Scrappy Rainbow Hearts

Belated Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! In honor of the day, I pulled out my hand appliqued hearts to audition a possible layout.

The heart blocks have been an on-again, off-again project for several years. They were started sometime in 2021 as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I used to do a lot more hand applique when I was working, getting most of my hand stitching time during my daily train commutes. Since my retirement in 2020, hand applique has mostly become my travel project that I take along when we are going to be out of town.

The collection of hearts has reached a little over 100 total blocks. My layout was inspired by the following design from Fat Quarter Shop called Woven Hearts. 

It turns out that I like the look of the heart layout with the star blocks better than with my heart blocks, although I haven't completely ruled out this possibility. The appliqued hearts have already gone back into their box until the next time I am inspired to try another arrangement.

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

Stash Report and Stitching Time 12/15/2024

As usual, the month of December is speeding by, and now we are only 10 days away from Christmas! I didn't post a Stash Report last week because we were traveling, a trip to Wisconsin to celebrate my mother's 90th birthday. We were able to enjoy plenty of family time, including meeting the most recent additions to the family, two great nieces. It was a great trip, even though Ed and I both managed to get sick at different times. We are home now and working on final preparations for Christmas.

My stash usage for the week was 2.25 yards, which was the fabric used for the backing and binding on the baby quilt for one of those new great nieces. I shared photos of the quilt (and one of the baby) in THIS POST. As usual when we drive to Wisconsin, I got to make a stop at Hancock's of Paducah. I bought a few pieces of fabric, but I am not sure where they are hiding right now, so I will wait and share those in next week's post.

2024 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                     2.25 yards

Used year to date:               130.0 yards

Added last week:                     0.0 yards

Added year to date:           111.25 yards

Net used in 2024:            18.75 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's always hard to find that time while away from home, but I surprised myself by getting in some stitching every day that we were gone. For the past couple of years, my appliqued hearts blocks have been my go-to hand stitching project while traveling, and they continue to fill that role now. I finished the four blocks shown below during our trip, bringing my total number of heart blocks to over 100. I've been working on other projects since we got home, and have managed to spend some time on quilting every day.

15 Minute Challenge for 2024

12/1 - 12/14          14 of 14 days

2024 Total          344 of 349 days

Success rate               98.57 %   

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

Stash Report and Stitching Time 9/29/2024

My stash report for the last week doesn't show as much change as the previous few weeks, mostly because we were out of town for several days. Before we left, I was able to finish off one last set of placemats for the guild's Christmas market. These feature another very old Hoffman print.

I would have used the bright print for the placemat backs, but I didn't have enough of that fabric. Instead I combined what I had left with more of the black solid background. These 6 placemats used 2-5/8 yards of fabric. I also used 3/8 yard for the Hollow 9-Patch block shared in yesterday's post. No new fabric was added last week.

2024 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                     3.0 yards

Used year to date:              113.5 yards

Added last week:                    0.0 yards

Added year to date:             88.75 yards

Net used in 2024:            24.75 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 finishing off the last set of placemats, I pulled out my ongoing hand stitching project, the applique hearts, to take along on our trip. That made it possible for me to get in my stitching time every day last week.

15 Minute Challenge for 2024

9/22 - 9/28               7 of 7 days

2024 Total          267 of 272 days

Success rate               98.16 %   

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

Stash Report and Stitching Time 9/24/2023

I missed posting my stash report last week thanks to our recent trip to New England. It's the first time I missed reporting in several months, ever since a trip in the spring to Paducah and Wisconsin. I'm sensing a pattern here! We had a fantastic time traveling to Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, all of them states we had never visited before. We even got to see some beautiful quilts at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont, including this one that is dated 1830-1840.

The trip included a visit to only one small quilt shop, and I didn't buy anything there. After our return, one of my main quilting activities was preparing for the quilt guild's annual auction. Guild members donate quilting/sewing related items which are laid out on long tables with brown paper bags taped to the tables next to each item. We buy tickets and place them in the bags for the items we wish to win. Here are some of the items I donated.

Charm pack--.75 yards

Kit for unknown project--3.75 yards

Poinsettia prints--6 yards

Jinny Beyer border stripes--6.25 yards

The total yardage of the fabrics I donated to the auction came to 16.75 yards. I also contributed some books and a kit for a Christmas hanging. I thought I was making a good dent in my stash, but unfortunately ended up bringing home even more fabric than I contributed.

Christmas fabrics--3.5 yards

"Harvest Home by Nancy Davis Murty--5.5 yards

These wreath blocks are also from the Harvest Home line--1.25 yards

Floral and border stripes--7.5 yards

3 matching charm packs--2.25 yards

All combined, my totals came to 16.75 yards out of the stash and 20 yards added. I've already cut into one of those floral border stripes to make tablerunners for the guild Christmas market, so I hope to see plenty more usage in the coming weeks.

2023 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                       16.75 yards

Used year to date:                    97.50 yards

Added last week:                      20.00 yards

Added year to date:                86.875 yards

Net used in 2023:               10.625 yards

Fabric wasn't the only thing that came home with me from the auction. I also won some new rulers and a thread stand, plus a few books and patterns. I'm especially pleased to have the foundation papers for pineapple blocks, and I look forward to trying out the new rulers.

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 was surprised to discover that I missed only 2 days of stitching time during our 10-day trip, but I know that most of those days didn't have much more than 15 minutes. I had my old standby Applique Hearts blocks along, and managed to finish only four of them.

15 Minute Challenge for 2023: 

9/10 - 9/23           12 of 14 days

2023 Total          254 of 266 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 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

Stash Report and Stitching Time 8/28/2022

The stash report for the past week doesn't show any usage or additions, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been quilting. I'm nearly finished making  the Snail's Trail blocks that I showed in Monday's post. I've also been doing a little bit of hand applique, finishing two bright blue heart blocks during a Zoom quilt guild meeting.

2022 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                0.0 yards

Used year to date:       89.125 yards

Added last week:              0.0 yards

Added year to date:       86.25 yards

Net used in 2022       2.875 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 was able to get in at least 15 minutes every day, even with house guests here for a couple of those days.

15 Minute Challenge for 2022: 

8/21 - 8/27           7 of 7 days

2022 Total      234 of 239 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

Stash Report and Stitching Time 8/21/2022

My stash report for the past week shows a little bit used and even more added. The usage was for an orange Scrappy Heart block and for the applique hearts blocks that I have completed over the past few months. Here are both types of blocks together (a repeat photo from yesterday's post.) The orange heart block will finish at 12", and the little purple heart blocks currently measure 5"; they will get trimmed to 4.5".

The stash addition for the week was the latest shipment from the solids club at Fat Quarter Shop. The colors for this club have been based on birthstones, and this month's stone was one I'm not familiar with: peridot. Judging from the fabrics, it must be a yellowish green stone.

2022 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                .75 yards

Used year to date:       89.125 yards

Added last week:              3.0 yards

Added year to date:       86.25 yards

Net used in 2022       2.875 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. This week I had well over 15 minutes every day with a combination of piecing, quilting and hand applique. I also attended a quilt guild meeting on Thursday.

15 Minute Challenge for 2022: 

8/14 - 8/20           7 of 7 days

2022 Total      227 of 232 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

Orange Medallion Quilt Top & Other Projects

The orange scraps have been flying in my sewing room this week! First up was finishing the Orange HST's Medallion quilt top.

41.25" x 54.25"

There are some favorite orange fabrics that seem to appear in every scrappy project I make. This citrus print is very old (late 1990's?), and I still love using it!

You can't go wrong with polka dots!

There are several pinwheel blocks left over, which will probably end up being used in the quilt backing.

After that was done, I pulled out my 2.5" squares and triangles to make an orange Scrappy Heart block (12" finished size.)

The other rainbow project for the week was to catch up on my applique hearts blocks, finishing up the last of the purple hearts for July. I already have enough orange blocks that were stitched last year. (Why is purple such a hard color to photograph?!)

Here you can get an idea of the different scale of the two types of hearts.

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