Texas Braid and Ohio Stars

Recently I taught a Texas Braid quilt class, based on the Texas Braid quilt in Bonnie Hunter's book Adventures in Leaders and Enders.  My sample is King-size:

One of the students was in this class the last time I taught it, five years ago.  She put it aside.  When she saw the class was back on the schedule she knew this was the nudge she needed to get it done:

Joyce hard at her task

Success!  The first two braids are sewn together!

She was so happy to get to this point and is now determined to keep going.  She told the other students, several times, "Don't put it away, keep working on it."

Linda came to class very organized:

She had a plan--this quilt is for her daughter and is going in a very specific bedroom so more retail therapy was required:

Ruth was also organized, almost too organized, as she agonized over every fabric, is it dark or is it light or is it both:

 Once I showed her that it is "contrast" that does all the work, while "color" gets all the credit, she was able to relax and start sewing:

Holly is not afraid of color.  She jumped right in and starting piecing those braids, doing two at a time for speedy piecing:

It was a good day and I think everyone achieved what they hoped to in the class.  I had fun too.

Now I'm working on Random Ohio Stars, a gift for an old friend.  Today it was small 6" stars:

I even made 2 itty-bitty 3" stars.  And my Lifetime quilt leader/ender project saw some action as well--it practically makes itself.

Then I started putting blocks on the wall, hadn't planned to do that today but it's like Doritos:  you can't stop at just one.  Once you start you have to keep going until all the blocks you have are up there.  Layout 1:

Layout 2:

Layout 3:

There are seven more 6" blocks to make, that's tomorrow's task.  Then I'll play some more with the layout until I'm satisfied.  It gets a border print border as well, so I think I need to put that up there too before the decision is made.  Seeing the quilt in a photo helps SO much to see things you miss with the eye.  I'm leaning toward Layout 2 but see a few 6" solid blocks I want to move...

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

Easy Things and Others, Not So Much

I needed a break from tedious, really careful work so I started on a simple quilt that will be a gift for an old buddy. Random Ohio Stars, a free pattern from Bonnie Hunter:

The twelve 12" stars are done, now I need to make 13 more 6" stars and I'll also make two 3" stars.  I  must say, those 12" blocks feel huge to me, so much bigger than I usually deal with.

Then there are the four flying geese for Temecula's Wild Goose Wednesday project.  I love flying geese and always make four at a time.  Their size is 6" x 3" but after making a few of those I scaled down to 4" x 2"--I like this size much better:

I am getting a bit tired of my "Lifetime Leader/Ender Quilt" so decided to start joining it together. These are 1.25" finished Half Square Triangles, read more about this project here.  This is about one quarter of the finished quilt, I think. The Front:

The Back, more careful pressing is still required:

This week I've been free-motion quilting on Stella's Splendid Sampler.  Not the best quilting ever but this will be one of those "finished is better than perfect" quilts, full of love. There is a long way to go yet.  Here are  a few shots:

Stitch in the Ditch with the Line Tamer ruler

More Stitch in the Ditch

Stitch in the Ditch done

More Stitch in the Ditch

Free-Motion

More Free-Motion

Today I picked up "Stars in a Time Warp" from the quilter, Mechelle Armstrong of Magnolia Longarm Quilting.  She did a great job and I love the wool batting we selected, soft and with lovely loft.  I am eager to get the sleeve made and then sew it and the binding in place.  The label is ready and waiting:

Tomorrow I teach all morning, Saturday I teach all day, Sunday afternoon is a Quilt Show meeting I am involved in--when will I get more quilting done?  Next week...

And the next weekend:  Stella herself will be here--can't wait!  She is 22 months almost, scrumptious!

 She eats really well:  hummus, tomato, cucumber, peppers, yum!

Let's Quilt!

Barbara