Wonky Stars

I decided that my liberated patchwork quilt that I revived this week needed a little something extra in addition to the black sashing--something as the cornerstones.  So I decided to make 3" (finished) wonky stars as the cornerstones.  These, again, are made with Gwen Marston's liberated quiltmaking techniques.

Since I want these to finish at 3", I am starting with 1 1/2" black squares to which to add the triangle star points.

I also used 1 1/2" squares, cut in half diagonally, for the star points, and sewed them onto one corner of the black square, making sure that the triangle would cover the corner of the black square when folded down.  I pressed that corner down, then added another triangle to the opposite side.

Of course, these all had to be trimmed down to 1 1/2" squares once the star point triangles were applied and pressed.  That's the fussy part of this whole process!

Then the block gets assembled in rows.

And that's where I ran out of steam for the evening!  I'll get these blocks sewn together tomorrow and start on the next round as well!

Revisiting a UFO

I've been thinking a lot lately about all the unfinished projects in my life, and specifically about all the unfinished quilts I have in boxes and bags all over the house.  I seem to have a talent for starting quilts, but not for finishing them!  I decided that I absolutely MUST finish some of these quilts before starting any more quilt projects.

So today I dug out these blocks that I made many years ago.  They started life as 6 1/2" nine-patch blocks made from scraps, and then (those many years ago) I read Gwen Marston's Liberated Quiltmaking, and I suddenly saw these simple 9-patches in a new light.  I cut the nine-patch blocks down at different angles to 4 1/2" blocks (4" finished) and then started to play with framing them in black with slivers of different fabrics added in.  And there they sat, for the aforesaid many years.  There were only 14 of them, so not enough to make a very big quilt.

But in my newfound zeal for finishing things, I decided that it was important to complete some of these old projects, even if they ended up being small.  (I kind of have a thing about making bed-size quilts, or at least quilts big enough to nap under.  I'm not exactly sure why I'm so fanatical about making large quilts, since I also think that quilts are a legitimate art form and can hang on a wall quite happily with other art.  But I digress...)

Anyway, I pulled these out today and decided to put them together in a quilt top.

I decided that I needed one more block, to make a total of 15 blocks that I would set 3x5 in the finished top.  So I pulled out this little 9-patch that had been pinned to my studio wall for some time, cut it down, and started adding a black frame around it.

Then I started the process of adding 3 1/2" sashing around the blocks.  Here is my progress so far.  I'm pretty pleased, even though the new black fabric I bought yesterday for this purpose is darker than the old black fabrics I used in the blocks so many years ago.  I have just resolved not to let that bother me!

I'm still not sure if I'm going to add another border around the whole thing when the sashing is complete, and if so, what color that border should be.  But I can decide that another day.  For now, it's enough to have pulled out an old UFO and made some progress!

Plodding Along

Sometimes in life you have a string of days in which it seems that not much is being accomplished--where you're just plodding along. This week has been one of those times for me.

I've worked on my string piecing a bit.

Knitted a bit.

And worked on my octagon English paper piecing project a bit.

But nothing is really getting finished, or even moving along in a major way.  Just plodding.  Do a little bit here, a little bit there.  I'm trying to remind myself that this is, indeed, how large projects get finished--a little here, a little there, and then one day you're done.

Octagons

I've been working on my English paper piecing (EPP) project the last couple of days.  My EPP project is octagons, not the more common hexagons, just cause I have to be different like that.

Work proceeds at a very slow pace on this project, since it is all done by hand.  Yet there's something very satisfying about it, as well.

I'm not sure what the finished size of this quilt will be.  For now, it's enough to simply stitch a bit by hand every now and then.

More Strings

I have to admit, my enthusiasm for fiber crafting is kind of low.  I'm not sure why this is, but I just am not working on any projects that are just grabbing me right now.  I continue to work on my orange sweater, and even finished the body of it the other day.  Now for the sleeves...

And I continue to work on my string-pieced blocks--a few a day.

Today I made eight blocks; yesterday I made nine.  I know, I know, real exciting, right?!

I've been reading this blog lately, and thinking about doing some refashioning of my own thrift store finds.  Trouble is, it's a lot harder to refashion thrift store clothes when you're a woman of size like myself.  The woman that writes that blog is seriously tiny, so it's relatively easy for her to find clothes in larger sizes that she can cut down to fit herself.  Not so me!  It definitely makes for more difficult thrift store and yard sale hunting when you have to start with clothes in larger sizes.  But I do love a good thrift store/yard sale find!  So maybe you'll be seeing some of my own refashioning projects on the blog....

A Lazy Day

I've spent an extraordinarily lazy day today, not doing much of anything!  I am re-reading Game of Thrones, so I spent some time reading and then I took a nap!  This evening my husband Chris and I went to the grocery store and out to eat, and then when we got home I did a little more string piecing.

Here you can see how I've pulled off the paper from the back before pressing and squaring up.

In this picture you can see the little bowtie blocks that I'm using as my leader/ender project (a la Bonnie Hunter) lurking under the string blocks.

These little blocks are so fun, and they allow me to use scraps that otherwise would probably be thrown away.  Right now I'm just having fun making blocks, and not really thinking about how I'm going to set them into a quilt.  I already have some sewn together, so I may just continue on in that same vein, setting them side by side with no sashings or cornerstones.  I'm hoping they will look rather like a basketweave when finished.

Stringing Along Again

This evening, after my walk, I decided to work on some more string-pieced blocks.

I made six blocks, again working on my Singer 338.  Not a lot, but more than I started with, right!?

The funny thing is, as I pull the string pieces out of my bin, the amount in the bin seems to be growing rather than shrinking!  How does fabric DO that?

I have a feeling I could make a hundred of these blocks and it would barely put a dent in my string stash!

A Little String Patchwork

I've been getting that quilting urge again lately, so this evening I headed down to my studio and worked on a project that has been hanging around for quite a while.  I began this string quilting project probably two or more years ago now, and it has been patiently waiting for me to return to it all this time!

This is the piece that I had completed so long ago.

And these are the blocks I worked on tonight.

I only worked for about an hour or so, and I got ten of these fun 6 1/2" blocks made.  These are an "anything goes" type of block--I just start pulling strings out of my big bin of string scraps and sewing them down.  I do use a background paper to paper piece these onto.  The only rule I try to follow is to alternate light and dark strips.

I was working tonight on my Singer 338, a machine that I use quite a bit and just love.  I love the color of it as well as that fact that it's an old-fashioned workhorse of a machine!

I love vintage machines, and have several that I have gotten at garage sales or on craigslist, and I particularly like machines that were made in the 1950's and 1960's.  They are just so cool, and they were built to last, unlike so many inexpensive machines today.  This particular machine was made between 1963-1965, so it is at least 50 years old and still sews perfectly.

Happy Cinco de Mayo, everyone!

A Finished Quilt

I put the binding on my quilt last night and finished hand-sewing it down this afternoon.  Yay!  A finished quilt!  I think I'm going to hang onto this one and keep it for napping under.

Here's the back.

And a close-up of the quilting pattern I used.

I also made a couple of cards the other night.

These were made with Distress Inks and a stamp from Unity Stamp Co.  I only had enough gold ribbon for one of the cards, so the other one got embellished with a white ribbon, which I don't think works quite as well.  Oh, well!  Sometimes you have to make do with what ya got!

A Lazy Sunday

I didn't get much done today fiber-wise, but I did have a nice. lazy Sunday.  Chris and I went out for lunch, and then I took a nice long nap.

Here's a picture of two of my kitties, Max and Dimbo, sleeping on my in-process quilt.  Here you can see the back of the quilt.

I worked a little bit on my Blossom Towel this evening.

I'm making slow but sure progress on this project.

Have a wonderful Sunday evening, everyone!

A Productive Saturday

Today I worked a little bit more on my quilt.  I find I can't quilt too long or the quality of my quilting suffers and I get too tight and tensed up in my shoulders.  I have to remind myself periodically to relax!

I got the urge to spread the quilt out and view it as a whole; I've been feeling like the quilt top has really been shifting and spreading out of true, and I wanted to see if it really looked that way when viewed as a whole rather than as one little area at a time.  I don't think it looks too bad!  In any case, it is a scrap quilt, not meant as a showpiece, so I am not going to be too critical.

I just have one more corner to finish quilting; if you look closely at the pictures above you can see the safety pins in the upper corner.

I'm really liking the texture of the quilting over the entire surface of the top.

I also worked today on the Blossom Towel.  I'm on the last color of backstitching--the leaves and the curly tendrils.  This addition has really changed the look of the design.  I'm really happy with this one!

Happy Saturday, everyone!

Back to Quilting

I've been hearing the siren call of quilting again lately, and, as it happens, there is an unfinished quilt under my machine needle.  (Well, there are many unfinished quilts in my life, but this one is actually in the process of being quilted.)

This is a true scrap quilt, and contains many pieces from clothing I made long ago.  Clothing that is now but a distant memory...  And I hesitate to tell you how many years this quilt has been in the making.  Suffice it to say that I started on these 9-patch blocks when my son was just a baby (or was it even before that--hard to remember at this remove) and he is now a grown young man of 20.  So there you have it, my shameful secret of how long it really takes me to finish a quilt is out!

Anyhoo, I started quilting on this again tonight, on my Bernina home sewing machine.  I would love to have a longarm quilting machine, but for now I have to make do with my home machine.  I am far from being the greatest quilter ever, but I persevere, and I am getting better.  And after all, as quilters say, "Finished is better than perfect!"

I have about one quarter of the quilt's surface left to quilt--do-able in two or three quilting sessions, I think.  That is, if I don't get distracted by something shiny--focus, Sarah, focus!

I also worked on my painting last night and the night before, adding a retro woman image (a digi stamp--I didn't draw it myself!), and some stencilled flowers.  I think I'm going to go back in with some darks and lights on the flowers and punch them up a bit.  

I'm liking the direction this is headed now, but it's still a work in progress.