Back Panel for Tell It to the Stars

It has been a month since I shared my Tell It to the Stars quilt top. Last week I started working on the back for this quilt. I didn't have quite enough of the fabric I'm planning to use for the back, but I  had some leftover/extra parts from making the front of the quilt. There were two of the alternate blocks, plus I made four more of those (see them in yesterday's post.) I also had the setting and corner triangles that didn't make the cut for the front of the quilt.

Setting and corner triangles

All of those alternate blocks and setting triangles have been joined together into a long, narrow panel which will run down the center of the quilt back. The photo shows that panel before the final seam was stitched. I knew there was no way I could get a photo of the entire piece all together--it measures about 17.5" x 103".

I need to add a little of the backing fabric at both ends of this panel to make it a bit longer. After that, all that's left is to attach lengths of backing fabric along each side of the panel--then my quilt will have a finished back (hopefully by the end of the week!)

I'm linking up to Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt, and Moving It Forward at Em's Scrapbag. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

15 Minutes and Stash Report Sunday 10/28/18

It didn't seem like I used much fabric this week, but when I went to total up my numbers for the stash report, it came to 1.5 yards used. I consider that a pretty good week! That includes 3/4 yard for the sashing on the Spinning Boxes quilt, shown in yesterday's post, and another 3/4 yard to make four chain blocks for a pieced panel to insert into the backing of the Tell It to the Stars quilt. No new fabric was added this week.

2018 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                    1.50 yards

Used year to date:                68.0 yards
Added last week:                    0.0 yards

Added year to date:             34.75 yards
Net used year to date:       33.25 yards

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces has us keep track of how many days each week we are able to spend at least 15 minutes quilting, and my total for last week was 6 out of 7. For the first time in several months, my number of quilting days for the week was not a perfect 7 for 7. The last time that happened was in June when we spent a week visiting family in Wisconsin. This time around was another vacation week, but I spent the entire week at home. You might think that would mean more quilting time, but there were too many other things that really needed to get done instead.  

15 Minute Challenge:  
10/21 - 10/27        6 of 7 days
2018 Total      293 of 300 days

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

Julie in GA

15 Minutes and Stash Report Sunday 9/30/18

Last night I shared a post featuring my completed Tell It to the Stars quilt top (see the post HERE.) I had been counting my fabric usage for the different parts of the quilt as they were made, but discovered that none of the border fabrics had been included. That means I can report 4.75 yards as used, all for those borders. No new fabric added this week. 

Tell It to the Stars with 5 borders

2018 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                   4.75 yards

Used year to date:            64.375 yards

Added last week:                    0.0 yards
Added year to date:             32.25 yards
Net used year to date:   32.125 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. I'm still keeping up with quilting every day!

15 Minute Challenge:  
9/23 - 9/29           7 of 7 days
2018 Total      266 of 272 days

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

Julie in GA

Tell It to the Stars--a Finished Quilt Top!

My Tell It to the Stars quilt has had a very long, slow development. It was started as a mystery BOM designed by Judy Laquidara at Patchwork Times, and the pattern is still available at her website. Here are the many stages of my quilt through the years.

January - June 2014: Make 2 star blocks each month.

July 2014--add 6 alternate blocks

August 2014--add pieced setting triangles

September/October 2014--add sashing and cornerstones, join everything together (a very dark photo!)

 November 2014--making blocks for a pieced border

That was when forward progress ended on this project, and there were two reasons for that. One was that I had decided to change the spacing on the pieced border and was having trouble getting it to fit. The other problem was the realization that I had used the wrong color in my setting triangles--they should have been made in turquoise rather than black. I pulled this project out occasionally over the past few years, but could never make a decision on how to move forward. It took almost four years for me to decide to bite the bullet and remake the triangles. I knew I would never be happy with this quilt otherwise.

August 2018--auditioning replacement setting triangle. I like that much better!

August 2018--removed 4 borders and all setting triangles, began making new triangles

September 2018--join new triangles to center of quilt, choose outer border fabric

It's September 29th, and my goal was to have a finished quilt top by the end of the month. There wasn't much time to spare, but I made it! Here is my finished Tell It to the Stars quilt top! The close-up shot will give a better look at the outer border fabric.

Tell It to the Stars quilt top
83.75" x 103.5"

Finishing this quilt top was my One Monthly Goal, so I am joining the September Finish Link-Up at Elm Street Quilts. I am also sharing with Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework, Whoop Whoop Friday at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, and Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

15 Minutes and Stash Report Sunday 9/9/18

Several different quilting projects moved forward last week, which meant there was a good amount of stash usage for the week. I used 5/8 yard on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks, 1 yard on five Improv Stars for the Seeing Stars QAL, and 1.25 yards on new setting triangles for Tell It to the Stars. No new fabric was added this week!

These are some of the new setting and corner triangles for my Tell It to the Stars quilt. The first few triangles have already been stitched to the center of the quilt. They all have little paper tags to help me keep track of their placement around the edges of the quilt.

2018 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:              2.875 yards

Used year to date:          56.75 yards

Added last week:                0.0 yards
Added year to date:         32.25 yards
Net used year to date:   24.50 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. We had a strange schedule at work this week, including working two days over the holiday weekend, then having a different day off later in the week. I still managed to get in at least 15 minutes each day.

15 Minute Challenge:  
9/2 - 9/8               7 of 7 days
2018 Total      245 of 251 days

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

Julie in GA

September 2018--One Monthly Goal

It's hard to believe that we are already a full week into the month of September. That means it's time for me to figure out my One Monthly Goal for the month. There are so many projects to choose from...

A few weeks ago I pulled out a UFO that was a block-of-the-month project started in 2014, Tell It to the Stars by Judy Laquidara. I had gotten to the point of having the center of the quilt completely assembled, four borders (including one pieced border) done, and just one more border to be added. Instead of finishing that last border, I decided to re-make all of the pieced setting triangles with turquoise fabrics to replace the black ones I had used by mistake.

Here is my quilt top before I removed the black setting triangles (with a blue one being auditioned.) 

This photo shows the center of the quilt with the borders and all of the setting triangles removed, and the next shot has a few of the new turquoise triangles added.

My goal for the month of September is to finish making the new setting triangles and get them all joined to the center of the quilt. I would also like to get the borders back on, including adding the final border. In other words, my goal is to have a finished quilt top at the end of the month!

I am linking up with the One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilts. 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

One Monthly Goal--February 2016

Heidi at Red Letter Quilts is hosting OMG (One Monthly Goal). The idea is that each participant sets a quilt-related goal and posts it on their blog or on Flickr at the beginning of the month. Once the goal is achieved, they link up another post before the end of the month sharing their accomplishment. Everyone who meets their goal and posts for both linkups is eligible for prizes!

Sometimes that public declaration of a goal is just the motivation I need to keep me focused on a project rather than flitting around to try out new ideas. I was successful on my January goal, so let's see how it goes this month.

My February goal seems like it should be easy, but it has been hanging around and nagging at me for several months with very little progress being made. This is the center of my "Tell It to the Stars" quilt, which was a BOM mystery by Judy Laquidara in 2014.

I kept up with making the blocks all year (2 per month), but then got totally bogged down on the borders. All that's left is finishing the pieced border, then adding two more plain borders. Like I said, it seems easy, but just hasn't gotten finished. I've worked on it occasionally over the past year, but never completed the quilt. Now's the time to get 'er done!!

I'm heading over to the February link-up for OMG at Red Letter Quilts to see what everyone else hopes to get done this month!

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 9/21/15

After avoiding this project for over a week because of my frustration with the pieced border, I pulled out my Tell It to the Stars quilt again last night. The good news is that I finally got the pieced border to fit (although it took close to two hours with lots of adjusting of seam allowances.) The bad news is that I have only finished the first side--there are still three more to go! They will have to wait until tonight or later in the week.

This quilt was Judy Laquidara's 2014 mystery quilt. For some insane reason, I decided to change the spacing on that pieced border instead of following Judy's instructions. I know now that I should have stuck with the original plan, but I will plow ahead and get the rest of my version finished soon (I hope!)

I am linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times and to Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt. Check them both out for lots of amazing quilting inspiration!

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 9/7/15

Happy Labor Day to all in the U.S. and Canada! I hope you are enjoying the day off and getting lots of time to quilt.

The majority of my quilting time last week was spent on my Tell It to the Stars quilt. This was the 2014 mystery quilt by Judy Laquidara. I had the center of my version all put together last fall, but ran into some problems with the borders and stuck it away in a box. It's time to get those borders finished and this quilt top done!

I decided to change the pieced border a little bit from Judy's design (you can see her finished version HERE.) I reduced the number of blocks that needed to be pieced for the border and also added a pieced corner square to that border. After the pieced border, there will be a narrow border of the background, and a final wide border. 

My biggest problem on this quilt right now (besides pinning and stitching all those endless border seams!) is that I don't have a fabric for the final border. I went to three different quilt shops on Saturday looking for a Southwest type print, but none of them had anything. I have found some possibilities on-line, but would much rather see the fabric in person to be sure I like the colors and scale of the print. The search continues...

I am linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times and to Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt. Check them both out for lots of amazing quilting inspiration!

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 8/31/15

Over the weekend I pulled out a quilt that I am considering working on as my next UFO project. It is my Tell It to the Stars quilt, which was a BOM by Judy Laquidara last year. I did well at keeping up with the monthly clues until near the end of the year when we got to the assembly and borders. Here is what I had when I packed it all away last November or December.

The main reason I put this project away was because I realized that I made the pieced setting triangles with the wrong color. They should have been turquoise, but I used black by mistake, and I'm not sure I like how dark the outside of the quilt looks. I've also been having trouble getting those outer border blocks to come out the right size. In other words, I'm just stuck and don't know what to do next.

I am linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times and to Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt. Check them both out for lots of amazing quilting inspiration!

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 11/10/14

I am still struggling with the border blocks for the Tell It to the Stars mystery quilt. I finished up twelve blocks on Saturday, but it took lots of un-sewing and trimming to get them to finish at the right size. If you zoom in on the photo, you will see straight pins in several blocks. The pins are marking where my blocks are a little small, but I should be able to make up for that when I join the blocks together.

I am linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times where you can see all sorts of amazing quilting inspiration! 

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 11/9/14

There was a small amount of fabric used this week and no additions to the stash. I spent very little time quilting, but I did finish 12 border blocks for the Tell It to the Stars mystery quilt. These blocks are proving to be much more challenging than I expected. I still need to make 22 more blocks.

Used this week:                             .375 yards
Used year to date:                   115.625 yards

Stashed this week:                        0  yards

Stashed year to date:               101.0 yards 

Net year to date:                      14.625 yards used  


Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 11/3/14

I was looking forward to showing a batch of border blocks for Judy L's Tell It to the Stars mystery quilt, but my design wall is completely empty. I thought I had figured out a clever way to piece the blocks that would eliminate some of the seams, but it isn't working out very well. I spent a good part of the weekend starting to make the blocks, but they are not coming out the right size.

The block at the top left was taken apart and re-trimmed, finally getting it to be the correct size. The other two blocks still need to be fixed, as well as the other half dozen or so that are partially together. At the right you can see the way I cut the pieces for this block. Silly me, to think I could improve on Judy's pattern!

I am linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times where you can see all sorts of amazing quilting inspiration! 

Julie in GA

Tell It to the Stars 10/3/14

Our September/October assignment for Judy L's Tell It to the Stars mystery was to add sashing and cornerstones to the blocks we had been making since January. For a change, I decided to get mine done right away at the beginning of the month. I completed this part a few weeks ago, leaving me to wait until November for the next step.

One big difference between my quilt and others is that I have been going somewhat scrappy. I wish I had mixed it up even more, especially with the background fabrics. I used a different background in each block, but it might have been even better if each block had a mix of several backgrounds. I also used a fabric for the sashing which is darker than the background, making my blocks look more boxed in instead of floating like other versions.

All that's left to do on this quilt are the borders. Judy has told us to expect some straight and one pieced. That's no surprise since we know how Judy loves her pieced borders. I can't wait to see what she has planned!

To see other interpretations of the mystery, go to Patchwork Times.

Happy quilting!

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 9/8/14

My main design wall is covered with the blocks for the Tell It to the Stars mystery. Our assignment for September & October is to add sashing and cornerstones and to get them all joined together with the blocks. All the blocks in the upper right part of the photo are stitched together except for one long seam, and the blocks to the lower left (plus those hidden to the left and the bottom) are waiting to be sewn together.

Judy's instructions for this mystery had the sashing cut from the same fabric as the block backgrounds, which makes the stars and chains of squares float more than mine. I decided to go with the darker sashing because I am making my quilt scrappy, with a different background fabric in every block. I am hoping that this slightly darker fabric will help all the different background fabrics work together. I keep looking at that chain block at the lower right and thinking the background looks too light compared to the others. I had better replace it before I get any further in the process or it will just continue to nag at me.

I am linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times where you can see all sorts of amazing quilting inspiration! 

Julie in GA

September quilting goals & August results

It is looking like September is going to be a busy, quilt-filled month. All the local quilt shops are getting back to full schedules of classes, and it would be a great time to learn something new. There are also two major quilt shows nearby, but unfortunately they are both on the same weekend. AQS Quiltweek in Chattanooga, TN runs Sept. 10 -13. 

The event I am more likely to be able to attend is Quilting Live! at the Cobb Galleria Center in Atlanta, Sept. 11 - 13. Here is some info about that show:

Quilting LIVE! will have quilt exhibits, stage presentations, classes, make-it take-it events and more,  presented by Quilters Newsletter,  McCalls Quilting, Quiltmaker, Quilting Arts, Keepsake Quilting, Modern Patchwork, Quilty, Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting and QNNtv! Be sure to check out the Quilting LIVE! website today to find out more and learn about all the quilting experiences you could have by attending.


AUGUST GOALS

1.  Finish quilting and bind Musical Stars baby quilt. This was also my August goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes.  FINISHED 8/9/14 and presented to the parents to be!

Musical Stars baby quilt
36" square

2.  Rainbow Scrap Challenge--make 6-8 LeMoyne Stars in August's color, light/bright green.  Since I had already made green LeMoyne stars in May, I made 12 Crossroads blocks in light/bright greens. They have been joined together, borders added, backing pieced, and this is ready to be quilted.

3.  Scrap Hexies--make hexie star & snowflakes. Already had green blocks from May, so have been adding background hexies to my green star.

4.  Tell It to the Stars (Judy L. mystery)--make August blocks. DONE 8/23/14

5.  Make at least 30 blocks as part of the 350 Blocks Project  DONE 8/27
6.  Spend at least 15 minutes each day quilting--cutting, sewing, designing, etc.  DONE 8/31

SEPTEMBER GOALS
1. My September goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes is to finish the binding on the Scrappy Sampler quilt that I pieced last year. Now that we are getting close to fall, it's time to get this quilt completed!

     

2.  Rainbow Scrap Challenge--make 6-8 LeMoyne Stars in orange.
3.  Scrap Hexies--make hexie star & snowflakes.
4.  Tell It to the Stars (Judy L. mystery)--make September blocks.
5.  Make at least 30 blocks as part of the 350 Blocks Project
6.  Spend at least 15 minutes each day quilting--cutting, sewing, designing, etc.

There you have it, my quilting plans and goals for September and my results from August. Watch for the next update at the end of September.

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 8/25/14--Tell It to the Stars

When I started making the August blocks for the Tell It to the Stars mystery, I was worried about the amount of black in my blocks. However, once I finished a few and put them up on the wall with my earlier blocks, I was much happier with the look of it all.

This is my guess at a possible layout for our blocks. The blocks for August are the triangles around the outside. I have quite a bit of my turquoise fabric left, plus we still have a few more months to go on this mystery. I am thinking we might be adding sashing at some point, and probably more borders. We know how Judy loves to use multiple borders!

I am linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times where you can see all sorts of amazing quilting inspiration! On September 1st, I will link up to Patchwork Times again for the Tell It to the Stars progress reports.

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 7/14/14

Over the weekend I finished my July blocks for Judy L's Tell It to the Stars mystery. This is my guess at a possible layout for the blocks. I wonder what Judy has planned for us in August and the rest of the year.

I rearranged the blocks in an attempt to get the stars better balanced, moving the two darkest blocks into the center of the layout. There's no telling how many more blocks we will be making and where they fit into the plan.

I am linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times where you can see all sorts of amazing quilting inspiration! 

Julie in GA