Stash Report and Stitching Time 4/2/2023

Adding up the numbers for this week's stash report revealed that all of the fabric I used during the week was green, most of it on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge Projects. I used a total of 1.75 yards to make 42 Rail Fence blocks, a green string placemat, five green crumb blocks, and to bind 4 Sawtooth Star placemats. Here are my favorites, the scrappiest projects.

There was no new fabric added to the stash last week!

2023 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                  1.75 yards

Used year to date:           28.875 yards

Added last week:                   0.0 yards

Added year to date:               9.5 yards

Net used in 2023          19.375 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. After spending most of the week making a mess with my green scraps, I cleared them away on Friday and switched back to the guild's BOM. There has definitely been more than 15 minutes of quilting time every day!

15 Minute Challenge for 2023: 

3/26 - 4/1            7 of 7 days

2023 Total        89 of 91 days

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Green Scrappy Projects

The last week of March was catch-up time for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects featuring green, our color of the month. I started by making 42 Rail Fence blocks. These will finish at 3" each.

There were several of the green rectangles leftover after making these blocks, so I joined some together as the starting point for a scrappy green placemat for the 2023 ABC (Table) Scraps Challenge hosted by The Joyful Quilter. I blogged about it yesterday in this post, but will share my photo here for the RSC quilters too.

At some point during the week, I got distracted by a baggie of green crumbs and bits. Those ended up becoming five crumb blocks to add to my collection. There are some very small pieces in these blocks. The blocks measure 6.5" with seam allowances, and each one has between 20 and 35 pieces in the block.

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.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Pretty in Pinks

It has been a very productive month for using pink scraps on my various projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I started out by making half a dozen pink crumb blocks.

My other pink blocks for the month included one large scrappy heart block (12" finished size), 36 Rail Fence blocks and 30 Charm Baskets.

I also finished the hand stitching on six appliqued hearts. There are still a couple more of these to complete.

At the end of the month, I made a scrappy pink baby quilt with Uneven Nine-Patch blocks, using up the leftovers from an earlier baby quilt. The border was added a few days ago, finishing off my scrappy pink stitching for this month.

It has been a very good month for using up some pink scraps (but of course, I still have more pink hanging around my sewing room.) I'm looking forward to finding out what our new color will be for next month. My guess is green, to go along with all the beautiful greens for spring.

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. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA 

Scrappy Pink Saturday

Not only is pink the color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, it is the color of the month around many houses in our neighborhood. These beauties are blooming at the back of our yard. Our azaleas are looking better than they have in years!

We also put in some new plants last fall in the side yard next to our neighbor's fence. This one may be small, but it is covered in blossoms. It is an Encore azalea which should bloom again in the summer and the fall, rather than just in the spring like our older plants.

As for my pink scrappy stitching, I started the week by making some pink crumb blocks. It has been a long time since I played with my crumbs, and I enjoyed puzzling them together.

My other pink project for the week was making Rail Fence blocks. I ended up with 36 pink blocks which will finish at 3" each.

As usual, I needed to put up the different colors on the wall and see how they looked together. This is going to be a very cheery, fun quilt!

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. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA 

Stitching and DeStashing--Week 16, 2021

My quilting time for the past week was mostly divided between two main projects. The first was adding the corner triangles to the kaleidoscope blocks that I have been making as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge since the beginning of this year. That doesn't change the Stash Report though, because I had already counted all the blocks as though they were complete.

The other project that filled my time last week was Alycia's current Quilts of Valor mystery #A12--Dakota Inspired. You can currently find pdf's for all the clues on her Alycia Quilts blog. The mystery started in early March, and I had been saving the clues since then, but wasn't making any of the parts yet. Once I saw the blocks and the quilt layout, I needed to pull out some fabrics and join in the fun.

This quilt will have a total of 32 blocks. I have finished 18 blocks and have 8 red and 6 blue still to be made. I didn't have a big enough piece of any one red fabric, so I am making each churn dash block out of a different red. The blue is a leftover from a recent quilt back.

Alycia's mystery #A12--Dakota Inspired

These 18 blocks used 2.5 yards from my stash. I am also counting 3/4 yards as used for some crumb and string blocks that I made recently. No new fabric was added last week. 

2021 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                              3.25 yards

Used year to date:                          90.0 yards

Added last week:                              0.0 yards

Added year to date:                         24.0 yards

Net used year to date                  66.0 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. We got our second Covid vaccine on Wednesday, and my sore arm limited the amount of rotary cutting I could do afterwards. Fortunately, the discomfort didn't last long, and I am still on track with quilting time every day.

15 Minute Challenge for 2021: 

4/11 - 4/17                7 of 7 days

2021 Total           107 of 107 days

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday--4/12/2021

There are some days when I have time I can spend in the sewing room, but I can't figure out what to work on. This is most likely to happen when I have just finished a big project like completing a quilt top or making a set of monthly blocks. Sometimes I want to quilt, but my brain can't handle anything complicated. That's when I pull out the crumbs and strings. 

Our April color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is light blue. I made six light blue crumb blocks and two string blocks a few days ago. I also finished off one yellow string block. These blocks currently measure 6.5" each.

When I went to put the blocks away, I discovered a good-sized stack of crumb blocks in other colors and decided to see how they looked on the design wall together. 

Isn't that a cheery collection of blocks! If I made three more, they could become a baby quilt, 36" x 48". On the other hand, there are a couple of colors missing (pink and orange.) If I make blocks with those colors and maybe add a few more to the colors that are short (yellow, aqua/teal), I could end up with a throw quilt. 80 blocks set 8 x 10 would make a quilt that measures 48" x 60". For now, they will go back in the box until I get inspired to pull them out again.

Linking up with:

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Happy quilting everyone!

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

Stitching and DeStashing--Week 24, 2019

I have been working away on a few different scrappy quilt projects this week, moving them all forward and using up some stash fabrics in the process. I have mostly been making crumb blocks and string blocks, which make a terrible mess of the sewing room but use up plenty of scraps. If only I'd made one more blue crumb block to fill that empty spot!

2019 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                          1.50 yards

Used year to date:                     21.50 yards
Added last week:                          0.0 yards

Added year to date:                   27.75 yards
Net stashed year to date:        6.25 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'm back to splitting my time between several different projects, which adds up to quilting time every single day!

15 Minute Challenge:  

6/9 - 6/15                7 of 7 days

2019 Total         154 of 166 days

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 24, 2019

The color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is blue, especially the darker blues. I've had blue scraps scattered all over my machine cabinet, a little side table, and my cutting table. The mess was making me a little crazy, but I did manage to produce a bit of order from the chaos, making 4 blue string blocks and 7 blue crumb blocks. These will all finish at 6".

There are still plenty of blue bits and pieces hanging around, but it felt great to use up so many of them in these blocks!

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 17, 2019

It's nearly the end of the month of using our aqua/teal/turquoise scraps for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I've got plenty of blocks to share because those are some of my favorite colors for quilting. Up first are the Tiny Tuesday sampler blocks, which finish at 4.5". It is so much fun waiting to see what the weekly pattern will be, then choosing fabrics and making each block.

Next are some crumb blocks that combine many old favorite fabrics. 6" finished blocks.

My favorites this month are probably the Stair Steps blocks. I've shown different layout options in previous months, and this is a new possibility.

All of the aqua/teal/turquoise blocks on the wall together make quite a lovely display! The Orange Peel blocks on the left and the Framed Crumb Star at upper right were featured in previous RSC posts. There is also a stray block at the upper left of the Stair Steps that was made from leftover units from a previous quilt project.

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Stitching and DeStashing--Week 15, 2019

My stash reduction efforts kept heading in the right direction this week with 3/4 yard used on two sets of blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I made 12 Stair Steps blocks in greens, our color from March. This is a new layout idea that I am considering for these blocks.

I have a set of six crumb blocks in reds that I made in January. They were meant to finish at 4", but all the other crumb blocks have finished at 6". I decided to add on to the red blocks and bring them up to the same size.

4" crumb blocks...

turned into 6" crumb blocks

2019 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                           .75 yards

Used year to date:                    11.25 yards
Added last week:                          0.0 yards

Added year to date:                    26.0 yards
Net stashed year to date:      14.75 yards

My numbers for Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge have been steadily going up over the past month. Once again, I was able to spend at least 15 minutes quilting every single day that week. I'm in the zone and enjoying the process!

15 Minute Challenge:  

4/7 - 4/13          7 of 7 days

2019 Total        91 of 103 days

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 13, 2019

It's hard to believe that March is nearly over! I've been stitching away with green scraps on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects, and here is a selection of what has gotten done this month.

On the left are three 6" (finished size) string blocks, top center is the 12" Framed Crumb Star, and below that are twelve 3" Orange Peel blocks (Lime Peels?). On the right end are my Tiny Tuesday sampler blocks--an owl, a wonky log cabin, and four Multiply blocks.

The Tiny Tuesday owl block may be one of the cutest blocks ever! Sally's pattern was rather intimidating when I first read through it, but after following her step-by-step instructions, it was no problem to put together, and I love the way it turned out.

Here is a closer, rather crooked, look at my Orange Peel blocks. I can see that I need to be careful to keep my colors light and bright so they show up well against the black and grey background fabrics.

One set of blocks didn't make it into the group photo. Here are my green crumb blocks, which finish at 6". Unfortunately after I made them and went to put them away with the other crumb blocks, I discovered that my red blocks only measure 4" finished. I'm not sure how or if the two sets will be used together. 

It has been great fun playing with my green scraps all month. The only blocks that haven't been done yet are the Stair Steps blocks. Maybe I can get those done before we get to April (but probably not!)

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday: Week 5, 2019

Just as suspected last week, I have started far too many new projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge over the past month. There's no way I can keep up with all of these. Let me show you what I'm talking about (regular RSC readers will have seen some of the following photos already.) All measurements listed are finished block sizes.

#1 & #2. String blocks (6") and crumb blocks (4")

#3. Rolling 9-Patch (5")

#4. 30's Pinwheels (4")

#5. Framed Crumb Star (12")

#6. Orange Peel (3")

#7. Stair Steps (6")

#8. Tiny Tuesday/RSC Sampler 2019 (4.5")

Here is a shot of most of these blocks together on the design wall. The missing blocks are the 30's Pinwheels and the Rolling 9-Patches, which I have already decided not to continue with as 2019 RSC projects.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks, January, 2019

Oh no! EIGHT PROJECTS?! How in the world did that happen? Here I thought I wasn't doing much quilting in January. Just shows how wrong you can be. I certainly won't be able to keep up with all of these for the rest of the year. The current plan is to keep going on the following:

1. Orange Peels

2. Tiny Tuesday sampler 

3. Stair Steps

4. Framed Crumb Star

5. Crumb blocks (tentative) 

Doing the Orange Peels provides my needed applique project for the train ride to work. I enjoy following along on the RSC sampler projects, and I can't wait to play with different layouts of those Stair Steps blocks. The Framed Crumb Star means I need to make at least one crumb block each month. Who knows how many more might happen. There, I guess I've settled on my RSC plan for 2019!

Don't worry about the projects that didn't make the cut; they will be delayed until another time. The red 30's Pinwheels will join the other finished pinwheel blocks in my box of 30's projects, and there may be other colors joining them occasionally but not every month. The Rolling 9Patch blocks may become a little wall-hanging or table topper, perhaps with some more red blocks added because I have extra 9-patches already made. The string blocks will join some others from the past and wait for the right time to be used.

It's time for me to make this week's Tiny Tuesday block, then start pulling out the yellow scraps for February. What are you making with your scraps?

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Revisiting my Red Scraps

It seems like forever since I didn't have to work on a Saturday (the last time was Christmas weekend, which also feels like an eternity ago.) We didn't find out until 11:30 last night that there was no work call today, but it felt so good to sleep in this morning, then spend some time checking out this week's posts to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Now I am finally ready to add my own post to the group.

It has been a slow start to the RSC for me this year. I am still trying to figure out my plans for RSC projects. I've been making sample blocks of a couple of ideas, plus stitching up some basic blocks from assorted scraps. My first batch of blocks are some crumb blocks which measure 4.5" unfinished. There were originally two more blocks, but they have already been repurposed. 

Crumb blocks

One of the repurposed crumb blocks became the center of a sawtooth star. The star was then surrounded by a frame made from 2.5" squares. The finished size of this block is 12". I'm thinking about making another one from 2" squares and doing two rows of framing--maybe for next week?

Framed Crumb Star

Some other red stitching over the past several weeks has been HST's from my 30's fabrics made into 4" pinwheels. I have been stitching these as leaders and enders in between other piecing. 

30's Pinwheels

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA