Utility Stars in Blogger's Quilt Festival, Fall 2018

I'm excited that it's time for Amy Ellis's Blogger's Quilt Festival :: Fall 2018 Edition.  I look forward to this all year so I can see all the other quilts in the Festival.  And, of course, I always hope I'll have at least one quilt to include -- and this year I have two.  If you have a quilt to share and have a blog, you can participate, too.  The Festival runs all week.  Many thanks to Amy for hosting the Festival.

I call this quilt "Utility Stars."  I wanted to make a calm, soothing quilt--and prove to myself that it could be just as beautiful, though in a different way, as quilts with lots of colors.

I am always so pleased when I put that last stitch in the binding of a quilt.  It gives me such a sense of satisfaction.  Next, I lay it on the floor and measure it, then toss it in the washer, then into the dryer, then measure it one last time.  Truly done then!

This has been a hard quilt to photograph.  The photo above was taken inside with a flash; the ones below outside.

I used JoAnn Soft 'n' Crafty batting, 3/8" thick, 80% cotton/20% poly.  I used thread I had on hand--it was probably rayon--then ran out and bought a spool of cotton.  I wasn't sure the shrinkage would be the same after washing and drying.  I left safety pins in the blocks that had cotton thread but couldn't tell any difference between those and the others after the quilt came out of the dryer.  Whew!  That could have been close.  I should probably be more careful about thread from now on.
 
The measurements of this quilt were crazy.  And how about square?  How is it one starts with square blocks and ends up (after quilting) with a quilt that is off by 1/4" to 5/8"?  I squared the corners as much as I dared but I suspect the quilt does not yet have precise measurements.  No matter:  it will never be in a quilt show to be evaluated.  After wash and dry it measures 60¾" x 78½".

At one point during the quilting it occurred to me that this quilt looked like it could have been mass-produced and sold in a big box store, probably because of the plain diagonal rows of stitching in the center of the blocks.  I convinced myself that no, it couldn't, because of all its imperfections. 

I love the texture these quilting lines created and the puffiness between the stitching.  Those should create lots of air pockets to keep the warmth in on a cold night.  I used masking tape from corner to corner for the first stitching lines, then quilted the other diagonals "free-hand," so to speak.  They are not all exactly, evenly spaced.

You can't really tell it from any of the photos but the binding is about ½" wide.  I thought about an even wider binding but decided this was the best width.  You can read about my wide binding woes here.

And here it is with the early cherry blossoms and sunny shadows.

Again, visit Amy Ellis's post, Blogger's Quilt Festival :: Fall 2018 Edition, to view all participants and to link your own quilt's blog post.  Thank you, Amy!

--Nancy.
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A Finish!

I am always so pleased when I put that last stitch in the binding of a quilt.  There's such a sense of satisfaction.

Next, I lay it on the floor and measure it, then toss it in the washer, then into the dryer, then measure it one last time.  Truly done then!

I started this quilt in mid-January both because I didn't have anything else in the works and because I was on color overload.  Maybe it was the brightness of Christmas, or maybe it was seeing quilts with a jumble of colors.  Whatever the reason, I wanted to make a calm, soothing quilt--and prove to myself that it could be just as beautiful, though in a different way, than quilts with lots of colors.

This has been a hard quilt to photograph.  The photo above was taken inside with a flash; the ones below outside.

I used JoAnn Soft 'n' Crafty batting, 3/8" thick, 80% cotton/20% poly.  I used thread I had on hand--it was probably rayon--then ran out and bought a spool of cotton.  I put pins in the blocks that had cotton thread but couldn't tell any difference between those and the others after the quilt came out of the dryer.  Whew!  That could have been close.  I should probably be more careful about thread from now on. 

The measurements of this quilt were crazy.  And how about square?  How is it one starts with square blocks and ends up (after quilting) with a quilt that is off by 1/4" to 5/8"?  I squared the corners as much as I dared but I suspect the quilt does not yet have precise measurements.  No matter:  it will never be in a quilt show to be evaluated.  After wash and dry it measures 60¾" x 78½".

At one point during the quilting it occurred to me that this quilt looked like it could have been mass-produced and sold in a big box store, probably because of the plain diagonal rows of stitching in the center of the blocks.  I convinced myself that no, it couldn't, because of all its imperfections. 

I love the texture these lines created and the puffiness between the stitching.  Those should create lots of air pockets to keep the warmth in on a cold night.  I used masking tape from corner to corner for the first stitching lines, then quilted the other diagonals "free-hand," so to speak.

You can't really tell it from any of the photos but the binding is about ½" wide.  I thought about an even wider binding but decided this was the best width.  You can read about my wide binding woes here.

And here it is with the early cherry blossoms.  It will have to wait for use till next fall unless it becomes a picnic blanket this summer.

Finishing this quilt was my goal for April so I'm linking to One Monthly Goal - April Finish Link-up at Elm Street Quilts.  Thanks for hosting, Patty.

I'm also linking this post to
> finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts
> Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts
> Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday (TGIFF) at Celtic Stitches
> Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Thanks for hosting, ladies.

I hope you have a great weekend!

--Nancy.
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A Day's Work & Slow Sunday Stitching

 

I spent most of today pressing fabric for binding; measuring, cutting, and stitching it into one long length; measuring the quilt and binding; then pinning the binding to the front of this quilt one side at a time and sewing to the front of the quilt.  It should have taken less time than it did but I'm still a little under the weather so I work more slowly.  (I know some quilters lay the binding along the side of the quilt at stitch it at the machine but I always end up with waffly edges when I do that, so I take the time to measure and pin each side.)

I wrote before that I was considering a wide binding, possibly 1", but I decided that a ½" binding would look better.   I calculated then cut the binding fabric at 3" -- 1½" to go around once, then double that because I double folded the fabric.  I thought about it several times -- will that be wide enough, should it be wider? -- but in my less-than-good-health state, I didn't think clearly enough.

You experienced quilters will immediately understand the problem I had.  It would seem to be wide enough but it didn't leave space for the thickness of the quilt.  Thank goodness I stopped to check it after attaching about 6" of the binding.  It was too narrow.   

I knew I could cut the edge a little narrower but instead I unstitched the 6" and began stitching a little left of the ½" line.  It worked.  The binding will be narrower than ½" but at least I'm ready to begin hand sewing it to the back of the quilt.  Hooray!  I have hand stitching again.

The binding fabric I finally found came from JoAnn.  I bought 5/8 yard of a grunge-style fabric and a yard of Kona Celestial.  I cut the grunge fabric first knowing I would have no other use for it.  When I realized I needed only about 60" more, I used a small piece of blue left over from the stars.  Together, they were just long enough.  I don't know what I'll do with the Kona but at least it's a shade of blue I like.

I'm looking forward to having this quilt finished!

If I have a chance to stitch on Sunday, this is what I will be slow stitching.  Linking up to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.  Thanks for hosting, Kathy.

--Nancy.

P.S.  If  you're wondering about the safety pins, they identify the sections in which I used Gutermann cotton thread after I ran out of the spool of (probably) rayon thread.
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Utility Stars for One Monthly Goal (March's Finish, April's Goal)

Addition to original post to add One Monthly Goal for April 
To save my readers one more post about this quilt, I'm editing this older post of a few days ago to state my One Monthly Goal for April.  My goal is to:  cut the edges of this quilt, decide a binding width, find fabric for the binding, sew the binding to both the front and back of this quilt, and wash and dry it for a total finish.

From what I can tell so far, finding fabric for the binding may be the biggest obstacle to a finish.

Original post for finishing March's One Monthly Goal

The quilt's not finished but I met my One Monthly Goal for March.  There were two parts to the goal.

1. Quilt at least 12 squares.  I had 32 to finish at the beginning of the month.  Now I have 3 left to quilt.  I quilted 29 squares in March.
2. Quilt at least 12 stars.  I had 2 finished when I stated my goal, with 22 stars left to quilt.  All the stars are now quilted.

Hooray for a goal met even if it doesn't equal a finish.  There's not too much left to do to finish this quilt:  lots of sashing rectangles and those three blocks, then the binding.  Maybe those will be April's goals.

There was the little problem with thread.  (Yes, I did run out.)  I bought a spool of Guterman 100% cotton in a similar color (it disappears like the other spool).  While at the store I looked at a few other threads and I think the first spool I was using was rayon.  Rayon isn't exactly a natural fiber but it's made from natural fibers (cellulose from trees, as I understand it), which means it would burn to ash just as cotton, linen, and wool do.  Anyway, I'm hoping there isn't too great a difference in shrinkage in areas quilted with the different threads.  I'm putting pins in the blocks and sashing quilted with cotton so I'll know.

Have you ever put a wide binding on a quilt?  Perhaps ½" or 1"?  If so, were you satisfied with it?  I'm thinking of a slightly wider binding on this quilt from blue fabrics similar to those in the stars.  Since the quilt has no border I thought a wider blue binding would be a good finish for the quilt.

I'm linking this post to One Monthly Goal - March Finish Link-up at Elm Street Quilts.  Thank you for hosting, Patty.

Happy Easter to you and yours.

--Nancy.

An Error in Judgment

I'm open to using a variety of thread for hand quilting.  If the color's right, the thread's strong, it doesn't smell like smoke or mildew, and it's all cotton or natural fiber, I figure it's good enough to use to hand quilt.  I found this spool of light brown/tan at a local craft shop where people donate their unwanted craft items for others to have (after a monetary donation) and brought it home. 

When I found it I didn't have an intended purpose but I knew the color would be useful.  I tested it by burning a section and found that it's a natural fiber because it turned to ash.  I don't know beyond that what fiber it is but it's too shiny to be cotton.  I also tested it before using by washing and drying it and by putting it under a hot iron.  All good.

The spool was full but there was no indication how much thread was on a full spool.  But then I never think about whether there will be enough thread to quilt a quilt, probably because in the past I've been able to get more.

Now I find that I have 15 squares and 8 stars yet to quilt and this (on the left photo) is what's left on the spool.













I was not exactly frugal while quilting.  If I had a few inches of thread left at the end of a row or block, I cut it off and threw it away and began with a fresh length, never thinking that I could run out.

My error in judgment is to use thread without considering whether there's enough for the whole quilt.  I may find I made a second error in judgment if, after tossing the finished quilt in the washer and dryer, I find that the thread has shrunk more than cotton usually does, or disintegrated, or some other untoward event happens to cause the quilt to need requilting.  Oh, how I hope that doesn't happen!

I suppose I'll use cotton quilting thread in a color as close as I can find to the one above if I don't have enough of this thread to finish the quilt.

Do you ever make errors in judgment with your quilting?  Do you always use the same brand of hand quilting thread?  Which kind do you like best?

Oh, yes!  I almost forgot.  It's the first day of spring.  Happy Spring!  Snow is predicted for our area tonight and most of the day tomorrow.  Those two groundhogs I saw eating greens on Saturday will probably be surprised.

I'm linking this post to
> Fiber Tuesday at The Quilting Room with Mel
> To Do Tuesday at Stitch All Things
> Let's Bee Social #220 at Sew Fresh Quilts
> WOW at Esther's Blog

Thanks for hosting, ladies.

--Nancy.
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Hand Quilting Utility Stars

From the end of January till now I've quilted 24 of this quilt's 56 squared and 2 of its 24 stars.  I admire the speed at which machine quilters can finish quilts but I prefer the look of hand quilted quilts so I continue along at my snail's pace.  Part of the slowness comes from how hard hand quilting is on my fingers:  they can only quilt for so long. 

I really thought I might be able finish this quilt in March but then I remembered that the outside edge of a quilt, whether blocks or border, is nearly always bigger than the center of the quilt and will take longer.  Sigh. 

You can see we have a sunny day today:  the shine through the window highlights one small square of this quilt.  Yeah for a sunny day!  Fun photo, huh?

I wish my goal for March were to finish this quilt but it isn't.  Instead, my goal is to finish hand quilting at least 12 stars and at least 12 squares.  I'd be satisfied with a double dozen.

I'm linking this post to
> One Monthly Goal - March Goal Setting Link-up at Elm Street Quilts
> Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts
Thanks for hosting, ladies.

Nancy.

Blue Stars

I finished sewing this top together last Saturday morning (hooray for a finish in a month!), just before my daughter arrived for a visit with her nearly-grown kittens.  They love to slide across the hardwood floor, scattering whatever's on it.  (I've learned the hard way to pick up quilt blocks from my design floor.)  We try to keep them corralled in other parts of the house but they sometimes escape.

I think this quilt looks calm, comforting, and warm.  I'm still struggling just a little with the symmetry.  I know if I put this quilt on a bed I will not be happy with the fact that the vertical center is a square with a star to its upper left and a star to its lower right.  On a bed, to my eye, a strip of stars should be in the center.

The fabric for the squares and sashing came from thrift shirts in neutrals and several pieces of fabric from my sewing days.  For the stars I used leftover blue fabrics from another quilt.  The binding will also be blue, from a thrift shirt, and I think it may be wider than the usual ¼".  

I'm happy with the stars but I realize now that they could have been bigger.  The squares finish at 7½" and the sashing finishes at 2".  With wider sashing, the stars would have been bigger and, therefore, stronger.  If I make another of these quilts sometime in the future I'll try cutting the sashing at 3".

The symmetry (or lack of it) must not bother me enough to add another strip of blocks on one side or the other because I pieced the back today. 

I had two pieces of wide fabric that I thought would work for the back, neither more than a yard and a quarter.  Then I pulled out a shirt in a similar blue I recently found at the thrift store.  I left the curves of the shirt bottom on the outside edge of the back.  No sense cutting it and then cutting it into even smaller pieces when trimming the quilt before binding it.

I hope to lay out the batting tonight so I can layer and baste tomorrow.  Finally I will have something to hand quilt!  And I'm super thrilled to have a finished top and a finished back all in one week!

I'm linking this post to  
> Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts 
> TGIFF at Musings of a Menopausal Melon
> finish it up Friday at crazy mom quilts 
> Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict 
Thanks for hosting, ladies.

--Nancy. 
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Symmetry or Size?

The only sewing I've done on this quilt to date is sewing the star points onto the sashing.  I rarely cut all the blocks for a quilt at the same time but this quilt seemed to need it.

Whenever I make a quilt I often have this running discussion with myself about symmetry and size.  Do you want the pattern to be symmetrical or is the size of the quilt more important? 

The way this quilt is laid out, above, it is not symmetrical.  The first row of three stars shifts left, the second row shifts right, the third row, left, etc.  I have to decide whether I can live with the out-of-balance arrangement because the size, 69½" x 84½" (before quilting, washing, and drying), will be better:  a decent size for a twin bed or a nap.

Or is the symmetry more important?  Three stars in the first row, two in the second, three in the third, etc.  If so, I would remove the right and bottom rows and have a quilt top that measures 60" x 74" (before quilting, washing, and drying).  Not quite bed size and definitely not long enough for tall people who want to tuck the quilt under their feet for a good nap.  (Doesn't everyone tuck a quilt under and around their feet?)

To add to the decision about size, there's the consideration of how much shrinkage there will be after a quilt's been washed and dried.  In some quilts I've lost 6" in both directions!  That's a lot to lose.

Sizes of quilts has been of ongoing interest to me.  From several quilting books (both modern and vintage quilts) and my own quilts, I noted size ranges of finished quilts. 

I often look at these sizes when deciding how big to make a quilt.  I find it hard to tell when unstitched pieces are laying on the floor.

I tell myself that when a quilt is on a bed, or wrapped around a person, or folded on a shelf, no one notices whether it's symmetrical.  It's only when a quilt is hung for show or photographed on a floor that we notice whether the pattern of a quilt is symmetrical.  I think this quilt stays as it is.  (Unless I decide it should be larger.)

What do you do?  If you can't have both, do you choose symmetry or size?

I'm linking this post to
> WOW at Esther's Blog
> Let's Bee Social #212 at Sew Fresh Quilts
> Midweek Makers 107 at Quilt Fabrication
Thanks for hosting, ladies.

--Nancy.
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Nothing to Do

January came and I had nothing to do.
-- no basted and layered quilt to put in a hoop
-- no applique blocks ready to stitch
-- no pieced blocks cut for me to sew
-- no particular idea of the next quilt to begin
And too tired to make any big decisions.

Well, I had a small stack of blue scraps leftover from my Gwenny medallion.  Blue is one of my less-favorite colors but I do like this range of blues.  I don't know if they're soldier blues, Prussian blues, peacock blues, or go by another name, but they have just the least touch of green in the dye and I like them.

And I had a stack of what I thought were medium browns, the ones in the photo below plus a few others, mostly cut from shirts.  Perhaps my creative energies were mirroring the grey Ohio winter days (which I truly love -- so restful). 

I decided to put them together and see what would happen.  I often second guess myself about cutting into fabric.  What if I later realize I would like it for some other quilt?  But I made a quick decision to cut 8" squares and 2½" sashing and went to work with my rotary cutter.

This is what I've come up with so far.  Only the star points are sewn to the sashing. 

I chose uneven stars and I chose to set them on opposite corners of the squares rather than using a "Morning Star" setting where every corner has a star.  A star in every corner, especially with these uneven stars, can become crowded.

Some may think this a boring quilt.  I think my daughter used the words "calm" and "serene" to describe it.  It looks restful to me.  It may not become the most beautiful or exciting quilt I've ever made but I think it will be satisfactory.

Sometimes I get tired of jumbles of bright colors.  Sometimes my eyes want a rest, want to see the rhythm of two colors and a pattern repeated across a surface.  And I wanted to see if I could make a simple yet appealing quilt from these tans/browns and blues.  I think these colors and this layout work, but I may have another opinion by the time I finish the top.  I have more cutting and sewing to do to make it bigger.

In the meantime I'm trying out ideas for another applique quilt, considering how to make my Baskets of Plenty blocks play nicely to become a finished top, and searching for backing fabric for my Gwenny quilt.  Finding/choosing backing fabric or sewing pieces together to make a backing is often a challenge, particularly so for this quilt because I'm looking for "that blue" -- the range in the above quilt -- which is not currently a popular color, or some fabric that will agree with the front of the quilt.  And I don't have enough of any fabrics to sew together to make a back.  Sigh.  Until I can get backing for any quilt I don't have hand quilting to do, and this is the perfect time to hand quilt -- you know, cold weather, staying inside more than usual, etc.

But still, now I do have something to do!

I'm linking this post to
> Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts
> Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework
> ScrapHappy January at talltalesfromchiconia
> Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
> Moving It Forward Monday at Em's Scrapbag
> Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt 
Thanks for hosting, ladies.

--Nancy.