It's Been More than a Month!

You would think I haven't done anything to write about.  That's actually not true, however it's boring to talk about hand quilting, looking everywhere for the color of fabric you have in your head, but that they don't seem to make, and weaving and unweaving the same basket three times over two weeks.  Here are some things that I have done.

I have wanted to make a broken star of strings for some time, but all those diamonds were a little intimidating and I always was doing something else so I could justifiably procrastinate…until I was looking at the carpenter's star from the last post and had an epiphany…the carpenter's star, done larger and with strings, is the same pattern as a broken star!  Here it is, 60" across, needs a border, but is almost a completed flimsy.  I really like it except that I did it using a printer paper foundation and really hate removing all that paper.  I took it to Quilters Night Out last Tuesday and thanks to Helen and Val, most of the paper is gone.  Yeah!                   This is the Red Flower quilt with a different yellow/gold.  I have tried 4 different yellows and/or golds now, appliqueing down leaves and then ripping them out, but none of the colors were perfect.  I think I like this one.  The last photo is a basket that I wove last week.  It has my quilting threads across the top spoke and holds my scissors and a few pins.  It sits on the table beside my chair.  Thanks to the folks at the "Celebrate Hand Quilting" facebook page for the idea.  

Carpenter's Star

This is a Carpenter's Star quilt block done with 4.5" half square triangles, making it 32x32 with a 2" border.  It is an easy block to put together, but for me, who likes to chain piece, it was tedious because only 2 sets of blocks can go together at a time, or I would lose my place in the color scheme.  It's not my usual colors, but I am doing the Jingle Belle blocks, a couple of which are in the photo, and I may use this block for the center of those pieced and appliqued blocks.  I  learned how to make this block with the local Quilter's Night Out group last Tuesday.  It is fun to get together and try new blocks and layouts that you wouldn't normally think of by yourself.  

A Basket Weekend

 This is a basket that I started on Thursday night.  It has a solid wood base and 4 ball feet.  It will be large and although is quite the tangle right now, should be pretty cool when finished.  

This basket is double-walled, meaning that it is very sturdy, since one basket is on the inside and another on the outside.  This was one of the baskets taught by a teacher that we had come in for our basket guild meeting on Sat.  I love the cat-head design and twilled sidewalls on the outside of the basket.  Another feature of this basket is that the twill is going from left to right on two sides of the basket and right to left on the opposite sides.  The only real issue I had was how to lash with different spokes on the inside and outside.  For the most part, I decided to go with every other outside spoke and I think it looks ok.  I really enjoyed making her baskets and wish now that I had purchased her other double walled basket patterns.

Tonight I worked for a bit on the large basket, weaving 12 rows of smoked reed up the sides of the basket.  The main part of the basket will have a pattern.  I will start that on Thursday this week at basket class.  I also made a small basket this evening for a gift, so no photos of that one.  

I picked up my quilts at the Durand show last evening.  I didn't get photos since I got there late and forgot my camera.  The show was ok, though not fabulous, as several of the quilts I had already seen at other local shows.  But it was fun to see my quilts hanging in the show.  

Sweet Miss Ella

I am so glad she is enjoying Benjamin Bunny.  

Durand Quilt Show

Photos will be here tomorrow.  I put the Bonnie Hunter Easy Street, the be thankful, and the P3 designs Tropical flowers in the Durand Quilt Show this year.  I dropped them off yesterday (with strangers, it was really odd) and will go see the show tomorrow.  I also went back to basketweaving on Thursday evenings and started an intricate basket as a gift this week.  I also purchased a handle for a little sewing basket that I'd like to make and bought a small cross-stitch pattern at lunch today.  In the meantime, I found the yellow fabric that I wanted for the Red Flowers quilt and also just found out that the original is 73x73, just about the same as mine.  I need more hours in a day. 

Red Flowers and Green Leaves

Hmmm. I liked it more on the design wall than here.  I was going to do red and yellow leaves like the original, but after appliqueing a  couple green leaves, I thought I liked just the green.  Most of these are just stuck there, so I will applique every other green and audition more yellows.  Design decisions... as I go along.   

Planetarium Quilt Show

These two quilts are going to the local planetarium tomorrow so that they can be shown during the Flint Festival of Quilts next weekend.  It's the planetarium so the quilts had to have a star somewhere in them to qualify for that venue.  The red, white and blue lonestar hasn't been shown before, but the photo of Starlight, Starbright was taken at the 2011 guild show in Flushing.  They are certainly different styles of quilts, and I anticipate that folks will like one or the other rather than both of them.  I hope to be able to hang around and listen surreptitiously...