What Happened to Sedona Star?

Some of you may be wondering what has happened with my Sedona Star project.  The truth is that it is not at all forgotton.  In fact, I am looking at this pile of half done blocks and templates every day!

Every time I sew I have to move this pile off my sewing table, so believe me, the project is still top-of-mind for me!  In the pile you can see:

• Some of the Month 5 units, still in their baggie,
• Some fused practice circles, which I probably could throw out now,
• Fabric strips and templates for my remaining Month 2 paper-pieced blocks,
• The assembled ring template for Month 1, which I am going to redo with different colours,
• The paper original for Month 2, which I basically use as a "tray" to move it all neatly.

It has been like this since at least June, maybe longer.

But, while it wasn't sewing, I have done some more planning on Sedona Star this week.  Here's my test modification to Month 6:

I always felt that the applique blocks looked a little crowded, to my eye at least.  And I know that my satin stitch is going to make them a little bigger.  So my idea was to use my photocopier to shrink the appliques.  Here I cut out the middle of the template, copied it at 95%, and laid out the shapes in the original sized frame.  I am quite pleased with the result!  It is a subtle modification, but to me it feels more relaxed.

My plan is to set up the blocks with the paper-pieced borders first, and then just lay out the applique shapes by eye and fuse them all down.  This is one time when my low tech sewing room will probably make my life easier!  It is nice to have that flexibility sometimes.

Unwelcome Visitor

Not ten minutes after my last post, we noticed this guy in our backyard:

Yes, it's a skunk.  We smell them from time to time in the evening, and run around closing all the windows, but a daylight sighting is unusual.  We think this one is still young.

Our birdbath is quite a popular watering hole.  It is often stuffed to the brim with migrating birds in the spring and fall.  The sparrows especially like to all pile in at once.  Sometimes I think it would be a great location for a webcam!

And sometimes we have take the bad along with the good.  I suppose all God's creatures have some (inscrutable) role to play!

50 Blocks Done

Today I finished the last three nine-patch blocks, and got them all up on my "design wall." That is one of the most fun parts, isn't it?

I didn't want to over think the layout here.  I put mostly darker blocks around the edges, because those will show dirt less over time.  I broke up any glaring light patches, and tried not to have the same fabric in two adjacent blocks.  Then I took the photo and packed it up again.

This quilt is a lot more interesting close up, rather than from further back.  I think it's main claim to fame is the variety of fabrics - from batiks to prints, modern, retro and reproduction.  You can find some close ups of the blocks in previous posts.

I am pretty sure now that this will be the first quilt that makes it all the way to the end.  It's been a long time coming!

Backwards and Forwards on Celtic Spring

There has been a fair bit of work done on Celtic Spring since the last time I showed it, but it has not all been forward progress!  Once I decided to stitch all the gold braid double, I also decided to remove most of the previous gold stitching that had been done single.  This necessitated taking out some of the other stitching around those areas as well.  The main areas that were affected were the left side border, and the front of the underskirt.

The gold sure looks nice, though:

I also decided to keep all the backstitching to just a single strand.  When I squinted at the small blurry picture that comes with the chart, it seemed to me that the backstitching had been done double. But, when I tried it both ways, I preferred the more delicate effect that a single strand achieves:

The chart also calls for a dark quarter stitch to fill in the eye, but I left it unstitched to give the effect of a highlight.

I am very keen to start putting in some of the beads.  There are lots!  But I don't want the stitching to become awkward to hold, so I think I need to give that some more thought.  I know from experience that doing all the beads at once can be tiresome too, so balance is key!

I'd rather hoped to be further along on this by now, but, you know, life gets in the way sometimes!

Actual Quiltmaking

The stars aligned and today I finally was able to return to my sewing machine.  What a relief!  First on list to finish is that nine patch quilt that's been lost in the confusion. There were seven blocks left, but I only got four done because the phone guy showed up an hour early.

For new readers, these are repurposed 2.5" squares that I originally cut for another quilt.  That was probably two years ago now! My cutting skills were less developed then. These fabrics are not washed either, so it will be exciting to see what happens during the first wash.

Weather permitting, I hope to make a lot of progress tomorrow.  Happy quilting!

You're the Creator

This is post number 100 on my blog today.  I wanted something special for it, but all I really had planned was a book review tomorrow.  But then this plum fell into my lap over at the Piece O'Cake blog!  It could not be more perfect.

This is your world, you're the creator
Every day is a good day when you...

You can also download the song for free, or name your own price, here.   Happy creating everyone!

Back to Normal, Hopefully!

I just have a little point-and-shoot camera, it's the HP Photosmart R817, but it certainly takes great macro shots!  This is a new Black-Eyed Susan that we have in our garden.  It was planted two years ago, and this is the first time it has bloomed.  But boy, has it bloomed!

I think these late summer flowers are my favourites.  I'd love to get some cosmos too, but I think our yard is too shady for them.  We only get sun at the very end of the day.  It is great light for photos, though.

Our basement is pretty much sorted, now.  It is actually better than it was before, because we took out some old built-ins, and now I have more room for my stash!

I've also finished the new website for my quilt guild Rouge Valley.  Check it out here.  I'm trying to stop tinkering with it now, and get back to this blog on a more regular basis.  It was a fun project, though.  I realized yesterday that at least with the website done, I can feel that I accomplished something over the summer, given that I haven't been able to quilt at all.  My online friend Anna Maria Salehar calls the work on her website "electronic embroidery," so maybe my work on the guild website has been "electronic quilting."  ;)

It is certainly nice to be back to normal, anyway!