Quilty365: Still Circling After 250 Days!

And the Dots continue!
I am celebrating this Saturday with Dot #251!
No, nothing all that special about 251; just trying to celebrate each and every day of this journey.
I am writing quickly this morning, to catch the link-up over at QuiltyFolk, where Audrey is hosting this fun QAL: Quilty365!

I had trouble making up my mind and ended up with two Fourth of July dots...

It was quite a party after all.

At the end of July, I am left behind on the quilting,

All three of these panels (7th, 8th, and 9th) are prepared for big-stitching. It has been pretty warm around here and I suppose that is my excuse. Seems I need to plan a couple movie nights.

These will connect to complete the third quarter-panel of this beast.

I am keeping up with the daily dot creations and feeling pretty good about that. I love the texture of this quilt and look forward to using it this winter!

A bit of a cool-off this weekend following some lovely lovely rain two days ago. I hope it is nice in your neighborhood too.
I am off for a morning walk while I can.
Or, I could wake DH for a bit of G-Sale'n.
Always fun to poke the bear...

The Glass is Half Full: Quilty365 Report

Monday marked my 183rd Day of Quilty365, the half-way-finished-point of my daily circle-making experience that is consuming a large chunk of  serving as a journal of 2016. It is all down-hill from here, right?

This is the first time I have used the Quilt As You Go method to make a large quilt, and I love that it allows me to work on different stages at the same time. On the sofa, or on the go, I have the hand-quilting to do, while dots continue to multiply on my design wall. I am just a week or so behind with new dots, but have continued to prepare outer rings so catching up will be easy.

How nice to be organized enough to join the linkup this month and share progress with Audrey, our project Ringleader over at Quilty Folk ! I wonder now, that she did not ask us to sign a waiver of sanity before attempting Quilty365. Anyhoo, I will be heading over to check everyone's progress, and temperament..
My quilt is now large enough to sleep with a cot...

Or, take to the amphitheater!
I managed to piece the two Quarter-panels (6 QAYG panels) together over the holiday weekend.
We're at 41" x 82"!

There are 162 circles joined, so not quite halfway with this plan. To use all 366 squares, I will need to add one or two rows as a border with the circles I make in October. 

Aaah, looks like I am having a quilty moment ;)

Quilty 365: Dots, Dots, and more Dots

I am using my leftover centers!

 Fuse, sandwich, quilt, zip-zip. Attach & Woo-Lah! A 28" pillow for DH!

Welcome to Day #124 on my design wall!
Today's block, Lilac-Girl-Gone-Adrift-on-April-Fool's-Day, belongs in what will be the fifth panel.
The top three panels are finished, QAYG panels, machine and hand-quilted. I will take more quilting pictures next month!
The unfinished blocks making up the bottom section will be panel number Four.
Most of the time, I am working in weekly rows.

 

 Some of the blocks in panel Four are from February.

Most are from March,

I reached for purples, and yellow now and then.

The Desert Buns have returned with the warm, springtime weather.

Cropping my crudely lit picture in PicMonkey, and using the draw feature with my old-fashioned mouse, I created a mock-up of my 1st Quarter-panel.

Rotate, and Save. Repeat twice, and the four pictures can be uploaded in collage setting.
First, the plan as I sketched just after I completed Panel #1, when I began to think about how this was all going to come together...

Switching their placement gives me other options as well!

Option Three:

These are 4.5" blocks when finished, plus 1" connecting strips: 80+ inches as we see here.
Only 324 blocks though. I will add a row to both the top and bottom. That plan will use 360 blocks.
The last six will go on the backside. If I can stop.

I'm looking forward to linking up with Audrey, our Quilty365 host, and checking out other Daily-Dotters!
I hear that layout is all the buzz this week ;)

Quilty 365: My Daily Dots!

My Daily Dots began on November 30th.
This will be my first time using the Quilt-As-You-Go method. It seems like a good idea since this is certain to be a large finish!

Still working on some big-stitch quilting! The circles are made using the method I describe in my tutorial for making heart shaped applique. They can be finished as reverse applique like I am doing here, or with the seams clipped and pressed inward for a more traditional finish.

I kept notes from each day regarding the choice in dots, used muslin for my backing, and wrote about the month on the backside using a bronze Sharpie. It worked well until the ink began running out.
I guess that just adds to the character ;)

How's that for documentation?

I haven't been this excited about a quilt in awhile! It's no wonder that so many people are jumping on board with this quilt along: It is addictive, and FUN!

There are a lot of beautiful DOTS linked up Quilty Folk!

Quilty 365, One Dot per Day!

I have decided to join the project Quilty 365, hosted by Quilty Folk. We are making one circle dot per day for 366 days; A Daily Dot! I would like my finished quilt to read a bit like a journal of the year. Sometimes I'll just use a favorite fabric from my stash, but often inspired by an activity from that day.
I Began on November 30th, using the Number One to mark my first day...

Yesterday I made apple butter and chose an apple print, and today I am using up the apples saved for apple crisp so I went with another apple print, this one from my vintage stash. (umm, yes that is a pear there hanging with the apples, I actually snuck a few into my apple butter)

Tomorrow I am likely to use a bit of the fabric that I am over-dyeing today, with the ice method. Here it is photographed after 12 hours. If all goes well, this fabric will be used for a Jewelry Roll, a Christmas gift inspired by the Bag It! Challenge still going at Elm Street Quilts.

Next year I will be participating in the RSC 2016 - Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and I have narrowed my block choices down to about ten (so hard to decide!), but I will also make one scrappy dot per month in the colored assigned...

I am using the reverse applique method for my circles, with freezer paper and glue.

Each week I will make up some backgrounds, then select my dot fabrics each day. I'll be taking notes along the way as well, thinking maybe I will write on the backing fabric about the daily blocks. I may even use the quilt-as-you-go method and complete one unit each month. My circles are slightly smaller than Audrey's and my blocks are trimmed to 5".
Looks like I will have a bunch of leftover circles from those centers. hmmm...

This is a fun project!!

Sharing this today with Building Blocks Tuesday, Linky Tuesday, Fabric Tuesday,
and WIP Wednesday, since it is actually Wednesday - lol!

Check out the December Linkup at Quilty Folk to see what others are inspired to do with Quilty 365!

Add-a-Border Block Swap

Today I tried a technique I really liked for circle applique! I first found it at hyacinthquiltdesigns back in January in a post titled 6 minute circles. The technique was aired on HGTV at this link. It only shows how to do one round circle, but Cindy, from Hyacinth Quilt Design, bought the book, (Pieced Curves So Simple: No Applique, Pinless Piecing), so I am thinking there are probably good instructions in there for the donut type circle she posted, and that I attempted. My first circle came out swell, and when I went to add the other I put the freezer paper on the wrong piece, and ended up having to sew the seam on the inside of the circle. Tricky, but I did it and it seems usable. I will definitely use this technique again for regular, especially large, circles. And I would like to get my hands on the book, so I will check my library:-)

Linking up with What A Hoot for BOMs Away Monday  - maybe someone linking from there is interested in the swap I found.  I am sending this block in to participate in the Add a Border Block Swap I came across yesterday. I think it looks like great fun, and a good way to use orphan blocks too, so I will be digging around for 6.5" blocks today as well. Since they are not concerned about a timeline, I figure I will mail two or three blocks in to get started.
Well, that was easy! I just found the book in stock at my local library, it is actually called "Pieced curves so simple : the 6-minute circle and other time-saving delights"