Christmas Stars - Considerations and Decisions

60" square

There is nothing like a public commitment, along with a challenge, to get me to buckle down and focus.
The Christmas Lone Star blocks I made in 2002 (as described in the previous post) have been rescued from the UFO tub and come together in a very festive Christmas quilt... (technically still a top which at this late date will be the case until Christmas 2016)
Still, I am so pleased to have made progress on this! It was a major goal of mine this year to deal with my UFO's.
After determining the math and cutting the squares and triangles to finish each block, I got quite adept at the somewhat tricky process. As I worked at my machine I thought about how I might arrange them. I spent evenings browsing books from my collection for ideas and looking on-line using Google Image and Instagram with 'lone star quilts' as key words.
Texas being the 'Lone Star State' I started with these books:

Then these:

and this one, To Honor and Comfort, which inspired my Southwest Star

After studying these books and internet photos I knew what I wanted to do.

What is your destiny?

I decided to use nine of the ten blocks set 3 by 3 resulting in a square quilt. Besides the challenge of setting ten blocks, I felt that this one was much bolder than the others and that it would distract from the balance of the piece. I'll make something else with it.... pillow? table topper? wall or doll quilt?

Truer colors of the red and green

Every project involves multiple decisions. My considerations in this case were these:

• What size and shape did I want the finished piece? 
• How did I want to use it? 
• How much time did I want to invest in it?
• complexity of setting
• how it would be quilted 

Ultimately, I decided to set the blocks straight, three by three, within a narrow (1.5") sashing for these reasons.

•  Setting them side by side results in big open squares that insists on some pretty special quilting in my opinion. You can't see how that space is quilted in this example but you do see the big open areas of background.
•  My blocks are all different and I like the idea of each one getting some attention.
•  The finished size would be about 60" square - fitting for my goals.
•  Available fabric -I found some of the same red in the stars in my Christmas bin for the sashing. I used tidbits, also in that bin, of a large scale print that also appears in most blocks, for the cornerstones.

I used EQ to play with numbers and layouts; with and without cornerstones in different colors; tan, green, mottled. I liked the break those little squares provided. That helped me decide to cut the sashing 2" wide and let it serve as the outer border.

I used my design wall to arrange the blocks.The process of making all of these artistic decisions can be frustrating but it's energizing in the end. This is my work. Yes, it takes a sometimes more agonizing path than following a pattern but the satisfaction you get as you take each step is worth it.

There are so many ways to do things; no one way is right. Keep moving along. Try things, decide, move on. Sometimes you don't know why you like one thing or another but you don't need to. Stand back, squint, move things, try this and that ...and you will know what you like. Be okay with ripping if what you thought would work doesn't. Get it the way you want it.

Each 2" square can be different

For example, I cut the 2" squares for the cornerstones from a large print and just sewed them in.  I wanted a random look...not match-y. But I realized when they were sewn in that one was almost all dark green and it stood out. I had to decide to leave it or remove it ...maybe I should use a different dark green for all of them; think think think.But I wanted them to be less obtrusive. I removed two of them and this time was more careful to selectively cut lighter squares that would blend.

I decided to put squares at each outer corner, too, and for those I thought before I cut! I wanted the dark green dominant with a cluster of red included so my fabric looks like Swiss cheese now.I like the result.

So now on to a few other things.....

What is on your 'to-do' list for the holidays?

The Lonestar revisited

"Desert Star"   78" x 86"
Hand quilted

Years ago I went on a retreat where I learned how to make the classic Lonestar quilt. We visit Arizona each year so I chose a southwest theme.

Here's the finished queen sized quilt. The very simple graphic result does involve a bit more complex piecing; working with diamond shapes and then setting in the corner squares and side triangles.
I got very excited about working with this design...and I went a little crazy!



I wanted to try different sized diamonds and other color combinations. I worked up a class which I taught both in Minnesota and Arizona.

I made three samples for that class; 30 inches square. This one is currently being quilted - you can see my pins. I'll use it on a wall or as a table topper.

Sample 1

The rest are still tops waiting to learn their fate. The patriotic themes may serve as centers for a larger quilt.

Sample 2

Sample 3

This size was doable for the students in the number of sessions we had, allowing them to get to the 'setting-in' part with guidance. That seems to be where many quilters abandon the design.

Here is one such top in progress... probably made around 1900 by the look of the fabrics. This is a 6 pointed star (which you see less often than the 8 point) but the construction and the challenges are similar.

I show it lying on the carpet and then lying atop a piece of blue fabric as a possible idea for finishing it -- someday--maybe.

I made a mini with scraps from the big one.

10" x 13"

Then I took a few Christmas fabrics I had on hand for yet another size - and made up 10 blocks, each different due the placement of the fabrics. It was fun ...but the stars ended up in UFO tub.

That was 2002!

Fast forward to last month. A quilting friend asked us to bring something to the December meeting that was holiday themed - that was unfinished - and that we wanted to finish. She'd come across a pillow she'd started years ago and was determined to finish it.

The pile of pieced stars

Those star blocks had been on my 'to-do' list for years! Her challenge came at just the right time for me.
Out came the blocks.
Out came the folder from my class with the tips for cutting the setting squares and triangles.

A shopping trip resulted in a fabric I thought would be perfect for background.

A Kay England print

I got busy cutting out the needed corner squares and side triangles and setting them in. 

The finished blocks measure 18" square. Here are 4 of them.

 Today I'll finish the rest and begin deciding on how to set them. 

Shall I use all 10 or go with just 9 - an easy 3 by 3 setting?

Maybe a narrow sashing?

Or 'on-point'?

 Stay tuned!

I promise is won't be 13 years!

Butterflies- Signs of Hope

18" x 22"

I needed another project like a hole in the head when I spied this sweet little thing in Lori Smith's booth at the Minnesota Quilt Show a year ago.
It's hand appliqued, embroidered and quilted.
Both vintage and 1930's reproduction fabrics are used. The lavender sashing is also vintage.

That's the good news.

I started doing some larger butterfly blocks years ago. (Are you noticing anything here? I have many projects that span many years!)
At the time, I wanted to learn how to do needle-turn applique. I found two butterfly designs I liked and did some of each in vintage fabric; some feedsack - some not. Here are a few lying side by side on the floor,

The typical way of finishing these popular quilts in the 30's and 40's was with a black buttonhole stitch embroidered around them, That's when I  realized that  my invisible applique would not show at all!

I did improve my 'needle-turn" skills, though.





As a quilt appraiser for over ten years, I saw a few different methods used to embellish applique motifs with embroidery. Sometimes a simple running stitch by hand or machine was used to secure the motif before embroidery. I didn't find that it detracted from the piece. You had to look very closely to even see it. Was it a time saver? I'm not so sure. Maybe getting that little edge turned under to nail it down by machine would take a bit of time.
Some were finished 'raw edge'. Quick and easy but embroidery thread is not terribly strong. Over time, with wear and washing, it would start to come loose leaving the applique 'unattached' and the quilt unattractive and fragile. Done for, in other words, unless someone wanted to do a lot of repair work.

For the raw edge method to work well, one would have to place those buttonhole stitches very close together as was done in the Broderie Perse examples on early cut-out chintz motifs. Even then, as you can see in this vintage example of closely spaced embroidery, there is the risk of the motif coming loose over time. This maker used a 'chain' stitch around each motif.

So I am glad I appliqued mine by hand. I did get more skilled in that method and one hundred years from now those butterflies should still be secure!

Butterflies appeared on many quilts during the Depression years. They signify hope -  much needed during that time. In spite of, or perhaps because of, the bleak circumstances of the time women made a tremendous effort to provide a cheerful home. Many quilts of the era are pastel, cheerful looking things to lift the spirits.

Here's an exceptional example from the collection of the International Quilt Study Center and Museum dated c. 1920-1940.

WOW!

I was amazed upon searching Pinterest and other sources to find a tremendous variety of styles from simple to complex; pieced, appliqued and even this one - made with a vintage handkerchief.

 Simple Applique

Simple  Pieced

Complex Pieced

 Paper- Pieced

 All Hexagons!

I have a total of 20 blocks done at this time. My records show that I started them, OMG, the summer of '97. ( I have no shame. I hope my sharing makes you feel better about some of your UFO's!)
Sometimes delays result in a chance to revise the original plan. I suppose I was aiming for a bed quilt but now I think I will work up setting that requires exactly 20 blocks and call it a day.

 It's time, don't you think?

Have you made a butterfly quilt? Do you own a vintage example?

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New Year's Resolutions

I'm afraid I make the same two or three resolutions every year and that means I don't reach them, right? But still,  I am not opposed to thinking of a new year as a fresh start - they say it's never too late and that giving up is the only way to fail. So...once again I plan to eat better, shed some pounds and get more exercise into my life...oh. I mean 'Move More'. That's the way to think about it, they say. Don't use the 'E' word!

As for quilt goals I have decided, after reviewing the last two years, that though I've had great fun doing new projects I really WANT to get some things done from the past. If I can't finish at least a few of them by the end of this year, I will get rid of them. If they aren't important enough to finish up they will not take up space in my house or cause guilt in my head any longer. You heard it here!

I've chosen the following. The photos are not full views...just enough to get an idea. I will machine quilt all of them.

Mexican Star - Wall Quilt

Flags - twin size  - nice Americana look for one of the beds at the cabin.

 Coins - lap size probably ...started years ago with left over pre-cut strips from another project





Pink 25 Patch...crib size - no particular destination - This was also started as a way to use up my 1.5" strips!

Square in Square - Twin bed size....Also destined for the cabin. I used up a lot of my 2.5" strips on this one - but not all unfortunately!

These are by no means the ONLY unfinished projects I have... but I have to start somewhere and these are either close to the finish line or just projects I'm tired of looking at.

Do you make resolutions?

A(nother) New Year

As we start a fresh new year I am determined, as usual, to make it the most productive quilting year ever! I know that some of what I'd like to have happen won't...but I also know that some unexpected and exciting projects will fill in for those that are missing. That's the fun of it!

It all started over ten years ago with a simple list of UFO's pinned to the bulletin board over my sewing machine. This became necessary when I realized I didn't even remember some of the things I'd started with enthusiasm and abandoned before completion.

Today it has evolved into a 3-ring binder. Started in 2002 I had to move it all to a bigger one this year. It doesn't need to be fancy!

It still contains my UFO's (maybe even some of the same ones!) but I've added things like techniques I want to try, gifts to be made and ongoing projects divided into categories such as Tops Ready to Quilt, Sets of Blocks and Repair Projects. Throughout the year I cross thing off and add new ideas. It usually gets pretty messy. It's a work tool.

I'm ready for 2012!

I include pages to record monthly progress and at the end of the year I review it all and write up a summary as I get ready to start all over again with a new year.

In addition to choosing several things to prioritize, I focus on these three things each month:

1. Doing some handwork - embroidery, quilting, hand-piecing, applique, knitting
2. Doing something creative - no pattern, play with fabric, use scraps, try new techinques.
3. Keeping my quilt collection updated - taking photos, measurements and other data about acquired vintage quilts and keeping notes on quilts I am making. This can really get away from me if I don't make a point of it.

Perhaps only a person trying to keep too many plates spinning in the air would need such a system but I don't think I'm alone. I showed my friend Gail my system a few years ago and she wanted to try it, too. She set up a system that works for her and we get together at the end of each month for a review. Neither of us is by any means a slave to the original plan. Sometimes it feels like we tell each other mostly what we didn't accomplish!

I can't say for sure, but I do think that setting goals and reminding myself of them on a regular basis helps me get things done. I think I am more conscious of how I choose to spend my time and what to prioritize... but if not, that's okay because I just really enjoy the process.

How do you manage your quilting life? 

Do you like to set specific goals for your quilting?

 If so, what is your system?