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

Best of 2022--End of Year Review

The end of another year is upon us, making this the perfect time for Cheryl's Best of 2022 Linky Party at Meadow Mist Designs, 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 those suggestions. Each listing has a link back to my original blog post.

1. Most views: Rainbow LeMoyne Row Quilt. 

The blocks for this quilt were left over from a Rainbow Scrap Challenge project in 2014. I joined them into a quilt top last December, started quilting in January, 2022, and finished the quilt in early August.

Rainbow LeMoyne Row Quilt

37.5" x 42.75"

2a. Most comments (tie): Charm Baskets

Charm Baskets was one of my 2022 projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, based on the pattern by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts. The finished size of each block is 4", and I made 15 - 25 blocks each month in the assigned RSC color, ending up with over 200 blocks total. 215 of those blocks were arranged in a wash of color, then joined together into this delightful quilt top.

Charm Baskets quilt top

52.75" x 69"

2b. Most comments (tie): Rainbow Accordion

The Rainbow Accordion quilt was my first entry in the Project Quilting Challenge, Season 13, hosted by Kim Lapacek at Persimon Dreams. The challenge involves making a project in a week to fit the assigned theme. The theme for this quilt was "All the Colors." I love the 3-D look of it.

Rainbow Accordion

21" x 29"

3. Oldest UFO: Snail's Trail

This project dates back to 2001, and it feels so good to finally have this little quilt top together. The blocks are tiny (3.5" finished size) and were foundation pieced.

Snail's Trail quilt top

31" square

4. Learning something new: Artful Improv

I joined two quilt guilds this year, and have been fortunate to take multiple quilt workshops through them. One of the most interesting (and most challenging) was the Artful Improv class with Cindy Grisdela in October. This project was way outside my comfort zone, but I was happy with the result and look forward to more improv play.

Artful Improv

26" x 31" 

5. Favorite finish: Boston Fiesta

This was another old UFO, started in 2005. The piecing was completed in 2015, but it was another few years before it got quilted. Then it hung around waiting for a binding, which finally happened this spring in order to enter it into a quilt show.

Boston Fiesta

60" x 74"

6. A new goal: more FMQ on Juki

I've been wanting to get serious about finishing more quilts myself, and this summer I took the first step by purchasing a new machine. I bought a Juki J-150QVP, a straight-stitch industrial machine that can also switch over to free-motion quilting. It has a very large throat space between the needle and the machine, plus there is an extension table behind the machine which is wonderful for supporting a quilt during FMQ. I'm still getting used to the machine, and even needed to have one problem fixed recently, but I'm so happy to have upgraded my machine for FMQ.

Juki J-150QVP

Those are some of my quilting highlights from the past year. I'm still thinking about plans and goals for 2023, and I look forward to sharing many projects in the coming year. 

Linking up with:

Best of 2022 Linky Party at Meadow Mist Designs

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

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

Happy New Year to all!

Julie in GA

Free-Motion Quilting Goal Success!

I have been a semi-regular participant in the One Monthly Goal link-ups at Elm Street Quilts over the past few years, with a success rate of around 50%. For August, instead of a project-based goal like joining a group of blocks into a finished quilt top, I decided to concentrate on improving my skills, specifically free-motion quilting.

I bought a Juki J-150QVP machine a couple months ago, and in an attempt to become more comfortable with free-motion quilting on it, my One Monthly goal for August was to spend at least 15 minutes every single day doing some free-motion quilting. If I missed a day, I needed to make up that time within the next three days (my personal challenge, my rules!) There were only two days all month with no FMQ, both happening last week when we had houseguests, but I did make up those days since then.

The first quilt to be finished was this Rainbow LeMoyne baby quilt at the beginning of the month. It had been partially quilted on my old Singer machine earlier in the year, but finishing it was much easier with the new Juki.

The next FMQ project was to finish the quilting on this green Crossroads quilt. The top for this quilt was made in 2014, and I had already done some stitch-in-the-ditch quilting around the green rectangles in the blocks. I added FMQ designs in the white background squares and the borders. You can read more about this quilt in this post.

While I prepped the next quilt, my fill-in FMQ project was quilting a couple of little hearts. These were started in a Zoom class I took with Mel Beach back in May called Crazy in Love with Free-Motion Quilting. They both need to have the quilting threads buried and the outer edges finished off somehow. Each heart measures about 7" wide x 5.5" high. It's hard to see the stitching on the upper heart because the thread color blends in too much, but the bright tangerine thread on the lower heart shows up very nicely!

The last FMQ project for March has been this orange and green Diagonal Squares quilt. There are ten different fabrics in this quilt, and each fabric is being quilted with a different color thread and a different quilting design. The photo above shows the full quilt top before any quilting. It measures 40.5" x 48.5".

I've been working on this quilt gradually, spending one or two days on each fabric. Eight of the ten fabrics have been completed, all except the light green with yellow and the green and orange mosaic print, both near the upper right in the above photo. The border around the quilt, which has that same mosaic print, will be the last area to be quilted. I'd hoped to have this quilt finished by the end of the month, but it just didn't happen.

Most of my quilting designs on these blocks has been following the prints in the fabrics. This yellow and orange batik turned out especially well!

I'm feeling much more comfortable with free-motion quilting on my new machine, and my One Monthly Goal really motivated me to keep working at it. I'm thinking I might even try to continue the personal challenge for another month!

Linking up with:

One Monthly Goal at Elm Creek Quilts

Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss at Inquiring Quilter

Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA 

One Monthly Goal--August 2022

It has been a few months since I posted a One Monthly Goal, and I think it's time to set a new one. Rather than the usual project goal (like finish putting a group of blocks together into a top), I'm going with more of a process goal this time around.

I bought a Juki J-150QVP machine a couple months ago, and I am determined to spend more time getting comfortable with free-motion quilting on it. My One Monthly goal for August is to spend at least 15 minutes every single day doing some free-motion quilting. If I miss a day, I will need to make up that time within the next three days (my personal challenge, my rules!)

I've gotten off to a good start toward my goal by finishing up the quilting on a baby quilt that had been partially quilted for several months. This is my Rainbow LeMoyne Row Quilt. You can read more about it and see plenty of photos in yesterday's post.

For now, it's time for me to see what other quilt tops and backs are ready to get layered, then get back to the quilting machine! I'm linking up with the One Monthly Goal party at Elm Street Quilts.

Happy quilting!

Julie in GA

First Finish for August

I'm making a determined effort this month to spend more time getting comfortable with free motion quilting on my new Juki machine. My first finished project is this Rainbow LeMoyne Row Quilt.

Rainbow LeMoyne Row Quilt

37.5" x 42.75"

The blocks in this quilt were made in 2014 as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I made 6" LeMoyne Star blocks throughout the year, and ended up with about 75 of them by the end of the year. Most were used to make two earlier quilt tops, which you can see HERE and HERE. Both of those tops are still unquilted.

Last December I ran across the remaining LeMoyne Star blocks and decided to make them into a row quilt alternating the light and dark backgrounds. I started quilting it in January of this year, but set it aside halfway through. I finally finished the last quilting a couple days ago, added the binding, and washed it up. 

Here's the back of the quilt, featuring bright, fun animal prints. I've had these fabrics in my stash since 1999! 

You can get a closer look at the background and sashing fabrics in this  shot.

The blocks are quilted with continuous curves on the star diamonds. The background areas are filled with spirals, and the sashing has "parallel" wavy lines.

Most of the quilting is easier to see on the quilt back.

I have no plans for who will get this little quilt, but I sure am glad to have it finished! It's time for me to choose another top that's ready to be quilted.

Linking up with:

Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss at Inquiring Quilter

Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Rainbow Scrap Challenge at So Scrappy

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA 

To-Do Tuesday 1/25/2022

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.

The past week included time spent on machine quilting, hand applique, joining blocks and adapting a border. I am very pleased to have gotten through my entire list.

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

1. Rainbow LeMoyne baby quilt--continue quilting       ✔done

All the stars have been quilted, and I've made a start on the background around them. Here's one star from both the front and the back (it's easier to see the quilting on the back.)

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

The setting fabric is cut and I have started stitching blocks together into sections. 

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

Two more hearts blocks are done.

4. Storm at Sea Heart--add neutral border   ✔done

The first border is done, and you can read more about it in yesterday's post.

5. Feathered Star SAHRR--add curves to border   ✔done

You can see my progress in this post.

My list for the next week has all of the same projects on it. I'm hoping to continue moving forward on each of these quilts.

 

To-Do List for 1/25/22 - 1/31/22

1. Rainbow LeMoyne baby quilt--finish quilting and bind (my OMG for January)

2. Bowties 365--continue joining blocks together

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

4. Storm at Sea Heart--add outer border

5. Feathered Star SAHRR--add diamonds 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 

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 

One Monthly Goal (OMG)--January 2022

One of my many quilting goals for 2022 is to finish more quilts. I have no problem making plenty of quilt tops, but getting them quilted and finished is much harder for me. I'm hoping to at least quilt up some of the smaller pieces I've made and also to experiment more with Quilt As You Go for larger quilts.

A recent finished top is the Rainbow LeMoyne quilt. I had found a stack of leftover LeMoyne Star blocks from several years ago, made a few more, and joined them all together into this cute little quilt.

My One Monthly Goal for January is to get this quilted and bound. I've already started the quilting, but have gotten stuck on how to quilt the stars. I'm hoping inspiration returns soon!

You can see what other quilters are hoping to get done this month at the One Monthly Goal link-up at Elm Street Quilts.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA