Best of 2021--Year in Review

The last day of the year seems like a good time to join the "Best of 2021" linky party, hosted by Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs. This is a great chance to look back at blog posts from the past year, reviewing which posts got the most views or the most comments, and which posts are personal favorites. 

 

1. Post with the most views: Spikey Rainbow Bowties

I was very surprised that this post had the most views because it is a very recent post (December 9th.) It also had the most comments of any post this year. I guess the unusual bowtie setting really grabbed people's attention.

Spikey Rainbow Bowties

60" x 75"

2. Favorite finished quilt top: Blooming Onion

This was a project early in the year, based on the pattern Blue Onion by Karla Alexander of Saginaw Street Quilts. The quilt was made entirely from batiks that were pulled from my stash, except for one non-batik print.

Blooming Onion, 60.5" x 80.5"

3.Favorite Quilt-Along: Positivity QAL, hosted by Preeti of Sew Preeti Quilts for Mercyful Quilts

This was a great quilt-along with a simple block pattern and plenty of time to make the quilt. I ended up making two quilt tops, one that I kept (at least for now) and one that was donated. I was so thankful that Rebecca Grace offered to do the quilting on my donation quilt. 

Positivity #1 (the one I kept)

60.5" x 80.5"

Positivity #2 (donated top)

60.5" x 80.5"

Positivity #2 (quilted by Rebecca Grace)

4. Favorite Rainbow Scrap Challenge project: Scrap Magnet quilt

I've been participating in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge for several years, and this is one of my favorite rainbow quilts ever! I loved playing with the color combinations as I made each and every block.

Scrap Magnet

66" x 83"

pattern by Kirsty of Bonjour Quilts

5. Favorite mystery: Grassy Creek mystery (Bonnie Hunter)

I've followed along on several of Bonnie's previous mysteries and knew what to expect--very scrappy and lots of little pieces. I have learned to simplify a bit by making fewer parts for a smaller quilt. I also used a single grey fabric where Bonnie used grey strings. This is the first time I've made one of Bonnie's mystery quilts in the same colors as she used.

Grassy Creek mystery

64" x 79"

6. Favorite finished quilt: Volcano Nine-Patch baby quilt

This quilt was started after I found a baggie of leftover 9-patch blocks, strip sets, and fabric scraps from an earlier Blooming 9-Patch quilt. I was able to turn those bits and pieces into this wonderful baby quilt for my newest great niece, who is expected today!

Volcano Nine-Patch

42.25" x 52.75"

Life continues to be full of challenges, and I am always thankful to have quilting as a creative outlet. It keeps me sane and gives me great joy. Thanks to Cheryl for giving us all the opportunity to share our favorites from the past year. I'm linking up with her "Best of 2021" blog party.

Happy quilting and Happy New Year!

Julie in GA

Orphan Adoption--Blooming Onion

Update Wed. 3/24/21--This giveaway is closed. The winner is Nann and she has been contacted by email. Watch for new orphan giveaways in September.

This is my second offering for the Spring 2020 Quilty Orphan Adoption Event  hosted by Cynthia at Quilting is more fun than Housework. You can see my other orphan that is available, my extra Grassy Creek blocks, HERE.

The Orphan Adoption event is held twice a year to help quilters clear out some of the old projects that we will never finish. It's the perfect opportunity to pass along your orphan blocks/projects to someone else who will love and finish them! It's also a great time to acquire a new project or two for yourself.

Blooming Onion quilt top, 60.5" x 80.5"

The orphan that is available for adoption comes in two parts. The first part is the extra pieces that were leftover when I made my Blooming Onion quilt, shown above. I had cut more pieces than needed in order to give myself more variety to choose from when making the blocks. Each block is made from five different segments, and you will receive between nine and twelve of each segment. That means you can make nine complete blocks with these pieces, and up to twelve if you add some of your own fabrics.

Extra pieces

The pattern that I used to make these blocks is actually called Blue Onion by Karla Alexander of Saginaw Street Quilts. The pattern will not be included with the block pieces, but you can buy it at Karla's website HERE.

The second part of the "orphan" is a set of six Blooming Onion blocks made in shades of yellow and gold. These were my sample blocks before I made the batik quilt top. The blocks have been trimmed to 10.75". Having these blocks will let you see how the blocks are to be constructed from the batik pieces.

Leave a comment to let me know if you would like to adopt this orphan project. Shipping in the U.S. only. Please be sure to include your email address so I can contact the winner. I will choose a random winner next Tuesday, March 23. Get your comment in by noon that day. Be sure to check out the rest of the quilty orphans over at Quilting is more fun than Housework. 

Julie in GA

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 9, 2021

February has been the perfect month to play with yellow scraps for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. The sunny warmth has brightened up many dreary days.

I have three regular projects in the works for the RSC this year, and I decided to put the yellow blocks from all three up on the wall together. 

I made two Scrap Magnet blocks (upper left), one Sew Colorful Stars block (upper right) and 27 bowtie blocks. Putting them all up on the wall together gives a good look at the size differences--the blocks in the top row all finish at 16 or 16.5", and the bowtie blocks will finish at 5".

As soon as that last sentence was written, I realized that there is another RSC project that I missed--my 30's kaleidoscope blocks. That means I have four RSC projects this year. Here are the kaleidoscope blocks, 26 of them altogether.

Since I had finished all of my regular RSC projects early this month, I pulled out some yellow crumbs and made four 6" blocks. These will join a stack of crumb blocks in other colors from previous years.

I also stitched together the last of the yellow blocks that I had cut back in January when I was getting ready to start my Blooming Onion quilt. That gave me a total of six of those blocks.

I've had a great time stitching up yellow scraps this month, but now I am ready to get started on a new color. Maybe Angela will let us know today what the color will be for March.

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.

Julie in GA

Blooming Onion Quilt Top

There were several different quilt projects waiting to be worked on last week, but one of them took over and wouldn't let me stop until it was complete. This is my Blooming Onion quilt top.

Blooming Onion, 60.5" x 80.5"

The name of the pattern I used is actually Blue Onion by Karla Alexander of Saginaw Street Quilts. Since my version isn't blue, Blooming Onion seemed like a better choice to me. Unfortunately, the colors in the above photo are a little bit off, making the purples look much more blue than they really are. The next photo was taken about 10 minutes later, and the sun was starting to hit the quilt top. The colors in this photo are closer than the previous one.

My quilt top was made entirely from batik fabrics, all pulled from my stash, except for one non-batik that I snuck into the mix. Can you tell which one it is? Here are a few closer shots for you.

I've been trying to think of a better name for this quilt, but haven't come up with anything clever. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

I was able to get a great stained-glass looking shot of the top half from behind as it was hanging over the deck railing. I love the way the colors glow!

Still wondering about the non-batik fabric? It's the purple in the block below.

Linking up with:
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Whoop Whoop Friday at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Favorite Finish at Meadow Mist Designs

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA  

Stitching and DeStashing--Week 4, 2021

My primary quilting project for the past week was making the rest of the blocks for my Blooming Onion quilt. I ended up with 48 blocks, which used 6 yards of fabric. Here is one group of blocks before they got joined together. I'm very eager to get this quilt top assembled!

My other usage for the week was 1/4 yard for the piano keys border on my Feathered Star block. I'm making this as part of the Stay at Home Round Robin. We're just getting started--check out Gail's post HERE for more info if you are interested in joining us.

My feathered star block originally measured about 17.5", but because there was extra background fabric around the outside, I was able to trim it down to 16.75". My piano key pieces finish at 1.25" across and are currently 3" wide, but they could get trimmed down a bit if needed to fit better with the next border.. The two side borders have been stitched to the block, but the top and bottom borders are waiting until I figure out what to put in the corners.

2021 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                             6.25 yards

Used year to date:                         7.50 yards

Added last week:                             0.0 yards

Added year to date:                      11.50 yards

Net added year to date                 4.0 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. The Blooming Onion quilt took up most of my time, but I also worked on several other projects, spending at least an hour quilting every day.

15 Minute Challenge for 2021: 

1/17 - 1/23               7 of 7 days

2021 Total             23 of 23 days

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces. I'm also linking up my Round Robin progress at Chris Knits.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

To-Do Tuesday 1/19/2021

The to-do list that I posted a week ago was longer than usual, but having the list helped keep me focused and I was able to finish every goal on it. It would be great to have another successful week like that. It's time now to link up with the  To-Do Tuesday Weekly Progress Update and Link-up hosted by Roseanne and Sue at Home Sewn By Us. Here's my list from last week:

To-Do List for 1/12 - 1/18/2021:

1. Bowties 365--make one bowtie block every day                    ✔done

I've been keeping up with making my daily bowties. Here are the most recent blocks. They will finish at 5".

2. Blooming Onion--make more blocks                                     ✔done

Here are a few of the most recently finished blocks. Blocks will finish at 10".

3. Glorified 9-Patch--make 1 block in pink                                ✔done

My first pink block is done, and I love it with the black background! 6" finished size.

4. 30's Kaleidoscope--start making blocks (a new project)         ✔done

You can see the 19 blocks I made in THIS POST.

5. Grassy Creek mystery--put together first block                     ✔done

I made six blocks, and you can check them out in yesterday's post HERE.

6. Sewcialites QAL--make block #15                                        ✔done

Another 6" block completed, made with adorable Scottie dog fabric!

7. Stay-at-Home Round Robin (SAHRR)--choose center block     ✔done

I decided to use a feathered star block that I made almost 20 years ago! You can see it in THIS POST.

My to-do list for the next week looks very much like the last one, although one item has been removed because it is done for this month. Several of the to-dos involve making only one or two blocks, so I hope I can keep up with everything.

To-Do List for 1/19 - 1/25:

1. Bowties 365--make one bowtie block every day 

2. Blooming Onion--make six more blocks                                     

3. Glorified 9-Patch--make 1 block in pink                                    

4. Grassy Creek mystery--put together two blocks                     

5. Sewcialites QAL--make block #16                                        

6. Stay-at-Home Round Robin (SAHRR)--add piano keys border 

That should all be plenty to keep me busy for the next week!  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 Home Sewn by Us. 

Julie in GA

Curves, Take Two

 Last week I shared my first set of blocks made using the pattern Blue Onion by Karla Alexander of Saginaw Street Quilts. 

Blue Onion by Karla Alexander of Saginaw Street Quilts. 

The blocks turned out okay, but they weren't quite what I was going for. I decided to try again with different fabrics. The second set of blocks were made with all batiks, and I cut the pieces for all 48 blocks for my quilt before stitching any of them together. That made it possible for me to get a wider variety of fabrics in each block. After much time rearranging pieces at the design wall, followed by an afternoon sewing session, I ended up with these blocks.

I am much happier with the combination of fabrics in these blocks. My plan for the quilt is that these blocks will be the lightest area of the quilt, and the colors will move through oranges and hot pinks into purples around the outer edges.

This new project was inspired by the quilt along hosted by Corinne and Cecile at the Cocopatch website. Their theme this year is curves, and it gave me the perfect excuse to make this pattern that I have owned for several months. The quilt along has just started, so it's not too late to join the fun and sew some curves!

Linking up with:
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA