Seeing Stars ... not really!

I am participating in Cécile and Béa sew along. I got my stars ...

... but they don't line up.

Love this.

Love this.

Lo... nope!

The warm colors are so nice on the grey background but the blue one does nothing to me. I don't know what to do. Sigh!

We are passed the middle of January and all I have are three stars not even completely done. I need 16 stars! This is taking way more time than I obviously have. I need to do something that doesn't take that long so sew.

On Facebook, I saw a participant making Ohio Stars. I love Ohio Star. So, Ohio, I go! Ran down stairs and whipped up one Ohio Star block.

Love this.

This morning I made two more.

Not sure what happened to the orange one but it definitely needs some plastic surgery. The blue is so yellow. It steals the show, don't you think? Am I going soft colors or bold? I don't know. Sigh! I've been following patterns for so long that I don't know how to play anymore. :^(
I hope my creativity will resurface soon.

Btw, I don't have giant pins. The pattern for my Ohio Stars comes from the 365 Challenge. They measure 3.5 inches to finish at 3.

My design wall this morning.


Meanwhile, because there's always a "meanwhile in Canada", when the centre where I work moved, the employees were allowed to take the furniture home (after all the other departments took whatever they needed).

I came home with these two pieces.

If you're thinking that I "just threw stuff on the shelves", you are absolutely right. In an attempt to get rid of some bins and boxes, things were roughly stacked up. Since I was able to close the doors, it was acceptable ... at that time. Now? Not so much.

My goal this year is to make basket à la Fiona. The second unit has nice shelves to hold an array of colorful baskets. (Never mind the blue dots. They are made of fabric and came from a gifted bag of scraps. I just slapped them there as the interfacing was still tacky.)

As I am putting away the blues and browns leftover from the 365, I am cutting up a kit. (I am running low on sewing capsules.)

Adding the grey fabrics from the applique stars too. It will be a quilt for my man, not that I am starting something new. No, no, not yet anyway, haha.

And since 365 blocks have vacated this container I am putting it to good use again. It is holding the 4 patch blocks that are now 2x8 units for my Field of Poppies. So many more to sew. Fun!

That's all for now.

;^)

Joining
Angela at So Scrappy
Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework
Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching
Denise at For the Love of Geese

Last Song of the Blues

After many years (from 2016 to 2019) ....

of counting how many pieces ...

there is in each block ...

Counting how many seams left to sew ...

4 ...

feels weird. Really!

3 ...

I went from love to hate with this quilt.

2 ...

Some blocks I love ...

Others ... argh!

1 ...

Some I've just skipped altogether, ha!

0 ...
I just can't believe I have made 365 blocks for ONE quilt.

Ten thousand, eight hundred and twenty one pieces later ...

Here is Echo Beach.

From the beginning, I saw an island at low tide when the beach is peppered with

puddles. The sand is sometimes dry and white, sometimes it's wet or it's covered

in sea weeds then it's very dark. Haha! I know, I know, I have too much imagination.

I didn't follow the original layout as far as the corners go.

She put the basket towards the center and the flowers to the edge.

But I didn't want the baskets upside down when I lay the quilt on my bed.

It even made an appearance on Show and Tell with the Artisanat on Tuesday. I was a very proud mother.  :^D

The next time you will see this quilt it will be quilted. (in about another three years time, lol.)


;^)

Joining
Sarah at Confession of a Fabric Addict
Angela at So Scrappy
Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework
Denise at For the Love of Geese
Kelly at My Quilt Infatuation

365 Challenge in the New Year and Green

The New Year started with a fresh layer of snow. It makes everything so beautiful and new. I love it.

It was nice weather for sewing. And I did.

Worked on my 365 Challenge quilt, turning the little 3.5 inches blocks into pairs. Checking if two of the same fabric are not next to each other.

I have a lot to choose from ...

I mean 128 blocks to choose from.

But it was fun revisiting them one at a time. Some I don't remember sewing. Yeah it's been that long in the making but it is coming to an end.

Remember  when I said I wouldn't trim the block because I didn't want it to come undone? I've done that a lot of times. This is really slowing me down now. (Don't look at my cutting board. Santa forgot my new one under his sleigh seat.)

Matching them up with the lighter border. I'm turning into a very good matchmaker. ;^D  I work with three at a time as I don't like sewing long seams.

On the floor, between the sewing machine and the iron board, are the next rows to be sewn.
In my last post about the 365 Challenge I didn't mention the stats for December.
The total of pieces for that month was 1497. At my "Ta-Dah moment" I'll let you know how many pieces for the entire quilt. Brace yourself.

My leader- ender while sewing 365 Challenge is little 4-patch blocks. They will be the first border for Field of Poppies, aka Good Fortune. They are done with green and whatever neutrals.

I was running low on neutrals so I got a gifted bag of scraps out and I found this.

Look at the names on this map. Wow Bobbinville does exist. Awesome! Scissor  Isle, Seams Isles and Binding Edge too. So cool.

To get there you need to cross the Patchwork Sea (?) Canal (?)

Cotton Heights and even Julie is there. I love this little piece of scrap!

And look! Debra's Studio is such an important studio that it has a button on the map. Oh! I want to go there. The fun it would be.

Okay, back to reality.

I also found a little piece of blue birds fabric in the scrap bag. It doesn't really work for the 4-Patch blocks but I just couldn't help turning it into a 9-Patch. They are always useful.

It just makes me smile. Simple thing, I know, but cute. I did turn the last little piece of the blue birds into a 4-Patch. Heck! Why not?

On the 4-Patch front, I am almost done. I need 116 for the first row and I now have 95 done. Gosh! Can I get two tops done soon?

I want to participate more this year in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge that Angela so kindly do every Saturday. I haven't picked a block (or blocks) yet. I'm sure something will come up. It always does.


;^)

Joining
Angela at So Scrappy
Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework

Les étoiles de Cécile

New year; new project.


Cécile and Béa started their annual sew-along and the theme this year is Star. Whatever kind of star you wish to sew is okay. The only two rules which are 1- a minimum of 16 star blocks and 2- it needs to be finish for May 31, 2020.

If you wish to join, you can do so here. But hurry, the registration closes on January 15. There's some wonderful prizes to be won.

If you just want to see the parade of beautiful quilts, you can join the FB group here.

So far, I have made :

Quilty Friends which was inspired by Cécile sew-along.

Then there was the basket quilt...

... which I didn't finished. It is still waiting to be quilted.


And this year, it's stars.

Last summer, I got from an online store, a set of templates for English Paper Piecing. All kind of shapes are included and they come in three different sizes. I have the outline and the full template.

It looks like a lot of fun, right? I don't know 'cause I haven't tried them yet.


Cécile's Stars quilt is the perfect opportunity to give it a try. So, I picked out the diamonds and started to trace them onto fabrics.

Okay, it's not perfect but it's the first time I work with diamonds. I'll learn along the way I'm sure.

Of course, orange and blue had to be my first choice of fabric. :^D

So I need to do 16 of these and then what? Uh .. I'll applique them on ... something ... neutral? Or should I add little diamonds on the sides so I can attach them all together? Hmmm! I'll sleep on that.

Stay tuned.

;^)


Joining Denise at For the Love of Geese
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Angela at So Scrappy
Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework
Kathy at Kathy Quilts