Design Wall Monday 3/24/14--A Finished Top!

I am so excited to have a finished quilt top to show today. This quilt began way back in 2001 after I got the book LeMoyne Stars Made Easy by Sharyn Squier Craig. I had planned to make a red, white & blue sampler using all the different star variations from the book. Like so many projects, I made a few blocks, then set them aside for something new and more exciting.

In 2012 I joined a scrap quilts group at a local quilt shop. We were playing with different techniques and patterns for using scraps. At the beginning of the year I decided to stick with a consistent RW&B color palette, with the hope that I could turn my blocks into a quilt at the end of the year. It has taken over a year since that group quit meeting, but I finally got this top put together yesterday.

RWB Sampler
Finished Size 60 x 72"

My favorite part of this quilt is the pineapple blocks. They really keep your eyes moving around the whole quilt.

This quilt ended up at the perfect size to be a Quilt of Valor, but I don't think I can give it up! We have the perfect spot to hang it for July 4th, and I hope to have it quilted and bound by then.

I am linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times. Check it out for tons of amazing ideas and inspiration. I am also linking up to Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation and to Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict. This quilt was my March project for A Lovely Year of Finishes, and I will link up to their end-of-the-month party.

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 3/10/14

I finished up this month's LeMoyne Star blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge over the weekend. Our colors for March are all the blue-greens like teal, turquoise and aqua, and I have plenty of those to choose from. I am enjoying the trip down memory lane as I pull out my scraps and revisit some old favorite fabrics. The small stars finish at 6", and the big one is 12". They will join the blue and bright pink blocks I made in January & February.

In between the teal stars, I have been making more 6" LeMoyne Stars in red, white & blue to add to my RWB Sampler that I started in scrap club two years ago. I finished up 4 small stars and just need to make 8 or 10 more in that size, plus 2 more 12" string stars. Then I can get all the blocks joined together.

I am linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times. Check it out for tons of amazing ideas and inspiration. 

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 7/8/13

My design wall has seen many changes over the past week. It started with the Dresden Stars blocks made in class with Edyta Sitar. My hope was to pull the finishing fabrics for this project out of my stash rather than buying the kit. I spent one afternoon and evening making a huge mess of the sewing room while pulling out fabrics, auditioning them on the wall, taking photos, then switching it all around again. It was such fun! I have five stars made and three to go before they get appliqued to the background.

In honor of July 4th, I pulled out my red, white & blue scrap club blocks. It was a pleasant surprise to see how many are done. I fixed the four pineapple blocks that were going the wrong direction. I only need to make two more 12" string stars and about a dozen 6" stars. I have been reading and watching videos about splitting batting to make machine quilting easier to handle. I think this might be the quilt for me to try that process. There is another column of blocks at the left side that didn't fit in this photo.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon making pillowcases for our quilt guild's community service project. They will go to ConKerr Cancer. I had a great time pulling out fun fabrics and completed seven pillowcases.

It's time for me to link up to Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday. There is an incredible variety of ideas and inspiration there to enjoy, which is the reason why Monday has become one of my favorite days of the week!

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 5/27/13

Last night I was thinking that I should sew on a red, white & blue project today in honor of Memorial Day. I remembered coming across this unquilted flag top when I was going through a box recently. I don't think I will work on it today, but it looks like a good project for June so that we can have it up for July 4th.

I also found this nearly finished Stack & Whack top. All that needs to be done is attaching the borders, and they are already made. I just love that cute robot/aliens fabric!

There are many more quilt tops and unfinished projects that were packed up with those two. I am going to work on getting photos of them all today.  I also hope to spend some time making more blocks for my RWB Scrap Club Sampler. I need 4 more pineapple blocks, 2 big stars and about 15 small stars to get it to the size I want.

Happy Memorial Day to all and many thanks to the brave men & women who have served our country.

As usual, I will be linking up to Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday.  Check out all the great inspiration there. 

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 2/10/13

My numbers haven't changed much, but I did use a yard of fabric this week in finishing the four pineapple blocks for my red,white & blue Scrap Club quilt.  I am taking baby steps toward my goal to use at least 100 yards of fabric this year.

Finishing these blocks also takes care of one of my goals for the February Get It Done challenge.

Used this week:   1 yards  
Used year to date:  6.5 yards    

Added this week:   0 yards

Added year to date: 2.5 yards

Net year to date:  4.0 yards used 

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie

Design Wall Monday--pineapples

Pineapple quilts have got to be one of my all-time favorite designs.  Too bad they are so labor intensive.  Yesterday I finished up these four blocks to add to my Scrap Club red/white/blue sampler that was started last year.  They look great together, but it sure took a long time to make them.  45 pieces per block!

On tap next for this quilt are some more string stars.  I think I need 3 more like these.

As usual, I will be linking up to Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday.  Check out all the great inspiration there. I will also be linking up to Link a Finish Friday at Richard and Tanya Quilts.

Julie

Design Wall Monday 1/28/13

The same three projects are still up on my design wall as last week, but two of them have additional blocks.  I added three more blocks to the pink Dancing Stars in the middle.  They are being made for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and we will find out a new color soon for February.

I also made two more string stars for my red, white & blue Scrap Club Sampler.  They are the two blocks below the pineapple block.  My next goal on that project is to make four more pineapple blocks.

There weren't any additions to the Scrappy Sampler BOM blocks on the right side this week.  Our next group meeting is Feb. 9, and we will get the patterns for our next set of blocks then.

As usual, I will be linking up to Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday.  Check out all the great inspiration there. 

Julie

Design Wall Monday & WIP Wednesday

My design wall has blocks for three different projects hanging together right now.  I have been working on two of them recently, and am trying to decide what to do with the other one.

It feels a little scattered to have three different projects going at once, but I like it that way.  If I get stuck on one, I can switch over to another.  Some days I feel like planning and designing a quilt, other days I just want to sit down and sew something.  As long as I can follow through on finishing these quilts, all will be well. And the best part right now--all three of these projects are made with fabrics from my stash!

I should have been cleaning up my sewing room over the three-day weekend, but I couldn't resist these little pink & black Dancing Stars blocks.  I currently have seven blocks together, and they are so much fun to make!  The pattern is a quilt-along at Amy's Creative Side.  They are foundation pieced, and I cut fabrics for another 7 blocks on Saturday.  I am making the blocks as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2013, and this month's color is pink.  My goal is to make 10-12 blocks each month in whatever color is chosen for the rainbow challenge, and that should give me enough by the end of the year for a throw quilt based on Amy's pattern.

I did a little work on my Scrappy Sampler blocks since last week's Design Wall.  I remade one block to get more contrast, and there are a couple more finished bowties.  I also spent some time playing in EQ7 with this quilt's blocks, trying to settle on my color palette.  Other than pulling together more fabrics for this project, I am set until our next meeting in February.

The other project hanging on the design wall is my Scrap Club Stars from last year.  I have a few more blocks made for this, but I need to settle on my final design in order to know how many additional blocks to make.  It's time to get back to this project and get it finished!

As usual, I will be linking up to Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday.  Check out all the great inspiration there.  I am also linking up to WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.

Julie

Design Wall Monday 12/10/12

It seemed like I would have tons of time to sew over the weekend, but things just didn't work out that way.  We had our scrap quilt group gathering on Saturday morning, the last meeting of the year.  I showed the red, white and blue scrappy blocks that I have been making throughout the year.  They are now hanging on the design wall while I try to decide how big to make this quilt.

My favorites  are the pineapple blocks.  I love the diagonal movement of them.  Here is a possible layout with more blocks.  The original plan was that this would be a Quilt of Valor, but I'm not sure I will be able to give it up.

My time to work on Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street mystery quilt has been limited, but I did manage to make 16 of the Shaded 4-patch units for Part 3.  Even though I haven't finished all the units from the previous steps, I am following Bonnie's advice to move on with each new clue so that I get some of each part made.  I am loving how my colors look together!

I will be linking up to Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday and also the Easy Street link-up to see other people's progress.  

Julie

Design Wall Monday 10/15/12

There's not much that is new on my design wall this week.  I remade two  of the Grandmother's Choice blocks to give them better contrast.  I need to finish up this weeks block too.  I also made two more pinwheel blocks for my red, white & blue scrappy quilt.

Now that it is starting to feel more like fall, I pulled out one of my favorite quilt tops.  The pattern is "Turning Leaves", and it was originally published in Quiltmaker magazine in 2002.  I just checked, and the pattern is still available here.  

I am continuing to hand stitch the binding on my Storm at Sea quilt.  That has become my project while watching TV at night, since it is too big to carry with me anywhere else.  I can't wait to finish and get it on my bed!

Check out what others have been working on at  Patchwork Times. 

Julie

Design Wall Monday 6/4/12

The past week has been fairly productive for quilting.  After finishing the Storm at Sea quilt top before Memorial Day weekend, I wanted to switch over to something smaller.  I finished up these four pineapple blocks for my red, white & blue scrap quilt.

I love the look of pineapple blocks and the many variations that are possible.  They sure are time consuming though.  These blocks have 49 pieces in each block!  Here is a photo of them along with the other red, white & blue blocks.  Don't the pineapple blocks look great next to those stars?

My other current quilting project has been enlarging the back for the Storm at Sea quilt.  The wide quilt fabric I have is about a foot too short.  I am making a row of stars similar to the border design in the quilt top and that row will run all the way across the back of the quilt.  Many of the parts in these stars were leftovers from making the quilt top.  This photo shows half of the row of stars to go across.  Now I just have to figure out a workable way to press and square up the big piece of backing fabric.  This is when I really wish I had one of those big boards for ironing.

Check out all the amazing design walls at Patchwork Times

Julie

Stash Report Sunday 3/18/2012

This week has been more productive for quilting than most weeks of late, although nowhere near what I would like to get done.  It is such a balancing act, isn't it?  Trying to squeeze in time for the things we love, like quilting, around the things we need to do like go to work, cooking, laundry, etc.  I am so fortunate to have a sweet husband who takes care of the main portion of the household chores like grocery shopping, he is better about keeping the house clean than I am, and most nights he has dinner going before I get home.  I am a very lucky woman! 

Anyway, back to this week's quilting.  I finished up another string block for the Scrap Club quilt.  This time it was a pinwheel block.

The majority of my quilting time this week was spent on the Storm at Sea quilt.  I am trying to get all the different units made so I can start putting the parts together.  There is still plenty to do, but I have been able to check a couple of items off the list.  For the first time in several years, I was able to spend most of Saturday, National Quilting Day, doing just that--quilting!  I must have been at the sewing machine or ironing board for about 7 hours, my idea of a perfect day!  I wish I could do that more often.

Here is a collection of most of the completed parts for the Storm at Sea quilt.  I will try to get a photo with these up on the design wall for Monday's post.  I still need to make more of the diamond units and the small square-in-a-squares.

Here are the numbers for this week:

Used this week:  1-1/2 yard
Used year to date:  6-1/8 yards

Added this week:   0 yards

Added year to date:  2-3/4 yards
Net year to date: 3-3/8 yards used

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie

Design Wall Monday 3/12/12

This week I finished up two more string stars, bringing my total to four.

I also pulled out some red, white & blue LeMoyne Star blocks that I had made several (maybe 10?) years ago.  I think the whole group plays together very well.

The LeMoyne star blocks are from the book "LeMoyne Stars Made Easy" by Sharyn Squier Craig.  The book includes 12 different star variations, and Sharyn's instructions are very clear and easy to follow.

See more design walls at Patchwork Times

       Julie

Stash Report Sunday 3/11/2012

Two more string stars were completed this week.  I am loving the way they are turning out, and the construction has gotten a little easier.   

Our homework for this month's Scrap Club at Intown Quilters was to join strips together to make usable fabric.  I made two more strips sets of red and blue similar to the ones for my string stars.  Check out the fabric with yellow and green dots near the center of the photo --it's tomatoes!

I also started making sets of all red and all blue, but discovered that I needed to get more variety in my prints.  The reds especially were all looking too much alike.  Time to slice into my red stash, plus I bought a few fat quarters at the quilt shop, my first fabric purchase of 2012!

Here are the numbers for this week:

Used this week:  1 yard
Used year to date:  4-5/8 yards

Added this week:  3/4 yards

Added year to date:  2-3/4yards
Net year to date: 1-7/8 yards used

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie

Stash Report Sunday 3/4/2012

OOPS!  I meant to write a new post for this week's (3/11) stash report, and mistakenly changed last week's report instead of creating a new one.  Let's see if I can recreate the previous version.

I know there was a photo of a new strip set for another scrappy string star.

I also made two little zipper pouches for a fundraiser at work.  These are from the pattern "A Little Duffle Do It" by Karen West.  The pattern includes four diferent sizes.  They are easy to make and very cute.  I made around 20 of them as gifts last Christmas.

Here are the numbers for this week:

Used this week:  3/4 yards

Used year to date:  3-5/8 yards

Added this week:  0 yards

Added year to date:  2 yards
Net year to date: 1-5/8 yards used

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie

Design Wall Monday 3/5/2012

This week I cut more blue fabrics into strips for my scrap bins.  I also made up a couple of red & blue strip sets, which will make two more scrappy string stars.  This strip set started with 4 strips 1-1/2" wide x 18-20" long and 2 strips 2" wide x 18-20" long.

I cut 45 degree diamonds from freezer paper to use as cutting templates and ironed them to the strip set, leaving space next to each diamond.

The next two photos show the leftovers after the diamond shapes were cut out.  The leftovers  were sewn together along the outside edges, and the middle seams were taken out, which made it possible to cut another set of diamonds.

Once the diamonds are cut out, it's time to play with all the different layouts.  I think I like the arrangements in the last two photos best.

See more design walls at Patchwork Times

       Julie

Stash Report Sunday

Another week with not much sewing, but plenty of fabric has been turned into strips.  I have been slicing up many of my blue fabrics to go into the bins for scrap quilts.  I love the look of scrap quilts, but haven't made many because in the past it took so long to cut fabrics.  Right now I am concentrating on red and blue.  This gives me a great variety of sizes all ready to be used.

I did manage to put together my second string star.  The hardest part was matching up the seams near the center.

Here are my numbers:

Used this week:  1/4 yards

Used year to date:  2-7/8 yards

Added this week:  0 yards

Added year to date:  2 yards
Net year to date:  7/8 yards used

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie

Design Wall Monday

This week I took a break from my seemingly endless Storm at Sea piecing to put together a block for the Scrap Club at Intown Quilters in Decatur, GA.  This terrific quilt shop has started a monthly program led by Taffy McLaughlin where we meet to learn about different techniques for using our scraps. 

In January we worked on a sashing pattern of small squares set on point.  The blocks in the pattern were 15" finished size before the sashing. I simplified mine to finish at 12" including the sashing.

This month we learned about using templates of different types.  I really liked one of Taffy's samples with 8-point stars.  Afterwards I came home and cut strips from many of my blue fabrics.  I made strip sets of different reds and blues, then cut 45 degree diamonds from them.  It has been great fun playing with the different ways I can arrange the pieces. 

I am thinking I will use red and blue scraps with a light background fabric to make at least one block each month based on the demonstrations at the scrap club.  These stars were so much fun that I might make several more.  I hope to end up with enough different blocks to put together into a quilt at the end of the year.

See more design walls at Patchwork Times

       Julie