There’s a bit of a story to this one.
First, the before shot.
Now the after photo and the story. There was a planned power outage in our building earlier this week. We knew about it last week. They were doing some work that required power to the complex to be shut down for five or six hours. We knew when it was going to go off. But at the time we were about to be plunged into the dark, I was busy adding the setting diamonds to this particular butterfly kaleidoscope star.
Did I stop stitching? No, of course not! I was determined. So I finished stitching it by flashlight. And not just any flashlight. The building management had delivered LED flashlights to all the suites. Those things produce an incredible amount of light and it was actually not that difficult to stitch by flashlight. I don’t think I would have attempted to do that though without the perfect stitching lines printed on the back of my fabrics with Inklingo. That made it easy to stitch – even if it was by flashlight.
Last night I did a quick count and I only have 14 more of the stars to finish before I can start setting them. If I did nothing else this weekend, I think I could get them finished. But this weekend I’ll be working on getting a baby quilt quilted. At least during the daylight hours I will be. For some reason, sitting at the sewing machine at night is something I avoid as much as I possibly can. So the evenings will be my time to work on the kaleidoscope stars.
“After the Rain”
Jake loves to sleep with a Cappy.
Baxter in his usual spot atop the kitty tree. Mr. Q.O. captioned this one, “King of the Jungle.”
Quilt Obsession 
I must agree with you. I prefer machine sewing in daylight hours and hand stitching in the evenings. I look forward to seeing the kaleidoscope stars set.
LikeLike
Cathi, I am loving your stars, great stitching story by LED and of course with Inklingo to guide the way. Those kitties are so fun to watch, I think the two “poses” seem to reflect their personalities well. Mr. Q’s “King of the Jungle” title made me laugh. I’m just finishing up a baby quilt too. It is made of pinwheels done using triangle shapes from Lemoyne Star with Inklingo. I used a fluffy bat and tied it, so technically I guess it’s a quilt/comforter or a “quiltforter”.
LikeLike
Cathi, I’m with you on machine stitching by daylight even though I have good light in my sewing room – eyes get tired by the end of the day, so mistakes can be made. Flashlights are a great idea! Baxter and Jake probably didn’t worry if the lights were on or not.
LikeLike
LED flashlights can be great can’t they – we are in a not scheduled power outage right now from the storm yesterday!
LikeLike
Just a bit of what the pioneers faced with sewing by their kerosene lamp! But with a bad needle, no air conditioning, not much heat! 🙂
LikeLike
I hope your building stayed cool during the power outage. Summer is the worst time for these sorts of things. I’m trying to pick a favorite from your stars but it really is impossible to do. Love the cat photos 🙂
LikeLike
Did Mr.Q.O. hold the flashlight? Or perhaps you could have tied it to the kitty tree to finish your stitching. We quilters become very resourceful when we want to continue our project. The swiming outfits of Alien and the Kittens are very”fab.”
LikeLike
Hi Cathi, Could you please give me some direction in how you are choosing fabric to make your Butterfly Kaleidoscope stars? Large prints, small prints, mostly florals, etc. I’m stuck on choosing fabric. 😦 Thanks so much, Susan
LikeLike
I’m with you on sewing machines at night. If course, I have trouble making myself sit at one during the day, too 🙂
You’re making good progress on these stars.
Love that pic of Jake. There’s something about a circular cat 🙂
LikeLike
I also restrict my machine sewing to the daytime – I find that if I sew after about 6pm then I risk getting a little carried away and sewing for far too long. The teatime dog walk is generally my cut-off point! Evenings are definitely for hand sewing/crochet/knitting!
P.S. Only a dedicated hand piecer would be sewing during a power cut – bravo!!!
LikeLike