My first Feathered Star and some finishes

Seems like I haven't posted in awhile but I sure have been busy sewing. Sometimes I just feel the urge to sew like crazy and this week was one of those times. I actually ended up with several finishes, cleaned up some areas of the studio and tried out some precision piecing all while feeling a bit of a cold. And we babysat the grandchildren twice! How is it that some weeks I can get so much done and other weeks it feels like I have accomplished nothing! Anyway, first up is my first attempt at a feathered star. I followed an online tutorial on a blog, It's Molly's Place, and in one long morning made this block. I am really pleased with how it turned out and now have the confidence to try this block again in a bigger project. Careful cutting, a perfect seam allowance and slow careful stitching were all it took to get good results.

That afternoon I quilted and bound it making this cute little wall hanging.

It should complement this batik quilt, Winter Blooms, which I quilted the following day. Sadly you cannot see much of the quilting in these photos. This will be perfect hanging in my livingroom after the Christmas chaos when I am in the mood for these more serene colors.

And speaking of Christmas, I quilted and bound this Sampler Magic quilt from a pattern by Lori Smith that I made to use on my bed at Christmas. I love the non traditional colors and touches of shiny gold. Perfect to add a little bling to the holiday.

And my Mystery Gone Astray quilt is now ready to be used as a throw when I decorate the livingroom for Christmas. This quilt began it's life as a mystery quilt but after making 200 flying geese units I saw a photo of a quilt like this and decided to come up with the pattern and use those units in this quilt instead. The mystery was revealed a week ago and I like my version better so I am happy I followed my gut on this one.

Bonnie Hunter's mystery should be beginning next month so I have been clearing the decks to get ready for some power piecing to start. The colors have not yet been released but I am starting to think about what colors I might use, hope I can just raid my stash!

 

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Di Ford Mystery, Part 6 begins

For the last several months I have been enjoying my Di Ford Mystery, Mountmellick, quilt top displayed over my fireplace. Although I would much prefer to hang a finished top, sometimes seeing the unfinished one eventually spurs me on to a finish as is the case with this one.

If you are familiar with this quilt, which was last year's mystery quilt in Quiltmania magazine, you know that part 6 has lots of EPP to do before the border can be assembled. Just over a week ago I decided to tackle the EPP only to discover that I did not have the correct paper pieces for the 36 stars. So instead I began with the corners and ordered the "jewel" pieces from Paper Pieces. Here are the finished corners.

And once the papers arrived I began making stars. I decided to do a little fussy cutting with these stars and am pretty pleased with how they are looking.

Once the stars are made they need to be appliqued to the background. I like to remove the papers before appliquing so I give the star a quick spray with Best Press, iron on both sides and then remove the papers. A tiny dab of Roxanne's Glue Baste and they are glued in place on the background square. While I do sometimes use a glue stick to baste my EPP I find that it is easier to thread baste these tiny pieces in the corners only. By not basting throughout the paper and punching a hole in the papers before using they are easy to pop out.

I like to finger press the diagonal lines on the square to help with placement for these. By making sure that the tip points are going in the direction of my stitching (I am left handed) these are easy to appliqué in place. I do trim the tips as I come to them so there won't be so much extra fabric to tuck under.

And here is the quilt on the design wall with some of the finished stars in place. I am waiting til all the stars are complete before cutting all the setting triangles as I am still deciding on fabrics for those. And on the right is the border I am planning to use. I wish I had used a darker teal fabric for the center swags but I love the border enough to make it work.

I did finish piecing my Red and White quilt, a little late for the July 4th and Canada Day holiday but hopefully it will be quilted before Christmas.

Finally another little Stonefields sunflower block. I couldn't resist making one more!

 

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My Mystery gone astray

To celebrate both Canada Day and July 4th I decided to do a little red and white sewing this week. I belong to 2 quilt guilds and one of them has a mystery quilt project. A new clue is give each month and by the end of the year we will end up with a quilt. This year's mystery required only two fabrics with good contrast, though you could go scrappy, and size is determined by the size of your pieces. I have wanted a red and white quilt for a long time and thought this would be the perfect chance. Our first clue had us making lots and lots of either HSTs or flying geese units. Mission accomplished and then I went searching online to look at Red and White quilts. Oh dear, I saw a quilt I just loved and hoped that my mystery would be that quilt. Another look at the second clue and I knew it was not to be. But I just could not get that quilt out of my head. So I decided to to figure out how to do it and started making components.

It is basically an Irish Chain and I am using the Flying Geese in the sashing sections to make the stars appear.

It is pretty small as I am using 1" finished squares. Once this all gets sewn together there will be a few very simple borders and I will have a great little throw or large table topper, perfect for Canada Day, July 4th, Christmas or even Valentines Day.

Now I think I might have to go back do the mystery in Blue and White!

Finally, I just wanted to share these lovely hydrangeas. These grow in my backyard but I can't see them where they are growing so they are perfect for cutting for indoors!

 

 

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