Lone Star Strip Sets

First 3 Strip Sets

Since I flew through the crayon quilt and didn't show very much of my process, I thought I'd try to keep you better up to date with my Lone Star Quilt. Today I sorted all of the fabric strips into strip sets which will later be cut apart and re-sewn to create trapezoids. After sorting, I carefully started sewing. If I've read it once I've read it 100 times that strip patterns require accuracy so I managed to sew together three strip sets today of the eight that I will need. I ironed the first set seams up, second set down, and the third set was up again. Hopefully this will help my seams to lock together in future steps.  

Ready to Sew Strip Sets

There did seem to be a problem with the number of strips required. The pattern I'm checking for you said 16 of the brown and teal swirl but I've double and triple checked them since stacking the strip sets and it looks like it should have said 8 strips of that fabric, but that's okay, it will just mean a bit of extra fun when I go to play with for the borders.

 

What did you do today? Anything interesting? I know some of you are holding off starting anything new this close to the end of the year and I understand where you're coming from. But gee whiz don't you have fabric waiting? :-D  

Sew Happy!

New Project: Lone Star Quilt

Have you ever started finishing a project thinking; I will work on my other quilts in progress, only to finish and discover you've been inspired to start something new?  Well, I sure have.

This time it was the leftover strips from what the class didn't pick at the Teach In.  It has me bean wound up to start two projects.  The first one I've finished cutting and am ready to start sewing whereas the other is still tickling in the back of my head so well talk about the former now and the later another time.

A Lone Star Quilt!  I think as my skills as a quilter grow I have to challenge myself to keep my own interest.  I sure have done it this time.  I think it was within my first year of quilting I alighted on a blue Lone Star quilt kit, it was even precut little pieces can you imagine the horror?  So I did a little research and filed it away and now the time has come.

Fabric For Lone Star Quilt

My Lone Star Quilt is a strip pattern I found - free online (will share the link after I find out if it works).  It uses 8 fabrics to make a 69" star.  My fabric starts with a deep purple and fuschia batik for the center, and then dances out into shades of blue and teal.  What do you think?  I've cut all the fabrics and hopefully I'll be able to start sewing soon.

Christmas Cakes & A Chihuly Kiss

We have a great many birthdays around my house this time of year.  I was the cake maker for two of them. Below my sister shows off with her butterfly cake that had whipped topping for frosting and Funfetti cake mix inside.

My next cake is a black forest cake for my husband.  It is my once a year cake.  Once a year I make it for him.  He never asks me to so it's a good thing I know how much he likes it.  Normally it has a lot more cherries on the top, I must have gone overboard on the lower layers.  Already DD is asking for one for her birthday, I think I can arrange that.

Christmas was good to us.  You can always tell how good Christmas is in a house with a little girl because it looks like the Pink Barbie Isle exploded all over your house.  Silly me, I forgot that I needed to clear out some toys in order to make room for new ones.  So guess what?  When DD's daddy asked her to pick up the living room she brought everything into the sewing room!  LOL.
I love a good surprise at Christmas time.  As a mom it's nice to know that people are thinking of you without having to say a word.  So perhaps the most surprising of all of my gifts was this one from my sister.  It is called a Chihuly Kiss, which my sister picked out for me when she visited our new Dale Chihuly Museum.  Isn't it lovely?  The shape, form, and movement are quite inspiring don't you think?  I haven't found a home for this yet but you can be sure it will be somewhere good.

The Giant OH NO!

Crayon Quilt Revised Finished

Yesterday I received a call from my daughter's teacher.  It started with "The Quilt is lovely,
 but there was a slight edge to her voice and I should have guessed something was wrong.

I missed a child!  How does that even happen?  I was so careful!  I had all the strips folded together in a bag I tied off and I laid everything out on the sewing table in the way it looked best and then sewed it together.  I've checked through the bag of strips that no one picked and everything, but no sign of the missing strip.  

Hand Stitched Spelling Mini Quilt Detail

So I spent the entire rest of the day creating this.  It is a purple piece of paper, the color was selected by the student, and this week's spelling words hand stitched on letter by letter into a mini quilt, complete with a 10/10 and the word Excellent on the paper.  I had the mini quilt nearly done when my daughter came off the bus with my vagrant quilt, and I appliqued the little mini quilt on.  Then I folded it up and off it went back to school today.

I feel so bad.  I tried to be so careful.  We all make mistakes but I never wanted to miss someone.  I was so concerned about making sure everyone's spellings were correct...  In retrospect I should have requested a typed class list "just to be sure" but as the teacher wrote the names on the papers they were all easy to read and I didn't see the need.  I sure hope he likes his addition to the quilt.

Lounge Pants of Two Lengths

My DH dreams of the day I will make silk lounge pants for him.  Trust me this is another year he can keep dreaming.  Instead I found the most beautiful flannel at my LQS, I passed it by the first two visits.  Really I did. Even though I knew better and found myself thinking about it after the first visit.  Well by the third visit the bolt was running low and my LQS does this great little deal that if you buy everything on the bolt you save 20%.  That meant I bought the 2 yards I needed for the pants and got the last 1/2 yard free.  With the way I cut it I was able to make both pants and shorts and had very little scrap leftover.  This is my final Handmade Christmas present this year.  I think.

After the first pair of flannel shorts I made, I now try to always use french seams.  It lets me cheat by keeping my 1/4" foot on and I think it creates a nice finish.  Now after the pair I made something kept tickling in the back of my mind about them - I now make little fabric tags in all of my clothing so that the wearer can know which side is the back. ;-)