Submitted by Sandie Griego on Wed, 04/02/2014 - 18:45
I have so many quilt projects I want to work on right now that I have a hard time making up my mind which to spend time on. I have been getting my garden ready to plant. I believe that it is a little too early to plant yet. I'll wait until closer to Easter since our weather has been erratic for the last six months.
I have my Pinwheel quilt ready to quilt. After taking the machine quilting class from Jackie Brown in February, I want to quilt this one myself. My friend, Lyn, who has a long arm, has offered to baste it for me. We are schedule to do that next week. This one is on hold until next week.
I have been participating in a Block of the Month from The Old Craft Store.
I have never done a lone star quilt and thought I could get some help if I ran into trouble. I have been doing the "Block of the Month" part for the past 5 months - the pieced blocks. Last Sunday, we had a class of assembling the star points and inserting the blocks into a Y seam. The teacher made it look easy.
The instructions for this quilt have been well written - something I really appreciate. I cut the strips from the fabric for the star points.
The instructions give detail information about which strips to sew together and which direction to press the seams.
The pressed strips are cut the correct width lining up the bottom on the 45 degree mark on the ruler. I marked the width of the strip with some glow tape on my ruler. Once the strips are cut from each of the four different strip sets, it forms the pattern.
These strips are seamed carefully together to match the seams. Accuracy in the project is important - cutting and seaming.
Notice on the back how the direction the seams are pressed, makes the seams nest together to reduce bulk.
Two of the star point are sewn together. This is where the "FUN" begins. When stitching together two of the star points, leave the seam unstitched for the last 1/4 inch where the pieced block will the added.
I stitched the pieced block in - one side at a time, starting 1/4 inch away from the end of the block. The trick is to stitch both sides smoothly without stitching in a pleat.
This is the top of the Y seam. Below is the back side of the fabric Y seam.
This is the first two of 32 star points I have to make for the king size quilt I decided I needed to make. At this point, I am still cutting the diagonal strips. I hope they all go as smoothly as this one has. I have a quilt retreat coming up the end of April. I can get much of it done if I can do the cutting before I leave. I can't finish the top until I get the final pieced blocks over the next couple of months. It would be great if I had it all ready for those blocks when I got them.
I also have been working on "In A Pickle." This is a kit I purchased at the Plano Quilt Show two years ago. I just finished all of the paper piecing! All of the other pieces have to be cut out from templates. I purchased the quilt kit because I loved the pattern and all the fabrics are batiks. If I had know about the templates, I might have passed.
So, with these quilts well underway, I had to start another one. I have been on a scrappy streak and the next quilt will be no exception.
I have pulled many of my pink and purple batik scraps with a tan background for this one. I don't plan to make the star border. I only plan to make the star medallion center and put a solid border around it. I thought it looked like fun.
My constant companion found a new place to be close to me in my sewing studio.
If you can't tell, this is under my cutting table where I store my scrap batting. When cutting fabric, I stand right in front of where she is sleeping. This is a much better place for her. She used to lie on the carpet exactly where I needed to stand to use my iron.
I will let you know as these project get closer to completion.