Design Wall Assortment

My design wall is covered in all sorts of different blocks today, showing the range of projects that I have been working on lately. The one thing they have in common is that they are all scrappy, as are most of my quilts lately. I just love playing with a wide variety of fabrics, the more the better!

At the top right are some of the bowties I have been making all year for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. At the bottom left are three groupings of circle applique blocks, my other RSC quilt for 2015. I have all the blocks for this quilt joined into groups like those shown and hope to finish assembling the top this week.

The hexagon star and snowflakes were one of my earlier RSC projects, begun in August, 2013. I have started joining the stars and snowflakes together, but it is a very slow process for me. I have a total of 10 large stars and 20 snowflakes to stitch together.

At the upper left are four Falling Leaves blocks. These were made for the Covered in Love block drive over at Kat and Cat Quilts. Kat is a nurse, and she has started a charity making quilts to give to the families of patients who have died at the hospital where she works. You can find the block pattern HERE and read more about Covered in Love HERE. 

Those sure are some big leaves, aren't they?! They make quite the contrast to my other blocks. The leaf blocks finish at 12", the bowties and the circle blocks all finish at 4".

Besides working on all these projects last week, I also made the back for a quilt. I am hoping to get the back for the circle quilt made in the next few days so I can take it to my long-arm quilter over the weekend.

I will be sharing with the following linky parties.:

Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt
WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 11/22/15

I thought this would be a week with a good amount of fabric used and none added. Then I realized that there wasn't enough of the fabric I wanted to use for the back of my applique circles quilt. That meant a trip to Joann's for more circle print. Fortunately, I did finish off the back for another quilt and made two batches of blocks.

Usage:

Back for Boston Fiesta           5.0 yards

Green & brown Bowties           .5 yards

Leaf blocks                         1.25 yards

Above is the fabric I used to make the back for my Boston Fiesta quilt (you can see the quilt top HERE.) This is a huge print--the large flowers are about the size of my fist! I had previously pieced a different backing for this quilt, but this was always the fabric I really wanted to use and I decided to just go for it!

Here is the fabric I bought for the back of my applique circles quilt (in progress HERE.) I've been making lots of pieced quilt backs lately, but each of these are made from a single large-scale print. I love the bright colors in this fabric!

TOTALS: 

Used this week:                     6.75 yards     

Used year to date:             155.50 yards

Stashed this week:                  3.0 yards

Stashed year to date:        133.50 yards 

Net year to date:              22 yards used

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.  

Julie in GA

Rainbows and Bowties

I am nearly done making bowtie blocks for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge project. This week I finished off the last 13 green bowties, plus some brown ones left over from October. There are still a few more brown blocks waiting to be stitched together. 

It's time for me to get serious about deciding how I am going to use all these bowties. I have been trying to keep track of my number of blocks made each month, and it looks like I have over 500 bowtie blocks completed! That would be enough for a good-sized bed quilt, or I could use them for two or three throw quilts. It doesn't look like very impressive in the photo, but there are 40-50 blocks in each stack.

Be sure to check out all of the wonderful scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge every Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. 

Julie in GA

Scrap Hexies

For some reason, this seems to be a period when I am more interested in hand stitching than spending time at the machine. I finished making appliqued circle blocks for my current Rainbow Scrap Challenge project a week ago, which left me wondering what to work on next. I pulled out the hexagon stars and snowflakes, a past RSC project that I started in 2013.

All of the stars and snowflakes are made, and I have started joining them together. After that I will need to finish off the background areas around the sides. There's still a long ways to go on this quilt, but it will be fun to see it come together.

I will be sharing with the following linky parties.:

Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt
WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 11/15/15

The bad news for my stash report is that I bought over 10 yards of fabric from Connecting Threads recently. The good news--the 5 yard and 7 yard pieces I ordered for quilt backs were not available. Their online inventory program let me down, but it doesn't hurt my numbers quite so much.

I bought quite a few black and white prints. These are all 1/4 or 1/2 yard pieces.

I also got some RWB fabrics, plus one limey green just because I liked it.

I don't have any usage to report, but I hope to make better progress next week.

TOTALS: 

Used this week:                          0 yards     

Used year to date:             148.75 yards

Stashed this week:              10.75 yards

Stashed year to date:        130.50 yards 

Net year to date:              18.25 yards used

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.  

Julie in GA

Scraphappy Saturday in Lime Green

This has been a week of bouncing around from one quilting project to another, a little bit of this, then a little bit of that. It's the usual case of short attention span quilting. I just can't seem to settle down and work steadily on any single project.

One of my projects is the appliqued circles that I have been making for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. All the blocks are made, and I have started joining them together. I got carried away one evening and wasn't being as careful as I should to make sure I was getting my corners matched up. I might go back and make some small corrections before I continue. So far there are three groups of blocks that have been joined together that run from top left to lower right in the photo. The two big triangle areas still need to have the blocks stitched together.

Last weekend I took a Hexie Bootcamp class at a local quilt shop. Those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile might wonder why I would take a class since you know that I started making a hexie quilt for the RSC in 2013-14. My hexie efforts up til now have been self taught, mostly from reading blogs and watching some videos. I enjoyed the face-to-face time in class and got some tips for joining my hexie stars and snowflakes together. Here is my planned layout for the  center of the quilt, but I still need to decide about the outer edges.

Rainbow Hexies

I have been playing with some ideas for next year's RSC project, but haven't settled on anything yet. There are too many fantastic rainbow quilt ideas out there--it's impossible to choose just one or two!

Be sure to check out all of the wonderful scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge every Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. 

Julie in GA

Some Assembly Required

Over the weekend I appliqued the last of the circle blocks that I have been making for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge all throughout 2015. It was bittersweet when I finished that final block, but it was also exciting because it meant I could start joining the blocks together into a top.

My usual method of joining blocks is to do them in sections rather than big long rows, especially when the blocks are set on point. For this quilt I started with a 5x5 grouping at the center of the quilt. The section at the lower right also has the blocks stitched together. I am currently working on the upper left section.

"True Colors" pattern by Nancy Mahoney from her book Simple Circles and Quick Curves

I am very eager to get this quilt top put together. I haven't decided yet if I will add a border or not. If I do, it will be black and white. I will audition some options after the center is done.

I will be sharing with the following linky parties.:

Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt
WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 11/8/15

My stash totals didn't change much either way this week, but at least I used a little more than I added. I made 30 bowtie blocks and the last 10 circle applique blocks, both projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I also made a pillowcase to go with a recent Quilt of Valor completion (which you can see HERE.)

As for additions, I bought a few more black-on-white prints to replenish my collection of them. I am especially excited by the multi-print piece that is shown across the bottom of the photo. Love the great variety of patterns!

The other recent addition to my "stash" is not fabric, but a wonderful new book to add to my already full bookshelves. I have been trying to stop buying more quilting books, but couldn't resist this beauty. It is the long-awaited book chronicling the "Infinite Variety" display that was held in New York in 2011. 

The book starts off with a series of very interesting essays. The first one is by Joanna Rose, the owner of the 653! quilts that were shown. The other essays are written by several of the people who put the show together. I loved learning more about how this incredible show was conceived and mounted.

Of course, the real stars of the book are the photographs. There are several pages with shots of the show, sharing the very creative way the designers displayed the quilts. 

There are individual photos of all the quilts (did I mention that there are 653 of them?) Each quilt includes a brief listing that identifies the pattern name and finished size of the quilt. In some cases they also list location or year that the quilt was made. The quilts are grouped into chapters by style of quilt: log cabin, stars, applique, etc.

I am thrilled to own this gorgeous book and look forward to many happy hours spent studying the pages for inspiration. My quilting bucket list just keeps getting longer!

TOTALS: 

Used this week:                       2.0 yards     

Used year to date:             148.75 yards

Stashed this week:               1.375 yards

Stashed year to date:        119.75 yards 

Net year to date:               29 yards used

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.  

Julie in GA

Great Greens

Despite a long, tiring week at work, I have been making some progress on my projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Our colors for November are light and bright greens. I have finished 30 bowtie blocks and eight more appliqued circles.

It is very exciting to be nearing completion of all my circle blocks, but I am also sad at the thought that I have only two more circles left to applique. I will be rather lost without this delightful project to work on during my train commute. I have started exploring some options for a new hand-stitching project for next year's rainbow challenge.

For anyone else considering making their own circle blocks, I just discovered that Audrey at Quilty Folk is hosting Quilty 365 where she will be making an appliqued circle block every day for a year. Wow, that's a lot of circles! It will be fun to follow her progress.

Quilty 365

Be sure to check out all of the wonderful scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge every Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. 

Julie in GA

Quilts of Valor

I had hoped to get some lovely outdoor photos of my most recent Quilt of Valor completion, the Wonky Stars quilt top and back. Unfortunately, the weather has not been cooperating lately,  so I will have to settle for my usual through-the-doorway shots on the design wall.

This quilt was started as part of Alycia's QOV 2015 Block Drive. Alycia is constantly sharing beautiful photos of Quilts of Valor, plus hosting block drives and mystery quilts to benefit Quilts of Valor. Her energy and enthusiasm are such an inspiration! Be sure to check out her blog if you don't know her already.

Wonky Stars top
60" x 78"

My sister Karen and I made all the Wonky Star blocks for this quilt, then I joined them together and added the border of 3.5" squares. I didn't have enough of the blue circle print for the whole back, so I used the two blocks left over from the front, plus made two more larger Wonky Stars (15" finished). Those, plus a couple strips of blue/white crosshatch print, brought the back up to size.

Wonky Stars back
69" x 87"

Earlier today I shipped off a package containing the Wonky Stars quilt top and back to Alycia. I also included two other Quilts of Valor, both inspired by Alycia. The next one is called "Starry Night for Josh," and it was a mystery quilt-along that Alycia designed and hosted earlier this year.

Alycia's Starry Night
63" x 81"

Alycia's Starry Night--back

The other quilt that is on it's way to Alycia is from the Big Blowout Block Drive she hosted in 2013. I finished the top and back for this quilt early this year, and they have been hanging out in my sewing room ever since. It's time they get finished into an actual quilt and go to a deserving soldier/veteran.

1/4 Log Cabins

Back for 1/4 Log Cabins

I am linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation and with  "Can I Get a Whoop Whoop" on Friday at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Julie in GA