Thursday, September 3, 2015

The Hard Stuff

I'm giving a presentation to the Madison Station Quilters next week on "The Hard Stuff".  I'll talk about these more challenging quilts:

Mariner's Compass, made 2001, original pattern


Double Wedding Ring--this is a mini, made 2009, pattern by Virginia Robertson

Feathered Stars: Joyful Journey made 2009, pattern by Sue Garman

The PowerPoint is ready and I did step-outs for blocks needed for my next quilt, Diamond Jubilee.  I'm about a year and a half behind in starting that one so this was a good reason to get started.  Here are the 2 blocks I made this week:




These are 15" finished stars.  One I made by Foundation Paper Piecing with Sue Garman's pattern, Stars for a New Day.  The other I did by regular piecing.  The problem with that:  those feathers are a weird size for regular piecing:  13/16".  Yes, I did all the measurements in sixteenths of an inch--crazy!  At the lecture, I'll have suggestions on how not to make it so hard.

I've also been plugging away at the Barbara Brackman  Stars in a Time Warp QuiltAlong blocks.  Here are the last four weeks:

 
 
Barbara Brackman is the queen of quilt block history and has written many books about this wonderful topic.  I have them all and this is a great way to learn more about fabrics and techniques over the centuries.  I am making two 6-inch Sawtooth Stars each week--I now have 68 blocks done.  Each week, Barbara shows some possibilities for how to use our stars and I'm beginning to think about how I want to set them.  Time will tell.  Here are a couple possibilities:
I'm on the lookout for a Printed Center Medallion panel

A lifetime of Applique' though
 
Now it's time to get those garments started for Houston--that will be here before I know it.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara



Posted by at
Labels: , , , ,

6 comments:

  1. Janet O.September 3, 2015 at 12:11 PM

    Sounds like it will be a great presentation. Somebody needs to talk about the hard stuff so that it isn't so intimidating! : )
    Love that little DWR. Hope to make one someday.
    You've made some lovely feathered stars!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Danice GSeptember 4, 2015 at 1:31 AM

    Such pretty quilts. Yes, those patterns do look hard to construct. Probably too complicated for me, lol. Your Time Warp star blocks all look excellent :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. VivianSeptember 4, 2015 at 9:59 PM

    One way to make piecing those Feathered Stars easier is to use Marsha McCloskey's Feathered Star Ruler. It actually has 1/16 and 1/32 markings on it. I've also used it when resizing other blocks that need those kind of odd measurements.

    ReplyDelete
  4. LoriSeptember 8, 2015 at 6:45 AM

    It should be a good lecture! Love your samples!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Loretta M.September 12, 2015 at 9:09 AM

    Hi Barbara....I'm very new at quilt-making. I've been trying to make a quilt of squares laid out on the angle similar to the way Feathered Stars above is laid out. I don't know what possessed me to try this! I don't know how to assemble the rows on an angle like that. Also, I can't figure out how to attach the half-triangles along the ends of the rows on the outside of the assembled squares. Can you help me or steer me in the right direction. If you can, I would be so grateful. Your quilts are beautiful. Thanks so much for sharing them. Loretta McGinn missmac831@aol.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Barbara BlackSeptember 13, 2015 at 11:10 AM

      Loretta, the feathered star is traditionally sewn with set-in/partial seams. The pattern I used by Sue Garman, has the 4 corner squares with a seam on two sides of the corners so the block can be assembled in straight rows. I'll send you a picture.

      Delete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)