I’ll back up and share a little process for my first 2012 project.  The idea was conceived because I had three yards of fabric I didn’t think would ever find their way into on of my quilts.  So I sacrificed a couple of coordinating fabrics and put my quasi-bargello idea together.  I have a book on this technique but had never tried it.  Not knowing how big I would make it, I just decided to keep everything square and diagonal.  The trial used two strips of each color (10 total) and I was shocked to discover I really liked the look of these fabrics when they were chopped up in little pieces.  So I made more strips.  It was easy to stagger the seam allowances in opposite directions and the pressing plan was a dream–until I started to put my two sections together.  I had already pressed both in the direction they tended to fall but that meant the seams allowances overlapped.  A re-press of the bottom section was fairly easy–see pins which indicate seam direction change.

I would have liked a wider floral border but did not have enough fabric for that.  For the backing I used another piece from my stash and I spliced the batting–all satisfying my desire to whittle down the stash this year.  To machine quilt it, I sewed straight lines through the purple diagonals using purple thread.  Going the other direction however, there was no diagonal that didn’t have white squares and I did not want my purple quilting to show that glaringly.  I had to think a while to come up with a finishing plan but when it finally came to me, I loved it.  I quilted in the ditch in every other row on opposite sides of the center diagonal.  Here it is all washed and ready for my sister and her husband–both huge fans of the purple/green combo.  Finished size is 53″ square.

Third, the scrap stars beach blanket is done.  It is not a masterpiece and barely seems a quilt but it fits the technical definition.  Because it was all just an experiment (fusing scrap diamonds on some canvas-like fabric), I was free to try different things without them needing to be anywhere close to perfection.  The top layer was already quite heavy and I was going to back it with the same fabric so instead of batting, I used a piece of decorator fabric I had no other use for and machine quilted in the ditch around the blocks.  Next I wanted to try attaching the binding totally by machine.  I started basting it that way but midway around, decided finishing by hand would look better.  This proved rather tricky with the heavy fabrics and no batting so I eventually went back to the machine experiment.  The binding is done using two different methods–something I would NEVER do on a real quilt.  Talk about an unchained feeling!  Then, I needed to add some “quilting” in the middle of the blocks to hold things together.  Since I am not a free motion quilter yet, I experimented with some different programmed machine stitches and finally came up with one I liked.  The heavy layers did not want to feed through my machine but at this point, I was loving the wonkiness of this project.  I absolutely love my imperfect pink star “quilting.”  I may eventually try one more quilting technique which I have sketched in washable graphite but for now I’m calling this a finish.

Finally, the Wandering Stars quilt I was working on when I first started this blog over a year ago.  I had machine quilted the blocks and was adding some hand quilting that was more ripping out than adding.  Nothing was pleasing me so I put it away.  Now although it’s not quite completed, I finished the border, was able to add the binding and have a workable plan for the interior.

That satisfied my resolution enough that in good conscience I could play with something new.  And here is the beginning!  Of course, more on this later.

When my wrist will let me, I’m also quilting some on Tumbling Stars.  I will certainly be glad to see the halfway mark on it!  You can see my electronic cat Snowflake purring her approval from the sidelines.

After washing and pressing all the squares, I started trimming them into neat squares.  So glad I did.  Look at what I started with and the pile of trimmings after I was done!

Next, sewing the new sashing (right photo).  IMHO it’s a definite improvement!

The first order of business was to find a more appropriate sashing fabric.  I had hoped I could use something from my stash but of course that was not the case.  My quilty friend/consultant Carol and I settled on the white with pink/green rosebuds.  The white background was a nice mate for the white dogwood flowers.  This was an audition of a new purchase so now I had to buy more.  I actually wanted to use it as backing too but there was not enough left on the bolt.  I considered yellow cornerstones but nixed that idea.

Next, the least fun part of quilting–seam ripping.  This is proving to be a monumental job which is going to require several evenings!

On a cheerier note, Pat’s quilt is completed.  I used the precut strips included in my giveaway win for the binding.  Unfortunately the cuts were not on the straight of grain so the rather dominant pattern shifted as it went around the quilt.  Another binding lesson learned.  But I had used the strip fabric as cornerstones and wanted the balance of having them in another element.  Actually because most of the fabrics are so busy, I think everything turned out OK in the end.

Only having done one applique border, I am still quite a novice at this technique.  I had never used a vinyl overlay before for positioning pieces.  And I had hopefully not developed an unalterable habit of holding my needle sideways as I do in hand piecing.  Becky showed us how she holds her needle with the very tip of her index finger to get total control of inserting the needle straight down beside the applique piece.  Below left my guild mate Kathy demonstrates.  On the right are front and back photos of my leaf.  I was amazed at my own tiny stitches just from holding my needle differently.

Here is the block (Becky’s) we were working on (a 12″ version of Piece O’ Cake’s original design–Passion Flowers – Block #4) and on the right, how much–or little–I got done (shown with vinyl overlay.)  All students were commenting that our spouses would not believe we spent 6 hours doing THIS.

Check out Becky’s Passion Flowers quilt which we all got to see in person.  I was noting the small stitches when someone behind me asked “What stitches?”  Truly they are practically invisible!  Becky also does her own machine quilting and I just had to share a few close-ups of her custom work.

Lastly, another guild buddy Sandy using her extra eyes for needle threading.  Don’t you love her red pieced border?  She got inspired after seeing the quilt at our guild meeting the day before the class!