Starting Another Trip Quilt

We woke up yesterday to light freezing rain and a thin glaze of ice forming on surfaces. Fortunately, we never got a lot of ice, and by afternoon it had warmed up above freezing and started raining,  which took care of the ice. No power outages, which meant I could spend most of the day in my sewing room! I hope you were all able to stay safe and warm.

Last week I shared a post about a mini Trip Around the World quilt top that I made as a sample for an upcoming guild project. I spent many hours later in the week writing up the instructions for that quilt, then decided that it would be helpful to other guild members if I had more samples to show the different steps of the process.

Instead of making another miniature or the extra-long twin size that the guild needs, I decided to go with a baby quilt with 3" finished squares. I pulled out a selection of blue and yellow prints and started making strip sets. Here are my fabrics, plus what I had done by the end of the day on Sunday.

It seems a little blah to me, but I don't have any more blue and yellow prints that would work with the rest. Maybe adding a light blue would help? I cut a few squares of two options and added them to the wall.

Of those two blue fabrics, I would definitely go with the lighter one. But now I'm not sure I feel the need to make the switch. I might just keep going with my original fabric pull, especially since I'm not eager to remake everything that's already done. I'll see how it all looks when it gets lighter out and I can get some daylight in here.

I'm  linking up with:

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Monday Musings at Songbird Designs

Wednesday Wait Loss at Inquiring Quilter

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Sunday Stash and Stitching 1/25/2026

Winter Storm Fern reached our area last night, but hasn't caused any serious problems for us so far. The temperature got down to 29 earlier this morning, but the freezing rain had stopped by then. We are hoping the temps start moving up soon and melting the glaze of ice that's out there now. The rain is expected to start up again this afternoon, then colder weather arrives tonight.

For the first time in 2026, there are some changes showing up in my stash report. Unfortunately, the incoming amount far exceeds the outgoing. I have been prepping some quilt tops to have them long-arm quilted, and I decided to get some new wide-back fabrics for them. Here are the new additions.

I got 6 yards of the bright print, planning to use it for my 2025 Temperature Quilt and also for some other rainbow quilts. The dark speckly fabric will be the back of my Lighthouse Inn quilt, which I'm hoping to enter in an upcoming show. The colors in the new fabric are perfect with the quilt top.

Lighthouse Inn quilt top, 57.5" x 82"

Because the fabrics added to the stash were both wide-back fabrics, I counted the 9 yards purchased as 18 yards added, double the amount of a regular 42" width piece.

Fortunately, I finally have some fabric usage to report as well. I used 3/4 yard for the mini Trip Around the World sample that I made (see it HERE.) I also contributed 10 fat quarters to our guild's UFO Challenge prize collection, for a total of 3.25 yards out for the week.

2026 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                    3.25 yards

Used year to date:                3.25 yards

Added last week:                  18.0 yards

Added year to date:              18.0 yards

Net added in 2026:         14.75 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. Not only did I make the mini Trip Around the World sample, but I've been attempting to write up a set of instructions for making a twin-sized version. That's meant far too much time at the computer, but it does force me to use a very different skill set, which is a good thing.

15 Minute Challenge 2026

1/18 - 1/24              7 of 7 days

2026 Total            24 of 24 days

Success rate                100 %   

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

Blue Old Italian Blocks

There wasn't a lot of time this week to work on my Old Italian blocks in blue for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, but I did manage to double the number of finished blocks. I'm up to an even dozen!

Old Italian blocks, 3" finished size

I also cut pieces for more blocks from the rest of my blue 30's fabrics. It was surprising how many different blue fabrics I had in that box, probably another 20 or so blocks in blue. I'm keeping the pieces next to my machine to use as leaders and enders.

I got the instructions for these blocks at Barbara Black's blogpost HERE. She also includes directions for 5" and 6" blocks.

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

Trip Around the World Mini

Our quilt guild has taken on a new Community Service project this year. We are planning to make extra-long twin quilts for a children's home. The quilts need to be gender neutral and not too childish because the residents range in age from early teens up to 21.

In looking at many design options, I realized that I have never made a bed-sized Trip Around the World quilt. I figured out how to make one that would end up the right size, and I checked out a variety of patterns and tutorials. My favorite technique is Bonnie Hunter's, which is available as a free pattern.

In case there were others in the guild who wanted to try the same pattern, I decided to make a miniature version as a test sample. My plan for the twin version would use squares that finish at either 4.5" or 5". Squares in this mini quilt top are 1" finished.

Trip Around the World mini

13.5" x 19.5"

I still need to figure out the total amount of yardage I will need for a twin version, and I might work up a couple of diagrams for others to follow if they want to try the same design. We have a group prep/cutting day planned for next week, so it's time for me to get ready for that.

I'm  linking up with:

Wednesday Wait Loss at Inquiring Quilter

Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Sunday Stash & Stitching 1/18/2026

Once again, there are no changes to show on my stash report this week. I thought I had finished the top of my 2025 Temperature Quilt last Sunday, but I decided to remake a few of the blocks before calling it done. Maybe I'll have a completed top to share next week.

2026 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                    0.0 yards

Used year to date:                0.0 yards

Added last week:                  0.0 yards

Added year to date:              0.0 yards

Net used in 2026:             0.0 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. Much of my time was spent taking care of guild business before our meeting and workshop on Thursday. I did start one new project for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, which you can see in yesterday's post, plus I've been preparing backs for quilts to be long-arm quilted.

15 Minute Challenge 2026

1/11 - 1/17              7 of 7 days

2026 Total            17 of 17 days

Success rate                100 %   

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

2026 Rainbow Scrap Challenge

After about a dozen years of very active involvement in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, last year I felt the need to back off a bit. I loved piecing the many projects I have made through the years, but I haven't done so well at finishing them, leaving me with a large collection of rainbow quilt tops, plus some sets of blocks waiting to be joined together. 

I didn't start any new RSC projects last year, but I did manage to assemble three more rainbow quilt tops, Hollow 9-Patch, the Scrappy Colorwash "Terry" Quilt (one of my favorite projects from last year,) and Hearts Applique. I also made some placemats early in the year based on the color of the month.

Scrappy Colorwash "Terry" quilt top, 60" x 81"

It sure felt like something was missing from my quilting experiences by not being a part of the RSC last year, so I'm getting back into it again. I decided to start small, making 3" Old Italian blocks from my 30's scraps. I was inspired by recent posts by Barbara Black and by Cathy at Sane, Crazy, Crumby Quilting. Cathy's blog is a constant source of inspiration, and I am always amazed at her productivity and organization.

Old Italian blocks, 3" finished size

My plan is to keep a stack of pieces for these blocks next to my machine and use them as leaders and enders. I expect to set the blocks with a plain alternate block, but I'm not convinced this yellow is the right color; maybe something a little softer would be better. There's plenty of time before I need to decide that.

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

Temperature Quilt 2026

My main project over the last week was joining the sections of my Temperature Quilt from 2025. I'm excited to be getting very close to having a finished top, and I hope to have photos to share soon. I had such a fun time making last year's quilt that I have started a new Temperature Quilt for 2026. I'm using most of the same fabrics as last year, which are  Glaze and Glaze II by Libs Elliott for Andover Fabrics. Here's my color palette for the 2026 quilt.

A few of the colors were swapped out from last year's lineup, and the order of some of the others was switched around. I have 28 colors, and each one represents a range of 3 degrees going from 21° or lower up to 100° and above. The black fabric shown at the top will be my setting and sashing, although I might switch to a solid black.

This time I am using a Herringbone pattern that is foundation pieced. Here are the first nine days. The strips on the left represent the daily high temps, and the shorter strips on the right are the lows. We've had unusually warm weather for the beginning of January. The three bright yellow strips represent highs of 70 degrees.

Herringbone Temperature Quilt 2026

The Herringbone design that I am using is a free pattern from Tina Craig at Seaside Stitches. I enlarged the pattern a bit and am planning to add sashing between the monthly herringbone panels. I look forward to another year of tracking the weather here in Georgia.

I'm  linking up with:

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Monday Musings at Songbird Designs

Wednesday Wait Loss at Inquiring Quilter

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Sunday Stash and Stitching 1/11/2026

My stash report doesn't show any movement yet for 2026, no usage or additions, but I expect that to change next week. I'm trying to finish up a couple of projects from last year, and I desperately need to do some tidying in the sewing room. It's getting hard to find any open spaces on my cutting table!

2026 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                    0.0 yards

Used year to date:                0.0 yards

Added last week:                  0.0 yards

Added year to date:              0.0 yards

Net used in 2026:             0.0 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. Assembly of my Temperature Quilt, along with taking care of some guild business, has kept me quite busy. Very soon I will complete my term as President of the guild, which will be quite a relief.

15 Minute Challenge 2026

1/4 - 1/10                7 of 7 days

2026 Total             10 of 10 days

Success rate                 100 %   

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

Sunday Stash and Stitching 1/4/2026

The first Sunday of the new year means it is time to reset the numbers back to zero as we start over with the Sunday Stash Reports. That is good news for me this year, since my final stash totals for 2025 ended up in the red by quite a few yards, mostly due to some large purchases late in the year. I did have 3 yards used in the final week on a pair of pajama pants for my Braves-loving husband.

2025 FINAL STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                    3.0 yards

Used year to date:              76.5 yards

Added last week:                  0.0 yards

Added year to date:       103.875 yards

Net added in 2025:     27.375 yards

For many years, my yearly fabric goals have remained the same: 

1. Use (or donate/get rid of) at least 100 yards of fabric.

2. Use more fabric from the stash than new fabric added to the stash.

I was not successful at meeting either of those goals last year, which was surprising because I finished more quilts than I had in recent years. I looked back at all my finished quilts for the year and realized two things that impacted the stash usage. First of all, most of the finished quilts were quite small, either baby quilts or wall hangings. Second, the tops for several of the finished quilts had been pieced in previous years, with the fabric usage counted in those years. In a couple cases, they were already partially quilted, which means the backing had been counted earlier too. 

I've been tracking my stash usage and additions since 2012, and it was very interesting to compare my totals through the years. I used at least 100 yards in 8 of those 14 years, and I achieved the goal of using more than I added in 7 of 14 years. 2025 was the first time since my retirement in 2020 that I didn't use at least 100 yards. 

The most interesting fact for me from all these numbers is to see how close I've come to balancing usage and additions over the years. The grand total comes to 14 yards net usage in the past 14 years. I'll continue to track my stash and try to reach the same goals again in 2026.

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 ended up being one of my best years ever for the 15 Minutes Challenge, and I hope to do just as well next year.

15 Minute Challenge for 2025

12/28 - 12/31           4 of 4 days

2025 Total         360 of 365 days

Success rate              98.63 %   

15 Minute Challenge for 2026

1/1 - 1/3                  3 of 3 days

2026 Total                3 of 3 days

Success rate                100 %   

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