Saturday, December 16, 2017

Still Sewing Stars - and a Tulip Quilt Finish!

Hi friends. I can’t believe how quickly the weeks are flying by. Christmas is only 9 days away!

But let’s talk about quilting first, shall we?  On Thursday Bruce and I went to visit our friends Mike and Terri, who live about 30 minutes away. Terri had finished binding The Tulip Quilt that we did together.  She had sent me this picture of her Quilt Supervisor Trixie doing the final inspection. It passed!


You can see the backing fabrics. The majority of the back is the green and pink and gold floral, with a stripe of the pink and white at the bottom back and in the binding. Isn’t it lovely how Terri curves the corners? She is able to do this with regular (not bias) binding.


There’s also one tulip on the back (not shown) that bisects the pink and white fabric. We used it as the quilt label to put in all the information.  :-)  In the pictures you can see more of the added texture of the looping vine quilting I did. One loop is a heart, and that is a sort of “Where’s Waldo?” kind of thing. Only Terri and I know where it is!

The guys took our picture standing on the hearth holding the quilt. This is officially done and ready for gifting. It looks like all three couples will likely get together sometime between Christmas and New Year.  The com


This quilt is my Finish Along Quarter 4 goal #1. Not my first finish of the quarter, just goal #1. My list is HERE.

And then there are the Friendship Stars. It’s slow going because of my process. With every row I add, I starch (using Best Press) and press most of the seams open. Then I trim each block before sewing them together. There is probably not a single perfect block among the 200+ that I sewed, but that’s OK with me. They are going together well. Look at those fun, happy colors!


I’ve noticed that the busy-ness of the pattern really forgives and hides the piecing imperfections. And that has helped me relax and enjoy this as I put it together. Matching so many seams is pleasant work, and it helps keep everything lined up.  Below is a shot of the right side with the white inner border sewn on. The blue blocks are just pinned for now.


For a galaxy of other rainbow projects and finishes (including other lovely star projects), why not beam over to Angela’s Scrappy Saturday linky party?


I’ll work on the blue round this week, but it will be between so many other things. My regular sewing day with Cousin Kim is tomorrow, and I hope to get a start on Clue #4 for Bonnie Hunter’s On Ringo Lake Mystery Quilt Along. And maybe get the white border on Starry Starry Quilt and begin the blues.

Today I have a Christmas recital to attend this afternoon for granddaughter Lauren. Then she'll be over on Thursday for a baking day. We’ll be doing sugar cookies and biscotti.  But honestly, I’m marking time by counting the days that my daughter Megan flies in from Seattle to spend a week with us. She arrives next Friday - only 6 days from today! There is so much to do in preparation for her visit and for Christmas.

And argggghhh! Last night I was up until almost midnight, reading. My ebook was expiring in one day, and I made it to the epilogue. I had seven e-pages (about three regular pages) left when it expired. Couldn’t turn the page. So, Bruce and I need to have a coffee date at Barnes & Noble so I can find the book and read the last few pages.  (#storyofmylife)

Cathy maroon

13 comments:

  1. At least with a hard copy book one can choose to pay a day overdue fine to finish it (ask me how I know). Both quilts are so pretty, but that RSC one just glows doesn't it?

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  2. I'm not a fan of e-books for that very reason....give me a 'real' book any day! Not a fan of the 'read-to-me' books either....I know myself well enough to know that I would either lose total track of the story or I'd totally stop stitching to listen and thus never get anything done. It has to be so exciting to know your family will be arriving soon!

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  3. Your rainbow quilt looks so bright and cheerful. The tulip one is really precious. It must be the colors or my memories of tulip fiends in WA. A super binding on that one. No sewing done today, just blogging. I signed up for Scrap Attack with Sarah at Fabric Addict, a fun way to meet goals. Have a wonderful time with your daughter and the whole family.

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  4. What a lot of spring cheer you have going on. And I'm glad to see you had a quilt inspector because Alfie and Darla seem to be slacking off. And I bet they memorized the last three pages and are keeping them a secret.

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  5. Your tulip quilt is beautiful, Cathy, and what a special gift for your friend! Enjoy your time with your daughter! We have our guys home this weekend, and are having such a great time. It will feel to Mike and I like Christmas is already over by next week at this time!

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  6. What beautiful quilts! That tulip quilt is especially pretty! Whomever gets that will be thrilled, I'm sure. I know I would be.

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  7. Love how the tulip quilt turned out - so soft and snuggly looking!

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  8. The tulip quilt is just gorgeous! The rounded borders really add a lot to the finished project. I'll have to try that on one of mine.

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  9. LOVE your Tulip Quilt, really beautiful. Friendship Stars coming along beautifully too. Happy Christmas 🎄

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  10. Congrats! on the Team Tulip finish. Those Friendship Stars are coming together beautifully!! Try to relax about the Christmas prep. Your daughter is coming to see YOU (and Bruce)... not the house!!!

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  11. Who needs perfect? Friendship stars looks pretty awesome to me!

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  12. Congratulations on the Tulip-y finish! It is a gorgeous piece and your friend is going to ADORE it!

    You're right about how forgiving the friendship stars are. I wonder if maybe that's how they got their name? :)

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  13. I love the tulips! Such pretty colors. Now I am thinking spring for sure!

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