Rainbow Progress

There hasn't been much time for quilting lately, but I have been able to get the blocks joined into rows for my Squared Away sampler. These were all made over the past year as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, hosted by Angela. The block patterns/tutorials were posted each month by Mari at The Academic Quilter. Thanks to both of them for sharing this wonderful project with us!

RSC Squared Away sampler

My blocks finish at 7.5" square and the sashing is 1.5", so this little quilt should finish around 47" x 56". I used the background fabric as the sashing to let the blocks float on the background, plus a solid grey for a bit of contrast as the cornerstones.

The rows haven't been joined to one another yet because I am considering finishing this as another quilt-as-you-go project. One of my major quilting goals for next year is to finish more quilts, and I'm hoping that QAYG will help make that possible.

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

A Few More Rainbow Blocks

One of my quilting projects for the past week was to play with the sampler blocks that we have been making all year for the Squared Away BOM as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Along with those blocks, I have also been making extra blocks using the patterns from the 2017 Patchwork Quilt Along at the Fat Quarter Shop. Both sets of blocks are based on a 5x5 grid, so they fit together perfectly!

I made a new version of the Squared Away block from January, using a lighter blue that works much better with the grey background. The yellow and red blocks were made from the Fat Quarter Shop patterns.

The next step will be putting all of the blocks up on the wall together to figure out a layout. I have over 50 blocks, 7.5" finished size. That would be enough for a large throw quilt, but I think I will make a smaller throw plus a baby quilt instead. I'm looking forward to trying out different block settings.

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and with Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Squared Away in Dark Greens

All year at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, many of us have been joining in on the Squared Away sampler designed by Mari and Angela. The block for October is called Dewey Dream, and it is the last block we will be making for the year. Here are my October blocks, including one with the colors reversed. I also made two blocks from the 2017 Fat Quarter Shop Patchwork Quilt Along. All of the blocks finish at 7.5".

It has been such fun following along on the Squared Away sampler. Huge thanks to Mari and Angela for the wonderful quilt-along. I can't wait to put all of my blocks up on the design wall too see how they look together!

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Sampling the Blues

Now that we are into September, the end of the year for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is drawing near. Our assigned color for September is dark blue, with dark neutrals as an alternate choice. I believe there is only one more monthly color left for the year, then we can concentrate on assembly and finishing of our quilts.

My month got off to a good start with the completion of my Squared Away sampler blocks in blues. The block pattern is Queen Charlotte's Crown, and you can find it at Mari's blog The Academic Quilter. Those are the blocks in the top row, and they finish at 7.5". I preferred Mari's version that used only two fabrics instead of including an accent color.

The two blocks in the bottom row are Grandmother's Choice from the 2017 Fat Quarter Shop Patchwork Quilt Along. The block on the left is assembled as instructed in the pattern. Things got turned around differently on my 2nd attempt, leaving me with the block on the right. I think I like that one even better!

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Orange RSC Wrap-Up

It felt so good to get all of the orange blocks for my three Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects finished early in the month. That is definitely preferable to procrastinating until the last week, then scrambling to get them done in time! Here is the collection of orange scrappiness.

Top left: 3 State of Georgia blocks for the Squared Away sampler

Middle left: 2 Rolling Nine-Patch blocks, Fat Quarter Shop 2017 sampler

Bottom left: 2 Spinning Boxes

Right side: 2 Scraptastic Stars

Since my blocks were done early, I pulled out an old project that included orange in the color scheme. My "Tell It to the Stars" quilt just needed the pieced border finished, then one last plain border added. The pieced border is now complete! You can only see a portion of the quilt because it is so large.

Tell It to the Stars, pattern by Judy Laquidara

This quilt was started as a block of the month by Judy Laquidara at Patchwork Times in 2014. I was doing great with keeping up every month until late in the year when we got to the pieced border. It was around then that I realized I had used the wrong fabric for my setting triangles. My triangles are all pieced from black fabrics instead of the blue/turquoise prints that should have been used, making the quilt top seem very dark around the outside edges. It should look more like Judy's quilt below--our color schemes are very similar, except that the green in hers has been switched to turquoise in mine.

Judy Laquidara's Tell It to the Stars quilt

I had been planning to just keep going and live with my mistake, but I know I won't ever be satisfied with the way it looks. I'm considering removing the black setting triangles and remaking them in turquoise. The photo of my quilt top shows one sample triangle in turquoise along the side. It will be a lot of work, especially setting in the new triangles, but I know I will be much happier with the finished result.

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Squared Away in Orange

Our colors for August at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge are orange and brown, and the new block for the RSC Squared Away sampler is called State of Georgia, a pattern from 1935. I made three blocks from my orange scraps and strips.

State of Georgia blocks
pattern at The Academic Quilter

After that it was time to check out all the colors together on the design wall. Making these blocks every month has taught me that they look best if I use very light or bright colors that pop against the grey background. There are a couple of blocks from early in the year that don't have the same liveliness to them as the rest, but overall I am happy with the group as a whole.

The taupe fabric with polka dots that you see between and around my blocks is the flannel design wall, not a planned part of the quilt. The current idea is to add narrow sashing of the same grey print as the background, if there is enough. It's looking like I might end up with enough blocks to make two kid-sized quilts. My blocks finish at 7.5", and 20 blocks with 1.5" sashing would make a quilt center that measures 37.5" x 46.5" (at least, I think that's right!)

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Squared Away in Reds

For some reason, there didn't seem to be much time or energy for quilting this week. I didn't get around to working on my Squared Away sampler blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge until today, but I managed to complete three of the Round the Corner blocks (pattern available at The Academic Quilter.) Edited Sunday morning, 7/15/18--I completed a 4th block last night and switched the photo to include all four blocks.

Unfortunately, my design walls both have too much on them for me to put up all of my Squared Away blocks--maybe next month!

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Wrapping Up the Turquoise & Teal Blocks

The last teal/turquoise/aqua block has been added to the June collection for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. This is my 16" Scraptastic Star block.

Scraptastic Star, pattern by Melissa Corey

Here are both of my Scraptastic Star blocks for this month, which will finish at 16" and 12".

I love looking at all the colors of these blocks together on the design wall. Here are my 16" blocks.

Since it is the end of the month, I put all my teal and turquoise RSC blocks up on the wall together. Besides the two Scraptastic Stars, there are two Spinning Boxes blocks and five Country Lanes blocks for the Squared Away sampler. Lots of blue-green loveliness!

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Squared Away in Teal and Turquoise

I'm always happy when our Rainbow Scrap Challenge color assignment for the month is turquoise and teal. I love playing with those colors, the ones that are too green to be blue and too blue to be green. Unfortunately, quilting time has been hard to find recently, so I haven't gotten very far with my scraps.

I did manage to make this month's Squared Away blocks. Fortunately, it was a very quick and easy block called Country Lanes. I had intended to make only three blocks, but kept wanting to try different color combinations and ended up with five blocks instead. The two blocks at the bottom right share the same fabrics in different layouts. I can't decide which I like better!

Country Lanes blocks, 7.5" finished
Pattern at The Academic Quilter

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Squared Away in Pink

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge colors for May are pink and rose. I didn't expect to have much time to work on my blocks for the Squared Away sampler this week, but the pieces had all been cut out last week. They were the perfect project for one of those nights when I was too tired to think very hard about what to sew.

The top row has three Squared Away blocks. The pattern is called Baton Rouge Square, and the pattern/instructions are available at The Academic Quilter. The two blocks in the bottom row are from the 2017 Patchwork Quilt Along at the Fat Quarter Shop (find the pattern HERE.)

Now that we have added a couple of warm colors to the mix, it seemed like a good time to check out the whole group on the design wall. I seem to be one block short on yellow, but I'm pleased with how they are looking together. These will go back in the box until we find out the new color for next month.

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Scrap Happy Yellows

It is nearly the end of our month of using yellow scraps for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and it has been a wonderfully productive month. Last weekend I finished my second Scraptastic Star block in yellow and gold. Here are both blocks together.

Scraptastic Stars, Pattern by Melissa Corry

I was enjoying the sunshiny brightness of my yellow scraps, so I decided to put all the blocks from this month up on the design wall together.  This nighttime photo doesn't do the colors justice.

Besides the two Scraptastic Star blocks, I ended up with seventeen 4" pinwheels made from 30's fabrics, one Have Faith block (upper center), four 4X Star blocks for the Squared Away sampler (bottom left with grey background) and two Spinning Boxes blocks (bottom right). Total number of yellow blocks is 26. I'm ready to find out our next monthly color!

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Squared Away in Yellow and Gold

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge colors for April are yellow and gold, and my RSC project for the past week has been the Squared Away sampler blocks. Our block this month, as chosen by Mari at The Academic Quilter, is the 4X Star.

I have been making my blocks to finish at 7.5". I was so pleased with the way the colors looked against my grey background print, that I made four blocks for this month. I look forward to adding more warm colors to the mix.

4X Stars
RSC Squared Away sampler

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

15 Minutes and Stash Report Sunday 3/18/18

I hope everyone had a wonderful St. Pat's/National Quilting Day yesterday. I had the luxury of spending almost the entire day in my sewing room. I came out for meals and to exercise, but not much more than that. I did some tidying up, some cutting and stitching, and I even started a new project!

My stash usage for the week consisted of several blocks for the RSC Squared Away sampler, plus my first four Spinning Boxes blocks. You can find a tutorial for the Spinning Boxes in yesterday's post. It's fun to see all the colors together up on the design wall.

2018 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                 1.0 yards

Used year to date:            17.0 yards

Added last week:                0.0 yards
Added year to date:         2.125 yards
Net used year to date:   14.875 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. My perfect streak for the year has come to an end because I missed one day this week. Time to get started on a new streak!

15 Minute Challenge:  
3/11 - 3/17            6 of 7 days
2018 Total          75 of 76 days

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

Julie in GA

Sampling the Bright Greens

This week's scrappy stitching for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge was focused on my blocks for the Squared Away sampler. I have been making the blocks to finish at 7.5". I also made a couple of Spinning Boxes blocks.

At the top in this photo are two Box-in-a-Box blocks from the Fat Quarter Shop's 2017 Patchwork Quilt Along (find the pattern HERE, but their pattern is for a 5" block.) My three Squared Away blocks are across the center (pattern available at The Academic Quilter), and at the bottom are two Spinning Boxes blocks, which will finish at 10". This whole grouping makes me feel like spring has come!

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Plenty of Purple

When it was announced that the February color assignment for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is purple and lavender, I wasn't sure I would find many scraps to use in my current RSC projects. I went digging through my boxes, bins and drawers and found all sorts of purple goodies!

The first place I looked was my drawer of 3" strips (the same strips that were used for my Scrappy Trips blocks last year.) I found several strips of purple, a few 3" squares, and a couple dozen four-patches.

3" strips and squares

4-patches made from 3" squares

The 3" purple strips have been cut up into squares to make more 4P blocks. There may be enough in that pile for a small quilt.

Miscellaneous scraps

There was a small pile of miscellaneous purple scraps. Some of these were used to make a few more sampler blocks to add to the Squared Away blocks. The pattern for these is from the 2017 Fat Quarter Shop Patchwork Quilt Along.

FQS Sampler blocks

After all the favorable comments on my Baby Blue Boxes top last month, I thought I might make a block or two each month in the RSC colors. Here is the first one in purple and lavender scraps. I love how the block looks on point! Now to come up with a name for this block pattern--maybe Spinning Boxes or Boxed In? Other suggestions would be appreciated. 

Spinning Boxes block

The final source of purple scraps was this bag of little 1.5" squares that was sent to me a few months ago by Jennifer in PA, a fellow RSC participant. There must be hundreds, maybe even a thousand or more squares in there! 

Bag of 1.5" squares

I sorted out a couple handfuls of the squares, then started making little nine-patch blocks from them. These are my current leader/ender project. So cute! Thanks for the scraps Jennifer! 

3" nine-patch blocks

Wow, that's a lot of purple scrappy projects in the works! I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

15 Minutes and Stash Report Sunday 2/11/18

It was another week with a fair amount of quilting time, but there's not much to report for stash usage. The good news--no new fabric added! My usage was on the blocks I made for the Squared Away Sampler at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I'm also making some of the blocks from the 2017 Patchwork Quilt Along at the Fat Quarter Shop. Here are my blocks for January and February, which used 3/4 yard of fabric.

2018 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                  .75 yards

Used year to date:            6.25 yards

Added last week:                0.0 yards
Added year to date:         2.125 yards
Net used year to date:   4.125 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. Work is getting busy and likely to continue that way for a few weeks, but I still managed to get in 15 minutes every day. I'm maintaining my 100% success rate for another week!

15 Minute Challenge:  
2/4 - 2/10            7 of 7 days
2018 Total         41 of 41 days

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

Julie in GA

Squared Away in Purple and Lavender

The February color assignment for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is purple and lavender. There hasn't been much purple sewing happening around here yet, but I did pull out a batch of scraps and make my blocks for the Squared Away sampler. I'm making my blocks to finish at 7.5", and they all include the same grey background print. I'm finding it to be quite a challenge to choose fabrics that look good/show up well against the grey, and I'm even thinking about switching to a different background fabric and starting over.

Wishing Ring blocks for the
Squared Away Sampler

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Squared Away with Blue Scraps

I tried to resist joining in with the new Squared Away sampler at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, but my resolve didn't last long. Angela, our hostess for the RSC, and Mari of The Academic Quilter have joined forces on this year's project. They are posting a new pattern every month with options for making the blocks in different sizes. Each block is based on a 5 x 5 grid, so we can make our blocks to finish at 5", 7.5", 10", 15" etc. Just like the RSC, there's lots of flexibility. You can find more information at Angela's blog HERE or at Mari's blog HERE.

I decided to work with 7.5" blocks, and I'm going to use a grey print as the background. Our RSC color for January is light/medium blue. Here are my first few pieces being auditioned on the grey fabric--I am already learning that I need to keep my colors bright to prevent them from looking too drab against the grey.

I've completed my three Squared Away blocks for January, and I also made two blocks from the Patchwork Quilt Along that was running on the Fat Quarter Shop blog last year. Those blocks were also based on a 5 x 5 grid, so they will fit very well with the Squared Away blocks. I just checked their blog page, and the patterns are still available there if you click on the QAL name above.

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA