Spring 2025 (Ravelry) UFO Club - The List

Welcome back to The Joyful Quilter!! The Spring 2025 (Ravelry) UFO Club is now OPEN for sign-ups!! Participants MUST list (at least) FIVE quilt projects. Photos should accompany the list. Sign-ups end at midnight EDT on April 7, 2025.

NOTE: All qualifying finishes must be posted BEFORE midnight (EDT) on June 30, 2025!!!

What's the plan this time, Joyful???

Same plan, different term.  My strategy is usually to list WAY more projects than I could EVER possibly finish in a single session and hope for the best! The "at least FIVE" project requirement for participation is the bare minimum, but I tend to err on the side MORE is better. I haven't changed. I'm still a bit of a moody quilter. That means I have to "be in the mood" to work on any given project! By varying the size and style of the items included on my list, I have options. These choices increase the chances of finding projects that I want to work on during the quarter.

Here is my project list for the SPRING 2025 (Ravelry) UFO Club:

1. QFK JRR on Steroids (2023)

2. TSC Rainbow Plus Quilt (2024)

3. Bottom of the Barrel PURPLE Race Quilt (2024)

4. Grape Candy Coated (2023)

5. A2 Baby! (2023 - on left)

6. Bright Eyes (Faces Workshop 2021)

7. Sweet Kisses (2021)

8. The Big RED Race (2024)

45" x 48"

9. DOQ Neighborhood Challenge (2023)

10. Aboriginal Runner (2022)

11. Blue and Green for Parrish (2016)

12. Kaffe Runner/Topper (2022)

13. Stitch Studio Remix (2012)

Quilting by Diane @ Stitch Studio

14. Stay at Home ROW Robin (2021)

15. Bargello Wall Hanging (2017)

16. Color Wheel Runner (2023)

17. Bottom of the Bin Topper (2024)

18. Short Track RED Race (2024)

 

45" x 45"

19. Scrap Jar Stars (2017)

20. Like Deborah (Boschart) Only Not (2016)

SEW...

We'll see how many projects I can complete in a 3-month period of time. The reasoning behind the choice is that with 20 projects for the Spring 2025 UFO Club, I'm hoping that I will be lured by the "low hanging fruit" and build momentum for some additional quilting time. My goal is actually only ONE finish for the quarter. More than that is a bonus!  Perhaps, I will even remember to post each of them to the group... unlike the final finish for the last session.  Whoops!

Remember...

The Spring 2025 (Ravelry) UFO Club is OPEN for sign-ups at THIS LINK.  YOU are invited join in the finishing fun.  Members must list 5 (or more) projects for participation. Sign-ups will close at Midnight (EDT) on Monday, April, 7th!  Please drop me an email, if you find that you need help with the process. Email if you need help with the process. (You will need to sign-up for Ravelry, the Quilters Knitting group, then state your intentions and projects in the discussion thread linked above.)

Until next time...

Wish me luck!!

Winter 2025 (Ravelry) UFO Club - The Results

Welcome to The Joyful Quilter!!  I'm here to report on the results of the Winter 2025 (Ravelry) UFO Club.  I think you will agree that we enjoyed another successful session.

The WINTER 2024 UFO Club is now CLOSED!!  Participants MUST have listed (at least) FIVE projects. Photos should have accompanied the list. Sign-ups ended at midnight EST on January 7, 2025.

NOTE: All qualifying finishes must have been posted BEFORE midnight EDT on March 31, 2025!!!

Membership (34):

monicarose51
MorganLaFey
MissCarlotta: 1 completed project
spyndragon
Cindiknits
siberspinner: 1 completed project
basketcase9702: 2 completed projects
Trek15
GirlReaction: 1 completed project
peregrineknit
fairfaxknitter: 4 completed projects
CCK
doris7264: 4 completed projects
aerieiris: 1 completed project
montricot: 4 completed projects
amalberti: 1 completed project
dzirin: 1 completed project
amquilt: 1 completed project
BethCtoo
statsgeek: 4 completed projects
Momma2abunch
WildcardFiber: 1 completed project
Lallison79: 4 completed projects
djaquilter
mehitabel: 23 completed projects
BillieX3: 1 completed project
Shahann: 1 completed project
robobeagle: 5 completed projects
ElectricDaisy: 2 completed project
gathersnomoss: 1 completed project
needleb
BunnySpun
amayzingrace: 3 completed projects
sk2p

Session Totals: 21 quilters completed 66 projects

What a great quarter, Quilters!  Congratulations to all of our finishers and thank you to all of our participants and our cheerleaders, too. 

Congratulation to Mehitabel who was our Rock Star for this quarter by completing TWENTY-THREE (23) projects! Congrats also to Doris7264 who posted her 4th finish of the session on the final day of the quarter! She was our Queen of the Last Minute this time.

I was pleased to contribute the following two finishes to the session totals...

PINK Donation quilt:

Noah's Grad quilt:

REMINDER...

The Spring 2025 (Ravelry) UFO Club is OPEN for sign-ups at THIS LINK.  YOU are invited join in the finishing fun.  Members must list 5 (or more) projects for participation. Sign-ups will close at Midnight (EDT) on Monday, April, 7th!  Please drop me an email, if you find that you need help with the process.

Until next time...

Mark another UFO off the list!!!

Wonderful Wednesday - YELLOW JRR On Steroids - A(nother) Winter 2025 (Ravelry) UFO Club Finish

Or was it???

Welcome to another edition of Wonderful Wednesday!!  I'm here to share my third UFO finish of 2025.  I completed the following quilt top last year, but didn't quilt it until the day before the March 2025 Rainbow Scrap Challenge was over.  This is the story of its finishing.

I had finished all of my challenge projects, so what's a quilter to do???

Work on a UFO, of course!

Was there a quick one on your list, Joyful???

My QFK Jumbo JRR quilt fit the bill!  The photo below shows me dropping in a few pins to the adapted version of Jasmine's instructions @ Quilt Kisses:

There were other things to do, so once that task was done...

The quilt sat overnight and when morning arrived, I some took time before my lunch date to begin the quilting:

When I returned, I finished up the quilting.  After dinner I prepared and stitched on the binding, with only a small amount headed for the binding scrap bin:

I'm SEW glad that I was able to get this done during YELLOW month and that it won't be going back on the UFO List for the Spring 2025 UFO Club session!

Here is the completed quilt...

The only problem is that by the time the quilt was completed, I forgot that I needed to link up to the Winter 2025 (Ravelry) UFO Club.  The deadline for qualifying entries was 11:59 PM (EDT.)  I guess I forgot what day it was and that I would post my quilt the next day.

I missed the deadline.  :o((

Oh, well... It's still another project done.

Until next time...

Mark another UFO off the list!!

The 100 Day Project - #100Days100ThingsDecluttered - Week 5

Welcome to Week 5 of the 2025 edition of #100Days100ThingsDecluttered, a special edition mini-series here at The Joyful Quilter!!  I started The 100 Day Project last week.  I'm excited that I've committed to it, again.  It's particularly popular on Instagram.  I was hesitant to participate before last year.  I'll be releasing weekly updates on Tidy Up Tuesday for those of you who might be interested in seeing what goes out the door.

What did you say your project was, again, Joyful???

I signed up with a different idea in mind than most.  You can read about it HERE.  That link will tell you all about my project.

The gist of my focus...

Decluttering my home and studio in an effort to free up space for MORE creativity.

Here is the list of items from Week 5:

1 small tote bag

2 cardboard boxes

3 glue sticks that I've been saving to scoop out the dregs

4 lamps

5 coffee mugs (that we never choose to use)

Total: 15/100

Updated 100 Day Project Total: 147/100

Items added to the box shown above and the lamps being donated are in the photo below:

Thank you to those of you who encouraged me in my decluttering efforts last week!  I appreciate your kind comments and your willingness to cheer me along.  It really helps keep me going on this decluttering journey.

Sara @ My Sewing Room had the following to say:

Good job! Every little bit makes a difference!

I replied:

Thank you, Sara! While I might not be able to notice the difference, you are correct. Every little bit helps!

@dothe100dayproject

#The100DayProject

#DoThe100DayProject

#100Days100Things_TheDeclutterEdition

#100Days100ThingsDecluttered

#filltheboxjoy

Come back next week to see what goes in the box during the next 7 days.  You can also follow me on Instagram @thejoyfulquilter, if you are there more often than in BlogLand.

Until next time...

Do the 100 Day Project!!!

Mail Call Monday - Watercolor Edition

Welcome to another edition of Mail Call Monday!!  The following package arrived in my mailbox the week before last.  This post shares the answer to a question I asked myself when it arrived...

WHAT on Earth did you order NOW, Joyful???

The answer was quite simply...

NOTHING!!!

The package was a Get Well gift from my friend B in Maine:

It arrived from Canada:

Inside was this small packet...

Containing these two cards:

What on earth???

The "cards" were two sample packs of handmade watercolor paint:

Tonight, I was finally able to swatch out the colors...

At the top of the page in the photo below is the Northern Lights Travel Card palette, swatched out:

Wintery Night

Dreamers Gold

Wet Grizzly

Beach Sand

Shell

Glacial Rivers

At the bottom of the page in the photo above I swatched out the Mixing Palette Travel Card:

Strawberry

Cherry

Fall Poplar Yellow

Great Ocean

Almost Night

White

Thank you, B, for a wonderful surprise!!  I'm really going to enjoy these.  I appreciate your thoughtfulness.  Now I'm looking forward to discovering the ins and outs of color mixing with watercolors.

Until next time...

Let's go PAINT!!!

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC25 - Week 13

Welcome to Week 13 of the 2025 Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  This week's schedule is a mish mash of activities and appointments.  Will I get any YELLOW scrap sewing in?  That remains to be seen.

Keep reading to see how the week pans out...

SUNDAY - So...  The day started off with my Weekly Morning Art Zoom found me adding gesso to pages in my Altered Book Journal.  Britt and I stayed after to chat and finish what we were working on.  For me, that was sorting the papers you see on my keyboard below:

MONDAY - Day Off

I alternated between sewing and arting all day long.  After lunch, I signed on to Brooke Henry's event called the BB Bash Live that was scheduled for today:

Later, I quilted on some scraps, but they weren't YELLOW.  Don't worry!  Those will be added later:

TUESDAY - #100Days100ThingsDecluttered

Day Off

I worked on a deadline project this morning.  Check Friday's entry for a link.  I thought I might go shopping, but decided that I needed to hang out at home.  I took the opportunity to do some more decluttering.

In neighborhood news, the following two houses sold over the weekend...

This one is 6 doors down...

And this one is in the cul-de-sac.  It didn't have a SOLD sign out front, but I spotted one in the window:

WEDNESDAY - Day Off

Post-surgical appointment was followed by a quick stop at the grocery store.

Once the cold stuff was put away, I went upstairs for my Weekly Zoom Call with LeeAnna @ Not Afraid of Color:

THURSDAY - Work

After work, I headed off to my Monthly Evening Quilt Bee meeting.  The following quilters were in attendance:

FRIDAY - TABLE SCRAPS Challenge

Day Off

That should have meant that I was able to attend Knit Group.  Right?  Well... Knit Group was canceled today, as Linda moved out of state on Monday, Stacy went to Florida on Wednesday. and Beth made plans to go furniture shopping because she thought that I said I would be working.  :o((

Instead of knitting at home, I took in a webinar with Kellie @kelliedayart about mindset shifts concerning making art.  While her focus was actually about becoming a professional artist, the event was filled with useful information for any creative:

After lunch, I headed up for Get Messy's Open Studio.  I missed yesterday's Curiosity Collective, but watched the video and decided to give Grid Journaling a(nother) try:

Once dinner and most of the laundry was done, I went back upstairs for my Weekly Evening Art Zoom.  I did a bunch of random tasks, but nothing was photo-worthy.  At ending time, only Britt and I remained.  Guess who stayed to chat for a while?  Yep!  That would be us:

SATURDAY - It's LINK PARTY day for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!  I hope you get a chance to visit Angela @ So Scrappy to see what the RSC Quilters have been up to this week.  I'll be along later.

Finally met with my old co-worker this morning (after 3 years!) and gave her this mug rug...

And showed off my Warm Beverage mug rug at the coffee shop.  Katie LOVED it!  Now, I'll be making a few more floral ones for Spring at the Mercantile:

Only a little bit of YELLOW scrap sewing happened in my studio.  Check out Friday's entry for the complete story:

Until next time...

Get SCRAPPY!!

March 2025 - TABLE SCRAPS Challenge - Link Party

Welcome to the MARCH 2025 edition of the TABLE SCRAPS Challenge here at the Joyful Quilter!!  I'll start with a little backstory, in case you are new here.  (Apologies to my regular readers since you already know all about it.) I'm a scrap quilter who had been setting up individual challenges for several years in conjunction with Angela's (RSC) Rainbow Scrap Challenge @ So Scrappy.  Participants from around the corner, across the country and around the world have been having SEW much fun and we all have MORE scraps to use, so I am pleased to offer the...

In 2025, we have a broad range of quilted items that are appropriate for linking to the Challenge.  Baskets and bins, along with pillows and pin cushions, are all qualifying projects.  Not just the toppers, runners, and mug rugs.  Basically, ANY quilted item qualifies.  The main premise is that you USE the (new or old) SCRAPS from your cutting table (or your friend's cutting table - since that's where the majority of my scraps come from!)

There will be a prompt each month to help get your creative juices flowing.  While you are NOT required to use it in your project, the guiding word will be revealed at the end of each month's LINK PARTY post.  Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the following month's focus.  It, along with the RSC Color of the Month (as soon as Angela releases it - around the 1st of the month.) will also be added to the 2025 TABLE SCRAPS Challenge page at the top of the blog.

The theme for March was:

SONG LYRICS/SONG TITLE/POETRY

ProjectQUILTING season ended on Sunday...

That means that I didn't have a moment to think about my project until the final challenge was complete.  No worries, though!  Inspiration struck a week and a half ago during an art session, if you can believe it.  I was inspired by this journal entry:

I was so excited that I got right to work...

On a background using the same paints on fabric when Curiosity Collective was done:

Yes, those are art supplies.  Why do you ask???

I used my smallest gel plate and a brayer to create the following background for my entry:

I worked on the scene during Friday's Get Messy Open Studio time:

A swing set?!  What's THAT about???

I wasn't sure where I was going with this, but then I recalled a recent journal spread that began with a similar landscape.  I added a seesaw to that one so that it met the BALANCE prompt for Day 14 of Junk Journal January.

What song have you chosen, Joyful???

Somehow, I found myself reaching back to grade school days.  The lyrics to the song, Sing, by The Carpenters brought memories flooding back to me of the song being sung at the top of our lungs during recess in 3rd grade.  The year was 1973.

How did we even know the song???

It was just released that year.  Susannah's big sister must have heard it on the radio and bought the record at our local Kmart.  That was the only place to buy music in our small town.

Enough of a walk down memory lane, let's get on with the construction.  I didn't mean to make another addition to my Words and Phrases Series...

But the theme insisted on it so I added some "chalkboard lines" to insure somewhat straight lines of song lyrics, but would I pen and ink write the words to the song?  What do YOU think?!

The next step in my process was stitching out a sample of my phrase...

Which was quickly followed by the real deal:

Once the threads were trimmed and the binding was selected, I found a way to add a few YELLOW scraps for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and set to finishing the quilt....

Here is my completed March 2025 TABLE SCRAPS Challenge quilt...

On my cutting mat, immediately after it was finished:

Then there was the traditional front porch swing photo:

These are a few closeups for you...

The quilted words:

And the artists - The Carpenters, 1973:

What's next, Joyful???

I'm guessing that Angela will announce the Color of the Month for March on her Rainbow Scrap Challenge post tomorrow.  I'll post an update as soon as she has made her choice:

TEAL

April's theme is:

RAIN

NOTE:  I realize it might be an odd prompt for a quilt, but there are so many directions it can be taken.  I'm looking forward to seeing what you are inspired to create!  While I look forward to seeing what you might make using the prompt, you are NOT required to use the suggested theme!!  The main goal is using up some of your scraps.  I have to say, I don't have a clue what I'm going to do yet!

And now...

It's time for YOU to link up your SONG LYRICS/SONG TITLE/POETRY and/or YELLOW project in the LINK PARTY below.  All entries MUST be submitted by Wednesday, April 2nd @ 11:59PM (EST).

Until next time...

USE those table scraps!!!

#tablescrapschallenge2025