Not Quite Ready for a New Color

Even though the color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge switched over from April's yellow to pink on May 1st, I still had some sets of yellow blocks to finish off. 

Up first were my yellow Terry blocks, inspired by Terry Rowland's colorwash quilts, featured in her series of three YouTube videos. These scrappy little blocks will finish at 3".

Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts is hosting a Birthday Quilt 2024 quilt-along. There is a new pattern for a 6" block posted every week. I am alternating using a dark or a light background each week, and my blocks this month all feature yellow.

The yellow Rail Fence Spinners needed yellow strips cut before I could make the blocks. After that, they went together very quickly.

It was a lucky coincidence that the May block pattern for Jen's Color Challenge featured yellow. The inspiration for Jen's color choice was the Electric Yellow Lab, a type of tropical fish.

I'm done with the yellow scraps and hope to have some time this weekend to start pulling out my bits and pieces of pink.

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

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stash Report and Stitching Time 4/28/2024

The end of April turned into a flurry of travel and fun. After returning from our trip to Florida just over a week ago, we decided to go to the big quilt show in Paducah this week. It's always exciting and a little overwhelming to be surrounded by so many amazing quilts and by all the people who want to see them. We left home early on Thursday and got back on Saturday afternoon, a whirlwind of a trip!

I haven't yet had a chance to go through my photos from the quilt show, but I do have some from the National Quilt Museum. My favorite there was Corona II: Solar Eclipse by Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry. This quilt won Best of Show at the AQS show in 1989, and it was the first totally machine-stitched quilt to win the top award at that show.

Corona II: Solar Eclipse by Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry

I'm sure I have seen this quilt before, but I don't remember ever seeing the beautiful pieced backing. You can read more about this amazing quilt HERE.

back of Corona II: Solar Eclipse 

Naturally I did some fabric shopping while in Paducah, although I never visited the Hancock's of Paducah store. I knew it would be crazy busy there, and I get to shop there whenever we make the drive from Georgia to Wisconsin to visit my family, usually twice a year.

My purchases included one wide backing piece (the blue-green on the right), one yard of the black/grey stripe on the left, and the rest are all fat quarters. Total fabric added is 5.5 yards.

After totaling up the usage for some sets of blocks made earlier in the month, I can count 2.375 yards of fabric used. That includes all the yellow blocks shared in yesterday's post, plus the latest group of blocks for the Chatsworth quilt-along.

Chatsworth, Blocks 3 - 6

2024 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                   2.375 yards

Used year to date:               29.25 yards

Added last week:                   5.50 yards

Added year to date:             27.50 yards

Net used in 2024:              1.75 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 continued working on my hand applique project on our travel days, plus spent some time at the machine on the other days.

15 Minute Challenge for 2024: 

4/21 - 4/27             7 of 7 days

2024 Total        115 of 118 days

Success rate              97%       

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces. Thanks so much to Donna and Kate for continuing to host these link-ups.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Scrappy Yellow Blocks

Quilting time has been in very short supply lately, but I was finally able to make blocks for two of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects, where our color of the month is yellow. I started with the Hen & Chicks blocks for the RSC 2024 Sampler Quilt.

This was my first set of yellow blocks. They will finish at 6" and 3". I had them about 75% finished when I realized that my previous blocks had been made entirely from batiks. These have the same batik background as earlier blocks, but regular quilt cottons for the rest. I went ahead and finished these off...

then turned around and made another set out of batiks. I know it doesn't really matter to anyone else, but I feel better now.

There was also enough time to finish off my set of Hollow 9-Patch blocks. These blocks will finish at 6".

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

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Chatsworth Continued

I've been working on more blocks for the Chatsworth Quilt-Along over the past few weeks. I shared the first two blocks back in February (see this post,) and now I have four more blocks done. All blocks will finish at 16".

Chatsworth, Block 3

Chatsworth, Block 4

Chatsworth, Block 5

Chatsworth, Block 6

Here are blocks 3 - 6 together on the design wall.

I've been using different red and blue fabrics in each block with a single background fabric and the same light blue accent fabric in all the blocks. There are six more star blocks to be made, plus twelve sets of flying geese blocks that I've barely started.

The Chatsworth pattern was designed by Doug Leko of Antler Quilt Design, and the quilt-along is hosted by Moda Fabrics. The quilt finishes at 74" x 88", but the book also includes other size variations and layouts. It's not too late to join the quilt-along!

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 4/21/2024

I've been missing in action on the blogging front lately, with no new posts for a full two weeks. Have you missed me? Quilting time has been limited while I was working a few days, plus we were out of town for a week. We went to Miami for two days to see the Braves play, then spent three nights at Indian Rocks Beach in the Tampa Bay area. It was the perfect combination of big city fun and laid-back beach time. I got some great photos of the Miami skyline from inside the baseball stadium, plus a beautiful sunset at the beach.

Our trip did not include any stops at quilt shops, so no new additions to report. I finished off a few blocks before we left, but haven't tallied up the fabric used yet. I'll figure that out for next week's Stash Report.

2024 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                     0.0 yards

Used year to date:             26.875 yards

Added last week:                    0.0 yards

Added year to date:               22.0 yards

Net used in 2024:            4.875 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 usual for me, travel time cut into my quilting time (but I don't regret it one bit!) I missed three days of quilting time while we were gone, but managed to get in at least 15 minutes all of the other days over the past two weeks. 

15 Minute Challenge for 2024: 

4/7 - 4/20           11 of 14 days

2024 Total        108 of 111 days

Success rate              97%       

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces. Thanks so much to Donna and Kate for continuing to host these link-ups.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stash Report and Stitching Time 4/7/2024

I've been chipping away at my fabric stash usage this week, with just over a yard of fabric used and no new fabric added. Some of the fabric used went into the collection of purple Terry blocks that I shared in yesterday's post. The rest of the fabric used went into two blocks for Jen's Monthly Color Challenge. These blocks finish at 12".

Jen's inspiration for the color of this month's block was a tropical fish called the Electric Blue Hap. As soon as I read "electric blue", I knew I had to use the swirly blue fabric in the block above.

Photo from Modest Fish

I made a second version of the block with a lighter blue batik and a darker blue stripey background.

I've been making two blocks each month for this challenge. I decided to get some photos of the two different sets on the design wall. The blocks in the first set all have similar dark blue batiks for the background.

Each block in the second set of uses a darker version of that month's color inspiration for the background and a lighter one for the contrast.

I can't decide which set of blocks I like better. I'll just keep on making my blocks each month and see how they look at the end of the year.

2024 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                  1.125 yards

Used year to date:             26.875 yards

Added last week:                    0.0 yards

Added year to date:               22.0 yards

Net used in 2024:            4.875 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 was somewhat reduced this week because I went back to work for a couple days. The Alliance Theatre, my former employer, has a big show coming up and needed some extra help. I'll continue to spend a couple days a week there for the next month. Despite that, I still managed to get my 15 minutes of stitching time every single day last week!

15 Minute Challenge for 2024: 

3/31 - 4/6            7 of 7 days

2024 Total        97 of 97 days

Success rate                100%

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces. Thanks so much to Donna and Kate for continuing to host these link-ups.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Terry Blocks in Purple

I know that we have moved on to yellow as our color of the month for April at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, but I still had one set of purple blocks that needed to be finished off. I was very surprised that I had so many purple scraps to use for this set of Terry Blocks.

These scrappy little blocks will finish at 3". They are inspired by a technique by Terry Rowland of T Row Studios. I haven't been able to find a blog or website for her, but she is active on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. She has a series of three YouTube videos demonstrating how to make these simple blocks, then turn them into amazing colorwash quilts.

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

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stash Report and Stitching Time 3/31/2024

It was a productive week, with plenty of fabric getting cut and stitched back together in my sewing room. I was very happy to finish the assembly of my latest Around the Twist baby quilt top (read more about it HERE.) 2.5 yards of fabric was used for this top.

Around the Twist, 38.5" x 45"

I also finished two more sets of purple blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, Hollow 9-Patch (shared in yesterday's post) and the Birthday Blocks by Laundry Basket Quilts. I've got a couple of extra blocks that didn't appear in yesterday's post. One is a duplicate because I didn't like my first attempt of the pattern, plus the heart block was a bonus pattern from Valentine's day that finally got finished this week.

Birthday Blocks by Laundry Basket Quilts

6" finished size blocks

The two groups of purple blocks used a total of 3/4 yard of fabric. No new fabric was added to the stash this week.

2024 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                   3.25 yards

Used year to date:              25.75 yards

Added last week:                    0.0 yards

Added year to date:               22.0 yards

Net used in 2024:               3.75 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. Besides the projects I showed with the stash report, I spent large chunks of time pulling and cutting fabrics for my remaining Chatsworth blocks, an ongoing Block of the Month project.

15 Minute Challenge for 2024: 

3/24 - 3/30          7 of 7 days

2024 Total        90 of 90 days

Success rate                100%

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces. Thanks so much to Donna and Kate for continuing to host these link-ups.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Finishing the Purple Blocks

March seemed to go by very quickly, and now it is time to wrap up my purple projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I finished off a couple sets of purple blocks this week. Up first were my Hollow 9-Patch blocks.

After that, I made the latest of the Birthday Blocks from Laundry Basket Quilts, ending up with four purple blocks for March. A new block pattern is posted every week, and I am alternating using light or dark background along with the RSC color of the month.

LBQ Birthday Blocks

There is one set of purple blocks that is not quite finished. These are my scrappy improv blocks inspired by Terry Rowland (I call them my Terry blocks.) I have these 25 little 3" blocks finished, and another 15-20 more blocks cut and waiting next to my sewing machine.

Besides all the blocks shown above, I also shared a couple other sets of blocks earlier in the month. There were the Rail Fence Spinners and the Hen and Chicks Sampler blocks. I pulled those blocks out of my RSC bin and put everything up on the design wall together in an incredible, scrappy collection of purple! 

I'm eager to find out what our color of the month will be for April and get started on some new sets of blocks!

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

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Around the Twist Quilt Top

Our quilt guild had a group sewing day at the end of February to work together on baby quilts. Most people were using a pattern supplied by one of the members, but of course I felt the need to complicate things for myself and made a totally different design. This is my latest Around the Twist baby quilt top.

Around the Twist, 38.5" x 45"

The starting point for this quilt was the background fabric. According to my records, this adorable print was purchased in 1998. 

I knew that I had used the same fabric for a small quilt many years ago. I managed to find a photo (not digital) of this Snowball/9-Patch quilt, made in 1998. I had totally forgotten about the coordinating striped fabric.

Snowball/9-Patch Quilt, 1998

The Around the Twist pattern used for the new quilt top is a design I have made a few times before, most recently as a baby quilt last year. (The quilt name under the next photo will take you to my blog post with more info about the pattern and this quilt.)

Around the Twist baby quilt, 2023

If you compare the finished quilt in the photo above with the quilt top at the beginning of this post, you might notice a key difference--the new version used five colors for the rings rather than the four in last year's quilt. Adding one more color made construction much more complicated. There are two different blocks in this quilt, Snowball blocks and Twist blocks. Every block uses four of the five colors around the center in very specific order to make the design work. That meant making five different sets of each block. My photos show two versions of each below.

Snowball blocks

Twist blocks

Piecing the blocks required concentration in order to get the colors in the right places, but it all worked out well in the end. I need to dig through my stash for a good backing fabric, then I can get this quilted and ready to donate. I've already pulled together another group of fabrics to make yet another version of this pattern. I considered using seven different colors for the rings in that one, but I think I will stay with five.

Linking up with:

Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss at Inquiring Quilter

Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Peacock Party at Wendy's Quilts and More

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA