Teal and Turquoise Scrappiness

My progress on Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects was limited this week. I've been fighting a terrible cold, and it greatly limited my energy for quilting. Even when I felt the urge to quilt, it needed to be something simple because my brain was so foggy that decision making was nearly impossible. All I was capable of doing was running pieces of fabric through the machine.

I'm working through my drawer of 3" strips, and I still have plenty of teal and turquoise strips to use. I decided to make a variation of Friendship Stars that I believe is called Ribbon Stars. I believe I borrowed this idea/design from Cathy at Cathy's Crazy by Design. She is showing a beautiful set of these blocks this week. I plan to continue making more of these this month and in future months. 

The square-in-a-square nine-patches down the sides of the photo are leftovers from a Storm at Sea quilt I started in 2001 and finished in 2012. Some of those blocks were already made, and I finished making the rest this week. I also made the little Broken Dishes blocks that run across the top from more of those leftovers.

Here is a photo of my finished Storm at Sea quilt, followed by a closer shot showing some of the fabrics. This quilt is the main reason I have such a sizable collection of teal and turquoise scraps.

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 scrappy projects at both places. 

Julie in GA

Teal Scrappiness 3/15/14

Happy Worldwide Quilting Day to everyone! I may not have a lot of time to quilt today, but I hope to squeeze in at least a few minutes.

I don't have much new to show for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this week. I added two more teal and turquoise LeMoyne Star blocks last weekend.

I have been stitching away at my hexies and have the first snowflake almost finished, just one more row to add to the right side. The large star will be next.

Since I don't have much to show on current teal projects, I thought I would share a photo of the quilt that provided many of my teal and turquoise scraps. I started this Storm at Sea quilt in 2001, worked on it on and off for a few years, then packed it away until it got pulled out again in 2012. It was finally completely finished in October, 2012, which is the reason it is named Eleven-Year Storm. If you would like to read more about it, check out this post.

Check out the Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts every Saturday to see how others are using up their scraps. So many beautiful projects! 

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 11/5/12

MY QUILT MADE THE FINALS!!

This afternoon I got an email with the exciting news that my Storm at Sea quilt had been nominated as one of the favorite quilts in the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  I am so thrilled to be included in the final voting, especially since this is my first time taking part in the event.  

Those of you who have been reading my blog over the past several months have followed along with the progress of this quilt.  I have appreciated all the comments and support along the way.  

If you haven't already voted for your favorites, you can do so HERE.  My Storm at Sea is in the bed quilt category.  Voting ends this Thurs., Nov. 8th.

The only addition to my design wall for the week is the two most recent Grandmother's Choice blocks.  That makes a total of 10 blocks plus 2 duplicates.  As the blocks get finished, I am liking the way they look together more and more.  Only 39 more to go!

Check out what others have been working on at  Patchwork Times.  Also be sure to vote for your favorite quilts in the Blogger's Quilt Festival.

Julie

Stash Report Sunday 11/4/12

I was very excited to finish up my Storm at Sea quilt last weekend, but as soon as I put it on the bed, I knew that it needed matching pillowcases.  That used 2-1/4 yards of fabric.  I also made the binding for my next quilt to be finished, using another 1/2 yard.

I have entered the Storm at Sea quilt in the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  There are hundreds of amazing quilts on display there.  If you haven't already nominated quilts for the voting round, I would appreciate it if you would consider mine.  It is entry #499, and the categories it could be nominated in are bed quilt, scrap quilt, and professionally quilted.  The deadline for nominations is today, Nov. 4th.  You can find the nomination form here.  Thanks!




Used this week: 2.75
Used year to date: 54 yards

Added this week:   0 yards

Added year to date:  84.5 yards

Net year to date: 30.5 yards added

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie

Blogger's Quilt Festival--Storm at Sea

This is my first time posting to the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  I have been having such a great time checking out everyone else's posts.  Thanks to Amy for putting it all together.  Go to Amy's Creative Side to see all the other entries.  (I couldn't figure out how to get the button into my blog.)

It was easy to pick which quilt to show for the festival.  There haven't been many finishes this year, but I just completed the Storm at Sea quilt that I started in 2001!  I had been collecting fabrics in shades of blue, teal, green, aqua, and purple for quite a while, but couldn't settle on what I wanted to make.  Then I found the background fabric with sea anemones on it--that had to be a sign that it was time to make a Storm at Sea.   

I worked on this quilt on and off for a couple of years.  I wasn't sure how I wanted to finish it, which was the reason it kept being set aside.  Then in late 2003, I took a job that had me travelling full-time, which lasted until 2 years ago.  I was able to do some quilting on the road, but never got back to this project.

I was going through my extensive collection of UFOs at the beginning of 2012, with the goal of getting some of them finished before the end of the year.  For some reason, the Storm at Sea was the quilt that wanted to be worked on first.  

Instead of the usual large square at the center of the unit, I decided to complicate the pattern even more and make that part as a nine-patch instead.  To tell the truth, it was just a way to get more fabrics into the quilt, especially some of the lighter colored ones.   It was such a trip down memory lane to play with these fabrics again after letting them "age" for over 10 years.   At some point I figured out that there were around 3700 pieces in this quilt.  Below you can see the different units that I was making for the quilt.

The main decision still remaining on this project was the design of the pieced border.  I had originally planned on the following design, which gives a scalloped look around the outside.   

Instead, I decided to go with a row of spiky stars surrounding the center.  I like the additional background spaces, and this design brought the quilt to a better finished size for my bed.

Center section with quilt  blocks sewn together.

Quilt top finished--late May 2012

Quilted and bound, October 2012--it's finished!  

After seeing it on the bed, I decided I need to make matching pillowcases.

Blogger’s Quilt Festival Stats:

Finished quilt measures : 87" x 96″

Quilted by : Jan Walsh, Cat's Meow Quilting

Best Category : Bed Quilt, Professionally Quilted, Scrap Quilt

Thanks for taking a look at my quilt. Enjoy all the other fabulous inspiration at the Bloggers Quilt Festival

Julie

Design Wall Monday 10/29/2012

There isn't anything new to show on my design wall this week, but I do have a new quilt on my bed.  I finished the binding on my Storm at Sea quilt yesterday!

It was too windy outside yesterday to hang the quilt up for photos.  You can see a full shot of the unquilted top here.  I am thrilled to have it finished and on the bed.  My first thought once I laid it out on the bed (after "I can't believe that's finally done!") was "Now I need some matching pillowcases."  That answers the question of what to work on next.

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

Design Wall Monday 5/28/12

The design wall is empty at the moment, but there is something to see on the "design deck."  The Storm at Sea quilt top is done!!!

My husband had a friend visiting the other day, so I got the two of them to hold it up over the side of the deck.  The top is too big (87" x 96") to hang up anywhere inside the house.  There are also photos of it on the bed in my last two posts here and here.

I am so happy to have completed this quilt top after such a long time (started in 2001).  The only bad news  is that the fabric for the back is not as big as I thought.  It is one of those super wide fabrics, but it is about a foot shorter than it needs to be.  I will have to fix that before I take this to my long-armer in June.  I can't wait to get this finished and on the bed!

Check out more amazing design walls at Patchwork Times

Julie

Stash Report Sunday 5/27/12

I finally have a major finish to report--my Storm at Sea quilt top is done!!!  At times it seemed like it would never end.  The quilt was begun in 2001 after I found this fabulous background fabric with sea anemones on it.  I had already amassed a large collection of teal/blue/green/purple fabrics. 

There are just over 3500 pieces in this quilt.   I worked on the piecing on and off for a couple years, but kept setting it aside in favor of other projects.  For some reason, 2012 became the right time to get it done!  I have quite a few projects that have been hanging around for a long time, and I hope to get some others finished this year too.

I have been reporting stash usage on this quilt as I cut new pieces, but hadn't figured out the yardage used for the parts that were already cut.  It feels so good to see the numbers go up for fabric used.  Even better is seeing the result of all those hours at the sewing machine laid out on my bed!  Tomorrow I will post a photo of the full quilt .



Used this week: 12-1/2 yards
Used year to date:  27-1/2 yards

Added this week: 0 yards

Added year to date: 43-1/4 yards
Net year to date: 15-3/4 yards added

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie

Storm at Sea top complete!!

For those who have been following my blog since I started at the beginning of this year, you know that my main project this past few months has been a Storm at Sea quilt.  I started this quilt in 2001, worked on it sporadically for awhile, then put it aside for 7 or 8 years.  I am hoping to finish up some of my old projects this year, and this was the first one tackled. 

I will get better photos later when I have some help to hold it up outside.  For now, the best option was on the bed.  Can't you just feel the movement of the waves?!!

Design Wall Monday 4/16/12

Progress on the Storm at Sea quilt has been slow but steady.  I got all the parts for the center of the quilt joined into bigger sections, which makes it so much easier to move them around on the design wall. 

Now the units for the border are going up on the wall and then getting sewn together.  The quilt has reached the point where it is too big for my wall, so I have pulled down the sections from one end while I work on the border for the top and one side.

Check out more amazing design walls at Patchwork Times

Julie

Stash Report Sunday 4/15/12

There are no changes to my stash this week.  I continued joining together the parts of the Storm at Sea quilt.  The units for the center of the quilt have been joined together into bigger sections, and I have started putting  the parts for the borders up on the design wall.  The little bits of yellow are paper tags to help me keep everything in the right order.

I hope to get it all together in the next week or so and then deliver it to the longarm quilter.

Used this week: 0 yards
Used year to date: 9-1/8 yards

Added this week: 0 yards

Added year to date: 2-3/4 yards
Net year to date: 6-3/8 yards used

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday 4/9/12

The design wall doesn't look too much different than a week ago.  I finished up swapping out several pieces to add some lighter/brighter fabrics to the mix.  Now the whole center of the quilt is up on the wall and ready to be assembled.  I am eager to see how the quilt comes together, but I need to work carefully in order to keep the pieces where they have been placed.  It would be far too easy to get pieces mixed up and switched around.

See more design walls at Patchwork Times

Julie

Design Wall Monday 4/2/12

I finished making the many units for my Storm at Sea quilt a few days ago.  Yeah!!  Now it's time to play with arranging them on the design wall.  There has been lots of moving parts around to avoid having the same fabric too close to itself or similar colors right next to one another.  It is inevitable that there will be at least one spot where two pieces of the same fabric are right next to each other.  In fact, I have already spotted one instance, but for now I will leave it as is.

I have been laying out pieces for the center section of the quilt first and decided to trade out a few of the darker fabric pieces for ones that have a little more spark to them.  Once those substitutions are done, I can get going on joining the parts together, then add the pieced border.


See more design walls at Patchwork Times

Julie

Stash Report Sunday 4/1/2012

No change in my stash report this week, but I hope to have a finish to report soon.  I have been working hard on making the parts for my Storm at Sea quilt, and I finally got all the different components made.  Time to begin assembly!

Used this week: 0 yards
Used year to date: 9-1/8 yards

Added this week: 0 yards

Added year to date: 2-3/4 yards
Net year to date: 6-3/8 yards used

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie

Design Wall Monday 3/26/12

My design wall looks the same as last week, but I am making progress on the Storm at Sea quilt.  I have continued making the parts I need for this quilt, and there is finally an end in sight.  At one point a few weeks ago I figured out how many pieces are in this quilt, and the total came to almost 3700!  No wonder it has seemed to take a long time to finish putting them together.  This quilt pattern is not for those who want immediate gratification.  I am so eager to see it together.

See more design walls at Patchwork Times

Julie

Design Wall Monday 3/19/12

The stacks of Storm at Sea parts have been growing.  I was able to spend close to 7 hours sewing on Saturday, and I managed to finish up the many 9-patch square-in-a-square units that I need for the border design.  I didn't get a chance to get them up on the wall to see how everything looks together until Monday evening.  It's impossible to get a photo of the whole thing because my design wall is in a hallway and I have to stand inside the bathroom and shoot through the doorway.

See more 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

Is anyone getting tired of seeing photos of this Storm at Sea quilt?  Quilting time has been very limited lately, so my progress is quite slow.  It doesn't help any that I changed plans for the pieced border, and the new design requires even more blocks.  What you see in the photo above will be the center of the quilt.

Here are the different units that go into this quilt.  There will be 110 of the nine-patch square in a square, and I have finished 67 of them, plus I have made the 9-patches for the rest.  The mostly blue ones are for the center, and the light ones are part of the border.  These finish at 6".

There are also smaller square-in-a-square units that finish at 3".  Again, the ones with all blue corners are for the center, and the others for the border.  I need 90 altogether and have 56 made.

Then there are these little beauties.  I made them using the Tri-Recs tools for cutting.  There will be 199 of these in the quilt, and I have 98 completed, plus more partially done.  They will measure 3" x 6" finished.

Lots of cutting and sewing still to be done.  I am trying not to stress out over how long it is taking and just enjoy the time spent working with these beautiful fabrics.  It's surprising that I still like the fabrics so much considering they are all at least 10 years old!

Yesterday I finally got around to taking down the Christmas Lone Star quilt that was hanging in my sewing room.  There is a space between two windows that works better as a spot to display quilts rather than as a design wall.  With all the warm weather we have had lately, it seemed right to go with something for spring, so I put up my "Pretty in Plaid" applique quilt.  This pattern is in the Piece O' Cake book Contemporary Classics in Plaids & Stripes.

See more design walls at Patchwork Times

       Julie

Design Wall Monday

We had another very busy week at work, which left little time for quilting.  I spent some time one evening playing with EQ7 to help me decide on the border design for my Storm at Sea quilt, and I think I have finally made a decision (although I won't make any promises yet.) 

The new border design changes the numbers needed for some of the units being made, so I continue cranking out square-in-a-square blocks and rectangles made from Tri-Recs units.  I believe I need 20 more of the top left unit, 14 of the bottom left, 100 or so of the middle one, and 53 of the large unit on the right for the border.

The different units for the border will be arranged to form a ring of stars around the center of the quilt as shown below.  I think it will set off the center very nicely.  The quilt top should finish at 87" x 96" before quilting.

See more design walls at Patchwork Times

       Julie