Scraptastic Stars is Finished!

2026 has turned into my best year ever for finishing quilts, with a total of 10 quilts completed before the half-way point of the year. The most recent finish is my Scraptastic Stars quilt.

Scraptastic Stars, 40" x 52.5"

The blocks for this quilt were made as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge back in 2018. The Scraptastic Stars pattern was designed by Melissa Corry of Happy Quilting. The blocks in my quilt finish at 12". I also made a second set of blocks which finish at 16" each, but they haven't been joined together yet.

Indoor photo

Before the end of 2018, I had the blocks and sashing all joined together into a top and layered with batting and backing. I started the quilting with diagonal lines through the chains of white squares, but then I got stuck on what to do next. The quilt was stashed in the closet, waiting for inspiration to strike.

I've been making a dedicated effort to finish some of the many quilt tops from that closet, and the fact that this quilt was already layered and the quilting started helped it jump to the top of the list for finishing. 

The quilting is all straight lines, a combination of stitch-in-the-ditch and diagonal lines around the stars. I switched thread color for the quilting within each block, probably an unnecessary step, but I like the way it turned out.

The backing fabric is a print of black and white checks alternating with bright clusters of fruit.

I'm  linking up with:

 Rainbow Scrap Challenge at So Scrappy

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Monday Musings at Songbird Designs

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Chandelier Quilt Finished!

The June assignment for our guild's UFO Challenge was #7, and for me that meant quilting and binding a quilt top that I made last year. This is my finished Chandelier quilt.

Chandelier, 47" x 57"

The Chandelier quilt was made from a free 3-yard quilt pattern at Sew Can She. I received the fabrics from our guild's Community Service stash, and the quilt will go to the local Meals on Wheels chapter to give to one of their clients when the weather gets cold.

One new thing that I tried on this quilt was to use a home-made basting spray. I found the recipe for it at String and Story. I hate pinning quilt layers together and trying to avoid the pins while quilting, and the aerosol basting sprays have gotten very expensive. This home-made version uses water, flour, salt and rubbing alcohol, so it is very inexpensive. You have to let it dry completely after you baste the layers together before you can start quilting, and it makes the layers a little bit stiffer, but I am very willing to deal with those facts in order to save so much on the cost of the spray. The basting spray washed out easily when the quilt was finished, a necessary step with this spray.

Chandelier Quilt back

Our UFO assignment for July is #6, and I already have that quilt top layered with the batting and backing, all ready to be quilted.

I'm  linking up with:

Wednesday Wait Loss at Inquiring Quilter

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 6/21/2026

My stash report shows some significant usage this week, but there was also an unexpected addition. The usage included 7 yards total for "Riding the Waves" (aka Blue Onion quilt) plus the four placemats made from the extra Blue Onion blocks. You can read more about this quilt HERE.

 Riding the Waves

The other out-going fabric was a half-yard bundle, 6.5 yards out, that I donated for our guild's monthly drawing. That stash reduction was wiped out when I won a fat quarter bundle at the same guild meeting for 6.75 yards added.

2026 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                   13.5 yards

Used year to date:            65.625 yards

Added last week:                  6.75 yards

Added year to date:             107.5 yards

Net added in 2026:       41.875 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 quilting time. It was a very full week of quilting, with one quilt and four placemats finished, plus another small quilt nearly completed. I hope next week can be equally productive.

15 Minute Challenge 2026

5/31 - 6/6              7 of 7 days

2026 Total        169 of 171 days

Success rate               98.8 %   

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

Riding the Waves (aka Blue Onion) Finished!

This was one of those projects that jumped to the front of the line and insisted on being finished right away! This is "Riding the Waves."

Riding the Waves, 39.25" x 49.5"

Just a few short weeks ago, our guild (Common Threads Quilters Guild of Newnan, GA) had a presentation by Mary Ruth Hudson called "Tackling Curves in Quilts". The next day, Mary Ruth taught a workshop with the Blue Onion pattern by Karla Alexander of Saginaw Street Quilts.

The workshop was on a Friday, and just a few days later, I shared a post showing the blocks I had made up until that point (you can see that post HERE.) I ended up making a total of 24 blocks, but only 20 of them were used in the quilt.

I played with a few different layout options, and had decided to go with the layout shown above, which is similar to the pattern cover. I even started sewing the blocks together into rows, but the idea of diagonal waves kept nagging at me. Then I discovered the perfect backing fabric in my stash and knew that I had to change my plans.

The diagonal wave design on both the front and the back of the quilt reminds me of the giant slide at the state fair. That's what led to the name "Riding the Waves." I quilted from the back side, following the design of the backing fabric. The quilting adds some fun wavy stitching lines to the front of the quilt.

The four extra blocks were turned into placemats, which will be donated to Meals on Wheels through our quilt guild.

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

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Sunday Stash and Stitching 6/14/2026

This week's edition of the Sunday Stash Report could also be titled True Confessions, thanks to a fabric sale held by our quilt guild. The guild received an enormous fabric donation from a quilter's estate several months ago. A large amount of the donated fabric went to the guild's community service projects, but there was still a great deal more, and it became a fundraiser for the guild. The fabric was being sold for only $4 a yard. These photos will give an idea of the huge selection.

I bought a total of 34.5 yards of fabric at the sale. A few were 1-yard pieces, but most were 2-4 yard lengths. I'm trying to concentrate on getting backings and finishing more quilts. No fabric usage to report this week.

My purchases

2026 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                     0.0 yards

Used year to date:            52.125 yards

Added last week:                  34.5 yards

Added year to date:           100.75 yards

Net added in 2026:       48.625 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. For only the second time this year, there was one day with no quilting activity at all. That was last Sunday, when we went to the Atlanta Opera to see the last part of the Ring Cycle, all 5.5 hours of it (including intermissions.)

15 Minute Challenge 2026

5/31 - 6/6              6 of 7 days

2026 Total        162 of 164 days

Success rate               98.8 %   

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

Quilt Show Results

There have been many times in the past few months when it felt like the only quilt projects I was working on this year were my entries for the Georgia Celebrates Quilt show. Of course, it's not true. I have made other projects this year, but a very large portion of my time has been focused on finishing my quilt show entries. Last week, all of that time and effort was on display at the Georgia Celebrates Quilts show.

Georgia Celebrates Quilts is the largest and most prestigious quilt show in the state, with over 300 quilts on display and more than $4000 in prizes awarded. The show is held every other year, and they always have an incredible display of quilts in a wide range of styles and sizes. 

I was fortunate enough to have three quilts accepted for the show, and I was stunned when all three of them received ribbons. The most exciting of all was the "Best Use of Color" award for my 2025 Temperature Quilt. It was quilted by Kris Townsend Davis.

Rainbow Stairsteps won 2nd Place for Pieced Quilts, 2 Person--Small. It was quilted at Sew Senoia, a local quilt shop.

Sunset at Lighthouse Inn won 2nd Place for Modern Quilts, Large. It was quilted by Kris Townsend Davis.

I am a member of two different local quilt guilds. One is the East Cobb Quilters' Guild, which is the group that presents the quilt show every other year. This guild generally has over 300 members. My other guild is the Common Threads Quilters Guild of Newnan, GA, a much smaller group, usually with 40 - 50 members. There were several quilts in the show made by members of Common Threads. Here are a few of them.

My Texas Neighborhood by Laurie Reissler

What to Do Next by Teresa Smith

Woven Whispers by Sharon Hendrix

Judges' Recognition 

Whimsical Vases by Sharon Hendrix

Honorable Mention, Applique

Sharon also had two other quilts in the show, one of which received a ribbon. It was a very impressive showing for our little guild!

You can see the winning quilts HERE. I'll share more of my favorite quilts from the show another day.

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

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

 Rainbow Scrap Challenge at So Scrappy

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Sunday Stash and Stitching 6/7/2026

It has been a very busy week, most of it focused on the just-concluded Georgia Celebrates Quilts show. I'm working on a separate post about the show, but I will admit here that my entries did very well. Anyway, the week included dropping off quilts one day, helping hang quilts another day, visiting the full show the next day, then picking up my quilts at the end of the week. 

Along with all the show activity, I worked on a new tablerunner, plus finished my Blue Onion quilt. I made 24 Blue Onion blocks, but used only 20 of them in the quilt. These are the four extra blocks.

I'll count the fabric used for this quilt when I get some photos of the finish. No new fabric was added to the stash this week.

2026 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                     0.0 yards

Used year to date:            52.125 yards

Added last week:                    0.0 yards

Added year to date:            66.25 yards

Net added in 2026:       14.125 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. As I said above, it was a very busy week with a combination of quilt show activity plus finishing up some recent projects.

15 Minute Challenge 2026

5/31 - 6/6               7 of 7 days

2026 Total        156 of 157 days

Success rate               99.4 %   

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