To-Do Tuesday 5/9/2023

My last Tuesday to-do list was posted three weeks ago, although I would have guessed that it was only two. Time flies! We have been traveling, including going to the big quilt show in Paducah, which is always a treat. Now I just need to get back into the routine here at home. Here are the results from my last to-do list, plus a new list for the week ahead. The To-Do Tuesday link-up is hosted by Carol at Quilt Schmilt: For the Love of Fabric.

I finished three of the items on my last list, plus made progress on the fourth. I've also worked on some other projects during the extra weeks.

To-Do List for 4/18 - 4/24/2023

1. Flannel baby quilt--quilt and finish   ✔done

I finished this baby quilt, but forgot to get a photo before turning it in at our guild meeting.

2. Pretty in Purple--add larger borders to 4-patch side, prep for quilting  ✔done

This quilt is completely finished, and you can read about it and see more photos HERE.

Pretty in Purple, 35" x 47"

3. Rainbow Scrap Challenge--make a set of purple blocks  ✔done

I finished two sets of blocks for the RSC--Rail Fence and Jabberwocky.

Purple Jabberwocky blocks, pattern in "The Block Book" by Judy Martin

4. Continue working on clearing off cutting table  progress

The cutting table was looking better before our trip, but is back to being a disaster area since.

I've been jotting down possibilities for my next to-do list, but ended up with way too many things to finish in a week. Here is the shorter version.

To-Do List for 5/9 - 5/15/23

1. Ring Around the Stars--add hanging sleeve and label for exhibit

2. Purple placemats--quilt/finish

3. National Quilt Museum BOM--make 1st block

4. Prep for wallet class at quilt guild

5. Rainbow Scrap Challenge--start 1st set of orange blocks

That's will be more than enough to keep me busy 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 

Stash Report and Stitching Time 5/7/2023

I missed filing a stash report last week while we were traveling from Paducah to Wisconsin for a family visit. My stash report shows plenty of additions made during that time, most of them from our time in Paducah and at the quilt show. It was a great trip filled with family, fabric and fun!

I was able to make two visits to Hancock's of Paducah, one during the week of the quilt show (crazy busy!) and again on the trip home. There were some areas of the store that had empty shelves after the quilt show crowds, but they still had plenty of fabric to choose from. I also got to visit one favorite quilt shop in Wisconsin, Mill House Quilts, which has moved from Waunakee to Sun Prairie. Here are my purchases.

The first group of fabrics are some possible options if I decide to enlarge the Star Cluster BOM that I've been making along with other quilt guild members.

The next fabrics are intended for future Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects. The scale of the prints is very large, which will make them tricky to use, but borders or a quilt back would be an option.

The rest of my additions are mostly meant for specific projects. The grey at the bottom is Kaufman's Essex linen/cotton blend, which will be combined with the cream plaid next to it for some pillows. The turquoise and lime stripe is planned for a binding. The dark teal print at the top is one of those "just because I love it" purchases!

My stash additions for the past two weeks total 13-1/8 yards. Stash usage during that time came to 7/8 yard for the purple Rail Fence blocks and for the two purple placemats. It's time to concentrate on using up some of these fabrics and not buying any more for awhile.

2023 STASH TOTALS

Used last two weeks:                 .875 yards

Used year to date:                 41.875 yards

Added last two weeks:            13.125 yards

Added year to date:                49.625 yards

Net stashed in 2023               7.75 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 missed several days of quilting time over the past two weeks because of our trip to Paducah and Wisconsin, but I did get plenty of quilting inspiration from the AQS show, plus lots of fun fabric shopping!

15 Minute Challenge for 2023: 

4/23 - 5/6           9 of 14 days

2023 Total      118 of 126 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

Finishing Up the Purple Pieces

Most of the participants in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge have moved on to orange, our color of the month for May, but I still have a couple of purple projects to finish. I had some extra 9-patch and HST blocks left over from the Pretty in Purple quilt, shared in last Saturday's post. Instead of putting those extra blocks away in a box, I turned them into two placemat tops. After finishing, they will get donated to Meals on Wheels through our quilt guild.

Most of my quilting projects have ground to a halt over the last week, but it was for a very good reason--we went to Paducah! It is always so inspiring to attend a major show and see all of the amazing quilts on display. I haven't had much time to go through my photos yet, but I pulled out a couple to share with the RSC quilters.

Since the quilt show was in April, I will start with a fantastic purple quilt. This is "Heat Lightning" by Amy Pabst, the 1st place winner in Small Wall Quilts--Stationary Machine Quilted. The finished size of this quilt is only 39" x 45", and I believe the blocks measure 3" each, with those tiny little logs finishing at 1/8" wide. Unbelievable!

The next quilt is one of my favorites featuring orange, our color for May. This is "Sunset Over Catalina Island" by Nancy Eisenhauer. The colors in this quilt really spoke to me!

This was my favorite rainbow quilt from the show. It was in one of the special exhibits featuring primarily Kaffe Fassett fabrics. The quilt is "Jack's Chain", hand pieced by Ann Zemke and quilted by Lori Allison. I made a version of this same pattern a few years ago, my Ring Cycles quilt, which is still waiting to be quilted.

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

Purple Coming and Going

I've got plenty of purple projects to share for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, but posting will be more difficult than usual because I'm working with my phone instead of my laptop. Formatting may be tricky today. Wish me luck!

My main purple project for the week was finishing a small reversible quilt that I have named "Pretty in Purple." It has 9-patch and HST blocks on one side, with 4-patch blocks on the other side. The finished size before washing is 36" x 48". This quilt will be one of my contributions to the Hands 2 Help Challenge at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

For the quilting, I stitched diagonal lines following the seams on the HSTs plus through the 9P blocks.

The other purple project was a set of 40 Rail Fence blocks. Each block will finish at 3".

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

Design Wall Monday 4/24/2023

Our recent meeting for the Common Threads Quilt Guild included a new challenge issued by our president, Martha. She had discovered a stash of blocks made from charm squares and challenged us to make donation quilts from them. The blocks had been packed together into kits for us to take home, with the challenge to bring back a finished quilt next month.

These are the blocks that were in my kit. It is an extremely random mix of fabrics. Each block measures around 13.5", although the sizes do vary by as much as 1/2". The first thing I will need to do when I am ready to start sewing will be to press them all very well, and they will probably all get trimmed down to a consistent size.

Because of the differences in block sizes, I thought it would work best to add sashing and give the blocks a little separation. My first thought was to use a medium blue, and I found a fabric right away in my stash. I even have enough that I could use it on the back of the quilt.

The sashing strips in the photo above are different sizes because they came from my pre-cut strips drawers. I haven't decided yet which size I will use in the quilt. I added some squares of a possible cornerstone fabric and ended up with the combination shown below.

My favorite block from this group.

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 4/23/2023

My stash got a large addition his week, thanks to a recent order from a sale at Missouri Star. This was the first fabric purchased in almost two months, and I went way overboard with my additions. I just couldn't resist those sale prices!

The first group of fabrics are all three-yard pieces. The Santa fabric will become a pair of pajama pants for my favorite Santa collector later in the year. The other three pieces are all wide backings. The purple one will be used as the background for my Pickle Dish project.

The other fabrics I added are all different colors of one of my favorite blender prints, "Bedrock" by Windham Fabrics. Each of these is a two-yard piece, which is more than I would normally buy, but that is what was available. They are such wonderful basics that I know I will use them.

The additions to the stash totaled 22 yards. On the other side of the tally, I used 1/2 yard for three purple Jabberwocky blocks and 1/4 yard for the borders on the purple 4-patch quilt. I also gave away a bag of fabric pieces and scraps that weighed 2.5 pounds, which I'm counting as 7 yards.

2023 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                   7.75 yards

Used year to date:               41.0 yards

Added last week:                 22.0 yards

Added year to date:             36.5 yards

Net used in 2023               4.5 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. My focus this week has been on finishing up a couple of baby quilts. One is done, and the second is very close! Unfortunately, I forgot to take any photos of the finished quilt before I turned it in at the guild meeting on Thursday, but you can see a photo of the unquilted top in THIS POST.

15 Minute Challenge for 2023: 

4/16 - 4/22            7 of 7 days

2023 Total      109 of 112 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

Purple Jabberwocky

Another set of blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge was finished this week. These are my Jabberwocky blocks in purple.

I was able to pull the right scraps to make one block in bluish purple, one in reddish purple, and one in true purple. I must have been more distracted than usual while working on these because I kept making mistakes in my cutting. Some were just pieces that needed to be trimmed down a little more, but there was one set of pieces that had to be totally recut. They all turned out okay in the end.

Those blocks set in straight rows seemed a little static and boring. Maybe they would look better if every other row were offset.

I do like this better, but it means I'll have to figure out what to do in those spaces at the ends of the shorter rows. I'm definitely not going to make half blocks for the ends--the full blocks are difficult enough! That's something to ponder as I continue making more blocks each month.

The "Jabberwocky" block design 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". I'm planning to make 30 blocks altogether, then set them together with sashing and maybe a border, for a nice-sized throw quilt.

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 4/18/2023

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.

I didn't finish everything on last week's list, mostly because I became a little bit obsessed with the purple 9-patch quilt. We also spent some time getting our vegetable garden planted, which is always an exciting day!

To-Do List for 4/11 - 4/17/2023

1. Flannel baby quilt--quilt and finish  progress

I didn't get this quilt finished, but the layers have been stitched together around the outside edges and turned. All that's left is to close up the opening, then do some quick quilting.

2. Purple 9-Patches--finish making blocks, decide on setting plan  ✔done

Not only were the blocks finished and a plan figured out, but the quilt top is complete and I know how I want to finish it. You can read more in THIS POST.

3. Rainbow Scrap Challenge--make another set of purple blocks  not done

4. Continue working on clearing off cutting table    ✔done

My list for the next week looks very much like the previous list. I need to catch up on my RSC projects, plus finish the baby quilt to turn in at our guild meeting on Thursday.

To-Do List for 4/18 - 4/24/2023

1. Flannel baby quilt--quilt and finish

2. Pretty in Purple--add larger borders to 4-patch side, prep for quilting

3. Rainbow Scrap Challenge--make a set of purple blocks

4. Continue working on clearing off cutting table 

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 4/17/2023

Yesterday was one of those days that it seemed like the quilting stars were in alignment for me. It's not that I got a lot of quilting done yesterday, but I did make one surprising discovery.

It started with me wondering whether to add a border to my recently completed Pretty in Purple 9-Patch quilt. I've been hoping to finish it off right away and donate it as part of the Hands 2 Help Challenge at Confessions of a Fabric Addict. Then I remembered another small purple quilt, this one made from 4-patch blocks in 2020.

My happy discovery was finding out that the two quilts measure the same size across. The 4P quilt was about 2" shorter than the other quilt. Maybe I could make it a little longer and use the two together to make a reversible purple quilt.

This photo shows the two quilt tops next to each other. The top and bottom borders have been removed from the 4P quilt, and new, wider borders have been cut from the same fabric. I'm planning to get those stitched on today.

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. I'm also sharing my progress with the Hands 2 Help Challenge at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA 

Stash Report and Stitching Time 4/16/2023

It has been a busy week around here, but a productive one in the sewing room. I was able to finish two quilt tops last week. The first was the Star Cluster quilt that was being made as part of a quilt-along with our guild (although I may end up adding more borders to enlarge it.) The second was the Pretty in Purple quilt, all scrappy 9-patches and half-square triangles. I'm going to repeat the photos of them from my earlier blog posts in case anyone missed them. Altogether, 4 yards of fabric used and no new fabric added.

Star Cluster quilt top, 45" square

Pretty in Purple, 36.5" x 48.5"

2023 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                    4.0 yards

Used year to date:             33.25 yards

Added last week:                   0.0 yards

Added year to date:             14.5 yards

Net used in 2023           18.75 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. My quilting time over the past week was mostly filled with making little 9P blocks for the Pretty in Purple quilt, plus the HSTs to go with them, then joining everything together, and finally cleaning up afterwards.

15 Minute Challenge for 2023: 

4/9 - 4/15             7 of 7 days

2023 Total      102 of 105 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