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

Stash Report Sunday 9/21/14

It seemed like I spent plenty of time sewing this week, but I didn't use up much fabric. I finished my blue and orange 12" LeMoyne Star blocks, which you can see in yesterday's post. I also finished 16 more blocks for Boston Fiesta, an old UFO that I am using as my leader/ender project.

Used this week:                           1.5 yards
Used year to date:                   106.625 yards

Stashed this week:                       0  yards

Stashed year to date:               98.0 yards 

Net year to date:                      8.625 yards used  


Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie in GA

Orange LeMoyne Stars

I finished up my 12" LeMoyne Star block for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Here it is along with all of the orange 6" stars.

I have been playing with ideas for how to use all these stars in quilts. I tried my large blocks with this black and white check as a sashing possibility, but I'm not sure about that yet. I might also try to combine both the larger and smaller stars into one quilt.

I have started making a blue star to go with these and plan to make one in blacks and greys when we get to those colors.

Check out this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts--lots of amazingly beautiful rainbow projects to inspire you! 

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 9/15/14

Since January I have been making 6" LeMoyne Star blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. You can see my latest blocks (orange) here. In February I also started making one 12" block each month. Yesterday I finished my orange 12" star. I love those bright oranges against the dark background! Did you see the jack-o-lantern?

I have cut all the pieces for a blue star, the color I missed back in January. I am also replacing the light background on my red star with black. After that is done, I just need one more large star, probably in blacks and greys, for the center of the group. I haven't figured out a plan for this quilt beyond that, but I'm very happy with how the stars look together.

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 9/14/14

I had another great week of stash usage. Switching around between multiple projects time seems to be working out well for me. I made another pair of pajama pants, added sashing to the Tell It to the Stars mystery quilt, plus remade one of the blocks. I also finished my 8 LeMoyne Star blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, made some sample blocks for a baby quilt, and pulled out an old UFO to use as my leader/ender project.

The only addition for the week was a half-yard piece that I bought from a vendor at the Quilting Live! show yesterday. Here is my new fabric, plus the Seminole-pieced zipper pouch I made in a workshop.

Totals: Rainbow LeMoyne--8 stars           .5 yd. 
Baby quilt--3 sample blocks                     7"
Tell It to the Stars--remake one block       6"
Fall batik pajama pants                         2.5 yd.
Tell It to the Stars sashing                    1.25 yd.
Boston Fiesta--8 blocks                           .5 yd

Used this week:                          5.125 yards
Used year to date:                   105.125 yards

Stashed this week:                       .5  yards

Stashed year to date:               98.0 yards 

Net year to date:                      7.125 yards used  


Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie in GA