Medallion Day 5

I finished up my medallion on Monday!  I am thinking it needs a narrow border.

Texas Star Progress

It's been a busy week here in my sewing room.  Most of my time was spent behind the iron and my sewing machine.  I wanted to finish my compass block for my medallion quilt, but I didn't quite make it. I was able to get all the parts sewn but I still need to finish the assembling.  Friday, I sewed the first quarter of it together.  I hope to get back to it Monday, and at least get the inner circle completed. Then it will be appliqued to a background square so it can go into my Hourglass Medallion quilt.

I have continued stitching some of my  Texas Stars together with a hexagon shape as the alternate block.  I like the way it is coming together. I am starting to ponder a border for this quilt.  Any suggestions?  Not much on Pinterest and maybe it will end up like a lot of my quilts with no border.  Time will tell!

Linking up with Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday to see that others are slow stitching!  Kathy recommends doing some outdoor stitching today, but it's already 82 this am and the sun hasn't come up yet. So, this gal will enjoy some indoor stitches hoping the cold front brings us some relief and some much needed rain tomorrow.

Medallion Day 4 +

Well with all the pieces pre-cut for the next two sections, today I will enjoy the paper piecing process.  It takes a bit of time to press each piece and then trim to one quarter inch seam and line up the next piece and stitch.  But the results are well worth it on a block like this.  I can't imagine trying to handpiece or applique this block.   I have included some pics I took today as I worked.  I didn't quite get all of these done in one afternoon, so I got up early this am and finished making the last four units. 

my add a quarter rule has really come in handy

stitching next to the fold line really helps to keep the stitching straight

love the accuracy I am getting

a finished unit all trimmed up

I must say my favorite part is trimming the unit to its final size.  Then turning it over and seeing a beautiful unit.  I am so happy to have these pieces completed.  Next, it will be time to assemble it! But that will have to wait for another day!

all the units laid out waiting to be assembled

Medallion Block Day 3

Today, I didn't have much time in the sewing room.  But I was able to stitch thru the rest of the foundation patterns with my machine to transfer the foundation pattern to the freezer paper.  As I said in an earlier post this method of foundation paper piecing is one in which you do not sew thru the paper.  The paper is folded back and the stitching is done along the fold.  So, when I stitch thru the paper to transfer the pattern to the freezer paper it perforates the lines making them easy to crease. Once the fabric is stitched, then the seam is pressed and the fabric adheres to the freezer paper ready for the next piece to be added.

Pattern pieces pierced and pre-cut fabric ready to go!

As you can see I  got some of the fabric precut.  Do you see that green fabric, yes I made some big decisions about fabric usage?  I kept playing around with the three fabrics I had planned on using and it just didn't click. So, I decided to add three more colors.  Green, blue and red and they will alternate in one spike position around the compass.  That should perk it up a bit and help tie it to all the color in the hour glass blocks that will surround it!  My excitement is building, but I think I will wait till the am to stitch when my mind is fresh!

Day 2 of the Medallion Block

Not sure how many hours I spent in the quilting room but I did complete all sixteen pieces of Pattern A.  All in all, it went quite well. The only mishap was when I decided instead of pulling out the stables I used to hold the pattern piece to the freezer paper I would trim off the excess freezer paper and staples with my scissors.  Well, I didn't realize I had picked up two pieces instead of one and I trimmed thru the second one right thru the part that I needed.  Don't you hate when that happens.  But, instead of making the two new freezer paper patterns I decided to remove the freezer paper from two that were completed and reuse them.  It's a good thing that freezer paper can be used more than once. LOL

Close up of one Pattern A

There is a lot of work going into this block, but I think it's going to be worth the effort.  Nothing about it seems very hard, it's just staying organized and carefully stitching and pressing and trimming. So here are the first sixteen pieces layed out in a circle.  The rest of the day will be spent stitching thru the pattern on Piece B and Piece C to transfer the stitching lines to the freezer paper.  I only need 8 of each of these.

16 of Pattern Piece A

Medallion Block

Getting ready to make my medallion block for the Medallion hourglass quilt.  My very spikey compass block will be made out of three different prints and a neutral solid background fabric.  I went with browns and golds so that it wouldn't overpower the colorful hourglass blocks but hopefully play nicely.

To get the accuracy I will be paper foundation piecing the block. A friend of mine suggested using a method with freezer paper that allows you the same accuracy but you don't stitch thru the paper. Yeah, you got it no tearing out the paper after the block is finished. Since the spikes are very narrow I will need to remove the paper before sewing the parts together and pulling the freezer paper off the back in one piece is going to wonderful.  

First, I have to attach a copy of my pattern to freezer paper and stitch on the lines with my machine without thread to transfer the lines to the freezer paper.  I am using my open toe foot so that I can clearly see the lines.  I need 16 of Piece A, that should take a while since I am only stacking my freezer paper two deep, so I don't lose any accuracy. I made a practice piece a week or two ago and oh boy I am so glad that I did. Many mistakes were made that hopefully will make for a successful block in the end.  One of the things I learned,  precutting the pieces at least 1/2 inch larger than the actual template will really speed things up and ensure the piece isn't cut too short or too narrow.  The process has begun and I will make all 16 on pattern piece A first.  Repetition really is a plus when quilt making. Well, that is if we make the first one correct! LOL  Looks like I am off to a good start, wish me luck!

Texas Star quilt

Well. what started out to be a slow journey quilt for me is really moving along quite quickly. But then I haven't made much progress on anything else.  When I started this project I had intentions to join the Texas Stars with diamonds.  But then on a visit to family in Illinois, I saw my husband's aunts Texas Star quilt that was connected with hexagons.  I really like the extra negative space, so I unstitched all the diamonds I had attached so far.  I hadn't attached too many so it didn't take any time at all.

Hand pieced Texas Stars

I am really happy I had some solid cheddar fabric in my stash to use as the center of the flowers.  It looks great with every fabric I have used.  Now to do the math and figure out how many of these lovely stars I need to make this quilt.  Do you ever just dive into a project not knowing where you are going?  Since I tend to like quilts that repeat a block I tend to just start making a block and at some point, I do the math to see where I am going.  

Time travel to February 2017

Well I went back in my blog and didn't see any post about my star quilt that I machine pieced using Y seams.  I started out hand piecing one block and then watched Edyta Sitar's Y seam You Tube video on doing Y seams by machine.  Well, the machine won out.  I think it had to do with all those seams that come together in the middle of the star.   I took the time and marked the seam lines as if I were hand piecing so that I would know when to start and stop my seams. It took a bit more time but was well worth the effort.

 I would make a few blocks every time I entered the sewing room and soon I was able to start assembling them in rows.  I have always loved stars when it came to quilts and this one has the secondary star that forms when the blocks come together.  Definitely a win win!

All my blocks laid out!

Then it was time to start assembling them adding the triangles in between the stars!

I find it easier to create sections that I later sew together.

I just love the colors in this quilt. I have a stone wall and fireplace in our family room and I can't wait to get this quilted so it can be displayed over the stone wall. But right now, we have been hitting 100 degrees plus daily.  So the hand quilting will have to wait till fall!

Texas Stars

Even though it's been another very hot week here in Texas, I was able to sit and handpiece more Texas Stars.  They are a real joy to stitch and my garden of stars seems to be growing quite quickly.  I remember when I first tried to handpiece, it was a bit of a catastrophe.  But, my determination got me thru and I am so blessed to now enjoy some slow stitching. It seems to be my favorite kind of stitching, but then it always has been. Handquilting always happens in the cooler months but hand piecing is quite comfortable during the warmer months.

We will hit the road in the am to visit family in Illinois.  Not sure if I will get much stitching in, but I have kitted up a few star parts just in case.  The fabric has arrived for the medallion block so I will be looking forward to starting it when I get home. Also,  I need to decide whether to make more hourglass blocks or whether 400 will be enough?  Always lots of decisions when it comes to quilt making! Hope you are enjoying some slow stitches today.

Documenting my medallion quilt

I have always loved medallion quilts.  Especially old antique Dutch quilts that are spools or hourglass blocks with a center block.  I made a miniature one years ago out of some scraps.  And since then I have wanted to make a larger medallion quilt.

So I went thru my stash and pulled out a box of fabrics and started to make 3 1/2 inch hourglass blocks.  I love pairing up lights and darks to make these cute little blocks.  I have been cutting as I go and have been able to do about dozen or so blocks daily.  Too make the pressing and trimming less daunting in the end, I am doing that as I go. Here are some of the photos of daily accomplishments.  Once I get the center medallion block finished I can get all of these out and play with how they will be set.  Do you have a great way to mix up your scrappy blocks when you get ready to come up with a layout?

Blogging

I have really missed the boat in the last few years when it comes to blogging.  I was thinking yesterday about why I started my blog and it was basically to document my quiltmaking journey.  I really need to catch up as I still make quilts.

I guess I could start by saying my quilting journey is a bit like my blogging it doesn't have the vigor I had when I first started quilting.  I suppose that happens to many of us when we approach a hobby.

I have always been attracted to antique quilts with one block repeated throughout the quilt.  Also the negative space of traditional quilts that allow the quilting design to compete with the piecing.  So I started making mini's just to try a lot of the traditional blocks.  Then I saw some Baltimore albums quilts and loved the beautiful quilting done to enhance the applique. Each quilt has been a learning experience and a wonderful journey.  I no longer have the desire to make every beautiful quilt I see. Now it seems to be more about the process. After making my red and white quilt I realized how much I really loved using a lot of fabrics and so my focus has been on scrappy quilts.  Using what is on hand and addinga few fat quarters and seeing what happens.  I really like the idea of making blocks out of scraps and not worrying about how much yardage I need to make a quilt.

The heat is on here in North Texas so this week I started hand piecing some Texas Stars. They have been calling to me for years.  I find they are a bit like potato chips you just can't stop at one.

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