Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Back At It

The 15" feathered star block I prepped for demonstrations in my recent two-day Feathered Star--Perfect Paper Piecing Workshop, is now a finished block:


I figure it took me about 6 hours to complete, from fabric selection to final seam.  That's why Marsha McCloskey calls feathered star blocks "Really Hard Blocks that Take a Long Time to Make"--that's truth in advertising.

This block is one of 16 I need for my Diamond Jubilee quilt, to celebrate my 60th birthday--which occurred 2 years ago.  Better get crackin'!  It is the fourth one done, and goes with these:



The gold one is hanging at the quilt shop as a sample so I don't have a photo of it completed, but it is.  Only 12 more to go.

I also caught up on Circa 2016..  We must be getting close to the end of this project:


All these little blocks will surround this middle:


And then there is Stella's Splendid Sampler, 61 of 100 blocks done.  So glad I am assembling this one as I go:


Today I will do some free-motion machine quilting as my regular machine has gone in for her annual cleaning.  Take care of your machine and it will take care of you.  I clean out any lint in the bobbin area and under the throat plate each time I change a bobbin.  And I add the recommended drop of oil each time I change two bobbins--to keep that straight, I simply wind 2 bobbins each time they are both empty so it is easy to tell if this is one bobbin or two.  If you don't know what kind of maintenance you should do on your machine, just Google it--there are videos for most every machine.  Preventative maintenance is very important too.

I'm off to Mississippi for a few days, for a guild show.  I look forward to seeing some familiar faces and meeting new friends.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

6 comments:

  1. I've made a couple of feathered stars as medallions, but never a whole quilt of stars! That is ambitious, but will be gorgeous. They are very labor intensive, I agree. Your center focus fabric is wonderful!

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    1. I bought a bolt of that large print. It is the center of each of the FS and will be featured in the border as well.

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    2. It is beautiful--that will tie it all together nicely to have it in the border as well.

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  2. Marsha is oh so right about those feathered stars; but, they are oh so beautiful! What an amazing block to use in an extra special quilt!

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  3. I have to agree about the center of the star fabric. It is such a great print & will make a great border!! Six hours is a long time for one block, but what a fab block it is!!

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  4. Your stars are amazing! Your fabric choices really make them special. The center red is one of my faves!!

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