Another Scrappy Saturday

It took me a few days to come up with a plan for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Our color for the month is indigo (purplish blue), with black and grey as alternate choices. I ended up deciding to use them all.

For my True Colors circle applique blocks, I decided to add a set of indigo blocks to the collection. They aren't all the very dark blue I usually think of as indigo. I have included a few lighter circles in the mix. So far five blocks are finished.

For my Rainbow Bowties, I am using black and grey scraps. I've still got some fabrics to cut, but there are 20 blocks made at this point. Once again I have combined the circle blocks and the bowties together on my design wall.

I am still considering a few options for my indigo or black UFO of the month. I pulled out one project last weekend, but haven't decided if I'm really motivated to continue with that one. I'm hoping to make a decision on that this weekend.

Be sure to check out all of the wonderful scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  There will also be plenty of scrappy projects at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework.


Julie in GA

TBT--My First Quilting Class

It's time for another week of Throwback Thursday over at Krista Quilts. I just discovered another Throwback Thursday link-up over at A Quarter Inch from the Edge. Last week I showed my first ever quilt, made along with my sister in spring of 1995. You can see that post HERE. This week I wanted to share the quilt I made in my first quilting class.

In the fall of 1995, I signed up for a beginning quilting class at Patched Works in Elm Grove, WI (the west side of the Milwaukee area.) The pattern we were making was a scrappy split nine-patch. Even then, I knew that I didn't like the "anything goes including the kitchen sink" type of scrappy quilt. I preferred a more limited color scheme and kept mine in the jewel tones. Many of the fabrics came from the scrap bins at the store, but I had already started collecting some fabrics myself. Here is a close-up showing a selection of prints.

We learned some tricks for making multiple half-square triangles, and the piecing was quick and fun. It took me close to a year to get the quilt layered, quilted and bound. The quilting is very simple, just stitch in the ditch. The borders don't lay very flat, but otherwise I am happy with this early effort. I learned that I love scrappy quilts as long as there is some cohesiveness to the fabrics chosen. I also figured out that for me piecing the quilt top is much more fun than the doing the quilting, something that is still true today.

Split Nine-Patch 1995
38.5" x 52.5"

Check out other Throwback Thursday quilt posts at Krista Quilts and at A Quarter Inch from the Edge. Even better, add your own post to the link-ups.

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 8/3/15

I had an evening at home by myself over the weekend, and my plan was to spend the whole evening quilting. The only complication was that my feet were killing me, and I didn't want to stand any more than necessary. That meant finding a project that was ready to stitch and didn't need much cutting done. I browsed through my boxes and bins of UFOs until I came across this one, the Dresden Stars quilt that I started in a class with Edyta Sitar two years ago.

The quilt will end up with 8 of the Dresden Star blocks. There were five with the outer ring already made, and I put together two more, just one left to go. Yesterday I prepped a couple of the blue circles for the centers and have those ready to applique down, plus stitching the block to the background.

I have been working my way through all sorts of UFOs this year, and it feels so good to clear some of them out. I hope this will be the next one to be finished.

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

Stash Report Sunday 8/2/15

July ended on a high note as far as stash usage is concerned, mostly because I made two quilt backs. That always gives a nice boost to the numbers, and there was no fabric added to my stash this week.

Curves & Cornerstones back         5 yards

Starry Night for Josh back            5.25 yards

Rainbow Bowties--51 red blocks   1.125 yards

It's also time for me to file my report for the 350 Blocks Project over at Prairie Moon Quilts. I ended up with a total of 93 blocks for the month of July, well over our goal of 30 for the month. 

This photo shows the back I pieced for Alycia's mystery quilt, Starry Night for Josh. I had four yards of the blue fabric, not enough for the entire back. I also had two star blocks leftover from the quilt top, so they got framed out with strips and nine-patches to reach the needed size along with the rest of the striped fabric.You can see my quilt top in THIS POST.

          

Over 100 yards used (my goal for the year) and it's only the beginning of August!! Last year I didn't reach that milestone until about a week into September. Now I just need to keep the fabric shopping under control.

TOTALS: 

Used this week:                11.375 yards     

Used year to date:          108.375 yards

Stashed this week:                  0 yards

Stashed year to date:         93.0 yards 

Net year to date:              15.375 yards used

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.  

Julie in GA

Seeing Red and Moving On to Black

It took me until the second last day of the month, but I finally finished up the two sets of red blocks for my ongoing projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I don't plan to combine the bowties and the circle blocks in the same quilt, mostly because of the different backgrounds, but I do like the way the shapes play together on my design wall.

I am excited to report that I also finished assembling the quilt top of the red UFO that I showed last Saturday, my Curves and Cornerstones quilt. You can see it and read more in yesterday's post.

I haven't figured out what to do with my circle blocks for August. Our RSC color for the month is indigo (purplish blue), with black and grey as alternate choices. I considered adding grey circles to my blocks, but I didn't like the way they were looking with the black and white backgrounds. I will definitely make black and grey bowtie blocks in August, but haven't decided what else to do. I'm still considering options for a UFO too.

Be sure to check out all of the wonderful scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  There will also be plenty of scrappy projects at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework.

I am also trying to help spread the news of a new linky party. Krista has started hosting a quilty version of Throwback Thursday. Go to her blog on Thursdays to link up a post showing some of your early quilt projects (maybe pre-blog quilts?) and see other posts of quilts from the past. This week I shared photos of my first quilt, made in 1995. You can see my post HERE, and join in on the fun at Krista Quilts next Thursday.

Julie in GA

Curves & Cornerstones top finished!

One of my major quilting goals for this year has been to clear out some of the old UFO projects that have been hanging around. There are some that don't appeal to me anymore, and those need to get passed on to someone else or thrown out, but there are others that I still like very much. In most cases I got stuck because I couldn't make up my mind what direction to go and I didn't want to mess up and waste all the time and the fabric that had gone into the project up to that point.

The latest UFO to make an appearance is my Curves and Cornerstone quilt. This is my oldest UFO, dating back to a class I took in 1996! You can read more about the history of this project in THIS POST.

Over the past 10 days or so, I made an additional 12 blocks for this quilt, taking it from a square piece to rectangular. It now measures approximately 60" x 80", perfect for a throw quilt. I am so excited to have this quilt top together and ready to be quilted!

Curves and Cornerstones
59" x 79"

I had run out of two of my original fabrics for this quilt and had to find substitutes for them in order to make the extra blocks. Here is a closer photo that shows the fabrics better. The upper row of blocks is all original fabrics, and the lower row has the two replacements, one red and one white. I think they look pretty good in there.

I even pieced the back right away too. Not too difficult since it was only one long seam down the center, although I did match up the print.

It feels so good to get another UFO to this stage. I believe this is the 6th or 7th UFO to become a top so far this year. The pile of tops and backs ready to be quilted has gotten rather large. One of these days I will have to find someone to do some long-arm quilting for me and decide which quilt to have finished first.

I am linking up to Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, WIPs Be Gone at A Quilting Reader's Garden, and Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

I am also trying to help spread the news of a new linky party. Krista is hosting a quilty version of Throwback Thursday. Go to her blog on Thursdays to link up a post showing some of your early quilt projects (maybe pre-blog quilts?) and see other posts of quilts from the past. Yesterday I shared photos of my first quilt, made in 1995. You can see my post HERE, and join in on the fun at Krista's blog next Thursday.

Julie in GA

Quilting Throwback Thursday

This post was first published in late July of 2015, but I am linking it up now (8/4/2016) to Throwback Thursday at A Quarter Inch from the Edge.

 

It's time for the quilting version of Throwback Thursday over at Krista Quilts. Last Thursday Krista showed photos of one of her early quilt projects, and I suggested she host a linky party each week for Throwback Thursday. I'm so glad she decided to go ahead with the idea. I am looking forward to sharing photos and stories of early quilt projects.

It seemed like the place to start should be my first quilt. In 1994 I made a patchwork Christmas tree skirt for my mother. I had no prior quilting experience and made up my own pattern for the tree skirt. It's far from perfect, but I enjoyed the experience. 

After that, my sister Karen (who had been quilting for several years) suggested that we make a quilt together for our brother's wedding. One weekend in April, 1995, I met her at her house where she had picked out a few possible patterns. We decided to go with the Double Irish Chain, using Eleanor Burns' Quilt in a Day book as our guide. That same day we shopped for fabric, washed and dried it, then started cutting and piecing. Here is our first block.

How about those 90's fabrics? Actually, I still love the light background print. We kept working the rest of that Saturday and all day Sunday. By the end of Sunday we had the entire center of the quilt together. To tell the truth, I can't remember if we got the borders pieced and stitched on that weekend or not. It's possible that we got together another weekend to finish up.

We pieced the border of squares on point seminole style. It didn't turn out quite the right size, so we just trimmed it off at the length needed.

This was my first quilt experience, and I was immediately hooked! It has been a wonderful 20-year journey, and I am looking forward to sharing early, pre-blog projects on upcoming Thursdays.

Check out other Throwback Thursday quilt posts at Krista Quilts. Even better, add your own Throwback Thursday quilting post to the link-up.

Julie in GA

Scrappy Design Wall

My design wall is currently covered with the beginning of a back for the scrappy quilt top that I showed last week (see it HERE.) The back is made from bigger chunks of the old fabric scraps that Mom has been saving. I cut the fabrics into 6-1/2", 8-1/2", and 10-1/2" strips. They will be pieced together into columns, then the columns will be joined together. I need a back that measures about 67" x 80", and there should be more than enough here.

I am linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times, Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt and with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework. Check them all out for lots of amazing quilting inspiration!

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 7/26/15

It feels good to move back into black numbers this week. I made 12 blocks to add to my Curves & Cornerstones project, using 1.5 yards; you can see more about that in yesterday's post. I also used 3/8 yard for applique circle blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and 3 yards making pillowcases to go along with three Quilts of Valor. No stash additions this week.

          

TOTALS: 

Used this week:                4.875 yards     

Used year to date:              97.0 yards

Stashed this week:                  0 yards

Stashed year to date:         93.0 yards 

Net year to date:              4 yards used

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.  

Julie in GA

My Red UFO

Several months ago I had the idea of working on old UFOs as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. My selection of which project to work on is based on our color of the month. Sometimes I don't have time for a UFO, but I have managed to make progress on a few. I have been anxiously waiting for our red month because I knew exactly which project I wanted to finish.

I call this quilt "Curves and Cornerstones." The pattern is a log cabin variation that was designed by Mary Ellen Hopkins. I started this quilt in a class in 1996! That's nearly 20 years ago! That means it is also one of my oldest UFOs because I started quilting in 1995. I was mostly working with fabrics from my stash, and I didn't have a lot to choose from back then.

I made 36 blocks to start with and joined them all together, giving me a panel that measured about 60" square. (You can't quite see the two sides in the above photo.) I played with lots of ideas for borders to make it big enough for my bed, but none of them were working for me. It didn't help that I had used up two of my fabrics. I packed the whole thing away in a box around 1998. It would reappear from time to time, but I never came up with any brilliant solutions to the border problem. 

A year or so ago I was photographing all of my UFOs and really enjoyed seeing this piece again. I pulled a couple of fabrics from my stash as possible substitutes for the ones that were used up. The new plan was to make 12 more blocks, adding a row to the top and bottom of what I already had, turning it into a good-sized throw quilt measuring around 60" x 80". 

So far I have made 8 blocks and have 4 left to finish. The following photo shows a row of new blocks along the top edge. I hope to finish the rest of the blocks sometime this weekend and get them all sewn to the quilt top. It will be such a satisfying feeling to turn this very old project into a quilt top.

Be sure to check out all of the wonderful scrappy projects featuring RED at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

Julie in GA