Quilt top finish and a new start

I finished my goal of making the star quilt top mentioned in my two previous posts.  It turned out to be so beautiful.  The different stars just seem to twinkle.  I call the quilt "Choices."

I didn't have enough yardage for the setting triangles.  I just had pieces of a early Judie Rothermel fabric.     

The selvage isn't cut in half in the picture, it was poorly stamped.

I had used this piece previously for backing and so I just had large pieces.  The pattern said to cut a large square of fabric and then cut it diagonally for the side triangles.  I was afraid I wouldn't have enough large pieces to do that.  You probably all do this but I thought I'd explain what I did.

I cut a square the correct size out of paper.

Then I folded it in half.

And folded it in half again so it was the same size as it would have been if I'd cut it out of fabric.

I used this triangle as a template to cut out my side triangles making sure that the long side was on the straight of the grain of the fabric, (not bias).

I love the way this quilt turned out.

Look what was delivered today.  It is a Betsy Ross Panel by J Wicker Frisch from Riley Blake

Not sure what I'm going to make it into but she sure is a cutie.  She is quite large, the actual sewing part of the panel is 42" high.

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 I already have a quilt on the frames so I started another quilt.  It is the one called Star Attraction.  

October 2006 American Patchwork & Quilting

I wanted to cut our a number of reds so I decided to use Sue's method  FROM SMALL THINGS on  youtube.com .  She rinses her fabric in hot water and keeps changing the water till it rinses out clear.

I only showed two of the reds but all three released dye into the water.

I've cut out all the colored pieces for the 72 stars and now I'm working on the 534 diamonds I need from the backing fabric.  (Who's idea was this anyway?)

I'm calling this quilt "Road Trip" because I want it to look like the quilt you sit on to watch fireworks, or wrap around you at football games, or throw in the car.  I want it to be used.

Have you noticed lately that not only are we paying more for fabric but it isn't as wide as it was 6 months ago.  

This is measured from the outside edge of the selvage to the fold.   41 1/2"  I mention this because if you are buying background fabric for an older pattern, you may want to buy extra.

I'm notably jealous of all the snow that is falling in the east.  I know it hasn't been easy for everyone but it's still a blessing.  

I'll close with my grandson's recent artwork on my kitchen wall.

I think that's a reindeer upper left, can you see the antlers?  The reindeer appears to be pushing the sleigh rather that pulling it.  Don't you love it?  

Jingle Bells,

Robin

(I'm not sure what the green thing is - it might be Romeo his turtle.

A long post about my January stitching

I have been rather quiet on my blog this month but I've been busy and so I'll show you what I have been working on. 

 

I added a couple of borders on the Gold Bird quilt.  I think it needs another darker border around the outside and then I want to circle it with Wagon Wheel blocks.  I need to figure out how big the WW blocks are so I know how wide of a border to sew on and make it the right dimension.

This is the quilt that I got my inspiration for the Gold Bird quilt.  It is from an Eagle Folk Art Quilt from Berskhire County Pennsylvania 1840.

The block I took it from is pictured (sideways) in the lower left corner.

I put my big Thimbleberries quilt on the frames and have two of the eleven rows quilted already.  I'm using "Big Stitch" with DMC 8 neutrals.  I had three partially used spools of different numbers that I'm trying to use up.  They are so light against these saturated blocks that you can't tell I've changed shades.  I'll use Ecru after I use them up.

I appliqued 2 more birds on my red and white house quilt.  I have hung it in my living room for two years and each time I looked at it I thought, "Why did I only put five birds on there.  I should hae appliqued two more to represent my 7 children."  And so I did!

I finished quilting this quilt.  I wanted to show the whole quilt but I realized I didn't get permission to use this quote so I thought it would be better if I didn't show the whole quilt.

Here it is before I put the letters on it.  It's not a very vibrant or pretty quilt but with the lettering and the stitching it catches the light and is quite handsome now.

I finished the collar for the Boro embellished denim jacket.  It has floundered a little because the collar was so hard to embroider.  I picked out two or three Xs as much as I stitched (no exaggeration) and so it was a slow slog and I lost my momentum.  This is the yoke.  I love how the worn cuff of the jeans looks framing the little rabbit staring at the moon.  I haven't finished all the embellishment on the right.  And then on to the back and cuffs.

I have mostly been busy working on the 127 stars that go into my Madder quilt.  I have 97 done (whew!).

Which only leaves 30 more to do.  These stacks each have cut pieces for 2 stars.  I need to cut some more backgrounds and continue along.

Here is a picture of what I am making.  I don't really want a white quilt so I went through my whole stash to see what else I could do.  The example below is the only fabric I could find that is even a possibility.  The neutral on the right would be the same Kona Snow as the backgrounds of the stars.  I just used this piece to give me a feel for what it would look like.  The bird of paradise piece is an old Kaye England fabric.

Gotta come up with something.  I wondered about doing a string blocks for the side triangles.  Or I could also do applique but that sounds like more time than I really want to invest in this quilt.

 

That's all my stitching for the month.  I've been watching this glorious Amaryllis grow.  It was such a beauty.  There is only one blossom left.  There is new growth but I think it will turn out to be leaves.

I gathered all the empty spools I used in 2025 and took a picture.  I like to save the spools each year and compare them to previous years before I throw them away. 

And a little whimsy to close.  I reached into the burlap sack that has our potato harvest from last fall and pulled out Mickey Mouse.  Too Funny!!!!

Robin

Oh!  I neglected to include the little Christmas mini quilt I made after Christmas.  I started quilting it but I don't like the look of stitching with the regular quilting thread that I have done.  So, I'm going to pull it out and use some pearl cotton instead.  Then I'll put on a pink border on it and have a gift already made for next Christmas.