Design Wall Monday 6/15/15--Border Indecision

On my design wall this week is my scrappy rainbow of 12" LeMoyne Star blocks. These were one of my projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2014. The blocks have been sewn together since early January, but I was undecided about the border. I tried making a pieced border for the quilt, but didn't like the way it looked. All my other attempts seemed too dark, until I got a new (to me) white on black fabric. I decided to use it along with a narrow border of a colorful stripe.

My indecision right now is whether the colorful stripe should be narrower. It's hard to see in the photo, but I have pinned the right side border to cover up part of that stripe and see if that improves things. Maybe some close-ups would help show what I mean.

In the top left corner, the colorful borders finish at 1". On the right side of the final photo, that border is about 1/2". I will continue to ponder changing this and appreciate any opinions or suggestions.

I am linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times, where you can see all sorts of amazing quilting inspiration! I am also linking up to Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt.

Julie in GA

Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2014

The Christmas break has finally given me some time to work on my Rainbow LeMoyne quilts. I have been making LeMoyne Star blocks all year as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I ended up with 77 stars that finish at six inches and 12 stars that finish at twelve inches.

I have been trying out a few different sashing options. I started with 20 of the six-inch blocks and ended up with this little top for a baby quilt.

Rainbow LeMoyne #1
40" x 48"

The next group of blocks got a different setting. The final border just needs to be stitched on, although I am having doubts about that black print. Maybe a pieced border of the black and white prints would look better. Any suggestions?

I am still working on putting together the twelve-inch blocks, and there are about 20 of the six-inch stars left over. I have also been trying to decide on my rainbow project for next year. 

It has been a great year for using up a rainbow of scraps (although I still have plenty more to use next year!) I am joining the linky party for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Check out all of the terrific scrappy projects!

Julie in GA

Scrappy Saturday

I had hoped to make more  progress this week on my Rainbow LeMoyne baby quilt, but I only managed to get three rows of blocks and sashing joined together. Hopefully I can finish the quilt top next week.

I am joining the linky party for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Check out the terrific scrappy projects!

Julie in GA

Rainbow Scrap Finishing Month

Time at the sewing machine has been in short supply lately, but I have continued hand stitching background hexies to my rainbow stars. This was the perfect project to have with me for our Thanksgiving travels, so easy to pick it up and do some stitching while hanging out at Mom's house.

I have finished adding the backgrounds to five out of ten large stars--halfway done! Before long I should be able to start joining the stars and snowflakes together. I began this project in August of 2013, and I would love to get the top done by August, 2015.

Thanks to all who commented last week with opinions for sashing/borders on my Rainbow LeMoyne Star quilt. I am planning to either use the black and white check that I showed as sashing or to frame the blocks with the two background fabrics if I have enough. Here are the two different options drawn up in EQ7.

Check out this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts--lots of incredibly beautiful rainbow projects to inspire you!  I am also linking up to Hexie Weekend over at A Quilting Reader's Garden.

Julie in GA

Rainbow LeMoyne Stars

My current focus for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is trying to decide on the fabrics for sashing and borders with my 12" Rainbow LeMoyne Stars. I have come up with a couple of different options. There were twelve blocks done, but I wasn't happy with my green star, so it has been taken apart to be remade.

The first option (above) has a black and white check for the sashing, and I would add cornerstones from a mostly black print. The border would probably be the colorful wavy striped fabric (I am hoping to save the circle print for a future project.)

Version two (below) has the colorful fabric for sashing and borders, plus a mostly black print for cornerstones. This might work with an inner border of the same black and white check as above. Again, I would probably choose the wavy stripes rather than the circles.

I am totally undecided on whether I really like either of these choices. Maybe it will be easier to choose after I get the green star back together and put all the parts up on the wall together. Once again, I would love to hear your opinions.

Check out this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts--lots of amazingly beautiful rainbow projects to inspire you!  

Julie in GA

Rainbow Challenge update

For the first time in more weeks than I can remember, I missed making a blog post to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge last Saturday. I guess it was mostly because I had so little to report for the week. This week hasn't been the most productive, but at least I have something new to show.

I finished making my last two 12" LeMoyne star blocks this week. Our assigned color for November is light blue, but I have gone off in my own direction in order to finish out my color palette. This brings me to a total of twelve blocks (you can see most of the other blocks HERE.) Once I get sashing and borders added, they will make a good size for a wall hanging or small quilt . Thanks to everyone who commented last month on which additional colors to use.

Check out this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts--lots of amazingly beautiful rainbow projects to inspire you!  

Julie in GA

Scraphappy Saturday 11/8/14

There is very little progress to show on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects today. I have barely touched my sewing machine this week, so no new Rainbow LeMoyne stars yet. I did manage to baste some background hexies and get them sewn to the light blue hexie snowflake that had been made early this year.

Maybe I will have more to show next Saturday. I hope to do some cleaning up in the sewing room today, which should make it easier to be productive in the days ahead.

Check out this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts--lots of amazingly beautiful rainbow projects to inspire you!  

Julie in GA

Scraphappy Saturday in November

Here is a very rare thing for me, two blog posts in the same day. Every month I post a list of quilting goals for the next month, plus review how I did on last month's goals. I meant to get the October/November post written in advance and posted last night, but that just didn't happen. If you are interested, you can read that HERE.

It is a wild and windy day here in Georgia, definitely feeling like fall. As we go speeding toward the end of the year, it is time to work on wrapping up some ongoing projects. I have been making LeMoyne Stars all year for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. This month's color is light blue, but I think I will switch over to light neutrals instead to round out my color palette.

I showed a photo of my 12" LeMoyne stars last week (see them HERE.) I have decided to go ahead with the plan to make 12 blocks. I made a scrappy brown star last weekend, and will work on a tan/beige one next. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions on a twelfth color to use. I think I will make it in white/cream/very pale prints with the black background.

My other rainbow project has been the Hexie Stars and Snowflakes, which I started in August of 2013. I spent October adding background to my black and brown blocks, plus I put together a leftover purple snowflake. I will continue to add background to the stars each month, still following the assigned rainbow color when possible.

Check out this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts--lots of amazingly beautiful rainbow projects to inspire you!  

Julie in GA

Scraphappy Saturday 10/25/14

For some reason I haven't been getting much done on any of my quilting projects this week. I guess it was a combination of long hours at work and low energy from fighting a cold. I did manage to finish my black and grey 12" LeMoyne Star block for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Here are all of  my 12" blocks with the top fabric candidates for sashing and cornerstones. 

I am trying to figure out whether to stop at 9 blocks or make 3 more and end up with a rectangular quilt, which I think would be more useful. I could definitely make a brown star, and probably one with lighter neutrals (tan/beige/gold), but I don't know what to use for a twelfth color. Any suggestions? I would like to get this quilt top finished before the end of the year instead of ending up with another UFO stuffed into a box while I wait for inspiration to strike!

Check out this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts--lots of amazingly beautiful rainbow projects to inspire you!  

Julie in GA

Getting Busy with Black

I made good progress on my Rainbow LeMoyne star blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this week. I finished seven more 6" stars using my black, grey and brown scraps. That gets me up to my goal of 9 finished blocks. All that's left is to make a 12" star block next week.

Check out this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts--lots of amazingly beautiful rainbow projects to inspire you!  

Julie in GA

Into the Darkness

It has taken me a little longer than usual to get going on my LeMoyne Stars blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this month. It's not that I dislike the colors chosen which are black, grey and brown. I think adding black and grey stars to my collection will look great. I have just been too distracted by another project for the past week or so.

I did manage to get out some black and grey scraps and made two 6" stars last night.

I had taken down my black and brown hexie stars and snowflakes from the design wall in order to work on adding background hexies to them. It is quite a different look on the wall with only the brighter colors up there, but I will definitely include the darker ones in the finished quilt. The large green star at the upper right is the first to have the background hexies added to it.

Check out this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts--lots of amazingly beautiful rainbow projects to inspire you!  I am also linking up to Hexie Weekend which is over at Billie Bee's blog this week, and to the Monday Morning Star Count at Life Under Quilts. 

Julie in GA

Digging through the dark strips

I haven't gotten very far with this month's colors for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. For October our assignment is to work with black, grey and brown scraps. All I have managed to accomplish is pulling out my two scrap drawers that hold those colors and start choosing which to use. I am planning to make a batch of 6" LeMoyne stars and see how they look with all the bright colored stars. I also need a 12" star to go in the center of that grouping.

Since I had already made hexie stars and snowflakes in both black and brown last year, I will concentrate on adding background hexies to them.

Check out this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts--lots of amazingly beautiful rainbow projects to inspire you!  I am also linking up to Hexie Weekend at Quilting Reader's Garden and to the Monday Morning Star Count at Life Under Quilts. 

Julie in GA

Orange hexies

I have had a great time playing with my orange scraps for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this month. Orange was the perfect color as we head into fall, and I discovered more orange scraps in my collection than expected. 

I finished off my orange hexie snowflake and star (except for a few of the black-on-white background hexies.) I still need to make one more orange snowflake, but that probably won't get done before the end of September.

Check out this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts--lots of amazingly beautiful rainbow projects to inspire you!  I am also linking up to Hexie Weekend at Quilting Reader's Garden and to the Monday Morning Star Count at Life Under Quilts. 

Julie in GA

Orange LeMoyne Stars

I finished up my 12" LeMoyne Star block for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Here it is along with all of the orange 6" stars.

I have been playing with ideas for how to use all these stars in quilts. I tried my large blocks with this black and white check as a sashing possibility, but I'm not sure about that yet. I might also try to combine both the larger and smaller stars into one quilt.

I have started making a blue star to go with these and plan to make one in blacks and greys when we get to those colors.

Check out this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts--lots of amazingly beautiful rainbow projects to inspire you! 

Julie in GA

Orange Scrappiness

I have been making good progress with my orange scrappy projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this week. I finished all of my 6" LeMoyne Star blocks and have the pieces cut for a 12" block.

I might be ready to start joining these stars together into quilts soon. I haven't decided yet if I want to include brown and black/grey stars or just stick to the bright colors. It's time to put a batch of stars up on the design wall and see how they look together.

I also finished my first orange hexie snowflake this week and have started on my hexie star. The hexies have been getting lots of questions while I stitch on the train to work each morning.

Check out this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts--lots of amazingly beautiful rainbow projects to inspire you! I am also linking up to Hexie Weekend at A Quilting Reader's Garden, to the Monday Morning Star Count at Life Under Quilts, and to the Hexie Linky Party (HeLP) at Sarah Did It!.

Julie in GA

Orange scraps for September

Our color for September at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is orange. This is a color that I almost never wear, but I love orange in quilts. There is such a wide range of colors, from pale peach to dark rust, and they all add such a lovely warmth to a quilt.

This week I have been concentrating on brighter orange scraps for my Rainbow LeMoyne Stars. I have six 6" blocks finished, two more to make, plus one 12" block to put together yet.

Check out this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts--lots of amazingly beautiful rainbow projects to inspire you! 

Julie in GA

End of the Month Scrappiness

It's hard to believe that it is the end of the month already. August just flew by (but I probably say that almost every month!) For the most part, it wasn't a terribly hot summer around here, but we've had quite a few 90+ days over the last couple of weeks. I am looking forward to shifting into fall. I am also looking forward to switching over to orange, our color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

My main progress this week in the light and bright greens for August was to finish stitching background hexies around my scrappy green star. Orange is the last color I need to make for this project, then I can get serious about adding background to all the stars and snowflakes. 

I already have a pile of orange hexies basted, just need to finish a few more before I start sewing them together. I love the colors of autumn!

Check out this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts--lots of amazingly beautiful rainbow projects to inspire you! I am also linking up to the Hexie Weekend at A Quilting Reader's Garden, and to the Monday Morning Star Count at Life Under Quilts. Hexies all over the place--go check them out!

Julie in GA

Return of the Scrappy Hexies

It has been several weeks since I showed the status on my Scrap Hexies project. I keep stitching away during my morning train commutes (and sometimes evenings too) but there hasn't been a lot to show lately.

I have been working on this project for over a year now, and I expect it will probably take another year to finish it. Last August I began making hexie stars and snowflakes as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. It has been the perfect handstitching project for those chunks of free time.

Since I had already made a green star and two snowflakes in May, this month I have started to add background hexies around the star. Progress has been slow, but I am very excited with the way it is turning out!

Check out this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts on Saturday--lots of amazingly beautiful rainbow projects to inspire you! I am also linking up to HeLP for Hexie-aholics over at Sarah Did It!,  to the Hexie Weekend at A Quilting Reader's Garden, and to the Monday Morning Star Count at Life Under Quilts. Hexies all over the place--go check them out!

Julie in GA

Scrappy Green Crossroads

I was feeling a little lost at the beginning of the month when we found out that our August color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is light/bright green. I had already made my allotment of green LeMoyne Star blocks a few months ago, not realizing that lighter green would pop up again. 

I decided to go an entirely different route and try to make a small quilt entirely in greens. The Crossroads block is one I had been seeing for a year or two and wanted to try. I dug out my 2-1/2" light and bright green strips, plus cut more strips off stash fabrics. The background fabric is a leftover from a quilt made around 12-14 years ago. Here is my finished Crossroads quilt top.

Crossroads
45" x 57"

My quilt blocks measure 12" finished, and there are 12 of them in the quilt. I might have made this quilt bigger, but I was limited by the amount of background that I had. Now I have the rest of August to piece a back and try to get this quilted. 

Check out this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts on Saturday--lots of amazingly beautiful rainbow projects to inspire you! I am also linking up to Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and joining in on The Purge over at Stitched in Color. It's time to conquer those scraps!


Julie in GA

Bright green scrappiness

My usual projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this year have been LeMoyne Star blocks and hexie stars and snowflakes. Our assigned color for August is light and/or bright green, and we did the darker greens back in May. Because I have already used greens in both of those projects, I decided to start something completely new this month. Just what I need, a new project! My hope is to keep it small and manageable, maybe even finish it by the end of the month. (Hey, I can dream, can't I?)

I have been seeing this pattern made by others for the past year or so and really liked the way it looks. Angela, our hostess for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge made one in similar colors last year and blogged about it here. Some call the pattern Crossroads, but the more traditional name seems to be Patience Corner (or Corners.) There are two great tutorials for the pattern here and here. The blocks are very easy to make, using only two different pieces. For my 12" blocks, each block requires 4 background squares cut at 4-1/2" and 10 green rectangles cut 2-1/2" x 4-1/2". Here is a single block so you can see how it goes together.

So far I have made 8 blocks and am planning to make 4 more for a small throw quilt. I thought about making more blocks and getting it up to a big enough size for a Quilt of Valor (might be a nice alternative to red, white & blue), but I don't have enough of the white fabric. 

I have had this fabric for more than ten years and used it in one of my favorite bed quilts. On the selvage it says "Song of Spring for RJR Fabrics For the Quilters by the Quilters." It is not terribly likely that I will come across more of this fabric, but if anyone has some, I would be happy to buy it from you. Otherwise, this project will end up a lovely little lap quilt.

Check out this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts--lots of amazingly beautiful rainbow projects to inspire you!


Julie in GA