Scrappy Star Again

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Quiltobsession

After finishing the flannel top, I needed to do some hand piecing. Another round is added to scrappy star and it’s now 29 inches. I think it’s going to end up about twice the size it is now.

I’m glad I decided to press after each round as it only takes a few minutes. I can’t imagine leaving this whole thing to press until the end.

I’ve started hand quilting Ferris Wheel and am much happier with the look. It was worth the time it took to take out the machine quilting I had done.

Baxter has been very busy watching leaves flying by the window.

Scrappy Star, Round 4

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Quiltobsession

The star is growing. I’ll keep adding rounds until it’s wide enough for a lap quilt. Then I’ll sort out how to add length to it, possibly with a couple of rows of small stars at the top and bottom. The round of squares isn’t added yet, but that’s not going to take long. It’s adding the diamonds in each round that takes the longest, particularly as it grows in size.

Over the years, I’ve tried numerous thimbles for hand quilting and, while some of them have seemed better than others, all of them have eventually resulted in hand issues for me. Then I heard about this, the hand-held quilting thimble from the House of Quilting. After about half an hour of practising with it, I was thrilled. It’s simple to get used to, makes it easy to get small even stitches and doesn’t seem to cause any hand fatigue. It’s even easy to quilt through intersections where many seams meet. Over the next few days, I’ll spend some more time getting used to it and then it’s going to be time to get started on that stack of 14 tops waiting for quilting.

Baxter’s markings are starting to show more and more. He has two rings, one on either side, just at his shoulders which I’ve dubbed the Baxter crop circles. This photo was taken as he was resting up, waiting for yogourt time. Yes, we have another kitty who loves a yogourt treat. When he sees the yogourt container come out of the refrigerator, he practically climbs up our legs to get his treat.

Scrappy Star, Round Three

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Quiltobsession

While other projects have jumped to the front of the queue, Scrappy Star is not being neglected. Each round takes a bit longer but I’m finding that adding the next round of diamonds and squares only takes a couple of evenings of stitching. It’s fun to see it grow as each round is added and is about 19.5″ now.

When hand piecing, I often leave pressing until a block is finished. Not with this one. It only takes a minute to press after each round is added. That way, when I add the final round, it won’t take long to press it.

Edited to add: The diamonds are 2.44″ from tip to tip and the squares are 1.32″. I used the free Inklingo collection to print the shapes on my fabric.

Baxter lost/hid Cappy, his favourite toy, for a while on Wednesday. After looking under every piece of furniture and behind closet and cupboard doors, Cappy was finally found in the very last place I thought to look. He has refined his game with it to the point that he drops it at my feet and meows so that I look down. When he finally decided to have a rest, he made sure Cappy was close by.

Scrappy Star Is Growing

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Quiltobsession

It’s getting bigger with each round of squares and diamonds. And it’s taking longer to add each round. I’m still deciding whether to make it a one-block quilt or whether I’ll make 4 or 6 of these blocks. Once I get this first block to a larger size, I’ll make that decision.

Once again, it pressed easily.

Baxter was peering over the arm of the chair as I was stitching. Within a few seconds, he would be on my lap attacking the fabric pieces.

More Scrappy Star

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Quiltobsession

The next round of diamonds is added. As each round of diamonds or squares is added, it grows and is taking a bit longer to stitch. The squares for the next round are waiting to be added and then I’ll have to sit down and figure out which fabrics to use in the following diamond round as I’m trying to not have the same fabrics too close together.

It took no time to press after adding this round.

Baxter was a bit sleepy, I think, when this photo was taken. It appears that we have another kitty with odd drinking habits. It’s hard to describe. He lays down on his side beside the water bowl, with his back to the bowl, and then reaches his head over his shoulder and drinks. When he finishes, the back of his neck and one side of his head is soaking wet. We’re going to try to get video of him drinking like that as it’s much funnier to see than to read about it.

Scrappy Star Beginning

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Quiltobsession

Mr. Q.O. was quite taken with the little quilt seen here, and dropped some hints, so I’ve started a lap quilt for him. This is the beginning of one of the blocks. It’s a fun and easy stitch, which is exactly what I want right now. At this stage, it’s approximately 10.75″. I plan on adding more rounds of squares and diamonds to this block. Then I’ll decide on the rest of the design.

I’m pressing with the iron after adding each round of squares and diamonds. I finger press as I go, so it takes only a few seconds with the iron and the pressing is done.

Baxter was 4 months old yesterday. It seems like yesterday that we brought him home. Now that he has discovered Cappy, he likes to keep it close. So close, in fact, that he sleeps on it.

Big Pink Star Quilt

Posted on October 20, 2010 by Quiltobsession

An inelegant name for this quilt but so far that’s the best I can come up with. This block measures 18″ tip to tip. At the moment, I’m thinking about using only this pink fabric and the cream and making a total of 9 of these stars. That would give me a 54″ square centre and then I think I’d do something with a border that included some smaller stars. That’s a very preliminary plan. Putting the star together was fun as there were tons and tons of opportunities for continuous stitching.

Pressing it was quick and easy to do, as I pressed after each round of diamonds was added to the centre star. The back:

I was notified yesterday that Chintz Circles had won the contest — so thank you to everyone who voted for it! I’m thrilled it won and can’t wait to call my aunt today to tell her that her quilt won in an online quilt contest. I think she’ll get a kick out of it.

The trip to the vet’s office with Lester didn’t start well. He really did not want to go in the carrier and we were both afraid he’d have a heart attack as he was getting very stressed. We were literally at the point of giving up and just calling the vet to describe his symptoms when we were able to finally get him in the carrier without causing him more stress. He has an upper respiratory infection which is apparently not uncommon in kitties who have HCM. So he’s back on antibiotics, but a different one this time. The difference within a few hours of his first dose was incredible. He spent a lot of time curled up resting on the pink couch, and we’re all feeling much better now having seen the huge improvement.