Monday, July 25, 2016

little stars

The summer continues to fly by. I have sewn a few little stars here and there and tucked them away in this tin.  Right now it is sharing space with my leader/ender project of unbalanced 9 patches.  I'm over halfway with the 9 patches but not even 1/10th the way with these handpieced stars...  365 stars is A LOT!
 One day this tin will be full with just stars - right?  Today there are 31.
It seemed like a fun idea to play with setting fabric colors.  The Star a Day pattern has you put the stars together with a neutral for the alternate squares.  I think I want more color. 

Here's pink.
 And green.
 I kinda like this green :0)
 I will keep making stars for awhile before I decide.  I will try lots more options I'm sure.

Last week I biked from Canmore to Banff in the mountains with my oldest (taking the picture) and youngest daughters.  It was such a gorgeous day!  
I thought I'd sew some stars when we took breaks from cycling but I was too busy enjoying the view.

Happy Quilting!

Thursday, July 14, 2016

block one is done

The last couple of weeks have been a bit of a blur.  Lots of extended family stuff and many people staying with us.  Happily there are always a few minutes to sit and stitch in the evenings while visiting.  A couple of evenings ago I finished the first block of Radical Rose and Reel.  (Pattern from Collector with a Needle)
 

 I'm very happy with the mix of prints so far.  I will probably mix in a few more as I go along.  I'm also happy with a mix of back basting and needleturn applique. The back basting is going better but for the easier shapes needleturn is definitely faster and more relaxing to stitch. 

I debated awhile about the fabric choice for the very center piece.  I thought I might do it in navy but in the end I decided to keep it red. I have started prepping block #2   :0)
 

The garden blooms have been lovely this summer - this lily is a favorite.

Happy Quilting!!