Preparing the Templates for Sedona Star

Well, I had a busy weekend.  I finally started Sedona Star!  Hard to believe, I know.  :)

Saturday night I put together the templates.  What a tricky job!  I have a feeling this was probably the most fiddly bit of the whole quilt.  But, if they are right, everything will go smoothly, so I didn't rush it.

The grey gridlines were a huge help.  I ended up cutting the templates just a millimetre or two away from the outside gridline, and butting them up against the edge of my Olfa mat, which I used as a ruler.  This allowed me to make sure that the overall measurement was 12" for the inside template, and 18" for the outside one.

I am using the Ricky Tims Stable Stuff for my templates.  As designer Sarah Vedeler suggested, I used Lite Steam-A-Seam 2 in the 1/4" width to hold them together.  It was pretty convenient to use, and held the pages together well.  Before I tried it I was worried about it adding bulk to the quilt. I found, however, that there is almost nothing to it, so added weight is not a worry.

There were no gridlines for Template 2, which is the ring with the appliqued circles.  To make sure that it would fit properly inside the outer ring, I used the assembled Template 3 as a guide:

I carefully lined up the solid stitching lines on each template (not the cutting lines!).  Template 3 has convenient marks for each section of Template 2, so it is easy to lay it right in place.  I worked my way around the ring, ironing each section to the previous one as I went:

I am not ironing the two layers together, just using the bottom layer as a guide.  Once it was finished, I knew it would fit into the outer ring perfectly.

Hopefully, with these tricks in my toolbox, assembling the templates in future months will be less painful.  Fortunately, the paper piecing on Sunday went really well.  I'll show you tomorrow!

A Few More Collector Blocks

Sedona Star was on my calendar today for the third time, but my dad had already claimed the dining room table this morning, so I still haven't been able to cut the fabric.  No worries though, I had a very satisfying day putting together some more of my square-in-a-square Collector blocks:

They are not all going to be green, it just so happened that I hit the green part of the pile today.  The upper middle fabric, with the zebra, is possibly my favourite fabric in the whole quilt.  It is from the Jolly Jungle collection that came out a couple of years ago.  The whole collection was unbelievably cute, but I managed to only buy a few.  It sold like hotcakes at the local store where I bought it.

This is turning into a really fun quilt.  And I LOVE paper piecing!  I am so keen to get started on Sedona Star.  The dining room table is clear now, so I may still cut the fabrics tonight.  Have a great weekend everyone!

Connecting Threads

All right, maybe this is a stretch, but for Book Review Day I am going to talk about the March 2012 Connecting Threads catalogue, which just came in the mail yesterday.

Already well used!

I have become totally addicted to Connecting Threads.  I first bought some fabric from them a couple of years ago - the Wrap It Up collection - and I was not impressed.  The colours seemed grey, and there was a strong chemical smell.  But I kept getting the catalogues, and they have so many great easy patterns, and for Canadians especially the prices are awesome, so I tried them again last fall.  Big improvement!  Saturated colours, and no unusual smell beyond the normal new fabric smell.  Some of them shrink quite a bit in the wash, but then again, so do many "premium" fabrics.  I don't know if I would make a complex heirloom project with these fabrics, but for fun, practical throws and bed quilts they are excellent.

The new fabric collection for this catalogue is Sweetgrass Prairie, which has a lot of small calico prints, including a lot of good light prints.  I find it challenging to find a good selection of light prints these days, so I am very tempted by this collection.  I particularly love this quilt, designed by Mari Martin for the collection:

Sorry about the glare!

It's not a great photo, but you can see it online here.  I love the way this quilt is scrappy yet unified, and I like the fresh colours. This would be a great pattern for a lot of my really old stash calicos as well.  I'd be able to mix old and new.  Argh, I'm so tempted!

If that wasn't enough, I also really like the Pearadise collection by Jenni Calo:

I could use the two dark prints for my Collector quilt, which still needs more darks. I love the scattered apples and pears in the middle, and the dots and cross hatched blenders would be useful too.

Sigh.  I have a huge backlog of quilts that I already have fabric for, and there is no way that I need more.

I do want to reiterate what a great deal Connecting Threads is for Canadians, though.  Americans can find reasonably priced quilt fabric all over, but in Canada it is very dear, and the shipping and duty charges can be painful for imported fabric.  Connecting Threads has a flat rate $7 shipping charge to Canada, and they pre-calculate the duty, so it is extremely reasonable to buy from them.  They also have many great deals on notions and supplies.  Other international readers are out of luck, though, because I think they still only ship to North American addresses.

Me?  I guess I'll keep thinking about it for now...