Pickled Star Clam quilt | Quilt Obsession

The pickled clams of one sort or another have clearly taken over! Thanks to Inklingo, these blocks are very simple to stitch — but without it, I can’t imagine tackling them. Another four of the pickled star clams were added this week, creating a new blue star at the intersection. It’s difficult to get a good shot without a design wall as it is growing rather quickly. I’m thinking it’s not going to take long to make this lap quilt as this one is being made with the 11″ clamshells.

A close-up of the little star shows that it too has a very gentle curve along one edge of each piece.

The back.

All the Pickled Ladies done so far. There are another 15 or so fussy cut/printed clamshells waiting for their arcs. On the weekend, I’m going to go through more of the shabby chic fabrics looking for others that will work for the fussy cutting/printing.

Thursday was a rainy, dark, dismal day and the kitties were snoozing. However, earlier in the week we took a series of photos of each of them on the windowsill. Lester was looking out the window.

While Smudge was posing and showing off his magnificent tail.

This was one of the other ideas that I couldn’t resist with the Pickled Clamshell collections. At each intersection of 4 pickled clamshells a little sparkly star will appear. For this one, I’m using the 11″ size and plan on making it 66″ x 66″. I’m using four colours for the little stars — lime green, a darker green, blue and purple. There are starfish so I figure these are star clams, even if they are pickled! If you click on the photo to enlarge it, the star shows up a bit better.

Because I’m using four different colours for the little stars, sorting out which colour to use for each end piece in the arcs was my first step. With each of the Clamshell Pickle collections there are layout pages which are invaluable when planning a quilt like this. I worked out my colour placement over the weekend, and started stitching. As I complete each pickled clam, I check it off on the layout page and can tell at a glance what pieces to use at the ends of the next arc. The back:

Wednesday was a rather unsettled day — cool with sunshine in the morning which was quickly replaced by clouds and windy conditions in the afternoon. We have tickets for the Jays game tonight and, as I don’t think it will be very warm at all, I’ll be grateful the roof is closed!

Wednesday was a find a cozy spot and snooze day for the kitties. Lester in one cat bed.