Best of 2024--End of Year Review

For the tenth straight year, Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs is hosting the Best of 2024 Linky Party, a chance to link up our top blog posts from the past year. Cheryl suggested some ways to choose our best posts such as most views, most comments, best tutorials, and favorite finishes. I'm going to include several of her suggestions, plus throw in a couple of my own. Each listing has a link back to my original blog post.

1. Most views: Jabberwocky

The blocks for this quilt were made throughout 2023 as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and I got them all joined together in late January, 2024. The block pattern is by Judy Martin in The Block Book. The book is out of print, but you can still find copies online.

Jabberwocky, block pattern by Judy Martin

65" x 76.75"

2a. Most comments: Orange Peel Rainbow

The applique blocks for this quilt were stitched as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge all through 2019 and up to the summer of 2020.  The blocks were joined together in August, 2020. The quilt top waited patiently until spring of 2024, when I added a border, then finished it for entry into a local quilt show. This is also my favorite finished quilt of 2024.

Orange Peel Rainbow

39.5" x 51.5"

3. Favorite mystery: Lighthouse Inn Modern Mystery Quiltalong

This was my second mystery quilt by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr of Modern Quilt Studio, and they are masters at keeping you guessing while you make the blocks. I love the way my colors in this quilt worked together with the navy background, and the gradation of block sizes makes for an intriguing design.

Lighthouse Inn quilt top

57.5" x 82"

4. Favorite self-designed quilt: Herringbone

While cleaning off my cutting table one day in July, I ran across a portion of an old Kleenex box that I had saved as a quilt design inspiration. That led to my making a small, scrappy herringbone quilt from a wide range of turquoise, teal and aqua scraps. I would have made it larger, but ran out of the light contrast fabric.

Herringbone quilt top

33" x 39.5"

I might still add a border to this little quilt top, and I'm also thinking about making it again with the ends of the strips cut at a different angle. This is a design that I can envision making in multiple variations.

5. Project of the year: Placemats Parade

2024 turned out to be the year of the placemat for me. I started out by making placemats for all the different Project Quilting challenges at the beginning of the year. Those were followed by 22 placemats made for our guild's Christmas market, then many others to be donated by the guild to Meals on Wheels. The final total number of placemats made in 2024 came to 80!

Piles of placemats

Those are some of my quilting highlights from the past year. I'm still thinking about plans and goals for 2025, but I'd be willing to bet that placemats will appear again. My top goal is to start fewer new projects and get more of the old ones finished. 

Thanks to Cheryl for giving us all the opportunity to share our favorite posts and projects from the past year. I'm joining up with her "Best of 2024" linky party.

Happy quilting and Happy New Year to all!

Julie in GA

Orange Peel Rainbow is Finished!

The Orange Peel Rainbow quilt has been finished for almost a month, but I finally managed to get some photos of it today. For some reason, taking photos has not been a high priority on the to-do list lately.

Orange Peel Rainbow, 39.5" x 51.5"

The applique blocks for this quilt were stitched as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge all through 2019 and up to the summer of 2020. I used to do a lot of hand applique stitching on my morning train ride to work, but of course that ended during Covid. I continued making blocks at home until I had enough for my chosen layout, then got them all joined together in August, 2020. Then the quilt top waited patiently in the to-be-quilted closet until this spring.

Orange Peel Rainbow quilt top without border

Earlier this year, I decided to finish this quilt and enter it in a local quilt show. The first step was adding the scrappy black/dark grey border.

My quilting was very simple, stitch-in-the-ditch between the blocks and around all the appliqued orange peels, all done in black thread. It doesn't show well on either the front or the back of the quilt.

I had a great backing fabric with bright colors on black that was perfect for this quilt. 

I haven't had a quilt finish since January (unless you count the little Fidget quilt I made in May,) so it feels really good to get this one done! I love the way the gradation of rainbow colors worked out and look forward to finding a spot to hang it in our home. It was great fun to see it hanging in the Georgia Celebrates Quilts show too. It didn't win a ribbon, but the judges had nice comments about the design and workmanship.

Linking up with:

Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss at Inquiring Quilter

Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

TGIFF (Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday)

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

Rainbow Scrap Challenge at So Scrappy

June Favorite Finish at Quilting Jetgirl

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA 

Best of 2020

Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs is hosting the Best of 2020 blog party, the fifth year for this event. She is offering the opportunity to link up our five "best" posts from the past year. We get to decide how we choose those posts, but I'm going to follow her suggestions.

1. Post with the most views:  Star Cluster Baby Quilts

I made quilts for the two newest additions to the family over the summer, and this post got the most views by far in 2020. We haven't been able to travel and meet the new babies yet, but it's great to see both enjoying their quilts!

2. Post with the most comments: Orange Peel Rainbow

Orange Peel Rainbow, 36.5" x 48.5"

The Orange Peel blocks were my hand-stitching project for over a year and a half as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I got them all joined together into this small quilt top in August.

3. Post that provoked the best discussion: Scrappy Bear Paws Setting

The above photo shows my Scrappy Bear Paw blocks on the wall with scrappy setting triangle fabrics, an idea that ended up being rejected. Here's a photo of the finished quilt top.

Scrappy Bear Paws, 47.75" x 68.75"

4. Post showing your favorite 2020 finish: Dresden Stars

Dresden Stars, 50" x 50"

Besides the two baby quilts, this was one of the few quilts to get completely finished this year. It felt great to get this long-time UFO, which was started in 2013,  done and hanging in our living room.

5. Post that is a personal favorite: 2020 Rainbow Scrap Challenge Wrap-Up

My final Rainbow Scrap Challenge post of the year shared all four of the rainbow projects that became finished tops by the end of 2020. Besides the Orange Peel Rainbow and the Scrappy Bear Paws shown above, it also included my Scrap Snap quilt, Rainbow Cascade, and my two RSC Square Dance tops.

Rainbow Cascade, 60.5" x 72.5"

RSC Square Dance tops, each 40" x 60"

Despite all the challenges of this very strange year, I'm happy with the progress I made on my quilting projects for 2020, and I look forward to continuing in 2021. 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 2020" blog party.

Happy quilting and Happy New Year!

Julie in GA

Last Scrappy Rainbow Saturday of 2020

Another year of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is coming to an end. As always, there have been countless numbers of amazing rainbow quilts made by the participants. I am continually blown away by their creativity! I am also deeply appreciative of their continuing support and encouragement.

Of course, the main person to thank is Angela, who is our wonderful hostess of the RSC. She created the Rainbow Scrap Challenge in 2011 and has kept it going ever since. Thank you so much Angela for all your hard work through the years!

I started 2020 with two new projects for the RSC, plus one that carried over from 2019. Around mid-year, one unplanned rainbow quilt joined the lineup. It's almost the end of the year, and all four of my RSC projects are now finished quilt tops!

The quilt that carried over from 2019 was my Orange Peel Rainbow quilt. I started this hand applique project as a way to fill the time on my morning train rides to work. I made about a dozen blocks each month in the assigned RSC color. The last blocks were appliqued in mid-August, and they were all joined together a week later.

Orange Peel Rainbow, 36.5" x 48.5"

The unplanned rainbow project for the year was the Scrap Snap QAL. I discovered this pattern in May and couldn't resist jumping in, even though I was several months behind. The blocks were very easy to make, perfect during a pandemic. My original plan was to catch up on the months I had missed, then make the rest of the blocks each month as part of the RSC. It turned out that I couldn't resist making all the different colors over the summer. Before I knew what was happening, I had a finished quilt top that I call Rainbow Cascade.

Rainbow Cascade, 60.5" x 72.5"

Of the two new projects planned for the RSC in 2020, the first to get assembled was the Scrappy Bear Paws. Each month I made a 14" block, although a couple of them were later deconstructed to use in the setting triangles when the quilt top came together. This quilt top was finished in November.

Scrappy Bear Paws, 47.75" x 68.75"

My last RSC project for 2020 was completed on Christmas Eve. My inspiration was the Square Dance block, shared by the Stashbuster Challenge at Border Creek Station. It's basically a double four-patch block with strategic color placement. I figured out a plan for my quilt at the very beginning of the year, then started making 30-32 blocks each month based on the Rainbow Scrap Challenge colors. I ended up with over 300 blocks, which have all been joined together. The only decision that hasn't been made yet is whether to use the blocks in one large throw quilt (60 x 80") or two smaller quilts (40 x 60"), which would be a good size for little kids. For now, I have two separate tops, but they could easily be joined together into one. This is my Rainbow Square Dance!

Rainbow Square Dance x 2, each top = 40" x 60"

I started participating in the RSC back in 2013, and I'm pretty sure that this is the first time I got all of my rainbow projects for the year assembled into tops before the end of the year. Of course, getting them quilted and finished may take much longer, but I'm thrilled to have all of these projects done to this stage.

I'm always looking for new ideas for future rainbow projects, and there are far too many wonderful designs out there! It's so hard to limit my choices for next year to a "reasonable" number. I've already started a new hand-piecing project, my Glorified 9-Patch blocks, which will carry over through 2021.

I will probably also do 2-3 more rainbow projects for next year. I've decided on one, but the others are still up in the air. Maybe I will have it figured out by next week!

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. I hope you are all staying well and getting lots of quilting done!

Julie in GA 

Tuesday To-Do List 9/1/2020

September is here, schools are back in session (in one way or another), and it is time once again for the To-Do Tuesday Weekly Progress Update and Link-up hosted by Roseanne and Sue at Home Sewn By Us. I finished two of my goals from last week, and the third took a turn in the other direction.

To-do list for 8/25 - 8/31:

1. Orange Peels--finish joining blocks together                     ✔ done

This was the top priority for the week, and it happened right away. I have a finished quilt top and am thrilled with how it turned out! I've been sharing this photo all over the place, but here it is one last time. You can read more about this quilt HERE.

Orange Peel Rainbow, 36.5" x 48.5"

2. Dresden Stars--start quilting borders                               ✔ done

The borders are completely quilted, but that left the setting and corner triangles looking too poofy and full. I've added more quilting in those areas, which should help even things out. I'm not sure yet if it was enough; I might need to do even more quilting.

Borders quilted, setting triangles need more

Additional quilting added to setting triangles

3. Continue cleaning up the sewing room (the never-ending goal!)

The cleaning of the sewing room took a u-turn this week because I had to pack up all of my belongings/books/tools at work and bring them home. This was my first opportunity to do so since the building closed for the pandemic. It means I have to find places to put even more things, many of them in the sewing room.

To-do list for 9/1 - 9/7/2020

1. Orange Peel quilt--prepare for quilting

2. Dresden Stars--apply binding, wash and block to straighten/flatten out

3. RSC Square Dance--make 8 red/orange blocks

4. Sewing room cleaning--sort through the boxes I brought home from work

That should be more than enough 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

Orange Peel Rainbow

My Orange Peel quilt was started in December of 2018 when I made a couple of sample blocks as a test project for 2019. At that time I had a 20-30 minute train ride to and from work each day, and I liked having a hand-stitching project to help pass that time on the train.

My blocks are quite small, only 3" finished, and I made them in each color of the month as assigned by the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I didn't have a definite layout or number planned at the beginning, just kept making about a dozen blocks each month.  In October of 2019, I tried out a few layout options and decided on my plan. That meant continuing to make blocks well into 2020, but I'm done now!

The last Orange Peel blocks were stitched earlier this month, and I finished joining them all together a couple days ago. I used 192 blocks in this quilt top (16 rows of 12 blocks) and have about 15 extras that didn't make it into the quilt top.

Orange Peel Rainbow, 36.5" x 48.5"

As you can see in this closer photo, my peels don't quite reach to the corners of the blocks. That was intentional--after making a couple of sample blocks, I discovered how difficult it was to get the peel points precisely lined up at the corners, and I knew it would be very hard to match them up when stitching blocks together. Setting them back a bit helped a great deal in that regard.

I considered adding a narrow border of the background fabrics around the outside, but the quilt is currently the perfect size for a spot where I would like to display it. Therefore, I am declaring this quilt top done! I'm eager to get it layered and quilted, but it will have to wait until a current project is finished. 

All of this also means a success with my One Monthly Goal for August. My goal was to finish making the rest of my Orange Peel blocks. I not only did that, but got them all joined together too--bonus!

Linking up with:

One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilts

Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Whoop Whoop Friday at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Rainbow Scrap Challenge at soscrappy

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework

Slow Stitching Sunday at Kathy's Quilts

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Tuesday To-Do List 8/25/2020

Another week is gone, which means it is time once again for the To-Do Tuesday Weekly Progress Update and Link-up hosted by Roseanne and Sue at Home Sewn By Us. I made progress on all of my projects, which feels good, even though I didn't finish every goal on last week's list.

To-do list for 8/18 - 8/24:

1. Orange Peels--applique last 4 blocks, begin joining blocks together   ✔ done

I made my first hand-appliqued Orange Peel blocks in December, 2018, and the final blocks were stitched last week. I have started joining them together and have two quarters of the quilt done. You can see the first quarter in yesterday's post, and here is the upper left quarter of the quilt.

2. RSC Square Dance--make 8 more purple/pink blocks                       ✔ done

I ended up making 16 more purple and pink Square Dance blocks, finishing off what I needed for August. You can see all 32 blocks in Saturday's post.

3. Dresden Stars--attach borders and begin quilting them       progress

I got the borders stitched to the center of the quilt, but haven't started quilting them yet. I'm pleasantly surprised that they lay fairly flat and hope that continues to be true once they are quilted.

       

4. Scrappy Bear's Paw--make 1 purple block                                 ✔ done

No photos of this block yet.

5. Cleaning/organization--start going through UFOs                       ✔ done

I spent large parts of two days sorting through my many UFOs. Some were set aside to be given away in the near future, and the fabrics from others were put back into the fabric stash. Now I need to get busy finishing some of the rest!

My main project for the week ahead will be to finish the Orange Peel quilt top.

To-do list for 8/25 - 8/31:

1. Orange Peels--finish joining blocks together

2. Dresden Stars--start quilting borders

3. Continue cleaning up the sewing room (the never-ending goal!)

That should 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

Design Wall Monday 8/24/2020

The last few of my Orange Peel applique blocks were stitched up last week, and you better believe there was a little happy dance going on when the final one was done! The arrangement of blocks had already been figured out, so I was able to move directly to joining blocks together. I've got 1/4 of the blocks stitched together here, and the next group are waiting at the machine.

Maybe I will have a finished quilt top by the end of the week!

One thing I did before stitching the blocks together was a little color correction to the backgrounds of two blocks. One of them was the bright green block in the 2nd row from the bottom that looks like rows of knitting. Here's a close-up of that block and another with the same background fabric.

When I had those blocks on the wall with all the others, the amount of white in the background fabric really jumped out at me. I ran across some fabric markers while cleaning my sewing room recently (see, it really does pay to clean up!), and decided to try using those to darken this background fabric. After testing it on a fabric scrap, I carefully colored in some of the white areas on my block. In the pairing below, the green block is done, but the red is not.

Here they are with both blocks colored in. I pressed the blocks with a hot iron after using the marker to help set the color. It's not the neatest looking up close, but it accomplishes what I set out to do. The blocks blend in much better with the rest of the quilt now.

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

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Tuesday To-Do List 8/18/2020

It is time once again for the To-Do Tuesday Weekly Progress Update and Link-up hosted by Roseanne and Sue at Home Sewn By Us. I got a little bit obsessed with one project, but still managed to get through my whole list from last week

To-do list for 8/11 - 8/17:

1. Dresden Stars--continue assembly         ✔ done

The center section of the quilt is all quilted and joined together. The next step is to add the borders, then quilt them.

2. Orange Peel--applique 5 more blocks      ✔ done (+ 2 extra)

3. RSC Square Dance--make 8 more purple/pink blocks   ✔ done

4. Cleaning/organization     ✔ done

I sorted through my collection of English Paper Piecing supplies and put away fabrics and scraps from past EPP projects.

The focus for the next week will be the Orange Peel quilt. There are only a few more blocks to make, then I can begin assembly.

To-do list for 8/18 - 8/24:

1. Orange Peels--applique last 4 blocks, begin joining blocks together

2. RSC Square Dance--make 8 more purple/pink blocks

3. Dresden Stars--attach borders and begin quilting them

4. Scrappy Bear's Paw--make 1 purple block

5. Cleaning/organization--start going through UFOs

That should 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

Stitching, DeStashing and Organizing--Week 33, 2020

Last week was not the most productive week ever in my sewing room, but I did get a few things done. One thing was to add the border to a very purple baby quilt, which was shared in yesterday's post. That border used 3/8 yard from my stash, and no new fabric was added.

2020 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                               .375 yards

Used year to date:                      129.375 yards

Added last week:                               0.0 yards

Added year to date:                       38.75 yards

Net used year to date              90.625 yards

My quilting time seems to be primarily focused on finishing up the hand appliqued Orange Peel blocks that I've been making for over a year and a half. I'm working on the blue and purple blocks that will finish off the outer corners (you can see my planned layout HERE.) These are the most recent blocks to be finished, and there are 6 or 8 blocks still to be done. I am very eager to get this quilt top put together!

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've been doing more hand stitching than anything else, but it was definitely at least 15 minutes every day. There was a little bit of clean-up going on, but not as much as the past few weeks.

15 Minute Challenge:  

8/9 - 8/15                 7 of 7 days

2020 Total          219 of 228 days

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

Happy quilting and stay safe everyone!

Julie in GA

Tuesday To-Do List 8/11/2020

It is time once again for the To-Do Tuesday Weekly Progress Update and Link-up hosted by Roseanne at Home Sewn By Us. I got through my entire list last week and am motivated to do the same again this week!

To-do list for 8/4 - 8/10:

1. Dresden Stars--begin joining sections together             ✔ done

The long center diagonal section was joined to one of the corner sections. The red diagonal stripe on the backing covers up the joining seam.

2. Orange Peels--hand applique at least four blocks          ✔ done (plus one extra)

3. RSC Square Dance--make 8 purple/pink blocks            ✔ done

4. Cleaning/organization--go through drawers under ironing board      ✔ done

One of the top drawers holds CD's, but the rest all have quilting supplies. The other top drawer was crammed full of pens and pencils, markers, crayons, colored pencils, etc., plus a few drawing/drafting tools like compasses and protractors. Here's the collection spread out on the ironing board, then neatly arranged in the drawer after getting rid of some and relocating others.

The next drawer held an assortment of many types of pins, plus a few other things that didn't need to stay there. The pins have been sorted out, and I haven't yet figured out what will end up in the left side of this drawer. The only things there now are some sheets of tracing/transfer paper.

The bottom drawer has all sorts of threads, and these aren't even the ones I use regularly for piecing. There are heavy-weight threads, invisible, metallics, rayon, and some cotton threads that I keep in case I need a specific color. There are also some machine attachments in the back corner. 

This is my ironing station after cleaning up. I even washed the fabric covering the ironing board. Someday I hope to convert this to a "Big Board" type top that can sit on the dresser as a larger ironing surface.

The goals for next week are mostly continuations of the last week.

To-do list for 8/11 - 8/17:

1. Dresden Stars--continue assembly

2. Orange Peel--applique 5 more blocks

3. RSC Square Dance--make 8 more purple/pink blocks

4. Cleaning/organization--I haven't decided what to do next, but I'll find something!

That should 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