RECENT FINISHES

 Getting both a quilt TOP and a small QUILT finished this week makes me feel very accomplished.

As February has me home I am working hard every day to get as much work done as possible. In March I will only be home a few days all month so now is my time to "get it done"!

DIAMOND JUBILEE--a BUCKET LIST quilt for more than 12 years, this is finally done. And I am so glad. It will get basted while at my Joyful Journey Retreat March 5-9. Then I will quilt it.

Diamond Jubilee 72" x 89" 

Inspired by a great quilt made by Catherine Butterworth,  I knew it was the perfect project to celebrate a BIG birthday.  After seeing her quilt in a magazine, I tracked Catherine  down in Australia where she lives. We became "friends". When we were both at Road to California in January 2020, me to teach, she to attend, we got to meet in person. It was as if we had known each other for years, soul sisters:

Catherine and I January 22, 2020

I planned to have this made for my 60th birthday so I started it two years before that. Now that I am approaching that and 10 + 1 it was time to get it finished. For more information see some of the previous posts I have written about it:

The Hard Stuff

Feathered Stars Perfectly Paper Pieced TUTORIAL

Catherine Butterworth in CA

My other finish this week is a small quilt that will be a sample for an upcoming class. OH, MY SMALL STAR: 

32" x 32" 

My top is 97" x 97" and is currently at the longarm quilter:

The full pattern is by American Jane patterns. I fell in love with it and had saved it to my Pinterest board of favorite quilts:

I made a few changes to the original pattern to provide options for students. In the SMALL sample I changed the construction of the star to avoid the Y-Seam method in the pattern instructions. Students will learn how to do both methods and choose their favorite.  

This will be a GREAT CLASS for guilds--those who want to MAKE a big bed size quilt can get started, those who want to LEARN the process of making this somewhat challenging block, can do so by making only ONE star.  And learning a fun and EASY way to make those small stars is icing on the workshop cake.

Read a few of the blogs I have written on this project:

The Beginning

Fabric Selection for the Stars

Design Decisions

I am teaching Oh, My Stars at my Retreat March 5-9, 2025 AND at EMPTY SPOOLS SEMINARS in 2026--April 29-May 4.  Empty Spools Seminars should be on every quilters Bucket List--it was on mine. It will change you as a quilter, teach you SO MUCH, and provide a lifetime of wonderful memories. Registration starts April 26, 2025--set a reminder on your calendar as these classes can fill in the first few days. 

For more information, see the 2025 Registration Information: EMPTY SPOOLS SEMINARS  TODAY 
February 23, 2025 is the LAST DAY to register for the 2025 Seminar. I LOVE the class I am teaching March 30-April 4, 2025: TWO FOR ONE, there is still room for YOU:

Time to get back to work! And I still get 2 hours of exercise every day. When it's below freezing as it has been two days this week, I power walk at the mall. Above freezing, I bundle up and hit the sidewalk. Next week it will be in the 60's and I am SO looking forward to that! Stay warm and dry, Spring is coming...

Let's quilt, 

Barbara

BUCKET LIST QUILT # 2

 This quilt caught my eye at the Texas Quilt Museum in La Grange TX last year:

In Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Pieced Patterns I found it as Glittering Star # 3738. But that only has 5 diamonds on each side, this quilt has 7. 

Playing around in Electric Quilt 8 I have these two ideas:

One Central Block, with the center square and rectangles pieced in

Four separate blocks, much easier to make

I studied the original at the museum and I am sure the center block is pieced in--there are no seams in the center white square. I didn't think to check the white rectangles but it stands to reason they were also pieced in.

Making four separate blocks would be easiest for a machine pieced quilt.

The fact there are 6 diamonds on a side instead of 7 doesn't bother me, at least not enough to redraw the entire star to have 7 as the original does. 

I was able to use the diagram from EQ8 to determine yardage. I have plenty of fabrics what will work for the colored diamonds and the squares on point on the border. The white background requires more than 4 yards. That might mean I have to use more than one white. Easy enough.

My first quick "fabric pull" for Bucket List Quilt #2. Turns out I do have enough of a white solid for the background to be all the same fabric:

I want to hand quilt this one so the solid background is the best choice.

This will be fun!

Let's quilt.

Barbara