One Monthly Goal July Finish Link-up

Ready to link up your July finishes?

Don't panic - this link-up is open until July 31 at 11:55 pm ET.

My goal for July was to finish my Summer Slow Stitch quilt top.  I finished it, basted it and started the quilting!  More to go but here is what it looks like now.  You can read more about the quilt on this post.

Now it's your turn to link-up!  There will be 3 winners - Fat Quarter Shop is offering a $25 gift certificate, Quiltfolk is offering a one year subscription, and Paper Pieces will provide a EPP Starter Kit to one lucky participant!

Congrats to Margo, Sharon, and Anne-Maria, our lucky winners for July.  (updated 8/4)

Visit the One Monthly Goal event page for the specific requirements for links and social tags. 

And remember, to be eligible for the prize(s) by random drawing you must linkup at both the goal setting and the accomplishment linkup in a given month. (July Goal Setting Link-up)

Make sure you add a link to this OMG post so others can follow where you are linking.   Let's make that easy -  just paste this into your post:  

Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal - July Finish Link-up

Thanks for linking up!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Mid-Year Check-in

Back in December, I joined Yvonne's planning party and posted about my goals for 2021.  (See my post.)  I'll be linking up with the mid-year check-in here.

Highlights from the year so far include my postage stamp quilt  - one of my long term bucket list items.

For 2021, I choose the word seek - as in seek new challenges in quilting and seek opportunities to connect and collaborate with others.  I submitted an article proposal for publication in a quilting magazine which was accepted!  The magazine comes out in the fall so I'll share more later this year.  I also did my third collaboration with Kristen Esser on another Hand Piecing QAL with our Harmony pattern.  We have a lot of fun running the QAL and enjoyed seeing what everyone did - you can see the parade of quilts here.

Over all, I am doing ok against my specific goals for 2021, namely:

• Experiment with color and design and play outside my comfort zone  - Two quilts underway against this goal.  The first is a quilt I am making with plans to submit to QuiltCon - it uses wasabi and purple as two of the primary colors neither of which is anywhere near my typical palette.  (The Harmony quilt above is my typical palette!)  The second is a smaller quilt I will be making for a guild challenge.  
• Seek inspiration everywhere and work to provide through my blog posts (tutorials, OMG etc.) - I'm happy with my blog content - both what I've been posting and the frequency.   I hope I am providing inspiration to others - I know that who participate in OMG will tell me how setting a public goal helps them focus.
• Establish a social media plan - when and what to post - Zero progress on this one.  Sadly it was a carry over goal from 2020 so I've been doing nothing on this for awhile 
• Collaborate with another quilter(s) on a QuiltCon submission - Zero progress on this one.  There is certainly time to pull it off before the October submission date but my plate is full with other quilts I want to make plus contributing to our guild submission.  Maybe next year!

In addition, I intend to stay focused on fabric purchases specific to projects and to make an effort to use up my stash.   Two wins against this goal - the first is the postage stamp quilt (above photo) and second is my fabric rug made from scraps - read all about the adventure.

Thanks Yvonne for providing us a reason to visit our goals and look back on what has been accomplished so far!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Summer Slow Stitch July Update

I really enjoyed the challenge of hand piecing this quilt - my summer stitching project that started last summer.   I finished the quilt top and it measures roughly 55" x 55".  (See previous posts here,  here and here for more information.)

My plan is to add some hand quilting into the solid squares and walking foot quilt the low background fabric.  In my excitement to get to the quilting, I made this project priority #1, got it basted and did some (all?) of the walking foot quilting!

I am not a fan of pieced backs but went ahead and pieced one using some large scraps.  It looks way better than I expected - and you can get a good view of the walking foot quilting.  Isn't it fun?

Next step - more quiltling!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Scrappy HSTs!

Aren't these scrappy HSTs fun?

A friend was having a bit of a destash sale and I snatched up 100 rainbow charms.  She has quite the stash so it was thrilling to get this wonderful collection of fabrics and sprinkle in a few of my own.  I decided on a simple and fun basic scrappy HST quilt!

Trimming down all of these HSTs gave me a great opportunity to give my new Bloc Loc ruler  a workout!  I purchased the 6 1/2'' size and it is handling my 4 1/2'' HST like a champ.  (affiliate link)  I am not one to buy specialty rulers but couldn't resist this one!

My plan is to make this throw sized and gift it to a family member when done.  I've already planned the quilting - walking foot straight lines along the diagonal!

Playing with all these wonderful prints has really been a lot of fun!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Leftover Charms Baby Quilt

I had a  few (30  to be exact!) charms leftover from another quilt so I decided to put them together for a quick baby quilt.   The strips between the string of charms finishes at 1 1/2'' and the border finished at 4 1/2''   

I had some fun green and yellow star prints leftover from another project for the backing that I joined together to have a large enough piece.  The yellow star print was perfect for the binding.  Some organic waving lines made quick work of the quilting.

Just a few more stitches in the binding and the quilt will be ready to be donated to the incubator quilt project at my local hospital.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Harmony Hand Pieced QAL Parade of Quilts

What fun we had sewing along with everyone during our third hand pieced QAL!  Our pattern this year was called Harmony.  The Harmony pattern has instruction for making a single Harmony block for a lovely wall hanging (28'' x 28'') or a Harmony throw sized quilt (56'' x 56'').  The throw sized quilt is made of 4 Harmony blocks and reveals a secondary pattern.   In the photo above, I also resized the Harmony block to make a mini 14" version - so fun!

 You can read more about the pattern and the QAL here and purchase your very own copy of Harmony pattern.

Today my cohost and friend Kristin from Simple Handmade Everyday are excited to share a parade of the finishes that were entered into the Grand Prize drawing.  One of my favorite parts of running a QAL is to see how different fabrics can really change the look of a quilt!  Make sure to visit Kristin's blog to see the more of the quilts!

First up,   Susan R, Sheena F, and Vannicea B  each made gorgeous throw sized Harmony quilt.   A throw sized Harmony quilt uses 4 Harmony block so that was a lot of hand piecing!

       

It was thrilling to see that some folks were able to turn their Harmony block into a quilted wall hanging.  Aren't these beautiful?  The wall hangings in the top row are by Laurel S., Isis P., and Connie.  The wall hangings in the second row are from Diann B. and Di.

Although some of these quilters are still working on more Harmony blocks to make a throw sized quilt, it is exciting to see what a single Harmony block looks like in their color palettes.  The quilts in the top row are by Michelle F, Deb A., and Mary Ellen F.  The quilts in the second row are by Susanne M.,  Paige B, and Marcy.

Finally, thank you to our awesome sponsors who provided really amazing prizes as extra incentive.  Congratulations to Diann, Marci, Rosalee, and Susan - our lucky grand prize winners!  

Have a wonderful day! Patty

June Temperatures

(Click here for One Monthly Goal July Link-up)

Bring on summer!  Mixed in with all the typical high humidity we've managed to have some really gorgeous days in June.

When I compare to June of 2020, we've had more days this June in the 70s and less in the 90s.  In the photo below, the first six months of 2020 are on the left and 2021 is on the right.  

My design documents both the high and low temperature in a block which finishes 1 1/2 '' x 2''.  The improv strip is 1/4'' wide and records the low temperatures.  

Every month takes 2 columns - the 1 through 15 in first column and then 16 through end of month in the second column.  Filler blocks are added to square off the quilt.  The thin strips - 1/4'' wide - are randomly inserted and run 'vertically' for odd days and 'horizontally' for even days.

I'm using the exact same fabric that I did for my 2020 Temperature quilt.  The time I spent organizing is paying off - it takes no time at all to get the prep work done for sewing each block.  I made myself a mini-quilt to show off my temperature grid.  Oranges are 80s, yellows are 70s and sew on.  I've been asked several times what my fabrics are - I used all Painters Palette solids:

100+ is Sangria, 95+ is Real Red, 90+ is Poppy red, 85+ is Burnt Orange, 80+ is Tangerine, 75+ is Pencil Yellow, 70+ is Bright Yellow, 65+ is Apple Green, 60+ is Mint, 55+ is Bright Aqua, 50+ is Turquoise, 45+ is China Blue, 40+ is Lapis, 35+ is Purple, 30+ is Amethyst, and any temp is the 20s is Royalty.

I've written up my basic temperature quilt process in my tutorial including where I source the high and low information.

I'm looking forward to sharing the progress!  You can see my temperature quilts for 2018, 2019, and 2020!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

One Monthly Goal July Link-up

New to One Monthly Goal?  Welcome!  To join, share a photo of your project, some words about what you want to accomplish in a blog post, an Instagram post or a post on Flickr and add that photo to the link-up.  Return at the end of the month and share your results.  You can read about the event and the rules on the main event page.

We have wonderful sponsors this month - three (3) winners will be randomly chosen from those who join both the goal and the finish link-up!

Fat Quarter Shop offers a tremendous selection of fabric, notions, books and just about anything you will need for your project. Consider their Sew Sampler box to receive a monthly surprise delivery of fabric and fun.  Fat Quarter Shop is offering a $25 gift certificate to one lucky participant.

Quiltfolk is the magazine for quilters, by quilters, with about 180 pages of inspirational stories and stunning photography. Featuring four new locations each year, it’s like taking a vacation with your favorite quilt friends without ever leaving home!  One lucky winner will win a copy of the latest issue (January) plus a years subscription! 

Paper Pieces has provided pre-cut paper shapes for English Paper Piecing using quality card stock and exact point-to-point measurements for over 20 years. They strive to provide excellent customer service and sewing to support to our customers and community.  Paper Pieces will provide a EPP Starter Kit to one lucky participant.

Aren't these just terrific sponsors?  (Remember to check out the full sponsor list for 2021!)

My goal for July is to finish my hand pieced quilt top - my summer sewing project.  I'd also like to get it basted so it is ready for quilting!  You can read more about the quilt top here.

Now it is your turn to link up - what is your goal for this month?  (A goal could be to finish a quilt but it could also be to attach a binding.  Whatever it takes to help you move forward and make progress on your projects!  And as long as the project involves making something with a needle and/or fabric, you can link up!)

Make sure you visit the One Monthly Goal event page for the specific requirements for links and social tags.  Your blog post (or Flickr post) must contain a photo of your project, a clearly stated goal and a link back to Elm Street Quilts.  Your Instagram post must include a photo of your project, a clearly stated goal and the tag #onemonthlygoal.  (Entries which don't contain the required information may be disqualified.)

And remember, to be eligible for the prize(s) by random drawing you must linkup at both the goal setting and the accomplishment linkup in a given month.   (The One Monthly Goal accomplishment linkup will be available on July 25)

Make sure you add a link to this OMG post so others can find the OMG link-up from your blog.  Let's make that easy -  just paste this into your post:  

Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal July Link-up

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Have a wonderful day! Patty