out my next quilting project, I did get at least 15 minute of quilting time every day over the last two weeks.

15 Minute Challenge for 2023: 

10/22 - 11/4          14 of 14 days

2023 Total          296 of 308 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

Table Scraps Challenge and RSC

Our November assignment for the Rainbow Scraps Challenge is to begin assembly of our projects. I have two complete sets of rainbow blocks ready to be turned into quilt tops, but I need to figure out my sashing and border fabrics for one set, plus come up with a layout plan for the others, before I can start sewing blocks together.

Our color of the month for October was light neutrals, and I did manage to make another scrappy placemat for the 2023 ABC Table Scraps Challenge at The Joyful Quilter, although I didn't finish it in time for the link-up. My scrappy beige strips were too boring alone, so I added random bits of blue for some interest.

The back and binding are a very old beige and light blue swirly print. 

After that was finished, I pulled out a stack of little squares that had been hiding in my box of orphan blocks. The fall colors seemed like the perfect project this week. I used them to make 24 little bowtie blocks that each finish at 3". They were all joined together into another placemat, which was finished off with the beautiful leafy batik for the backing.

Both of these placemats will be donated to Meals on Wheels through our quilt guild. I will have quite a stack of them to turn in at our next meeting!

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. I'm also linking up with the ABC Table Scraps Challenge at The Joyful Quilter.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA