Progress on Bull's Eye

My Bull's Eye buddy came over for a couple hours last night. We finished about 15 more blocks, which means 30 more units for each of us. We are a little over halfway with completed units and have a few backgrounds and circles cut out as well.

I made a stacking error when I put things away a couple months ago. I thought I had over 180 units (we need 252 each). When my friend arrived, we remembered that she left some of her blocks here (not a good realization). She only brought 50-some with her. After we straightened things out, we both had 91. But after last night's time, we have 131 each.

My design wall is layered with several quilt tops and pieces...the bottom-most layer is my spool quilt, then my Seeds of Kindness, and then this, made by my Susanna.


Off to another fun-filled day.

~Joan

Another Quilt Top Bites The Dust

Emily pin-basted this quilt for me last week. Much to my surprise, I machine-quilted it in about 3 nights of spare time. I did a simple diagonal line of stitching in both directions. The stitching runs through the center of the cream stars. This is such a busy quilt that I thought it best to go simple on the quilting. If you click on the picture, it should enlarge. Even in the enlargement, you can barely see the stitching lines.

I used up scraps of different leftover bindings to bind it--didn't have to cut and press one inch of new binding. Glad those are out of my scrap drawer and onto one of my quilts. This is a beautiful and very easy quilt to piece...excellent for a beginner.

Here are some pictures of the quilt top in progress if you're interested...

~Joan

Finished White Star Quilt Top ~ All Thimbleberries

Today was the first day of "triples" at Harris Teeter. My shopping sidekick, Susanna, got up at the crack, I say the crack of dawn, to accompany me. It was 18 degrees when we passed the bank thermometer. Knowing that made us colder. But we got some hot deals, so we felt better.

During the rest of the day, I was able to finish up this quilt top while riding herd on my students. I have heard this pattern called a lot of names, but the most popular is White Stars. In my previous posts, I called it Stardust Quilt (in case you want to look back). It is all scraps of Thimbleberries fabrics, with the same cream for all the stars. It measures about 70" x 76". I would love to hand quilt it, but the progress on those is so painstakingly s-l-o-w. It will be folded and stored for the immediate future. At least the piecing is finished.

I will do more hand sewing and quilting while waiting to grade or assist with school. I'm just home so little (or so it seems...or would that be sew it seams).

Susanna is getting her tonsils (and possibly adenoids) out in a few weeks, so there are pre- and post-op visits for that as well as everyday life.

My DH and I are going out for supper tonight. Emily put on a pot of beef veggie stew earlier today that smells (and tastes--oops) terrific. Great comfort food for this cold weather we are having.

Hope you are getting a few stitches in today.

~Joan

New Project, but Now on Hold

Here is the progress so far on the Stardust quilt top. It is the same size as my queen-sized mattress top. I want to add two more rows. That seems innocent enough, but that means LOTS more 1-1/2" squares to sew on the rectangles for the sashing. I have to set it aside for a while. Daily life is taking way too long around here.

You can see that anything--florals, stripes, tone-on-tones, plaids--goes in this pattern.

Good night,

~Joan

Stardust In My Eyes...and on My Design Wall

This is my latest scrap buster. I had made quite a few of the pieced units heretofore, and was eager to put a few rows together. This is how much I assembled last night...

The colored squares are 4" finished. The cream squares in the star centers are 2" finished. This is using up bits and pieces of some-nearly-and-some-now-gone-from-my-stash fabrics. Such a simple pattern, but so beautiful. I've made and sold some tops made from this pattern. I don't know if this one will end up living here or not.

Here is my accomplishment as of a few minutes ago. I think I'll make it twice this big, so I'm halfway there. It measures 34-1/2" by 71" now. If I double this, it will be 69" x 71". Hmmm...That's nearly square, and that won't work. Have to give that some more thought later.

Here is a close up of the top so far. I am using my favorite Thimbleberries cream for all the stars. It has a toile-like appearance. It keeps the quilt from being too scrappy.

Anything goes in this scrappy quilt! The pattern is called Stardust. I have many more pieces already cut for it and have determined about how many more I need. It's time to start couting to see how many more need to be cut. I never tire of scrap quilts.

Good night,

~Joan