To-Do Tuesday 4/4/2023

It's time once again to share how I did on last Tuesday's to-do list, then figure out what I'd like to get done in the week ahead. The To-Do Tuesday link-up is hosted by Carol at Quilt Schmilt: For the Love of Fabric.

Somehow I missed posting my to-do list last week, although there was certainly plenty that needed to be done around here! Here's how I did with that list over the past two weeks.

To-Do List for 3/21 - 3/27/2023

1. Ruler Quilting Challenge--keep up with the lessons   ✔done

I kept up pretty well and ended up with four finished placemats.

2. Jabberwocky--make 3 green blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge  ✔done

3. Rainbow Scrap Challenge--cut greens for Rail Fence blocks and begin piecing   ✔done

4. Pickle Dish--cutting, maybe some piecing?  nothing done

I'm sticking with another short list for the week ahead.

To-Do List for 4/4 - 4/10/2023 

1. Quilt guild BOM--add border #6

2. Rainbow Scrap Challenge--pull out purple scraps, make 1 set of blocks

3. Pickle Dish--cutting, maybe some piecing (one of these weeks I'll actually make some progress on this!)

That's the plan for the week ahead. I'll report on my progress next Tuesday, and post a new set of goals too. I'm linking up with other To-Do Tuesday lists at Quilt Schmilt.

 

Happy quilting!

Julie in GA 

Design Wall Monday 4/3/2023

My main quilting project over the weekend was getting started on the star blocks for our guild's medallion-style block of the month. This project is based on a free pattern from the National Quilt Museum (scroll down the page until you get to 2020 Quilt Along.) We are currently working on border #6 of 7.

Like the flying geese in the earlier border, these stars will be randomly spaced. They will be going around all four sides; I just haven't put any blocks up on the other two sides yet.

The backgrounds are two different prints of similar colors because I don't have enough of either one for the whole border. Most of the blocks will finish at 4", and the corner blocks are 6". One or both of the background fabrics will be used to fill in the gaps between the stars, similar to the flying geese border.

Check out what other quilters are working on this week at Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts and at Monday Musings at Songbird Designs.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA 

Stash Report and Stitching Time 4/2/2023

Adding up the numbers for this week's stash report revealed that all of the fabric I used during the week was green, most of it on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge Projects. I used a total of 1.75 yards to make 42 Rail Fence blocks, a green string placemat, five green crumb blocks, and to bind 4 Sawtooth Star placemats. Here are my favorites, the scrappiest projects.

There was no new fabric added to the stash last week!

2023 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                  1.75 yards

Used year to date:           28.875 yards

Added last week:                   0.0 yards

Added year to date:               9.5 yards

Net used in 2023          19.375 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. After spending most of the week making a mess with my green scraps, I cleared them away on Friday and switched back to the guild's BOM. There has definitely been more than 15 minutes of quilting time every day!

15 Minute Challenge for 2023: 

3/26 - 4/1            7 of 7 days

2023 Total        89 of 91 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

Green Scrappy Projects

The last week of March was catch-up time for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects featuring green, our color of the month. I started by making 42 Rail Fence blocks. These will finish at 3" each.

There were several of the green rectangles leftover after making these blocks, so I joined some together as the starting point for a scrappy green placemat for the 2023 ABC (Table) Scraps Challenge hosted by The Joyful Quilter. I blogged about it yesterday in this post, but will share my photo here for the RSC quilters too.

At some point during the week, I got distracted by a baggie of green crumbs and bits. Those ended up becoming five crumb blocks to add to my collection. There are some very small pieces in these blocks. The blocks measure 6.5" with seam allowances, and each one has between 20 and 35 pieces in the block.

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.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Finishing Placemats

Another batch of placemats have been finished this week, with all of them being added to the stack getting donated to Meals on Wheels through the quilt guild. The first group to be finished were the Sawtooth Star placemats.

These were made for me to use as my practice piece for the ruler quilting class that I recently completed. This closer photo gives a better view of the quilting, although it's still hard to see in the center of the star. I enjoyed learning a little bit about using rulers for machine quilting, but I still have a long way to go before I will become comfortable with them.

The other placemat to be finished this week is this green string-pieced mat. I started by stitching together a stack of 1.5" x 3.5" rectangles that were leftover from making green Rail Fence blocks. I added strips to each side of the pieced section until the placemat was the right size (around 13" x 18".)

This placemat was made as part of the 2023 ABC (Table) Scraps Challenge hosted by The Joyful Quilter. My placemat fits with the assigned color of the month (green), but I completely forgot about including the letter prompts of B and U in my inspiration. I've been trying to include colors that start with the monthly letters. I guess my colors this month can be Bright green and U??? I drew a blank for color names that start with U. Let's say my placemat is Ultra Scrappy!

Linking up with:

ABC Table Scraps Challenge at The Joyful Quilter

Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

Peacock Party at Wendy's Quilts and More

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stash Report and Stitching Time 3/26/2023

There was all sorts of quilting fun happening around here this week, including a quilting road trip yesterday. We were able to go to two different quilt exhibits, and they were both wonderful to see. The first was "Life's Not All Black & White--Gotta Add Color!" It's a wonderful collection of quilts by Jan Cunningham at the Mable House Arts Center in Mableton, GA. The exhibit will be there only until March 30th. Here are two of my favorites of her quilts that were on display.

The other exhibit we went to yesterday was at the Southeastern Quilt and Textile Museum in Carrollton, GA. We managed to get there on the last day! The exhibit was "Vintage Modern" and featured  antique quilts from one collection alongside modern quilts made by members of the Greater Atlanta Modern Quilt Guild. No photos to share from that exhibit. It was very interesting to see the juxtaposition of antique and modern quilts side by side.

As for quilting here at home, one primary project throughout the week was the Ruler Quilting Challenge by HollyAnne Knight of String and Story. This was a five-day online class with HollyAnne sharing the basics of using rulers along with free-motion quilting. I had never used rulers for quilting before and really enjoyed getting an intro to the process. I made a set of placemats for my practice pieces. The first photo shows all four placemats before being layered for quilting, and the second photo shows one placemat with most of the quilting completed.

The stash report for the week shows 2.375 yards used for the placemats plus the three Jabberwocky blocks shared in yesterday's post. No new fabric was added to the stash.

2023 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                2.375 yards

Used year to date:           27.125 yards

Added last week:                   0.0 yards

Added year to date:               9.5 yards

Net used in 2023          17.625 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 spent some time cutting and piecing, plus doing the Ruler Quilting Challenge. There has definitely been at least 15 minutes of quilting every day this week! 

15 Minute Challenge for 2023: 

3/19 - 3/25          7 of 7 days

2023 Total        82 of 84 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

Green Scrappy Stars

This week was a good time to catch up with some of my projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I've been cutting strips to make Rail Fence blocks in greens, our color of the month. I also finished three green Jabberwocky blocks.

The block design is called "Jabberwocky." It is a Judy Martin pattern from The Block Book. I believe the book is out of print, but available at a variety of on-line sources. The finished size of these blocks will be 10.25".

Here are all three colors we have used so far this year. I've enjoyed making these blocks. They are challenging, but very satisfying to finish.

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.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

To-Do Tuesday 3/21/2023

 It's time once again to share how I did on last Tuesday's to-do list, then figure out what I'd like to get done in the week ahead. The To-Do Tuesday link-up is hosted by Carol at Quilt Schmilt: For the Love of Fabric.

My list for last week was a short one, and I finished two of my goals, plus made progress on the third. I consider that a successful week!

To-Do List for 3/14 - 3/20

1. Project Quilting 14.6: Conquer a Fear--make something by Sunday ✔done

I made two randomly-pieced scrappy placemats, shared HERE.

2. Rainbow Scrap Challenge--cut for green Rail Fence blocks  progress

I've made a start on this cutting, but there's still more to be done.

3. Veteran's quilt--start piecing ✔done

Our quilt guild has joined forces with another quilting group to make quilts for homeless veterans, and I was able to attend a sewing day for this project last week. This is a portion of what I got done that day, working from an assortment of pre-cut charm squares. These are not fabrics from my stash, but a kit I was given for this project.

It's looking like another busy week, so I'm going to stick with a short list again.

To-Do List for 3/21 - 3/27

1. Ruler Quilting Challenge--keep up with the lessons

2. Rainbow Scrap Challenge--make 3 Jabberwocky blocks

3. Rainbow Scrap Challenge--continue cutting greens for Rail Fence blocks and begin piecing.

4. Pickle Dish--cutting, maybe some piecing?

That's the plan for the week ahead. I'll report on my progress next Tuesday, and post a new set of goals too. I'm linking up with other To-Do Tuesday lists at Quilt Schmilt.

 

Happy quilting!

Julie in GA 

Design Wall Monday 3/20/2023

Today is going to be the beginning of a new quilting adventure for me. I've signed up for a new on-line class starting later today, the Ruler Quilting Challenge taught by HollyAnne Knight of String and Story. There will be five days of lessons on the basics of using rulers for free-motion quilting. I just bought my first quilting ruler and look forward to getting lots of tips on how to use it. Best of all, my sister Karen has signed up for the class too!

There was a kit available for this class that included a panel to be quilted, but I have plenty of panels around and thought I would use one of those. Then I decided over the weekend that I could make my own version of one of the panel choices, and I pieced the four placemats shown above.

This is the fabric that was used for the centers of the stars, and it will also be on the backs of the placemats. My color choices were based on this print. The fabric is very old, and unfortunately, the printing is not terribly straight--those little gingham boxes all lean a bit, especially close to the selvage. I'm hoping I can manage to square it up a little better.

Check out what other quilters are working on this week at Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts and at Monday Musings at Songbird Designs.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA 

Stash Report and Stitching Time 3/19/2023

I've had a busy week of quilting, both at home and with others. On Tuesday I was able to meet up with other guild members for a morning of sewing quilts for homeless veterans. Thursday morning was a guild meeting. With all of that, plus the usual errands and one doctor's appointment, it's hard to believe that I got any quilting done at home.

It was actually a productive week at home too. I finished two more borders on my guild's Block of the Month, which I shared in Tuesday's post. I also completed the last project for the 2023 Project Quilting Challenge, two placemats that were randomly pieced from 2.5" squares, shared HERE.

Stash reduction for the past week came to a total of 3.75 yards, a decent amount for one week. The largest amount was used for the last borders of my SAHRR quilt top, shown below. There was also fabric used for the guild BOM, the two placemats, and two star blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

SAHRR quilt top, 42.75" square

2023 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                  3.75 yards

Used year to date:             24.75 yards

Added last week:                   0.0 yards

Added year to date:               9.5 yards

Net used in 2023            15.25 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. As you might guess from the opening paragraphs of this post, I definitely spent more than 15 minutes quilting every day, which means it was a very good week!

15 Minute Challenge for 2023: 

3/12 - 3/18         7 of 7 days

2023 Total        75 of 77 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