Scrappy Rainbow Wrap-Up for 2022

2022 was my 10th year of participating in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, hosted by Angela at soscrappy. I love the combination of the limitations imposed by monthly color assignments along with the total freedom to make whatever we choose. Then there's also the fact that the RSC participants are some of the friendliest and most inspiring quilters you will ever find! Thanks so much to Angela for keeping us all motivated every week/month, and to everyone else for the feedback and encouragement.

It felt like my RSC projects were somewhat neglected this year, but as I started looking back at photos and blog posts, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I got done. I started the year with three new RSC projects, plus a few others that carried over from last year.

1. Charm Baskets was my favorite new RSC project for 2022. I made over 200 basket blocks, 4" finished size, for this quilt top.

Charm Baskets, 52.75" x 69"

2. The other new RSC project that made it to the finished quilt top stage was Scrappy Hearts.

Scrappy Hearts, 45" x 52.5"

3. The third new RSC project for 2022 was the Scrappy Rail Fence blocks. My original plan was to make these blocks as leaders and enders, averaging one little 3" block every day using that month's color. I got through four months before losing interest, but I might try again next year because I love the way they look together.

Scrappy Rail Fence blocks 

4. There were three projects that carried over from last year. The first was the Bowties 365 blocks, which were my daily block project for 2021. I joined the blocks into four sections, intending to quilt each section separately, then join them. However, now that I have a bigger machine for quilting, I should be able to put these all together before quilting.

Bowties 365, 44" x 58" (after sections get joined together)

5. Another ongoing project was the Applique Hearts. I always like to have a hand stitching project in the works, and these heart blocks were started in July of 2021. I have around 70 hearts blocks made and need to figure out how I am going to put them together, possible framing them with more scraps like the two red and one green block in the photo.

6. Glorified 9-Patch was a carry-over project that actually became a quilt top. I made the last sets of blocks in October, then joined them all together and added a border.

Glorified 9-Patch, 48" x 48"

One of my RSC goals for 2022 was to pull out a UFO/WIP each month, using the color of the month for my selection. This didn't happen every month, but I did make progress on several old projects.

7. My Storm at Sea Heart got the borders added during the red month, January, bringing it up to 30.5" x 27.5". I'm hoping to get this quilted up soon and put it up for Valentine's day.

8. In April, I combined some leftover pink fabrics from a 2014 baby quilt with pink solids to make an Uneven 9-Patch quilt, 42" x 49". 

9. In August I made a small quilt top from an old block and a collection of orange HSTs. This Orange Medallion quilt top measures 41.25" x 54.25".

10. I also pulled out a very old Snail's Trail UFO (from 2001) that had plenty of orange in it. I finished making the blocks, then got them joined together into this little quilt top (31" square.)

11. In September, I finished assembling the Spinning Boxes quilt top (53" x 69") that had been started as an RSC project in 2018. 

12. After buying a new Juki machine to use primarily for free-motion quilting, I went on a quilting binge in August and September, finishing off a few former RSC quilts. The first was made from Rainbow LeMoyne Star blocks that had been made in 2014. The quilt finished at 32.5" x 42.75".

13. The next finished RSC quilt was Crossroads in Green. This quilt's top was also made in 2014, and I got it layered and partially quilted that year, but then was stuck on how to finish the quilting. The new machine made life much easier, and I was happy to finish this quilt (44" x 56") and gift it to a friend.

14. I'm always happy to have a reason to make another baby quilt, and fortunately, our nieces keep on having babies! The latest was born in October, and I finished off one of the Scrap Dance quilt tops that I had made as part of the RSC in 2020 for her. This quilt finished at 39" x 46".

I think that's the end of the list of RSC projects from 2022, and I'm amazed at the final number of quilts and projects. By my count, I ended up with 4 finished quilts, 7 quilt tops plus 1 nearly done top, and 2 projects needing blocks made or joined together. 

Now it's time to finalize my plans for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge in 2023. Join me in checking out all the other wrap-up posts from the rest of the RSC quilters. I'm linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday.

Happy new year and happy quilting!

Julie in GA

August Finish #2--Crossroads

My focus on machine quilting this month is paying off, with another quilt completely finished. It is extremely rare for me to finish two quilts in the same month (and there's still plenty of August left to go!) This is Crossroads in Green.

Crossroads in Green

Finished size after washing 44" x 56"

The top for this quilt was made in the summer of 2014 as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. At that time I had been seeing many other quilters making the pattern and really liked the look of it. Some call the pattern Crossroads, but the more traditional name seems to be Patience Corner (or Corners.) The blocks are very easy to make, using only two different shapes. Here is a single block so you can get an idea about how it goes together.

The finished size of my blocks is 12". I might have made more for a bigger quilt, but I was running low on the background fabric. If you are interested in the block pattern, you can find a tutorial for making the blocks in three different sizes HERE.

I pieced the back for my quilt from two chunks of green fabrics. This was also done in August, 2014. I got it all layered and pin basted and started quilting. concentrating on stitch-in-the-ditch around the green rectangles in the blocks. After that I was stuck on how to quilt the rest of it, so the quilt was stashed in the closet of unfinished quilt tops until I pulled it out earlier this month.

For the quilting in the background squares, I drew an X from corner to corner of each square with blue wash-out marker and used that as a guide for orange peel curves. I didn't draw the curved lines, just tried to make the curves approximately the same distance from the guidelines.

The wishbone quilting in the white inner border also had markings to helped keep it spaced evenly. I marked dots 1" apart and 1/4" from each edge of the border. When I did the quilting, I aimed to loop around each dot as the quilting went back and forth between the top and bottom. Next time I'll try doing it without any markings.

The scrappy green outer border has two "parallel" wavy lines of quilting. Instead of marking guidelines, I used masking tape and stitched next to that.

It's always fun to see what the quilting looks like on the back. The darker green backing fabric was also used for the binding.

That's my second free-motion quilting completion for the month. My goal is to spend at least 15 minutes every day working on my FMQ skills, and so far I have been successful with that goal. Quilt #3 is under the needle, and there are plenty more to choose from after that one is finished!

Linking up with:

Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss at Inquiring Quilter

Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Rainbow Scrap Challenge at So Scrappy 

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA 

Wrapping Up 2016 and Looking Ahead to 2017

Thank goodness that these stash reports start back at zero at the beginning of each year! It feels so good to start the year off with a clean slate. My stash goals generally stay the same from one year to the next: 1. Use at least 100 yards of fabric, 2. Use more fabric than I add to the stash. I nearly reached the first goal for 2016, using 98.875 yards for the year, just over a yard shy of the 100 yards total used. Unfortunately, I came nowhere close to breaking even on usage vs. additions for 2016, ending with a net total of over 70 yards added to the stash.

2016 STASH TOTALS: 

     Used last week:                   0.0 yards     
Used year to date:          98.875 yards

Stashed last week:                0.0 yards

 Stashed year to date:       169.25 yards 

 Net year to date:  70.375 yards stashed

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

I was more successful on Kate's 15 Minute Challenge, tracking the number of days each week that we spend at least 15 minutes quilting. I ended the year with 333 days of quilting time, almost 91%. Many days I don't get much more than 15 minutes, but I'm happy with whatever time I can manage for quilting.

15 Minute Challenge:  
12/25 - 12/31                 7 of 7 days

2016 Total               333 of 366 days

My other main quilting goal for 2016 was to finish more projects than I started, whether that meant finishing a current WIP or a UFO that hadn't been touched in years. There were 15 new projects started last year (more than I realized!), and of those 15, 5 got completely finished, 3 are now finished tops, 3 are still actively in the works, and the other 4 have stalled out for various reasons. I also turned 4 UFOs into quilt tops and finished the binding on one other quilt. 

In an effort to finish off some of my UFOs, I've decided to join Judy Laquidara's UFO Challenge at Patchwork Times. I had so many UFOs that I have entered two lists with 12 projects on each list. You can see list #1 HERE and list #2 HERE. The random number chosen for this month is #3. Here are my projects for January:

Crossroads--finish quilting, bind & label

Ring Around the Stars--add borders

My quilting goals for 2017 are basically the same as last year, with even more emphasis on finishing up some of the old UFOs:

1. Stashbusting--use at least 100 yards, use/give away more than I buy

2. Finish more projects than I begin

3. Finish at least 5 UFOs/WIPs

4. Make at least 4 QOV/donation projects  

5. Be more consistent about taking photos of finished quilts and writing blog posts about them (there are a few that haven't shown up on the blog.)

Happy New Year and Happy Quilting!

Julie in GA

Crossroads tutorial for Hands 2 Help

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict is hosting the Hands 2 Help Charity Quilt Challenge once again. This is the fifth year of the challenge, and there were 145 quilts donated to the selected charities in 2014.

Today is the time for participants to share ideas for the challenge with tutorials on quilt patterns or techniques. The tutorial I would like to share is from Connie at Freemotion by the River for the Crossroads block. This is a very easy block to cut and piece, and Connie's wonderful tutorial includes instructions for making the block in 3 different sizes.

I made this quilt last year using Connie's instructions, and I hope to finish quilting it as my first project for this year's Hands 2 Help Challenge. My blocks measure 12", and the quilt will finish at about 45" x 57".

Check out all the links at Confessions of a Fabric Addict to get lots of ideas for quick and fun quilt patterns. 

Julie in GA

September quilting goals & August results

It is looking like September is going to be a busy, quilt-filled month. All the local quilt shops are getting back to full schedules of classes, and it would be a great time to learn something new. There are also two major quilt shows nearby, but unfortunately they are both on the same weekend. AQS Quiltweek in Chattanooga, TN runs Sept. 10 -13. 

The event I am more likely to be able to attend is Quilting Live! at the Cobb Galleria Center in Atlanta, Sept. 11 - 13. Here is some info about that show:

Quilting LIVE! will have quilt exhibits, stage presentations, classes, make-it take-it events and more,  presented by Quilters Newsletter,  McCalls Quilting, Quiltmaker, Quilting Arts, Keepsake Quilting, Modern Patchwork, Quilty, Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting and QNNtv! Be sure to check out the Quilting LIVE! website today to find out more and learn about all the quilting experiences you could have by attending.


AUGUST GOALS

1.  Finish quilting and bind Musical Stars baby quilt. This was also my August goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes.  FINISHED 8/9/14 and presented to the parents to be!

Musical Stars baby quilt
36" square

2.  Rainbow Scrap Challenge--make 6-8 LeMoyne Stars in August's color, light/bright green.  Since I had already made green LeMoyne stars in May, I made 12 Crossroads blocks in light/bright greens. They have been joined together, borders added, backing pieced, and this is ready to be quilted.

3.  Scrap Hexies--make hexie star & snowflakes. Already had green blocks from May, so have been adding background hexies to my green star.

4.  Tell It to the Stars (Judy L. mystery)--make August blocks. DONE 8/23/14

5.  Make at least 30 blocks as part of the 350 Blocks Project  DONE 8/27
6.  Spend at least 15 minutes each day quilting--cutting, sewing, designing, etc.  DONE 8/31

SEPTEMBER GOALS
1. My September goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes is to finish the binding on the Scrappy Sampler quilt that I pieced last year. Now that we are getting close to fall, it's time to get this quilt completed!

     

2.  Rainbow Scrap Challenge--make 6-8 LeMoyne Stars in orange.
3.  Scrap Hexies--make hexie star & snowflakes.
4.  Tell It to the Stars (Judy L. mystery)--make September blocks.
5.  Make at least 30 blocks as part of the 350 Blocks Project
6.  Spend at least 15 minutes each day quilting--cutting, sewing, designing, etc.

There you have it, my quilting plans and goals for September and my results from August. Watch for the next update at the end of September.

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 8/17/14

Despite a very busy week at work, I made good progress on my stash reduction efforts. I finished the borders on two different quilt tops and pieced the backing for one of them, using a total of 4.5 yards of fabric.

I showed the finished top for my scrappy greens Crossroads quilt in yesterday's post. Here is the back that I pieced yesterday. The selvage of the brighter green fabric said it was from 1996, which is not long after I started quilting. This fabric has definitely aged long enough! The back just needs a good pressing, then it can get layered and pin basted.

The other quilt that got the borders finished this week was my QOV Bowties quilt, which has been waiting for those borders for more than a month. It feels good to have that done too. I will show the finished top on my design wall tomorrow.

No fabric added again this week.  Once I piece a back for the QOV, I should be back to having used more than I have added for the year!

Used this week:                          4.5  yards
Used year to date:                    84.0  yards

Stashed this week:                          0  yards

Stashed year to date:               86.75 yards 

Net year to date:                    2.75 yards stashed  


Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie in GA

Scrappy Green Crossroads

I was feeling a little lost at the beginning of the month when we found out that our August color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is light/bright green. I had already made my allotment of green LeMoyne Star blocks a few months ago, not realizing that lighter green would pop up again. 

I decided to go an entirely different route and try to make a small quilt entirely in greens. The Crossroads block is one I had been seeing for a year or two and wanted to try. I dug out my 2-1/2" light and bright green strips, plus cut more strips off stash fabrics. The background fabric is a leftover from a quilt made around 12-14 years ago. Here is my finished Crossroads quilt top.

Crossroads
45" x 57"

My quilt blocks measure 12" finished, and there are 12 of them in the quilt. I might have made this quilt bigger, but I was limited by the amount of background that I had. Now I have the rest of August to piece a back and try to get this quilted. 

Check out this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts on Saturday--lots of amazingly beautiful rainbow projects to inspire you! I am also linking up to Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and joining in on The Purge over at Stitched in Color. It's time to conquer those scraps!


Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 8/11/14

For the first time in weeks, I have a completely finished quilt to show! Woohoo!!

This is the Musical Stars baby quilt. Two musician friends, a trumpeter and a viola player, are expecting a baby in October. These two fabrics, spotted by my husband when we were in a quilt shop a few months ago, were the starting point for the whole quilt.

The quilt top and the backing were pieced in a very short time in July, but it took longer for me to get around to doing the quilting. I got that done last week, then finished up the binding on Saturday. The quilting is very simple, mostly stitch-in-the-ditch. The quilt just needs to be washed up, then we can present it to the parents.

Musical Stars baby quilt
37" square

Musical Stars baby quilt back

Also on my design wall this week is the center area of my scrappy green Crossroads quilt. There are 12 blocks that finish at 12" each, all joined together and waiting for borders. I have figured out a plan for the borders and hope to get them done in the next few days.

I am linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times where you can see all sorts of amazing quilting inspiration!  On Friday I will also link up to "Let's Make Baby Quilts!" at Michelle's Romantic Tangle.

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 8/10/14

This has been a decent week on the stash reduction front. I finished the binding on the Musical Stars baby quilt (photo tomorrow), and I made 12 scrappy green Crossroads blocks. 

I also discovered that I never subtracted the fabric that was used for some teal/turquoise Crossroads blocks that I made last year, so I am counting that now. I wasn't crazy about these blocks when I made them, but they have grown on me. Maybe I will make some more with other colors like hot pink scraps. The grey background has faint designs in turquoise, pink and lavender.

No fabric added this week. My red number is getting smaller!!

Used this week:                          2.75  yards
Used year to date:                    79.5  yards

Stashed this week:                          0  yards

Stashed year to date:               86.75 yards 

Net year to date:                    7.25 yards stashed  


Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie in GA

Bright green scrappiness

My usual projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this year have been LeMoyne Star blocks and hexie stars and snowflakes. Our assigned color for August is light and/or bright green, and we did the darker greens back in May. Because I have already used greens in both of those projects, I decided to start something completely new this month. Just what I need, a new project! My hope is to keep it small and manageable, maybe even finish it by the end of the month. (Hey, I can dream, can't I?)

I have been seeing this pattern made by others for the past year or so and really liked the way it looks. Angela, our hostess for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge made one in similar colors last year and blogged about it here. Some call the pattern Crossroads, but the more traditional name seems to be Patience Corner (or Corners.) There are two great tutorials for the pattern here and here. The blocks are very easy to make, using only two different pieces. For my 12" blocks, each block requires 4 background squares cut at 4-1/2" and 10 green rectangles cut 2-1/2" x 4-1/2". Here is a single block so you can see how it goes together.

So far I have made 8 blocks and am planning to make 4 more for a small throw quilt. I thought about making more blocks and getting it up to a big enough size for a Quilt of Valor (might be a nice alternative to red, white & blue), but I don't have enough of the white fabric. 

I have had this fabric for more than ten years and used it in one of my favorite bed quilts. On the selvage it says "Song of Spring for RJR Fabrics For the Quilters by the Quilters." It is not terribly likely that I will come across more of this fabric, but if anyone has some, I would be happy to buy it from you. Otherwise, this project will end up a lovely little lap quilt.

Check out this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts--lots of amazingly beautiful rainbow projects to inspire you!


Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 8/4/14

I have been digging through my scrap drawers and leftover blocks looking for anything that features light/bright greens, the August color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I found a small pile of green nine-patch blocks from a quilt my sister and I made together a couple years ago for our mother. Some were extra blocks from the quilt, and others were rejects with fabrics that didn't make it into the quilt. No idea what I might make with them, but it was fun to pull them out again.

The two blocks at the bottom are 12" Crossroads blocks made with my green scraps. You can find tutorials for this pattern here or here.

I am linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times where you can see all sorts of amazing quilting inspiration! 

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 8/19/13

Since January I have been participating in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge over at Angela's soscrappy blog. Each month has an assigned color, and every Saturday there are links where quilters show off their current scrap-busting projects in that color. You can see the most recent posts here. All year I have been making Dancing Stars blocks (pattern available at Amy's Creative Side.) These are the final six in red for August.

Dancing Stars

I have also been seeing Crossroads blocks on other people's posts and wanted to give that block a try. I had plenty of teal and turquoise strips left from my star blocks last month to throw together these four Crossroads blocks. I found two helpful tutorials here and here. The blocks went together very quickly. My teal scraps were cut into 2-1/2" x 4-1/2" rectangles, and the blocks will finish at 12". It is easy to make the blocks in other sizes too. I'm not sure I love the grey background with all the  teal and turquoise fabrics, but it was a good starting point.

12" Crossroads blocks 

It's time for me to link up to Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday. There is an incredible variety of ideas and inspiration there to enjoy, which is the reason why Monday has become one of my favorite days of the week!

Julie in GA