Then & Now - The String Star Quilt is Finished!

As I was quilting the golden oldie UFO string stars and thinking about the differences between my quilting tastes and skill set back when I pieced the string stars and now, the name for the quilt was born: Then & Now. The finished quilt measures approximately 74 by 90-inches and was made using templates in Gwen Marston's book Liberated String Quilts.

I set things up a bit too close to one of the skylights in the studio, so the natural lighting is a little uneven, but you get the idea.



Back Then, I struggled when putting together the star blocks–none of them were flat–and had problems matching the points/seams when sewing the blocks together.  Now,  I have been quilting twice as long as then.  I would have used a different technique to assemble the blocks–thank you Jan Krentz–with a better result: flat stars and matched seams. I would have chosen different proportions for the borders and probably included an inner border to float the star blocks.

Then, I chose the stencils I used for the quilting design, but was afraid that my quilting wasn't up to the task.  Now, it's easier for me to just go for it, even if my quilting still really isn't up to the task.  I embraced the attitude that every quilt is practice for those that follow ... and I practiced a few things while I finished this quilt. I used the stencils for the border and the large square spaces, but winged it for the rest.



Celebrating this finish on these lists:

Can I get a Whoop whoop? on Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Crazy Mom Quilt's  Finish it Up Friday
Fabric Frenzy Friday on Fort Worth Fabrics
Lizzie Lenard's Free Motion Mavericks
QuiltShopGals' Creative Goodness
Richard and Tanya's Link a Finish Friday
Mrs Sew & Sow's Scraptastic Tuesday for April

Practice, Practice ...

The saying goes that practice makes perfect. I'm not sure that's exactly what's happening with the quilting of the golden oldie UFO string stars quilt.

Once committed to a couple of ideas, I kept going ... like with all that pebbling.  Now, I find myself still quilting practicing. I'm adding those parallel lines around the outside edge now. All that will be left is adding something in the red border in a different color thread (because I couldn't cover it in more of the teal/turquoise variegated thread.)

I'm not sure my pebbles have improved, but I'm a lot more comfortable using rulers now.

Updating to add a link to Angie's WIPS Be Gone list–this golden oldie UFO definitely qualifies–and to Lizzie's Free Motion Mavericks. 

Alien Feathers and Plans for a Friday Night Sew-In

I've marked the golden oldie string star quilt and started quilting it last night.  These marked feathers felt like alien feathers to me, they are so different from my usual–the unmarked, perfectly imperfect feather-like shapes. I have begun to wonder if anyone will see me in this quilt when I'm done.

I'm a roll with this, so my plan for tonight's Friday Night Sew-In, is to keep going ... it is also my current golden oldie UFO project, so I am joining Angie's WIPS Be Gone.  I'm joining the linky party there today, as well as Free Motion Mavericks.

Next up will the be the bright logs raffle quilt.  The quilting design will definitely not be marked.  I have pieced the back ... my cat Grace Hopper helped me measure the top for that effort.

Whenever fabric or a quilt top is spread on my worktable, Grace will be there to help–she's a fiber-loving girl.  If the fabric or top is large enough to drop to the floor of my studio, her big brother, Johnny Be Good, will roll up in whatever touches the floor, making it difficult to move or adjust.  If I am quilting late into the night, both of them will join me on the sewing machine table and curl up on a piece of whatever I'm trying to quilt.  Both of them will no-doubt be part of my Friday Night Sew-in tonight ...

I'm sharing the photo of this quilt top to ask for your input on what color thread(s) you would use on this?  Help!

Alium, Abstracted

The design for my Alium was created in an Abstracting from Nature workshop with Jane Sassaman probably a decade ago–yes some of my UFOs are SO old that I have begun to think of them as Golden Oldie UFOs. In addition to the great exercises that led to creating our own original designs, we learned a few appliqué techniques ... I tried them, but didn't feel they were "me" and it's probably why the finished quilt top remained unfinished for so long. While I was quilting it, I remembered how much I enjoyed the sketching exercises–note to self: must do more of that.

Before binding the quilt, I washed it as a sanity check to make sure the intense quilting in the background and border wouldn't distort the shape of the quilt.  My failure at executing the appliqué approach used on the flower and the bud was evident by the many frayed edges exposed ... and so I went back and needle-turned all those edges by hand.

Here are a close-up of the appliqué techniques and free-motion quilting.

It's approximately 21 by 26-inches.  The small size made it the perfect project to work on while I was thinking about what to do with a couple other projects. Now that it's finished, I have no excuses to get busy on some other (planned) projects ;-)

There are so many places to celebrate finishes in blog land.  I'm joining these parties with his post:

Angie's WIPs Be Gone
Richard and Tanya's Link a Finish Friday
Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? on Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Nina-Marie's Design Wall Friday
Fabric Frenzy Friday
QuiltShopGal's Creative Goodness Linky Party

In the Meantime ...

I am still thinking about the details of how to quilt the bright boomers and log cabins.

I have a pretty good idea how I will approach it, but am mulling over some of the details.

And I need to decide on thread color(s).










I am also still playing around with ideas about what to do with those big scrappy Oak Leaf blocks–my goal for March.

I have decided to make a few more of the large scrappy Oak Leaf blocks and which colors I need to add.

In the meantime, I pulled out a little finished quilt top–made in a workshop long ago and far away–and I'm quilting it. Here it is, in progress, under the needle, almost quilted.







Working on this reminded me of what I didn't like about my piece–the raw edged appliqué leaves stitched with an open zig zag–and what I loved about the workshop–the sketching exercises that led to my original design.  And maybe those reminders are a good reason to work on finishing more UFOs.

I'm joining the lists for WIP Wednesday on Freshly Pieced and Esther's WOW (WIPS on Wednesday).

Rockin' the Golden Oldies for a Lovely Finish

While other quilters are finishing up their January mystery quilts from yesterday, I have pulled out one of my golden oldie UFOs today–a New Year's Day mystery from quite a few years ago made from woven plaid flannels.

I have pulled out the quilt top and the pieced back with a plan to quilt it this month–my January goal for a Lovely Finish.

I had an idea of how I would quilt it (unmarked, free motion quilting designs), but after I pulled it out and actually looked at it for the first time in a long time, I see the proportions are different than I remembered them and I'm thinking my original plan ... I'm sure I'll have made a decision by the time I get it basted.

This is just a piece of it, photographed on top of my work table under the skylight while I have some good light in the studio. The quilt top is approximately 84 inches square.