Stash Report and Stitching Time 7/7/2024

My stash report for the past week reflects a much larger addition to the stash than usage for the week. I discovered that a stack of fabric I'd purchased on a Memorial weekend sale never got reported. The fabrics are shown below, mostly 1/2 yard pieces. The total amount added to the stash was 11 yards.

As for usage, I used 1-1/8 yard to make the many little Terry blocks shared in yesterday's post. It doesn't take much fabric to make such small blocks!

2024 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                   1.125 yards

Used year to date:              46.125 yards

Added last week:                   11.0 yards

Added year to date:               43.0 yards

Net used in 2024:            3.125 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 spent much of the week working on the blocks for the Lighthouse Inn Mystery by Modern Quilt Studio, which I posted about at the beginning of the week. Here are all the blocks after they got sliced in half diagonally, then joined back together with other halves.

15 Minute Challenge for 2024: 

6/30 - 7/6               7 of 7 days

2024 Total          185 of 188 days

Success rate                 98.4 %   

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces. Thanks so much to Donna and Kate for continuing to host these link-ups.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Finishing the Blues

Our new color assignment for July at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is aqua, plus all the other blue-green colors like turquoise and teal. These are my favorites and I will have plenty of scraps to play with, but first I needed to finish my last set of blue blocks for July.

These are my "Terry" blocks, inspired by Terry Rowland's colorwash quilts, featured in her series of three YouTube videos. These scrappy little blocks will finish at 3". 

I started by making one batch of about 35 or 40 blue blocks, decided I must have some more blue scraps around, and kept on going. It was quite a surprise to get them all up on the wall and discover that there was a total of 64 blocks!

I began making the Terry blocks in mid-February and need to go back at some point and make the green blocks for January. I've been averaging around 50 blocks each month and can easily imagine ending up with 500 to 600 of them. I haven't decided yet if I will include neutrals like black and brown. A total of 500 blocks set 20 x 25 would make a quilt that measures 60" x 75".

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

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

A New Modern Mystery

Spoiler alert! For anyone considering doing the Modern Quilt Studio's Lighthouse Inn Mystery: if you want it to be a surprise, don't read this post. It is filled with photos of my blocks from that mystery. For everyone else, welcome to my latest project.

Last summer was my first time participating in any mystery designed by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr of Modern Quilt Studio. That was the Summer Camp Mystery, and I had a great time following along and making a quilt that I love. This is my Summer Camp quilt top, inspired by the colors of the Southwest U.S. It was completed last August and is still waiting to be quilted.

There was another MQS mystery offered in January, but I had too many other things happening at that time to take part. When the new summer mystery, the Lighthouse Inn Modern Mystery Quiltalong, was announced, I decided to jump in again. The first step was choosing fabrics. The design calls for two groups of fabrics, a lighter group and a darker group. I decided to use the colors of a sunrise combined with a navy background.

The clues for the mystery started on June 1st. Each week we've been making a set of blocks with our light fabrics and a matching set of blocks (although sometimes mirror-imaged) with the darker fabrics. Here are my groups of blocks, week by week.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

After four weeks of making blocks, it was time for a "Shift Change." All of the blocks get cut in half diagonally, following very specific diagrams for which direction to cut. Then each light half gets combined with a dark half to make a new block. I've barely made a start on this step. I started with some of the easiest blocks, the four-patches from Week 3.

After combining all the light halves and dark halves into new blocks, they all get trimmed down, again following very specific diagrams. This part of the mystery definitely requires a clear head and good focus. I sure don't want to cut something the wrong way and need to remake blocks. 

It's not too late to join the fun (although it might not be much of a  mystery for you.) For lots more great photos and inspiration, check out the Modern Quilt Studio Patterns and Fabrics Facebook group (you don't have to be a member.) You can find out how to join the Lighthouse Inn mystery at their website HERE.

Linking up with:

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Monday Musings at Songbird Designs

Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss at Inquiring Quilter

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA