Design Wall Monday 10/6/14

A couple weeks ago I pulled out some old UFO blocks to use as leaders/enders while working on other projects. I had 32 blocks already made, and have made an additional 32 blocks recently, with only another 16 blocks left to go. I was so close to finishing those last 16 yesterday, but didn't quite get there. 

Unfortunately, when I was working on my last batch of blocks, I discovered that I should have been pressing my seams differently. If I press all the seams away from the pale yellow, it is easier to nestle the seams when joining blocks together. Why couldn't I have figured that out after making my first six blocks, instead of when I have 74 blocks done and only six blocks to go?!

I call this project my Boston Fiesta quilt. Boston because that is where I bought the fabrics back in 2005, and Fiesta because the colors make me think of Mexican food--avocado green, yellow corn tortillas, orange cheese. This is making me hungry! The block is a quarter log cabin variation. I saw a quilt made with this block at the AQS-Paducah show in 2004 and knew I would make one of my own someday. 

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 10/5/14

My stash usage this week was small, just 1/2 yard for more Boston Fiesta blocks and 1/8 yard for my last orange hexie snowflake.

I made a brief visit to a quilt show yesterday, but didn't have enough time to visit the vendors. It's just as well I guess--kept me from adding to my stash!

Used this week:                           .625 yards
Used year to date:                 109.625 yards

Stashed this week:                       0  yards

Stashed year to date:               98.0 yards 

Net year to date:                      11.625 yards used  


Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie in GA

Digging through the dark strips

I haven't gotten very far with this month's colors for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. For October our assignment is to work with black, grey and brown scraps. All I have managed to accomplish is pulling out my two scrap drawers that hold those colors and start choosing which to use. I am planning to make a batch of 6" LeMoyne stars and see how they look with all the bright colored stars. I also need a 12" star to go in the center of that grouping.

Since I had already made hexie stars and snowflakes in both black and brown last year, I will concentrate on adding background hexies to them.

Check out this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts--lots of amazingly beautiful rainbow projects to inspire you!  I am also linking up to Hexie Weekend at Quilting Reader's Garden and to the Monday Morning Star Count at Life Under Quilts. 

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

October quilting goals and September results

September was an unusually productive month for me. I managed to reach all the quilting goals that I had set at the beginning of the month, and I even got a few extra projects done too!

SEPTEMBER RESULTS
1. My September goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes was to finish the binding on the Scrappy Sampler quilt that I pieced last year.   FINISHED 9/21/14!!

     

2.  Rainbow Scrap Challenge--make 6-8 LeMoyne Stars in orange.  DONE 9/7

3.  Scrap Hexies--make hexie star & snowflakes.  DONE 9/27

4.  Tell It to the Stars (Judy L. mystery)--make September blocks.  DONE 9/11
All blocks joined together with sashing and cornerstones. (Apologies for the dark, shadowy photo.)

5.  Make at least 30 blocks as part of the 350 Blocks Project  Made 81 blocks
6.  Spend at least 15 minutes each day quilting--cutting, sewing, designing, etc.
     DONE 9/30

Extra Credit:
Made 3 pairs of pajama pants
Boston Fiesta--made 24 blocks
Hearts baby quilt--quilt top done!


OCTOBER GOALS
1. My October goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes is to finish the binding on another quilt. This time it is my Dancing Stars quilt, which was my 2013 project for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I haven't decided yet if I want to make the binding in black, or do a scrappy brights binding.

     
2.  Rainbow Scrap Challenge--make 6-8 LeMoyne Stars in October's color.  

3.  Scrap Hexies--make hexie star & snowflakes.
4.  Make 10-20 Autumn Leaves blocks to make this UFO bigger.

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 October and my results from September. Watch for the next update at the end of October.

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 9/29/14

Yesterday I finished the top for my hearts baby quilt. Most of the hearts were made from a layer cake of Moda's "Surrounded by Love" line, and I think that is both the perfect name and the perfect sentiment for this baby quilt. 

This has been a fun little quilt to make, although I did run into some challenges with my sashing and a shortage of fabric for the setting triangles/border. I found a great flannel fabric for the back, so I am ready to get it layered and quilted.

I am linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times where you can see all sorts of amazing quilting inspiration! On Friday I will also link up to Let's Make Baby Quilts at Michelle's Romantic Tangle.

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 9/28/14

We had a very busy week at work, but that meant I got to leave early on Friday to make up for some extra time I had put in earlier in the week. It's amazing the difference between getting off at 4:00 p.m. instead of 6:00--so much extra time for quilting! I spent the whole evening, plus part of Saturday getting my heart blocks joined together with sashing and setting triangles. Maybe I can figure out a border today. I will post a photo of the whole quilt tomorrow on Design Wall Monday, but here is a portion of it.

I also finished my scrappy orange hexie star and snowflake for September at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. You can see them on yesterday's post.

Used this week:                           2.375 yards
Used year to date:                   109.0 yards

Stashed this week:                       0  yards

Stashed year to date:               98.0 yards 

Net year to date:                      11 yards used  


Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie in GA

Orange hexies

I have had a great time playing with my orange scraps for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this month. Orange was the perfect color as we head into fall, and I discovered more orange scraps in my collection than expected. 

I finished off my orange hexie snowflake and star (except for a few of the black-on-white background hexies.) I still need to make one more orange snowflake, but that probably won't get done before the end of September.

Check out this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts--lots of amazingly beautiful rainbow projects to inspire you!  I am also linking up to Hexie Weekend at Quilting Reader's Garden and to the Monday Morning Star Count at Life Under Quilts. 

Julie in GA

Friday Finish!

My September goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes was to bind my Scrappy Sampler quilt, and it is complete! The binding was attached by machine to the top of the quilt, then finished off by hand on the back while "watching" baseball on TV.

This quilt was a block-of-the-month project at Intown Quilters in Decatur, GA through all of 2013. I joined all the blocks together in January of this year, including 180 bowtie blocks for the outer border. I got it back from having it quilted a couple months ago, and it is so exciting to have it finished and on the bed! Perfect timing as we get ready for the cooler weather of fall.

I am linking up to the finishes party for A Lovely Year of Finishes. It feels great to have reached my goal this month! I am also linking up to Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday

Most weeks I write my Design Wall Monday post on Sunday night or early Monday before I go to work, but not this week. I just couldn't manage to do the writing and get any photos taken until this evening.

I spent several hours over the weekend making heart blocks for a baby quilt. These are from the "Surrounded by Love" layer cake that I won a few weeks ago in the ironing board challenge over at Jo's Country Junction. I keep rearranging the blocks, trying to get the colors evenly distributed. Next I will add more sashing strips around the outside and choose a fabric for setting triangles.

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

Julie in GA