Variety the spice of life!

Have you ever made the same quilt twice?  Something I have never done and have no desire to do. Not that anything is wrong with that, but there are so many other quilts that tempt me.  I really love it when a quilt teaches me something new, and none of my quilts have let me down.  I love finding an element in an antique or vintage quilt that really catches my eye or a quilting design that I keep in the back of my head, cause you just never know when you can try it out or it just may be what that next quilt needs.  These elements are usually what call me to make another quilt.  For my Texas star, it was about hand piecing and challenging myself to design a border.  When it comes to the quilting I like to challenge myself also.  So for my Texas star, I decided to use regular quilting with some big stitch.  I have done both before but never together in the same quilt.  I am also using several different shades of Perle cotton in one quilt.

After designing the whimsical border, it just called out for some whimsical quilting too so it could compete with those lovely stars. The pictures above show all the regular quilting completed on the borders.   I am not sure of the original use of perle cotton, but it works great for big stitching. The large visible stitches really add a lot to a quilt.  I also think it's a great way to try hand quilting if you have been tempted to do so.  I can't wait to get started!

I really like how it's turning out!

Progress Report

Hand quilting is often looked upon as an endless project.  I suppose in today's fast-paced world it is a slow process, but one I look forward to most days.  I have always quilted for enjoyment, making traditional quilts that have always inspired me.  My favorite part of making a quilt will continue to be the quilting, whether the design is fancy or simple.  Making those stitches and watching a quilt come alive is so satisfying.

It's my me time, my quiet time, a time for reflection!  A calming act, where all the cares of the day are put aside and I just enjoy the methodical stitching.  I especially love when all is quiet and I realize the old wall clock is still ticking away those seconds.  It has been in my husband's family for years.  It has outlived many a modern-day clock. 

I finished up quilting all the stars this week. Today I hope to start the border. First, I will stitch around the whole quilt to make the quilting on the border possible. I find my sewing machine fitted with a walking foot works best.  I suppose I could do this when I baste my quilt but I always wait till I get to the border so I can ease out any excess fabric.  I am not sure what others do but this seems to work for me!

Slow Stitching and Relaxing!

Kathy over at Kathy's Quilts reminds us today to add some slow stitches and to slow down take some deep breaths and relax.  I haven't been able to do that much lately.  I have been dealing with losing a pet that was very dear and he had been with me thru my quilting journey.  Not having him there at my feet under the hoop has been hard. But, I know I must move forward.  So instead of feeling sad, I am spending my time stitching remembering some of the great times and travels we had and the new friends we made.

I was able to sit out on the screened porch yesterday the weather was gorgeous and the natural light over my shoulder was so nice. It was great for stitching and warming my back and shoulders.

I am really liking the way this quilting design works well for working in a hoop.  I have done quite a few quilts with a crosshatch background which means several needles at once. This design is completed without moving the hoop and the parts of it are close enough together that I can move my needle thru the quilt to the next part.  Just what I need some relaxing stitching !!!!!!

Still stitching!

Well with the cold blast we are getting I am so happy to have my Texas Star quilt in my hoop.  I find my favorite time to hand quilt is when I first get up in the morning.  It's a wonderful way to slowly start my day. Maybe I will sit behind the hoop this evening too, it would be nice to have my quilting to distract me from the Cowboys game.  Such a hard year to be a fan!

Me time!

 I am linking up with Kathy's Quilts today to join other hand stitchers as we add stitches to our projects. Kathy talked about the healing quality of stitching.  I  agree that putting in those hand stitches has a great calming effect.  I am currently hand quilting my Texas Star quilt.  I have it set up in the corner of the kitchen nook, so it is easy to go over during the day and sneak in a few stitches. I call that "me time".  For me, it's a time when all other thoughts go away and I just stitch.  It doesn't take long and I feel relaxed.  It's been a busy week here, but I was able to sneak in a few stitches!

Since this quilt is not made up of blocks it's hard to know how far I have come without laying it out.  Although, the quilting is nothing fancy I really like the way it softening the whole quilt and playing nicely with the stars.  It doesn't get better than that!

Keeping it Simple!

 Sometimes keeping it simple is the solution!  I thought from the start that would be the best approach for my Texas Star Quilt.  But I had the idea that simple diagonal lines would be the way to go until I started marking.  So, I played around and soon came up with a new plan.  So happy, to now just enjoy putting in these simple stitches to turn this into a usable quilt.

I'm using a sliver of soap to mark my stitching line on the stars!

Love this striped star!

Weekly Update a little late!

Not a lot of time for blogging, but I thought I would do an update on my medallion and Texas star quilts.  I was able to finish piecing the eight sections of hourglass blocks to go with the center medallion.  I got into a rhythm and my eyes soon got very good at noticing when an hourglass block was turned the wrong way.  I still need to sew the sections together.  Right now they are waiting on the guest room bed. Safe and sound.  I need to do some math and shopping before I can go ahead with the border.  

This photo was taken before the last three sections were made.  It is a king size quilt which is hard to get into one pic, so this will have to do!

On Wednesday, I decided it was time to get my Texas Star quilt basted.  Basting is right up there with cutting as not one of my least favorite parts of quilt making.  But ironically, once I get started it really gets done quite quickly and I end up wondering why I kept putting it off.  I work on my kitchen island so putting in the pins is not back breaking.  I recently bought two wool batts, but I always check the tub of batting leftovers.  Yes, to my surprise there was enough Hobbs poly down to use for this quilt.  I had to sew the two pieces together but that is easily done.

Once basted a decision needs to be made about the quilting design.  I had seen an old Texas star that was quilted with double diagonal lines and I have always wanted to try that, but when I started with the hera marker I couldn't come up with anything that said yes this is it. I tried 1/2 inch to 1 inch space between the lines but nothing seemed right.  The nice thing about the hera is you just spritz with some water and all those attempts disappear. 

 So I tried the ever so boring quilting 1/4 inch from the seams but I didn't want to stitch around each star point.  So then I said why not sew around the whole star and then again around the hexagon in the center.  It still needed something.  Then I remembered the circles I had added to the border so I found a quarter and marked a quarter size circle in the cheddar center hexagon!  Perfect!!!!!! On the alternate blocks I am stitching 1/2 inch around the hexagon and adding a circle to the center!  I was pleased with both and it will be very easy to mark as I go!

My progress as of this morning!

I am loving all the circles!

I set my hoop and chair up in the corner of the kitchen eating area.  There is great light and I can watch tv or listen to podcasts with my earbuds.  I love having a quilt in my hoop for when I need a bit of zen time.

Joyful Stars!

I put in the last stitches today on my Texas Star quilt. This quilt started out with my desire to hand piece and I have always wanted to make a Texas Star.  If your going to hand piece why not make a block that has some y-seams.  Once I got the body of the quilt together, I wasn't sure about adding a border. I'm a leave well enough alone kind of gal, usually, but after looking at it for a bit I came up with a zig-zag border I saw on an antique quilt.  To pull some of the colors out into the border, I added some circles.  I love the way the" make do" borders are so casual and playful.  But, once those three borders were added, it was still speaking to me, and one morning I decided triangles were needed to finish the final border. Working this way is such a joy, so I am naming this one Joyful Stars!

Ready to be basted into a quilt sandwich!

And now, to update the progress on the medallion quilt.   I reached 800  hourglass units this am and hopefully can stitch the last 50 I need this week.  If not, it shouldn't be too long.  I am aiming for a king size quilt so I will start by sewing the hourglass units into subunits that will be added around the medallion.  Assembling the parts into larger parts is tedious.  So, I will take it slow to keep it from becoming too arduous.  I am not setting a goal, but hopefully, it will become a quilt top by the time spring arrives.    It is definitely turning into a long journey quilt as hand quilting this winter will probably take center stage.

Midweek progress

I thought to myself yesterday, tomorrow is hump day and what do I have to show for it!  I did finish hand piecing my three zig-zag borders to my Texas Star quilt on Sunday.  I am in the midst of wondering how to handle the fourth side.  I have what I think I want to do in my head, now to just find the time to move forward and make it happen.

I'm not one to hurry thru a quilt, but I have been on such a roll lately it seemed that this week I haven't even given them a thought.  So this morning I woke up early, Max decided to sleep with us last night, and he was hogging my side of the bed. Once I am awake, I usually get up as falling back to sleep never seems to happen.   So, after morning coffee, off I  headed to the sewing room and stitched some of the hourglass blocks I had cut Tuesday evening.  I was able to get 30 more stitched, pressed and trimmed.  Now that was fun!  I am planning on spending a few more hours tomorrow. Do you ever get that feeling you just need to hide out and play?

The applique stitch

I have been doing some kind of needlework as long back as I can remember.  My mom started my sister and I embroidering on dish towels when we were about 5 or 6.   Later we learned to knit and crochet.  In high school, I learned to sew a garment in home economics.

All that practice, has helped me master the applique stitch. This week,  I used the applique stitch to stitch my circles to my zig-zag borders.  Applique is a scary word for some quilters.  I started thinking this morning when did I first learn the stitch.  After thinking about it,  I realized I learned it during my garment making years. It was the stitch I was taught to use when hemming.  Quilters also use it to hand stitch down bindings.  So much better than a whip stitch, as it's basically a whip stitch in reverse.  The trick is to make the stitch correctly so that no thread shows.

I really like the whimsy that my little circles are adding to the quilt. As the weather is starting to cool a bit here I think I will try sitting out today, as I start to add the borders to the body of my quilt.  It has me thinking about how to attach the binding.  I want this to be a hand-stitched quilt, so I guess I will hand stitch it on.  I have never hand stitched a binding on................................this is what keeps quilting so interesting.  Do you or have you hand-stitched a binding on your quilt? 

Lot of stitching!

I am moving along and am working on the 3rd and final zig-zag border today.  A decision has also been made to add some circles to my zig-zags to bring some of the fabrics in the body of the quilt out to the border.  It also gives me more hand stitching to do, a win-win!

For those of you wondering how my hourglass medallion quilt is coming along. I have reached 700 blocks.  I still need approximately 150 more before I can start laying out the blocks and sewing them together.  I have decided building sections of hourglass blocks is probably the best way to approach this one.  I know I still have a lot of work to do to finish both of these quilts, I am creeping closer to at least having the tops finished. 

The weather today, a high in the 80's reminds me that fall is coming and I need to get a couple of quilts basted so my winter hand quilting can begin.  Never a dull moment here

Do you save and stitch up those little corners that are cut off when you are trimming.  It's something I learned from following Bonnie Hunter.  I never have, but when I started making my medallion quilt out of these reproduction fabrics I just felt I couldn't throw those pieces away so I have been sewing, pressing and trimming them up.  Yesterday, there were getting to be so many I decided to count them up and put them in a little tin I had, so they would stay safe till I decided what to do with them.  They sure are cute!

Progress

Saturday I started hand piecing border #1 and I think I have made great progress. This is my evening sewing as I relax in front of the tv. I try not to push myself too hard and when my hands get tired I stop stitching.   

I also spent some time cutting out and sewing some more hourglass blocks. My post last week had me at 636 hourglass blocks and I need close to 850 I think the exact number is 840something.  I figure a few extras in case my count is off or a block won't work for some reason, is not a bad idea.  I've started thinking about how I will stitch all those little 3 1/2 inches blocks together. Do you do sections, or are you a row by row person?  Here's a few of the 43 I completed so far this week. That brings me to 679, I am hoping I can reach 700 by the weekend.

Border or no Border????????????????

I know I posted that my Texas Star quilt is completed!  Well, not so fast.  I have debated back and forth on this quilt whether I would add a border. Saturday morning, I was cleaning some of my fabric drawers and I came across some solid green fabric left over from a project of long ago.  It's a nice shade of green and it looked really nice next to my star quilt.  So, I got to thinking and spent some time on Pinterest and found this vintage quilt which has become my inspiration.

So, I got out some paper and did some drawing.  I decided from my rough drawing that I would cut 3-inch long parallelograms.  After cutting a couple out I stitched them together to figure out what size square I would need to cut and then cut diagonally to make the triangles to fit. These sewn together makes for about a 5-inch zig-zag border.  Since my star quilt is hand pieced I felt I had to continue.  Most modern patterns would have a seam in the cream triangle but when you hand piece a Y seam is easy, means fewer seams and less cutting. All wins in my book!

I am not sure if I will add a narrow border between the zig-zags and the quilt, time will answer that question. For now, this is filling my desire to stitch in the evenings.  I started watching the Netflix series Ozark Saturday afternoon and was able to get a good start on the first border! So, I guess the answer is yes add a border, well at least on this quilt!

Lots of stars in my future!

I finished assembling my Texas Star quilt on Wednesday.  I still need to trim up the edges before basting.  That will happen as soon as I get some fabric for the backing.   Texas Star will be the first quilt to go in the hoop this fall.

Since she is a baby quilt only measuring 46x58 it shouldn't take too long to quilt.  The star quilt pictured below will be the next candidate.   It would be great if I can get them both quilted before winter ends.

In the meantime, I will continue to work on my hourglass blocks and think about how I will quilt these two quilts.  I am really excited thinking about having a finish again, it has been a while.

I Chose the Crooked Path

We all know that life has its ups and downs.  It's what makes life interesting and sometimes challenging. When I was in grade school many years ago, we had to memorize the poem The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. It still comes to mind every once in a while.  Today is one of those days. As I neared the end of my Texas Star quilt, I decided to make the last two rows separate from the quilt.  So tonight, I have a very crooked path as I stitch that seam.

It also made me realize that the edges of this quilt are very crooked and I knew from the beginning I would be whacking off some of those outside stars to make a straight edge to attach the binding.  I guess I could have just left it as is and bind that crooked edge but that makes the binding complicated.

Well, this morning, as I straightened my sewing room I came across the diamonds I had cut and marked when I first started this quilt.  If you remember I was going to use diamonds instead of the hexagons.  So I decided, why not stitch the diamonds along the outside edges so I wouldn't have to whack as much of the stars off.

 

Two sides are missing star points where the next stars would have been added had I made the quilt larger. So I will add some diamonds there also.   I can hardly wait to turn on the sewing light and settle in and start stitching!  The quilting road has many paths and I really enjoy that!  The challenges and decisions we make on every quilt we make keep the craft interesting.

Close to the complete!

Well, the end is nearing.  I have enough stars pieced to finish up this quilt.  I hope to get the last 8 stars attached today. I am linking up with Kathy's Quilts and the others that are slow stitching today.  It's inspiring to see that so many enjoy slowing down and enjoying the simple process of stitching. If you have never tried it, you should really give it a go.

I have started the last two rows this am after my morning coffee. I have the quilt laid out so I can see where the next piece needs to be attached. Once the two rows are complete then I will attach it to the quilt.  A final measurement will then be taken.  This is a crib size quilt so it should finish after trimming around 45X60.

It's a star-a-thon

I sat at the table Monday morning and cut out more stars to hand piece this week.  It's so much fun to pick out a color/fabric to make the next star.  I think I may be getting close to having enough to call this quilt finished.  But then I could make it a bit bigger.  For now, I need to start adding these stars to the quilt.  Lots of hand piecing, following the drawn line from point to point.  You would think sewing a straight line would be easy but it's so easy to wander and these seams need to be somewhat straight!

I apologize for the bad photography, but they do look better assembled.

Now, to start adding these to the quilt alternating with the cream hexagons as I go.  Just from laying out what I have I think I am very close to having enough!  But for now, I will just keep piecing and then lay it out once again to decide how many more it needs to be the size I want!

I love stitching!

I love stitching whether it be by machine or by hand. But I have always griped about the cutting process.  But surprisingly, if I just get at it, it's really not that bad.  But then, my sewing room looks like a tornado hit.   I've learned with this project to match up some fabric and limit myself to just cut those.  Once I get thru that stack it's time to clear the scraps and put the smaller scraps into appropriate containers to use for another project.  I am a person who hates clutter so working this way really helps me deal with the mess that I create when I am in the midst of creating and cutting. Look at the stack of quarter square triangles I need to run thru the machine that added up in no time.  Now the chain piecing can begin and I get these trimmed and pressed and ready to go into my quilt.

Sunday evening I was able to get these stars pieced.   I had some red star points that I cut out and unfortunately I only had enough of the scrap to make five points and not the six I needed. Today, I found this red scrap that looks almost the same. I think I am going to finish this one up with one point cut out of the different fabric.  I love seeing that in antique quilts so why not.  Also I hate wasting the five that are already cut.

So what do you think?  I think it will be just fine!