Stash Report and Stitching Time 3/9/2025

The past week included several appointments and obligations combined with more fun activities like celebrating my sweetie's birthday. One of his birthday gifts was my most recently finished quilt, the Tiny Jewel wall-hanging. I blogged about it in this post.

Tiny Jewel Wall-hanging, 18" x 18"

I've also been working on a quilting project with a deadline, plus I made a placemat for the latest Project Quilting Challenge 16.5: Follow Your Arrow (see it HERE.) That has all kept me plenty busy, and I managed to use 2-3/8 yards of fabric in the process. I did buy some new fabric yesterday, but I haven't calculated the total added yet, so I'll report on that next week.

2025 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                  2.375 yards

Used year to date:            25.125 yards

Added last week:                    0.0 yards

Added year to date:             10.50 yards

Net used in 2025:          14.625 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 have definitely been spending more than 15 minutes each day on quilting, but that's partly because I've been thinking about starting a new long-term quilt project. The design and planning stage of that has been filling up more time than it should right now. I need to buckle down this week and finish my Sewcialites 2 quilt before our guild meeting on the 20th. 

15 Minute Challenge for 2025

3/2 - 3/8                  7 of 7 days

2025 Total            67 of 67 days

Success rate                100 %   

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

Project Quilting 16.5: Follow Your Arrow

The theme for the fifth challenge of Season #16 of Project Quilting, hosted by Kim at Persimon Dreams and Trish at Quilt Chicken is "Follow Your Arrow. Here is the description:

16.5 Follow Your Arrow

This week’s challenge invites you to explore arrows.

As a motif or shape in quilting, arrows were there from Day One.

Chevrons can be a very modern, streamlined arrow shape.

You can find lots of patterns for arrowhead-and-feathered-shaft Robin Hood style arrows.

And of course tons of very traditional blocks create dramatic arrow shapes across your quilt

Your “arrow” can be simple and literal or deep and introspective (well, only as deep as a one-week deadline allows!).

Rule One: Your completed project must include an arrow shape.

I decided to feature yellow arrows in my project because that is our new color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. The deep teal background fabric was leftover from another recent project. I made another placemat to add to the collection going to Meals on Wheels.

The backing fabric is quite old, but the colors coordinated perfectly.

Check out all the different projects inspired by this week's Project Quilting theme at Kim's blog, Persimon Dreams. There's only one more challenge left for this season of Project Quilting, to be posted at noon CST on Sunday, March 16th. Come join the fun! I'm also linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework.

Happy quilting!

Julie in GA

Stash Report & Stitching Time 2/23/2025

My stash report didn't happen last Sunday thanks to the wild thunderstorms that awakened us around 4 a.m. There were multiple tornado warnings in nearby areas, but no serious problems for us. Somehow the blog post just never happened after all that excitement. Today's post covers the last two weeks.

For the first time this year, my stash report shows some additions along with a little usage. Our quilt guild had another sale of donated fabrics recently, and I purchased 9.25 yards there. I also visited a quilt shop and picked up 1.25 yards of a blue solid (not shown in the photo) for a current project.

The only usage to report is 1/2 yard for the latest Project Quilting challenge. The theme was Birthstone, and I made a placemat from some batiks that remind me of opals. I posted about it HERE.

2025 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                     .50 yards

Used year to date:              17.75 yards

Added last week:                10.50 yards

Added year to date:             10.50 yards

Net used in 2025:             7.25 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. The past two weeks haven't been my most productive, but I've continued to get in some quilting time every single day. I hope to have some finishes to share very soon.

15 Minute Challenge for 2025

2/9 - 2/22            14 of 14 days

2025 Total            53 of 53 days

Success rate                100 %   

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

Interlocking Opals for Project Quilting 16.4

Birthstone is the theme for the fourth challenge of Season #16 of Project Quilting, hosted by Kim at Persimon Dreams and Trish at Quilt Chicken.  Participants are required to use the color of our birthstone as a guide for our projects. That gave me two choices because my birth month of October has two different birthstones, pink tourmaline and opal.

It didn't seem like there would be time for me to make anything this week, so I wasn't really thinking much about ideas for the challenge. Then there was a flash of inspiration this morning when I realized that I have some batik fabrics that would definitely work to represent opals. I picked out a favorite block pattern and made this placemat.

Interlocking Opals placemat

The darker batik was used on the back. It reminds me of an Impressionistic map of the continents.

Check out all the different projects inspired by this week's Project Quilting theme at Kim's blog, Persimon Dreams. The next Project Quilting challenge will be posted there at noon CST on Sunday, March 2nd. Come join the fun!

Happy quilting!

Julie in GA

Two Challenges in One Placemat

Blue is the color of month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and I had pulled out plenty of pretty blue scraps. The theme for this week's Project Quilting Challenge #16.3 is Common Blocks. I started by making a few different very basic blocks from my blue scraps. These 9-Patch and Bowtie blocks measure 3.5" (3" finished,) and the Log Cabin blocks were made with 1" strips and finish at 4".

I considered some layout options for using these blocks to make placemats, but nothing really inspired me. I ended up simplifying my plan and making one each of four very basic blocks that I tend to use over and over in different quilt projects. I set them in a stair-step arrangement with a light blue paisley print as the setting fabric.

Each block has the same background fabric combined with some of my favorite blue batiks. My block choices were 9-Patch and Churn Dash...

plus Bowtie and Pinwheel. The blocks all finish at 4".

For the back of the placemat, I used a very old Jinny Beyer fabric. I've been using up lots of older fabrics on the placemats I've made for Meals on Wheels.

Check out all the different projects inspired by this week's Project Quilting theme at Kim's blog, Persimon Dreams. The next Project Quilting challenge will be posted there at noon CST on Sunday, February 16th. Come join the fun! We also have a great time sharing projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework.

Happy quilting!

Julie in GA

Woven Ribbons for Project Quilting 16.2: Ombre

Ombre is the theme for the second challenge of Season #16 of Project Quilting, hosted by Kim at Persimon Dreams and Trish at Quilt Chicken. Participants are required to use an ombre or gradient in their project. I love working with gradients of colors, so this challenge is right up my alley!

I started by looking through the various ombre projects I have saved on Pinterest, plus patterns I already own, both digital and paper. This Woven Sunrise pattern was a leading contender, but I didn't want to rush through it, so it will wait for another time.

Instead of the Woven Sunrise, I decided to do a design that I've wanted to remake for several years, Woven Ribbons. My first time making this pattern happened back in 2004-05. I bought the pattern and an 8-step gradient bundle to make it. I loved the way the fabrics worked together, but ended up giving the quilt to a friend several years ago.

Woven Ribbons #1, 42" x 49.5"

There were scraps left of the gradient bundle and the background batik fabric from the original quilt. I scaled the pattern down a bit and made a smaller version for this week's challenge. This is my entry for the Project Quilting Challenge 16.2: Ombre--Woven Ribbons #2.

Woven Ribbons #2, 21.75" x 26.5"

The gradient sections are stitched in the ditch around each set, and the batik background is stippled.  The binding was made from the same batik. The colors in these last two photos are more true than the shot of the first version hanging in my friend's stairway.

Check out all the different projects inspired by this week's Project Quilting theme at Kim's blog, Persimon Dreams. The next Project Quilting challenge will be posted there at noon CST on Sunday, February 2nd. Come join the fun!

Happy quilting!

Julie in GA

Project Quilting 16.1: Mythical Creatures

Season #16 of Project Quilting, hosted by Kim at Persimon Dreams and Trish at Quilt Chicken has begun! The first challenge was announced on January 5th, and our deadline is noon CST on Sunday, January 12th.

The theme for the first challenge of the year is Mythical Creatures, and I'll admit that I struggled with it. I wasn't inspired to do anything representational like an applique design of some kind of creature. It wasn't until I was paging through Judy Martin's book Scraps, Blocks and Quilts that I discovered a block design named Pygmalion.

In Greek mythology, Pygmalion was a sculptor who carved a sculpture of his ideal woman that he named Galatea. He fell in love with the statue/woman, and the goddess Venus brought his statue to life. Pygmalion is also the title of a play by George Bernard Shaw, which later inspired the musical My Fair Lady.

Pygmalion placemat

I scaled the Judy Martin block pattern down a bit and used the block at the center of a placemat. I've been playing with pink scraps lately for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and I used some of those scraps for this block.

The fabric in the border is also on the back of the placemat. There weren't any pieces big enough for the whole back, and I couldn't figure out a way to match the pattern. That fabric came from a bundle I've had for many year of pieces that had been cut out to make a dress. I don't know where I got the bundle of pieces, probably a costume shop where I worked at some point.

Check out all the different projects inspired by this week's Project Quilting theme at Kim's blog, Persimon Dreams. The next Project Quilting challenge will be posted there at noon CST on Sunday, January 19th. Come join the fun!

Happy quilting!

Julie in GA

Project Quilting 15.6: Irish Chain

It's hard to believe, but this is the last week of the 15th season of Project Quilting. Thanks so much to Kim and Trish for another fun season of challenges. The final challenge for the year is to make something inspired by the traditional Irish Chain quilt design.

The first quilt I ever made was an Irish Chain quilt that my sister Karen and I did together as a wedding gift for our brother and his wife in 1995. I've also made other Irish Chain quilts through the years and always enjoy returning to this classic pattern.

Double Irish Chain quilt top, 1995

I've continued the theme from my earlier Project Quilting pieces this year by making an Irish Chain placemat. I thought about using greens to go along with the theme, but ended up pulling out some favorite blue and yellow fabrics instead.

The diagonal quilting lines show up much better on the back.

I thought it would be fun to get a look at all the placemats I've made for the different Project Quilting challenges this year. It's fun to see the wide variety of fabrics and styles.

Left column top to bottom--15.1: Bird's Nest, 15.2: Sky Color, 15.3: Inside Out (x 2)

Right column top to bottom--15.4: Hourglass, 15.5 Wearables (x 2), 15.6 Irish Chain 

All of these placemats will be donated to Meals on Wheels by our quilt guild. I will continue making placemats throughout the year, even without the continuing Project Quilting challenges.

Linking up with:

Project Quilting 15.6 at Persimon Dreams

Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Project Quilting 15.5: Wearables

The fifth challenge for Season 15 of Project Quilting was announced on Sunday, and the theme this week is "Wearables":

 

PQ 15.5 WEARABLES

For this week’s challenge, we’re working with “wearables” – I want you to either start or end fashionably. Here’s what I mean.

 

One option is to turn clothes into something else. Are you ready to recycle your wedding dress into something new? Is it time to make a special project from t-shirts or old ties? I hear denim makes great rugs!

 

Or, you could quilt-ify something you wear. Try some visible mending and embellish existing pieces, or make a tote or hat or apron.

 

Another option is to use the theme in a quilt. Make a wall hanging about your passion for shoes, or try that Ugly Sweater quilt block pattern.

 

And finally – there’s a special opportunity for you this week! You can make a piece of clothing. Any piece of clothing you sew will qualify this week: pajama pants, an Easter dress, a jacket, a skirt – you can do it all. And for this, I’m making a one-time-only exception to the usual PQ rules about 3-layers or embellished or pieced, etc. This week only, if you whip up a sewn piece of clothing (from a pattern is fine!) you can enter it in PQ! 

(I’m doing this to allow us scaredy-cats a growth opportunity to try apparel sewing.)

 

Now, don’t get carried away breaking the rules – you still have to BEGIN and END your project between 3/3/24 and 3/10/24 (no WIP projects, please), and it still has to be FINISHED. Done means buttoned, bound, hemmed, zipped, snapped or tied with a bow – your project must be finished to qualify.

RULE ONE: your project must be wearable, or have been made from previously worn items, or have another connection to clothes, shoes and fashion accessories.

Making clothing is not a big deal for me. I've been sewing for more than 50 years, but didn't start quilting until 1995. Before that, it was all clothing--mostly for myself at first, later as a career, making theatre costumes, which I did for 40+ years. I still make garments occasionally, but most of the time I prefer to stick to quilting. 

For this challenge, I decided to pull out my box of old shirts and shirt fabric scraps. Bonnie Hunter seems to be the queen of using old shirt fabrics, and I've managed to amass a small collection of fabrics. I chose a few to use in two placemats.

Both placemats finished at 13.5" x 18". The dark fabrics in the chains of rectangles on each were also used for the backs. Both of those fabrics were from shirts that used to belong to my husband, but all the rest of the fabrics were from thrift store/garage sale shirts. The quilting is all stitch-in-the-ditch.

These two placemats will join the growing pile that will be donated to Meals on Wheels by our quilt guild. I'm hoping to end up with an even dozen to donate at an upcoming meeting. 

Linking up with:

Project Quilting 15.5 at Persimon Dreams

Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

So Many Red Blocks!

February was the month to use our red scraps for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and I certainly went through plenty of red. Now it's time to put away the red scraps and make a start on my purple scraps for March. I don't have anything purple to show yet, so I'm posting a final wrap-up of all my red blocks from the past month. (Some of these have already been shared in earlier posts.)

My first red project to get done in February was the blocks for the RSC 2024 Samper, Hen and Chicks. The small blocks will finish at 3" and the larger ones are 6". I'm planning to make all my blocks for this sampler from batiks.

My next project was the Rail Fence Spinner blocks. I ended up with eight red blocks, plus one green block leftover from January. These are also 6" blocks.

I've been participating in the Project Quilting challenges at Persimon Dreams for the past couple of years. One of our challenges in February was to use "Hourglass" as our inspiration. I made a scrappy, strippy red placemat, which is also my entry in the Table Scraps Challenge at The Joyful Quilter.

Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts is hosting a Birthday Quilt 2024 quilt along to celebrate her birthday. There is a new pattern for a 6" block posted every week. I am alternating using a dark or a light background each week, and my blocks this month all feature red.

Hollow 9-Patch blocks have been one of my leader and ender projects since the beginning of the year. I ended up with nine 6" blocks in red for February.

The last red project for the month was added to the lineup less than two weeks ago. It is the improv scrappy colorwash blocks inspired by Terry Rowland. You can read more about these in last week's post. I ended up with 36 blocks for the month. They will finish at 3".

I put most of my red blocks up on the design wall together, although the Terry blocks are not included. It makes a wonderfully crazy, scrappy jumble of red!

Be sure to check out all of the wonderful scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge every Saturday and Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Project Quilting 15.4: Hourglass

The fourth challenge for Season 15 of Project Quilting was announced on Sunday, and the theme this week is "Hourglass":

 

PQ 15.4 HOURGLASS

It’s one of the most common yet foundational of geometric shapes: the hourglass. Just two triangles stacked tip-to-tip. Put them inside a square and it’s a block even beginners can sew. 

 

But it’s also a symbol embued with meaning – representing the passage of time, a reminder of our inevitable mortality. A grim reminder of things lost and … wait, it got real grim all a sudden. 

 

Maybe I should switch subjects.

 

SEX! Yay! That’s better: let’s instead consider the hourglass as an idealization of the womanly form and the lusty virtues of youth. 

Er. Or maybe I should just stop and let you decide where you take this one?

Rule One: you must use an hourglass SHAPE in your project, but you do not have to use the exact hourglass BLOCK.

My version of the hourglass challenge used the traditional block design, but turned it into a rectangle so that it could become a placemat. I began with the triangles along the outer edges, then built them up with strips in a variety of red fabrics, our color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

Hourglass placemat, 12.75" x 16.75"

This placemat will join the pile that is accumulating to be donated to Meals on Wheels. Since I used leftover strips and scraps, I'm also entering this for the Table Scraps Challenge at The Joyful Quilter. I've even got some hearts in there to fit the monthly theme.

The backing fabric was folded around to the front to become the binding.

Linking up with:

Project Quilting 15.4 at Persimon Dreams

Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss at Inquiring Quilter

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Table Scraps Challenge at The Joyful Quilter

Rainbow Scrap Challenge at So Scrappy

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA