Star Value-My Version

Star Value--free tutorial!

So, I have made this quilt pattern a couple of times with my do.Good Stitches groups. I just love it so much! I had to make one of my own. So here it is finally! 

I used black instead of gray for the diamonds. I had a stack of 4-4.5 inch black squares that needed used up. I discovered that they were the perfect size to  make 4 HST units that measured 2.5 inches unfinished. You do that by sewing around the outside edges of your light and dark, and cutting from corner to corner in an X and you get 4 hst units that barely need squaring up.

I made the 16" block size using 2.5 inch squares and units. I made 24 blocks in a 4 by 6 layout and after laying it out in the top photo, decided to make it a bit wider by adding a half block down the length of it. So it is 4.5 blocks wide and 6 blocks long. As much as I wanted to call it good and be done with it, I'm glad I persisted and made it a bit bigger.

As you can see, I used a variety of bright colored scraps and lights. I did end up purchasing a few light colored fat quarters for more variety, but otherwise everything else was from the stash.

Quilting it--I used a cream thread for most of it, filling in the background with random swirls, flowers, curls, leaves, and loops. The 8-pointed stars all got the same geometric design. The diamonds--each row got a different design. 

I changed to black thread for the black diamonds, doing a different design in each row of those as well. We'll be looking at this quilt for a looong time, so I gotta keep it interesting. 

I made a scrappy binding for it, using up leftover binding pieces.

I enjoyed making this bright and cheery quilt, it helped me get through a tough time. "Do what makes you happy" the saying goes, so that for me was making this quilt.

The back! A friend was giving away a ton of old fabric, and I grabbed this blue fuzzy stuff. Yards of it!  How do I explain it, because I don't know what it is called, but it is knit on one side and a bit fuzzy on the other. The 80's version of minky I would say...

Anyways, it makes for a warm and cozy quilt that keeps drafts away! I snuggle under it in my recliner every night and usually doze off before bed. It works! :)

And that is my big quilt finish for this year. Don't think I will get another done in the next month as Christmas is around the corner and customer quilts are waiting, and I have a few little projects to make too. But, I do have a few tops in waiting when the time ever comes.

Barb's flannel quilt

Barb made this lovely flannel quilt.

I quilted and all-over feather design called "Feathers on the halfshell". Tracy from Whirls and Swirls made a video on how to quilt it here.

It's a very fun design to do once you get the hang of it. You can get yourself into a tight area easily if you're not careful.  I've been using it on a lot of quilts lately, adding leaves to it and extra curls. 

The back. I used a light brown thread. 

Thanks Barb!

Lois's gray rail fence

Lois made this black and gray rail fence quilt with a fancy border.

I felt the need to put something fancy in the border, so I C2C's the squares and added scallops along the outside. A brave adventure with the light thread on the black fabric.

Going around the corner.

As for the blocks, I did a feathered paisley design.

The paisley design went well with her prints.

I used a gray thread throughout.

Thanks Lois! Enjoy your quilt!

Elk quilt and Pop blocks

August was my month to pick a pattern for my do.Good Stitches Nurture group. I chose this simple star block called Pop. I still need to put the blocks together, but I am still a few blocks short. I am about to give up waiting for them to arrive at all. If anyone out there wants to make a couple more blocks I would LOVE it! After I get the top together, quilted and bound, it will get sent to a charity group called Covered in Love who gives them to families who have lost a loved one in the hospital in east Texas.

Lois made this neat Elk quilt by adding some fun borders to a large elk print panel.

I quilted some leaves in the narrow dark green border and added some straightline meandering in the brown triangles and large pebbles in the woodsy triangles.

For the center, I kept it super simple with swirls.

I liked doing this one and keeping it 'woodsy' with the quilting.

A peek at the back.

Thanks Lois!

Wedding gift- Precut Primer Quilt

Here we have another quilt made by my Mom, sister, and I for our cousin's wedding gift. This is the quilt that is on the cover of the Precut Primer book. It turned out so great!

Mom selected the fabric from her stash and started cutting. Then she mailed us several blocks for us to sew together. The blocks went together so fast! Then, Mom and I got together one weekend to lay it all out and sew it together.

In the center of the quilt where all the arrows come together, I quilted in the couple's initials. C + M. (it's upside down in this picture and hard to see.)

But otherwise I quilted a lot of paisleys and feathers, swirls, and some other fun random things in there.

I used a light gray thread on it to match the blueish gray background.

Loved making this pattern! Congrats Chad and Michele!

Alyce's Arrow Baby Quilt

Alyce made this adorable baby quilt with a woodsy/arrow theme.

It's super soft and cozy with a double layer of batting.

I quilted some arrows, clouds, and triangles in it.

Thanks Alyce!

Mitzi's ombre quilt

Mitzi made this really cool quilt with an ombre design. 

I quilted swirls all over it to contrast with the straight lines in the design.

I had a hard time deciding on a thread color that would work for both the light and dark areas. I ended up using a variegated thread in blues. Blues that ranged from navy, royal blue and white.

This way there was not too much dark thread in the light areas, or too much light thread in the dark areas. The quilting stands out in some areas and blends in in others.

That way it was all evened out!

Thanks Mitzi!

Amanda Jean's Workshop

At the end of June, Amanda Jean Nyberg came to my Mom's (that's her behind the quilt) quilt guild-Muscatine Melon Patchers- for a trunk show and workshop. I didn't want to miss it! I've been following her blog- Crazy Mom Quilts for a long time and was actually one of the first blogs I followed. This was about the only picture I got of the weekend. 

For the workshop we were to choose a project from her latest book 'No Scrap Left Behind'. I needed a new project like a hole in the head, (so many other projects need finished!) but I dived in anyways. I ended up choosing the 'June' pattern using up my blue and green scraps, and adding a few orange and yellow bits here and there to make it pop. 'Less is more' Amanda said. Her pattern uses strips, but I ended up doing more piecing to make my blocks since a lot of my scraps were smaller.  And I actually got the top finished a few weeks ago!! I took Amanda's suggestion to use black and white prints for the cornerstone blocks. I would have never thought of that, but I really like it! I had some black and whites on hand anyways that I never use, so it was a perfect fit. It's waiting to get quilted for now.  This picture was before I sewed the blocks all together. I will have to come up with some fun ideas for those big white blocks.

Anyways, it was so fun to meet Amanda in person, she was so nice! She took the time to talk with each person at the workshop about their project. And then we took her shopping at the LQS. She bought red fabric with white polka dots :) It was a great time!  And, I think I have more blue and green scraps now then when I started this quilt! Funny how that happens. Ladies were to bring scraps to share, and I brought home more than I brought.  They were prettier than mine! lol. And I was one of the last ones to leave the workshop and that scrap table was still full. What can I say, I'm a scrap quilter with no plans to stop soon :)