Star Border Fabric Found

After I finished piecing the star blocks

and decided to make them into a table runner,

I knew it would be difficult to find a border fabric that would work.

Solids would be too drab,

stripes too geometric,

florals too much of a contrast, etc.

I wandered around the quilt shop,

holding the piece up in front of bolts of fabric

and moved from fabric to fabric.

Then, one of the wonderful employees came up to me

carrying this bolt of fabric.

I loved it!

It had all of the colors and then some.

It had some geometric designs to it,

but plenty of curves to soften the look.

It didn't overwhelm the stars,

but wasn't dominated by the stars, either.

And I loved the fabric in general.

SOLD!

This clam shell fabric is gorgeous.

 I might have to go back and buy more!

 (This photo is huge, but it really shows the fabric nicely.)

The borders are in place and the backing is made.

Now I need to decide on the quilting design.

 Any suggestions?

My husband came into my hidey hole

and said this one is staying here...
I'm not to give this one away.

He loves it,

which is high praise coming from him!

I have wanted to make a clam shell quilt for a long time.

This fabric is really inspiring me to do it sooner

rather than later.

I'm doing a late link to Design Wall Monday.

Happy Quilting!

Paper Piecing Part Finished

The other night,

while listening to a book on my iPad,

I removed the papers from the back of the

Paper pieced stars.

Three Hours.

That's how long it took.

And this is why I don't enjoy paper piecing.

I do have to say, though...

The stars are precise and look pretty cool.

It was worth the effort.

 I decided to make a runner with these stars,

so framed them in a navy blue solid

with fuchsia corner stones. 

I'm going to look for a fabric with most of the colors

for a wider border.

 

   

There is no way I would have been able to

sew those thin pieces of fabric so precisely

without paper piecing.

The frustration and irritation fades

as I look at the final product. 

:)

Another project out of my cabinet and almost finished.

Happy Quilting!

Paper Pieceing Progress

These last few days I've been plugging away

on my paper piecing project,

determined to finish it and not put it in a box.

One thing with paper piecing...

it's very easy to sew for 5 or 10 minutes and accomplish something.

The sections are all pieced and ready to sew into stars.

It's a very tedious process,

but does give such preciseness to the design.

 

I do really like the bright colors used in this kit.

These sections will be sewn together and then the 

dreaded part begins.

Tearing away the paper.

I think this is why I dislike paper piecing...

it's a mess taking off the paper.

 

I've gotten this far, though, so I will

keep plugging away on it.

Happy Quilting!

(Or tearing paper!)

Paper Piecing

Paper piecing is not something I am drawn to.

In fact, if I see that a pattern is paper pieced,

I stop looking at it.

For some reason, I ended up with this kit that is made of

paper pieced stars.

I know I got it on a big sale a long time ago

and maybe bought it for the fabric.

I don't remember.

Anyway, the other day I decided it was going to get made.

The patterns were copied

and the fabric was cut.

This is what the pattern looks like.

It will make four star placemats,

but I'm going to make something else.

Once the stars are finished, I'll decide if it's going to be

a wall hanging or a baby quilt.

The colors of the fabrics are bright and fun. 

One thing I don't like about paper piecing

is trying to get the fabric lined up to stitch the next piece in place.

Either I haven't left enough for the seam

or I have too much and the fabric won't cover the space.

Now I have this....

I found this light pad at a quilt show a while ago and

hadn't had a reason to use it yet.

It's very thin and lightweight, with LED lighting.

You can get a glass mat, a self-healing cutting mat and

a regular mat to go over the box, so you can work right on it.

This makes placing the next fabric piece so much easier!

(No affiliation at all.)

The sewing and trimming has begun.

It's a slow process,

but I'm listening to an audio book while I sew.

(I just started doing this about a month ago.

Why did it take me so long??!!)

 

This is what I've done so far.

I really like the precision of paper piecing,

but I don't like the messy look during the process.

It does make me slow down,

which isn't a bad thing.

Hopefully these stars will be done soon

and I will have decided what to make with them.

I'm linking to Design Wall Monday today.

Happy Quilting!

Blessing Quilt

A dear friend was just diagnosed with cancer.

As I was quilting my latest Disappearing Four Patch,

I decided that this quilt would go to her.

As I was quilting, I prayed.

As I prayed, I quilted in words like

bless, joy, peace, faith, love and grace.

The words are hidden in the outer border,

but they are there.

Hopefully it will bring her comfort and peace.

May all who are going through trying times

feel God's love and peace.

Finished Bucilla Kit

A few years ago I went on a Bucilla Stocking kit kick

and made a number of the felt stockings.

The Bucilla kits are so cute and relatively easy to make.

As long as one goes in the order in the directions,

they go together easily.

Then I started knitting lots of socks.

Last week I was rummaging through something

and found a kit I had started at least a year ago and never finished.

The knitting needles were put aside and work continued on this kit.

Today I have a finish!

 

This Bucilla kit is newer design

and will hang on a wall or door.

The directions call for putting poster board inside the various pieces,

but I used batting instead.

 It won't crease if it gets bent and will hold its shape nicely.

The pieces are very well numbered and the directions

go step by step by number throughout.

As long as the pieces are cut carefully,

things go together nicely.

This will be a nice addition to my Christmas decorations,

unless I decide to gift it to someone.

I think I'm going to begin another kit next.

Which one shall I do??

(I have several from which to choose!)

I'm linking to Design Wall Monday today.

Happy Quilting!

Another Disappearing Four Patch

Some of you know that I really like the

Disappearing Four Patch block.

I like it so much that I've made 6 or 7 quilts using this block.

Well, here is another one!

To me there are certain fabrics that just lend

themselves to this pattern.

Plus,

they are so easy to make!

I bought the fabrics for this quilt while I was

at Missouri Star Quilt Company back in May.

 

Floral prints are not my favorite,

but I really like this one.

The colors are so fresh and fun.

 

It's a bit difficult to see,

but the white fabric has different colored pin dots on it.

They work so well with the prints.

This quilt is pin basted and ready for quilting.

Hopefully by the end of next week it will be a finish.

I'm joining Whoop Whoop today.

Happy Quilting!

Finally Fixed

Back in January, I was so excited to have

"On Ringo Lake" finished and ready for quilting...

or at least I thought it was finished.

I had sewn the borders in place

and had laid it out on the floor to see how it looked.

It looked AWFUL!!

Somehow I had not measured things correctly,

so the quilt did not lie flat.

It was going to require a lot of time and effort

to pull off the borders and fix the problem.

I decided this week was the week to fix this quilt and be done with it.

I spent a few hours ripping the border stitches out the other night.

Then I remeasured everything and was an inch off in each direction.

Wow!!

Who knows what happened that day!

I added the needed border,

sewed everything back together and have a FLAT quilt!

I need to give it another good pressing

and this one will be ready to send off to be quilted.

 

This quilt was a very frustrating quilt for me to make,

even without the border issues.

I will be very happy when it is completely done.

 

The color combination is what drew me to making it.

I do love these colors together.

This will be taken to be quilted in the next few days

and will be a finished quilt soon.

YAY!!

Happy Quilting!

Ocean Dance Finish

Another finish has come out of my

Hidey Hole this weekend.

My husband is out of town

and with few appointments and commitments,

there has been a lot of time for sewing.

Can I just say....

I LOVE THIS LITTLE QUILT!

This is the second quilt I've made using this pattern and

I see more in my future.

Thank you, Judy, for suggesting I make it from Blue Batiks!

 

This one is a baby quilt,

but I am so tempted to get my blue batiks back out and

make a big quilt in the same colorway.

 

This is from the pattern, Canyon Dance,

and is a fun curve quilt to make.

There are templates one can order to make the cutting

of the pieces really easy.

The piecing is easy, too!

The blocks are made and then trimmed to size.

Then, there are no seams to match when sewing

the blocks together except the intersecting seams for the blocks.

 

I am calling this one "Ocean Dance".

It's ready and waiting for the baby to arrive!

I'm linking to Design Wall Monday today.

Happy Quilting!

When the Husband's away....

I get so much done in my Hidey Hole!

My husband went out of town yesterday

(for several days)

and for the first time in I don't know how long,

I had NOTHING on the calendar.

I didn't have to leave my house.

So, what does that mean?

Lots and lots of sewing and creating time.

First on my list was finishing this piece

found in my Box of Shame.

It was going to be part of a larger quilt,

but when I found it earlier in the summer,

I knew it was not going to be made into a larger quilt.

A wall hanging it became.

I am thrilled to have this finished.

This was appliqued years ago...

early in my quilting days.

I look at it now and think of what I would do differently...

like not put all of the dark fabrics on one side,

not put the same fabrics so close together,

not put some of the fabrics together at all,

not use that print for the bowl...etc.

It doesn't matter, though.
I was learning and was new to this quilting life.

It's finished,

out of the box

and gracing a wall in my kitchen.

 

And it makes me smile with it's

huge flower cheerfulness.

It will be called "Flower Power".

:)

 

Happy Quilting!