WIP Wed: Stars and Squares

It's Wednesday, so I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced WIP Wed to tell you what I've been up to lately.

I am very happy to say that my "Solstice Star Series" Quilt is almost done!  I still need to trim up the bottom, and do a final iron, but then it's be ready to quilt!

The stars are blocks I made during Faith of Fresh Lemons Quilts' Solstice Star Series.  In her final post, she challenged us to create a quilt with just the 5 blocks, set in a non-traditional way.  I knew quickly that I wanted to do a quilt based on "Prairie-Style" or "Frank Lloyd Wright" designs.  I've been wanting to make a quilt like this since we lived in Michigan, 3-4 years ago.  My husband was raised in Chicago, and still has family there, so we are regular visitor to the windy city.  Not only is my husband from the Chicago metropolis, but more specifically, he grew up in Oak Park, the same suburb where Frank Lloyd Wright had his home and studio.  I've long admired the clean simple prairie style designs and architecture.  I know Faith is also from Chicago-land too, so it just seemed "right" to make this quilt.

I must have changed my design a dozen times, but finally settled on this one.  I think it's pretty funny too that only 5 blocks morphed themselves into a queen sized quilt!  Those star blocks are 12 x 12 inches, making the quilt a final 7 feet by 8 feet!! It took both my husband, and one of my boys to hold it up for the picture! The back of this quilt will be a real stash-buster!

Over the week-end, I quilted my "Children's Delight" quilt.  This is the first quilt I ever made using pre-cuts (charm squares).  It has been waiting to be quilted for 2 years now, and it feels great to have it almost done!  I just need to get the binding cut out and sewn on!

I'm also working on the new Project Quilting challenge, which is "Where I live", very similar to my last postcard challenge "Where you are" LOL  I was about to make a bigger duplicate of my Oregon postcards, but last night I got an idea that I love even better! 

I also have a few more blocks to make for my "Scrap Attack" quilt.

As the weather is getting warmer, days are getting longer, and signs of Spring are popping up all over the place, I have a feeling that I'll be spending less and less time at my sewing machine...  I hope Spring has sprung in your part of the world as well!

Star and Bow Ties

Last night, I finished up the last of the Solstice Star Series that Faith at Fresh Lemons Quilts has been hosting.  Her challenge now is to come up with a quilt that only uses these 5 blocks!  These kind of creative challenges are irresistible to me, so I'm already trying to figure something out...  Stay tuned...

Also over the week-end, I had the wonderful opportunity to sew with fellow blogger, "H2O Girl", of Fiber of All Sorts".  We "met" through Gen X's Kona Color Swap, and realized that we both lived in the same area of the state.  As we emailed back and forth, we realized that we actually lived in the same city, and in the same neighborhood!  So when she invited me to spend a few hours sewing with another friend, I gladly accepted!  I had such a good time!!

Since Saturday was Project Linus' annual "Make a Blanket Day", I brought my bow ties to sew up for the current Project Linus Quilt that I'm working on.  It's serendipitous that part of the fabric I was using was fabric that H2O Girl sent me in the Kona Swap!  The "I spy" fabric is all scraps from quilts that I've made for my boys.  I'm hoping this quilt will someday give another boy just a bit of comfort in a time of need.

WIP Wed: Block and Cover ;-)

It's Wednesday, so once again, I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced WIP Wed.  Come see what others are working on!

I finished up another block for the Solstice Star Series.  I also made another block for my "Scrap Attack" quilt.

Mostly, though, I've been working on some new Kindle covers for my Etsy shop.

Other non-sewing news is that our main computer, with all of my pictures from last week back crashed over the week-end.  Luckily we have another computer.  It's super-slow, but it's better than nothing!  I'm hoping that we can get it back soon, and that the tech will be able to save all of our data!!  It's backed up, but of course it'd be best if all can be fixed.  Wish us luck!!

WIP Wed: Another Star and How to Sew a Partial Seam

I've been sewing along with Faith at Fresh Lemons Quilts, Solstice Star Series.  Her star today is "Another Star".  Her instructions are great, but I thought I'd share an alternate way to sew up the middle square, using a partial seam.

I cut all 4 of the center strips the same size, then starting with the first strip, I lined up the "bottom" of the strip with the bottom of the square, leaving the "tail" hanging off at the top.  The most important step is that I start sewing in the MIDDLE of the square/strip seam, making a partial seam, sewing towards the "bottom", or where the edges line up.

 I then pressed this open, and simply lined up the next strip up with the square and strip and sewed.

Pressed.

Sewed the next strip.

Pressed.

Sewed on the entire last strip.

Press.

Now all you need to do is finish that first seam by folding the "partial seam", right sides together and finishing it up.

Press, and you're done.

The rest of the tutorial can be found here at Faith's tutorial site!

It's Wednesday, so I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced WIP Wed!  Come join us there!

Whirling Star

I've decided to add yet another quilt along to my list.  Here's my Whirling Star block from Faith's Fresh Lemons Blog's Solstice Star Series.  Enjoy!!

WIP Wed: More scraps....

I'm afraid I've been busy the last few days dealing with car problems.  We have a hybrid car, and the main battery pack bit the dust, but we're hoping it'll be covered in a warranty extension (fingers crossed). I did manage to get a few blocks sewn, including the first star (above) in Faith From Fresh Lemons blog's Solstice Star Series.  She sure savors "s"'s!  I did the Summer Sampler Series too last summer, and love her tutorials!  I also got another Scrap Attack block done (below), and am trying to design a quilt for this week's Project Quilting that needs to be based on a song title.  I'm keeping it under wraps, mainly because there's really not much to show yet.  Stay tuned.  My Etsy shop has some new Kindle covers, and I'm also hoping to show you how I did my block for breast cancer, so I can get a tutorial of my own up here soon! As usual, it's Wednesday, so I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced WIP Wed.  Come join us there!