Design Wall Monday 5/3/2021

Yesterday I made Block #29 for the Sewcialites Quilt Along at the Fat Quarter Shop. It is this cute little Cake Stand block.

This is a block that I like better in an on-point setting as shown above. That got me thinking about how to set my blocks for this quilt. There will be 36 blocks total, and mine will all finish at 6". Here is the setting layout from the Fat Quarter Shop design.

I got to thinking about the Tiny Tuesday sampler quilt that many quilters made as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge in 2019. That quilt design had some blocks set straight and the rest were on point. Here is my finished Tiny Tuesday quilt top from December, 2019.

Tiny Tuesday Sampler, 52.5" x 60"

I decided to audition my Sewcialites blocks in a similar setting. I have some yardage of a light aqua fabric that was meant for another project made from 30's prints, but I chose a different fabric for that quilt. I think the aqua might work very nicely for this setting.

I have 29 finished blocks for this quilt, and there are seven block patterns still to be released between now and the middle of June. If I decide to go ahead with this setting, I could start cutting and stitching the aqua fabric to all of these blocks now, which would make the final assembly very quick.

The patterns for the Sewcialites Quilt Along blocks are available at the Fat Quarter Shop's blog HERE.

 

Linking up with:

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA 

The Last Scrappy Rainbow Saturday of 2019

It's the last Saturday of the year, which makes it the perfect time to review my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects from 2019. I had four different RSC quilts in process this year--let's check out my process on all of them.

One of my 2019 RSC projects was started last December with some test blocks of hand appliqued Orange Peels. I decided to make 3" finished size blocks using assorted black/dark grey backgrounds with the RSC color of the month for the peels. The last time I showed my completed blocks was in October, and there hasn't been a lot of progress since then. This project will carry over into 2020.

Orange Peels, 3" blocks

One of my self-designed RSC projects was the Framed Crumb Stars. Each block started with a 4" crumb block at the center. Star points were added to that, then a frame made from 2.5" squares. As of late October I had all of my 12" blocks made and need to figure out how I want to put them together.

Framed Crumb Stars, 12" blocks

Angela, our hostess for the RSC, was the leader for the Tiny Tuesday sampler, and there were block designs shared by many other participants too. Every week we got a pattern for a 4.5" finished size block. Occasionally there were two block patterns. I had a great time making these blocks each week, frequently making more than one of the assigned block. I ended up with around 60 blocks, which have been joined together into this fun quilt top.

Tiny Tuesday sampler, 52.5" x 60"

My favorite RSC project of 2019 was my Rainbow Stairsteps quilt. Each month I made 12 blocks in the color of the month. There were quite a few questions about the block, and I included cutting directions for one block in THIS POST. These directions make a 6" block, but it would be easy to scale it up to a larger size.

The Stairsteps quilt top was completed in November, and I am thrilled with the way it turned out! The finished size is 60" x 72".

Rainbow Stairsteps, 60" x 72"

The grand total for 2019--two finished quilt tops, one complete set of blocks, and one on-going project. That's a pretty productive year for me! Other than continuing my Orange Peel blocks, I have not decided on my RSC projects for 2020. There are so many wonderful possibilities, many inspired by fellow RSC participants. I guess it's time to come up with a plan for the year ahead!

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

Stitching and Stashing--Week 50, 2019

This week's Stash Report includes both additions and subtractions. Those darned Black Friday sales got me again--another 9.5 yards added. They were all turquoises/teals or yellows to add to the collection for Bonnie Hunter's "Frolic" mystery. These will join the blacks, greys and lights that were shared last week.

It was a good week for fabric usage. 2.5 yards was used for the block framing and the border on my RSC Tiny Tuesday sampler quilt.

I also used 3 yards for a quick baby quilt, but I don't have any photos of it to share just yet.

2019 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                             5.5 yards

Used year to date:                      57.25 yards
Added last week:                            9.5 yards
Added year to date:                    71.75 yards

Net added year to date:            14.5 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 was able to spend more time than usual quilting last week, and it shows in my stash report usage numbers.

15 Minute Challenge:  

12/8 - 12/14             7 of 7 days

2019 Total         328 of 348 days

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

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 50, 2019

One of my projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this year has been the Tiny Tuesday sampler. Each week we made a 4.5" block in the featured color. There were several weeks that I made more than one of the assigned block.

All along, I've been planning to surround my blocks in grey. I finally got my grey fabric about ten days ago, and I have been getting all of the blocks framed out and joined together. Here is my first version of the quilt top.

Once the blocks were all joined together and up on the wall, it seemed to need a little breathing room around the outside edges. I had some extra pieces of the grey from framing the blocks and laid them along the left side and part of the top. I like the look with that addition. Time to cut some more of that grey fabric!

Updated late Saturday, 12/14/19--the border has been added. I like this so much better! Quilt top is finished!!

Tiny Tuesday sampler
52.5" x 60"

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

Stitching and Stashing--Week 49, 2019

It was fun having my stash totals sitting at zero (yards used vs. yards added) for the past few weeks, but that's all over now. I added 10.5 yards to the stash last week, and there will be more added next week. I just can't resist those Black Friday deals!

Black and grey were my main selections in this batch. I wanted some new black/dark grey prints to use as the background for my Orange Peel blocks, plus I am also using those colors in Bonnie Hunter's "Frolic" mystery.

The light grey at the left end in the above photo is a fabric that I've been waiting to go on sale before I bought it. That fabric is becoming the framing on my Tiny Tuesday sampler blocks for the 2019 Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I've made a good start on getting the blocks framed out, and before long they can get joined together into rows. I would love to have a finished quilt top before the end of the year.

Tiny Tuesday blocks

The other fabrics I got are intended for the Frolic mystery. The three on the left are all from the Captiva line by Connecting Threads. That is the line of fabrics that became my color palette for the mystery. The two fabrics on the right are additions to my light/background choices.

2019 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                             0.0 yards

Used year to date:                      51.75 yards
Added last week:                          10.5 yards
Added year to date:                    62.25 yards

Net used year to date:              10.5 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've gotten in my 15 minutes every day and hope to continue that streak through the end of the year!

15 Minute Challenge:  

12/1 - 12/7              7 of 7 days

2019 Total         321 of 341 days

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

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 45, 2019

As we head toward the end of the year, it is time to think about finishing some of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects. My first choice was to put all of the Tiny Tuesday blocks up on the wall together. The taupey fabric with white polka dots that you can see around the blocks is not my setting fabric, although it doesn't look too bad with the cheery rainbow blocks. It is actually the flannel that covers my design wall.

At the moment the blocks are arranged in columns by color, with some extras running across the top row. As you can see, I made duplicates of many of the designs, ending up with a total of 65 blocks (63 shown here.) I need to choose a fabric to frame the blocks, probably a light/medium grey tone-on-tone. If the blocks all get framed out to finish at 7" and are set together 7 x 9 as shown here, that would make a 49" x 63" small throw or kid's quilt before adding any borders.

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

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 39, 2019

It's almost the end of our month of playing with purple scraps for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I made good progress on all of my different RSC projects.

Here we have a Framed Crumb Star (12" block") surrounded by twelve Stairsteps blocks. On the right are eight Orange Peel blocks, plus five Tiny Tuesday blocks.

I also made some Quarter Log Cabin blocks as a sample for a possible RSC project next year.

It seems like we will probably have black and grey or brown as our assigned colors for October. It's almost time to finish making blocks and start getting these quilt tops put together!

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

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 35, 2019

Long hours at work have definitely taken a toll on my quilting productivity this month. Fortunately, I was able to keep up with two of my projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this month, producing groups of blocks in light and medium blues.

I had lots of fun making the different Tiny Tuesday blocks this month. I liked the 1/4 Log Cabin blocks so much that I am considering that design as an option for next year's RSC project.

The Orange Peel blocks keep getting worked on during the morning train commute. I might still have a couple more light blue blocks yet to finish.

I couldn't resist putting a few groups of the Orange Peel blocks up on the wall together.

I hope to spend the rest of this afternoon working on another scrappy project that includes plenty of bright blues. This is the center of my version of Kevin the Quilter's summer mystery. My next step is a border of yellow 4-patches to go around this part.

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

Julie in GA

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 34, 2019

I've been doing well this year at keeping up with making the weekly Tiny Tuesday blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. The part of that project that I haven't kept up with at all is framing the blocks. Now that we are almost 2/3 of the way through the year, it seems like I should choose a frame fabric and get that part done, instead of waiting until the end to do them all.

All along, I've been thinking that a light/medium grey tone-on-tone would be a good choice for the frame fabric. A recent sale at Connecting Threads included several different grey fabrics. I bought 3 yards of one print to use with these blocks, plus 1/2 yard pieces of a couple of other greys. Now it's time to decide which fabric I like best.

The lighter grey fabric on the right is the one I had been planning to use. Unfortunately, I like the darker fabric on the left better. I only have 1/2 yard of that one, so will have to buy more before I can frame these blocks. I'll find another use for the 3 yards of the lighter fabric, maybe as the background on a mystery project.

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

Stitching and DeStashing--Week 33, 2019

This week's stash report shows more movement than usual, both with fabric coming in and going out of the stash. Unfortunately, the amount that came in was more than the amount used.

My usage for the week was 6 yards for the Shirt Stripe Boxes quilt top. I showed the blocks in the process of being joined together in yesterday's post. The new fabric added to the stash was 9 yards that I ordered from Connecting Threads on a recent sale. One piece was intended to be the framing for my Tiny Tuesday blocks, but I'm not sure I like the way they look with it. Here are a few of my blocks laid out on the new piece of fabric.

The following photo is another new piece of fabric, similar color to the first. If I choose this fabric to use with the Tiny Tuesday blocks, I would need to buy more of it. I will need to think about this (and maybe test them out in better light, instead of laid out on my cutting table in a dimly-lit room.)

2019 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                            6.0 yards

Used year to date:                     35.75 yards
Added last week:                           9.0 yards

Added year to date:                   44.25 yards
Net stashed year to date:          8.5 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. It was another busy week, but I managed to spend some time quilting every single day. Most of that time was hand stitching on my morning train commute, but I also spent some time at the sewing machine on a couple of evenings getting the Shirt Stripe Boxes joined together.

15 Minute Challenge:  

8/11 - 8/17              7 of 7 days

2019 Total         213 of 229 days

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

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 30, 2019

It is the last pink Saturday of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I managed to keep up with all of my RSC projects except one--not bad for a busy month with lots of travel. Here are all of my pink blocks.

Framed Crumb Star, 12" finished size

12 Stairsteps blocks, each finishes at 6"

8 Orange Peels, 3" finished size
I still have 8 more of these to make in pinks

6 Tiny Tuesday blocks, 4.5" each

the adorable piglet block
designed by Sally Trude

Here is the entire collection together.

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

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 27, 2019

The monthly color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge switched to pink with the start of July. I haven't had much time to play with my pink scraps yet, but I did get a few blocks made--two Orange Peels and two variations on Libby's Tiny Tuesday block. I changed the proportions a little bit for the second version of Libby's block.

I'm especially excited about my Orange Peel blocks at the moment because I received a special gift last week. My cousin's wife Sharon had two old quilt tops plus one quilt that she wanted me to have because no one in her family has any interest in quilts. This was one of the tops she gave me.

There is another row of blocks along the left side that didn't fit into the photo, 20 blocks total and they measure about 17.5" each. Most of the fabrics appear to be from the 30's, although some of the very dark prints might be earlier. I'm not very experienced at dating fabrics, so I would appreciate any other opinions. If anyone knows a name for this quilt block, that would be great too. Here's a closer look at some of the blocks.

I couldn't resist trying some of my Orange Peel blocks in the same layout. I don't have enough pink peels made, but I have plenty of red to play with.

I like it! It's too early for me to commit to how I will set these blocks together, but this might be a fun idea for them.

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

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 26, 2019

Here we are at week 26, the midpoint of 2019! My projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge keep moving along, with more deep blue blocks to share today. One disclaimer this week--I'm trying out a new camera, and not too happy with the results so far. Plus the photos were taken at night... 

It's always a treat following along with the Tiny Tuesday blocks. Sometimes I get so inspired that I make more than one version of the weekly blocks. I tried two different color combinations for the first (unnamed) block, then made two versions of the Grandmother's Fan block with different numbers of segments in each. Instead of making an applique basket, I found a pieced one in EQ. The last block is this week's Monkey Wrench.

The blues in my Orange Peel blocks are more on the medium/bright side because dark blues wouldn't show up on the black and grey background fabrics. I'm still playing with ideas for how these will end up getting used--a quilt of their own, or maybe a border on a medallion style quilt.

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

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 22, 2019

The beginning of a new month also means the beginning of a new color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. We spent May playing with our orange scraps, and for June we are moving on to deep blues and navy. For now, I can share my collection of orange blocks from May until I dig out some blue scraps and get started on some new blocks.

I made four Tiny Tuesday blocks (4.5" finished size) and have one butterfly block still to finish.

The rest of my orange blocks make a lovely medallion layout together on the design wall. There is a Framed Crumb Star block at the center, surrounded by 12 Stairsteps blocks, and Orange Peels along both ends. So much orange goodness!

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

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 17, 2019

It's nearly the end of the month of using our aqua/teal/turquoise scraps for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I've got plenty of blocks to share because those are some of my favorite colors for quilting. Up first are the Tiny Tuesday sampler blocks, which finish at 4.5". It is so much fun waiting to see what the weekly pattern will be, then choosing fabrics and making each block.

Next are some crumb blocks that combine many old favorite fabrics. 6" finished blocks.

My favorites this month are probably the Stair Steps blocks. I've shown different layout options in previous months, and this is a new possibility.

All of the aqua/teal/turquoise blocks on the wall together make quite a lovely display! The Orange Peel blocks on the left and the Framed Crumb Star at upper right were featured in previous RSC posts. There is also a stray block at the upper left of the Stair Steps that was made from leftover units from a previous quilt project.

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