Stash Report & Stitching Time 7/10/2022

I was afraid there would be very little to share for my stash report this week, but then remembered that I had added the borders to my Stack & Whack Triangle Squares quilt top. I also made this Feathered Star block, which was shared in yesterday's post, but I like it so much that it's getting posted again!

My total usage for the week came to 1.375 yards, and there was no new fabric added to the stash!

2022 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:            1.375 yards

Used year to date:      72.125 yards

Added last week:              0.0 yards

Added year to date:      68.25 yards

Net used in 2022      3.875 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 stitching time. Kate hasn't been able to blog lately because of computer issues, but I'm going to continue posting my numbers here. I didn't make huge progress on any of my projects, but I did spend time stitching every single day. The Feathered Star block was especially intense and time consuming!

15 Minute Challenge for 2022: 

7/3 - 7/9               7 of 7 days

2022 Total      185 of 190 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

Purple UFO's Revisited

One of my goals for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this year, besides making my chosen blocks in the assigned color each month, was to also make progress on some of my old UFOs. My plan was to pick a UFO each month based on our color for the RSC.

This month we are working with purple for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I didn't have many UFOs with purple in them, especially scrappy UFOs. However, I did find a couple of oldies that were still appealing.

The first project I pulled out was a set of Hawaiian applique blocks that I made between 2001 and 2003. There are three blocks completed, and the purple block at the bottom right is about 2/3 done.

Here is a closer shot of that unfinished block. I've been working on the applique this week and am making good progress on it. The unfinished area goes from the upper right down the right side to near center at the bottom. I hope to get the block done before the end of the month.

The other purple UFO that got pulled out was originally planned to be an Amish-inspired Sawtooth Diamond similar to the quilt below.

Mine was going to be made with prints, not solids, in fuchsia and purple. I made lots of small (1" finished) half-square triangles with my two fabrics, and that's where it stalled out. I realize now that this design is not a good choice for me because it is a great way to display some fancy quilting, and that is not my strong suit. 

I looked around for other ways to use some of the many HSTs, and decided to try a feathered star block. I have finished one block so far and am considering whether or not to make a few more.

Above was my first attempt at the block. I decided that I didn't like the HSTs near the base of the star points, so I reworked the block and replaced them with purple squares. Below is version #2. I wish I knew how to circle the area that got changed on my photos, but I'm not that technologically savvy.

I'm planning to get back to my regular RSC projects next week, probably starting with the Charm Baskets. I will try to get some more stitching done on the applique block, plus maybe figure out where I'm going with the feathered star block.

Be sure to check out all of the wonderful scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge every Saturday. I'm also linking up with Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts, Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts and Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA 

Stay at Home Round Robin 2022 Finale

We've come to the end of the 2022 Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR). This wonderful event was hosted by Gail of Quilting Gail, with contributions from several of her quilting friends. This week is the time for all participants to link-up their finished quilt or top.

My SAHRR quilt was a two-year project. I started it as part of the 2021 SAHRR, but got stuck and stopped working on it halfway through. Here's what I had when I pulled it out again this year.

SAHRR 2021

I removed the outer borders and kept the Feathered Star center block, the piano keys border and the flying geese. Our border prompts for this year were curves, diamonds, stars, signature blocks, applique and shoo-fly blocks. (If you click on any of the highlighted links, you will be taken to blog posts featuring my version of each prompt.) I followed all of the prompts except the last, choosing to skip the shoo-fly blocks. I added a small border of the background fabric to give it a little breathing room around the outside. I ended up with a quilt top that currently measures 39.5" square.

Feathered Star Round Robin 2022

39.5" square

Once this is quilted, I will finish it with a binding of either burgundy or dark teal. I enjoyed the challenge of following the border prompts that we were given each week, and I look forward to the next time (SAHRR 2023?)

You can check out more versions of the SAHRR at Quilting Gail. I'm also linking up with Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt and Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

To-Do Tuesday 3/1/2022

Good morning and welcome to another To-Do Tuesday! It's time to review how I did on my previous list. then come up with a new set of goals for the week ahead. The Tuesday To-Do List link-up is hosted by Linda at Texas Quilt Gal.

I had a great week and managed to complete all six tasks on my list!

To-Do List for 2/22/22 - 2/28/22

1. Fishies baby quilt--finish top, prep for quilting    ✔done

The baby quilt top is finished and has been pin basted with batting and backing, ready for quilting. You can see the finished top in THIS POST.

2. Secret project--begin quilting         ✔done

The secret project is quilted, bound and completely finished! I will be able to share it next week.

3. Hearts Applique--finish one red block    ✔done

I finished stitching the last two red blocks left from January.

4. Rail Fence--finish making teal/turquoise blocks for RSC    ✔done

There are 36 Rail Fence blocks completed for the RSC.

5. Feathered Star SAHRR--finish hand stitching applique     ✔done

6. Feathered Star SAHRR--start making Shoo Fly blocks     ✔done

I finished the hand applique on my SAHRR quilt and made five Shoo Fly blocks so far. I'm planning to add spacers of background fabric between the Shoo Fly blocks.

My list for the next week continues some of the same projects, plus I will start working with yellow and gold, our new color assignment for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

 

To-Do List for 3/1/22 - 3/7/22

1. Fishies baby quilt--begin quilting

2. Hearts Applique--prep yellow/gold blocks 

3. Rail Fence--begin making yellow/gold blocks

4. Feathered Star SAHRR--continue making Shoo Fly blocks

5. One Monthly Goal--choose a project for March

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 Texas Quilt Gal.

Happy quilting!

Julie in GA 

SAHRR Round 5 - Applique

It's the end of week #5 for the Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR) and there is only one more border to be added. For our assignment this week, we got a choice of adding applique or rail fence blocks. I decided to go the applique route for my quilt. I even decided to try a form of applique that I haven't done before, Broderie Perse.

According to the Quiltipedia Database at The Quilt Show", Broderie Perse is French for "Persian Embroidery". It is a technique where elements, such as flowers or birds, are cut from fabric and appliqued onto a solid piece of fabric..." The feathered star at the center of my quilt features a beautiful floral print, and I have been trying to figure out how to incorporate more of that print in the quilt. Broderie Perse was the perfect answer!

I cut out many flowers from my fabric and auditioned them on the quilt top before settling on my favorites. I chose four small sprigs of roses for the corner squares around the feathered star.

The photo above shows my sample for testing a variety of ways to stitch down the applique after it had been fused to the background. Along the top edge there is some zigzag stitching, which was difficult to line up exactly at the cut edge of the fabric. If you follow around clockwise, there is some blind hem stitching along the right edge, which did not work well at all. My machine does not include a blanket stitch. I switched to a presser foot that made it easier to see where I was stitching, but zigzagging along the lower right still looks messy to me and frays out the fabric. At the lower left, around the bottom of the stem, is my sample of hand blanket stitching, and that turned out to be my favorite.

This is the only applique piece to be stitched down so far. In the first photo of the post, it is the one in the upper right corner of the feathered star. I used regular poly-cotton thread because it was the best color match I had in my thread stash. The next photo, which is taken at more of an angle shows the stitches a bit better.

It's time for me to link up my post with the other SAHRR folks at Quilting Gail. I'm also going to join the Slow Sunday Stitching party at Kathy's Quilts. Stitching around these flowers is definitely slow going, but I'm very happy with how it looks. We will get the assignment for the last border on the SAHRR tomorrow. I can't wait to see how we finish these off!

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stash Report and Stitching Time 2/20/2022

It has been a busy week in my quilting room. I started out by finishing Round #4 on my Feathered Star Medallion quilt for the Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR). The most recent addition was the outer zigzag border.

After that was done, I spent much of my quilting time on my latest entry for the Project Quilting Challenge. This week's theme was "Mining for Diamonds", and I made a small purse with one side covered in black diamonds. You can see it and read more in my post HERE.

For the Stash Report, I used 1/2 yard on the Feathered Star border, plus another 1/2 yard for the Black Diamonds purse, for a total of 1 yard used. I also made my first fabric purchase of the year. I bought a piece of dark grey Kona cotton (with a sale coupon at JoAnn's) and flannel to back a baby quilt; 4 yards total added to the stash. 

2022 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:            1.00 yards

Used year to date:      11.25 yards

Added last week:          4.00 yards

Added year to date:      6.75 yards

Net used in 2022       4.50 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 stitching time. Between the SAHRR project, the Diamonds purse, and starting a new baby quilt, I definitely spent more than 15 minutes on quilting every day!

15 Minute Challenge for 2022: 

2/13 - 2/19         7 of 7 days

2022 Total       50 of 50 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

SAHRR Round #4

Yet another border has been added to my Feathered Star Medallion quilt, which I'm working on as part of the Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR.) If you don't know about the SAHRR, you can read the intro post at Gail's blog HERE.

This week's assignment for the fourth round came from Wendy at Pieceful Thoughts of my Quilting Life. Her choice for the next border was signature blocks. There are many different patterns that can be used as signature blocks, but I wanted to keep it simple. I chose to use a diagonal block, but the colors are a reverse of the usual. For a signature block, the center diagonal would be a light fabric where the signature would go.

I found a burgundy and pink stripe fabric in my stash that looks great with the other fabrics in my quilt, and the stripes add some extra interest. My border units are very small--each little block like the two shown above measures 2" square and will finish at 1.5". 

I made many of the little units, being careful to keep the stripes going in the right direction. I then stitched them all together into four zigzag borders. The zigzags connect with the star points at the outer corners of the quilt.

The one thing that might still change is the outer corners. I'm thinking about replacing the diagonal blocks of the upper quilt photo with background squares as shown in the next photo. (The background squares are just laid on top.)

The current size of my quilt top is 37" square. I haven't decided how big I might want this quilt to finish, but I should probably come up with a plan before we get to the last couple of rounds. I'm very happy with how it is coming together at this point, and I look forward to finding out the assignment for our next border.

You can check out more versions of the SAHRR at Pieceful Thoughts of my Quilting Life. I'm also linking up with Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt and Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stash Report and Stitching Time 2/6/2022

The main project in my sewing room this week was the next border on the Feathered Star quilt for the Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR.) I used one yard of fabric for the border of diamonds and stars, plus the curvy corners closer to the center. You can read more about this quilt in THIS POST. No new fabric was added to the stash last week.

2022 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:           1.00 yards

Used year to date:     8.625 yards

Added last week:         0.00 yards

Added year to date:     2.75 yards

Net used in 2022       5.875 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 stitching time. We didn't have much going on away from home last week, so I had no trouble getting in my 15 minutes every day.

15 Minute Challenge for 2022: 

1/30 - 2/5           7 of 7 days

2022 Total       36 of 36 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

SAHRR--Stars and Diamonds

Most of my quilting time earlier this week was spent on the next round for the Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR.) If you don't know about the SAHRR, you can read the intro post at Gail's blog HERE.

Our assignment for the third round came from Roseanne and Sue at Home Sewn by Us. Their choice for the next border is stars. Their quilt has wonky stars, but we can do whatever type of stars we choose.

My version of round #2, diamonds, was incomplete. I hadn't decided whether to put the diamonds around the corners or all the way across the border. You can see the options I was considering in THIS POST. The addition of stars for the third round helped me make up my mind. I ended up with stars at the corners and two types of diamonds in between.

The outer points of my stars are not attached yet. They will become part of the next border. I fussy cut one fabric for the star centers and the on-point square units.

I'm eager to continue with this and can't wait to find out what the next border assignment will be. I believe we still have three more rounds to be added. 

You can check out more versions of the SAHRR at Home Sewn by Us. I'm also linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation and Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

SAHRR with Diamonds

Today is the deadline to post our progress for the second stage of the 2022 SAHRR (Stay at Home Round Robin.) This weeks assignment was diamonds. I ended up with two different types of diamond units, but haven't decided exactly how or where I am going to use them.

I wanted to add some deeper blues to the color palette, and I chose to use these two fabrics. I fussy cut squares of the diagonal print to make square-in-a-square diamonds, and I used my Tri-Recs tools to make the diamonds from the darker print. 

I'm considering two different options for how I will use these diamonds. My first idea was to place them at the corners of my quilt, then add whatever type of border units we are assigned next week to finish off that round.

My other idea is to make more of both types of diamond blocks and construct an entire border with them as shown at the bottom of the next photo. It would take some calculations to figure out how many units would be needed, and I might need to add a spacer border too, but I do like the way that looks with the rest of the quilt.

For now I'm going to wait until we get our next border suggestion, then I will decide how to incorporate these diamonds. I'm looking forward to finding out what our next step will be! I'm linking up with the other SAHRR participants this week at The Darling Dogwood.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stash Report, SAHRR and Stitching Time 1/23/2022

We have been having some colder than usual weather lately (although nothing like the Midwest and northern states have gotten!) That plus the continuing covid concerns have kept us mostly at home, giving me plenty of time for quilting. 

With all that sewing going on, I'm surprised to discover that I have nothing to report for changes to the stash. I didn't buy any new fabric this week, but I don't have anything to count as used either. Much of my time was spent machine quilting, and all the fabric in that project has already been counted.

2022 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:            0.0 yards

Used year to date:     4.875 yards

Added last week:         0.00 yards

Added year to date:     2.75 yards

Net used in 2022       2.125 yards

One small piecing project that got completed was the first round for this year's Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR.) As I showed in last week's post, I have resurrected the Feathered Star that I was using for the SAHRR in 2021. I removed the outer borders and the green plus sign corners. Our assignment this week was curves, so I replaced those plus signs with curvy corner squares. 

The corner blocks finish at 3" square. I might have been able to piece them like Drunkard's Path blocks, but instead decided to machine applique them, which worked out very well. Here's my quilt center with the curvy corners.

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 stitching time. With the extra time at home plus the variety of projects that I have in the works, I've had no problem spending more than 15 minutes every day.

15 Minute Challenge for 2022: 

1/16 - 1/22         7 of 7 days

2022 Total       22 of 22 days

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces. The SAHRR link-up for this week is at Anja Quilts.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

To-Do Tuesday 1/18/2022

Welcome to another Tuesday To-Do List! Today we will review how I did on my previous list. then come up with a new set of goals for the week ahead. The Tuesday To-Do List link-up is hosted by Linda at Texas Quilt Gal.

Last week's list was a long one, and I managed to complete every goal on it! It took me until Monday afternoon to finish one of them, but it was definitely a successful week. 

To-Do List for 1/11/22 - 1/17/22

1. Rainbow LeMoyne baby quilt--quilting      ✔done

I avoided this project all week until yesterday, then decided to spend some time on it. As usual, the quilting wasn't as difficult as I'd expected, and I completed the quilting of the sashing around two rows of blocks (the double wavy lines.) This is the back of the quilt; the quilting is much harder to see on the front.

2. Bowties 365--continue making 4" blocks   ✔done

I am done making bowtie blocks for now, and have settled on a layout for the first quilt--see it HERE.

3. Charm Baskets--make more red blocks    ✔done

I ended up with 21 red basket blocks for the month. You can see 15 of them HERE.

4. Hearts Applique--prep red, stitch at least one block  ✔done

Two red hearts were stitched last week.

5. Pull a red UFO to work on   ✔done

I unearthed a very old UFO, this Storm at Sea Heart that I made in 2001! It currently measures 18.5" x 21.5" and needs borders.

6. Pull or make center block for SAHRR   ✔done

My center for this year's SAHRR is a repeat from last year, a Feathered Star block. I wasn't happy with all the borders on it last year and put it aside unfinished. I'm going to try again, and I have removed the outer borders and corners. See how it looked before these changes in this post.

My list for the next week is mostly about borders, quilt assembly or machine quilting rather than making blocks. That is very unusual for me, but it's time to get some projects closer to the finish line! 

 

To-Do List for 1/18/22 - 1/24/22

1. Rainbow LeMoyne baby quilt--continue quilting (my OMG for January)

2. Bowties 365--cut setting fabric, begin joining blocks together

3. Hearts Applique--stitch at least one red block

4. Storm at Sea Heart--add neutral border

5. Feathered Star SAHRR--add curves to border

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 Texas Quilt Gal.

Julie in GA 

SAHRR--The Reboot

Last year, Gail and friends joined together for the Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR) and had such a good time that they are doing it again and inviting all of us to join the fun. There is more information on the SAHRR 2022 available at Gail's webpage HERE. 

The first step of the SAHRR is for everyone to share their choice of a center block. Each week, one of the cohosts will let us know what kind of border to add. There will be six rounds of borders, and we can add all of them or as many as we choose. At the end, each participant should have an original medallion style quilt!

I took part in last year's event, but got bogged down halfway through and didn't finish. I lasted through four rounds of borders, but I wasn't happy with the way my last border was looking, so I quit there. This is how far I got last year.

At this point, my quilt center measures 38" square. For the 2022 SAHRR, I'm going to try again with the same center. I am definitely going to remove the three plain outer borders, but might leave the flying geese and piano keys borders. I'm also thinking about changing those green plus sign corners of the piano keys border. Here's the plan for my revised center (although I might remove all the borders and get it back down to the feathered star block.)

You can see the center blocks that others have chosen for their round robin quilts at Quilting Gail. I'm looking forward to finding out what our next step will be!

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA