Be Liberated! Go Wonky with a Star

A Wonky Star Block: note the uneven/unequal rays of the star points.

I began attending my local "chapter" of a Modern Quilt Guild in January this year. If you have an opportunity to be part of a guild, club, class, you'll be inspired like I am! I love seeing what people produce! Each month some members of the guild are participating in a "quilting bee exchange" in which we make blocks for one another according to the designated "queen bee's" instructions. For the Queen Bee of March, I made this star block yesterday which I'll be returning to her at tonight's meeting. Each of her blocks will be different color themes. She asked us to select fabrics from our stash according to the particular colorway of the fabric swatch she'd attached to each individual bag, in which she also included fabric bits for the wonky star's parts and 2 yummy pieces of chocolate. Great idea!

Notice how the seams are ironed on the back to interlock & reduce bulk.

Wonky stars, and other wonky patterns, are simple to make. They liberate the quilter, regardless of his/her level of experience, from the worry of matching points, being exact, and all the other "rules" that can intimidate us. My goal is to have fun and be creative by sewing something to enjoy as art; to inspire, soothe or create passion in a room; to grace a table as a runner or place-mat; to "garnish" my life and the lives of others in any number of ways: potholders, mug rugs, apron, jacket, handbag, and so much more! Let's not let the details get in our way. :-)


For tutorials on how to construct this block:

1. See Kat's instructions: http://flutterkat.com/2012/01/reverse-rainbow-starburst-block/
2. If you haven't discovered Jenny (specializing in fast, easy, and fun quilting) of the Missouri Star Quilt Company, you need to! See lots of incredible tutorials on their website, and her goal is usually. Here's her: Wonky Star Charm Pack Quilt

The block I constructed used 3.5" squares and finishes at 15.25". It wouldn't take long to produce and enjoy a quilt made with these delightful, liberating stars!

Linking up with friends at:

                   AND                      

Marriage Proposal, Engagement, Pillowcases!

Great News!

Our sweet-pea of a daughter became engaged to a lovely young man on March 9. Her fiance invited us to the after-event to surprise her. She had no idea all the plans he made to bring this about! Bobby graciously talked with my husband, her dad, to ask his "permission" to marry her a couple of weeks before the party at his parents' home.

So this called for something handmade, don't you think? I decided that I could do pillowcases in a week's time. It took a week to think about, plan, purchase more fabric :-), print a photo on fabric for the first time!, and then fit it all together. We're all on nice, happy new adventures!

I started with this lovely photo.

I printed it onto fabric prepared for inkjet printing.

And here are the results! Each gets their own pillowcase, to dream about one another, and when they come together in marriage, they have a set.

Now I may have to come up with a very special quilt. I have until late December, apparently.

I'm linking with "WIP Wednesday" with Lee at FreshlyPieced, and "Let's Bee Social" with Lorna at SewFreshQuilts.

                                                                          

Piles of Stars as the Mystery Quilt takes shape

I made 24 of these stars.
I hadn't sewn this one together yet.

 

I believe my "mystery quilt", made up of various stars, may turn out to be one of the loveliest I've ever sewn. I am really happy with how it's taking shape. Since January, each star and its position is revealed monthly, and there's still 3 months left!

Popular topics: Chicks & Spring!

My post with photos of the applique chicks and the flowers of spring really attracted viewers! Thank you all for stopping by. Either we're all desperate for spring (probably!), or everyone really likes chicks! My sister, Diana, says I need to work on bunny appliques next.

Besides playing with machine applique, I'm still working on the mystery quilt sponsored by Eleanor Burns. Here's a sneak peek at the current blocks on my design wall (felt fabric tacked to the wall) and border panels that I'm working on for this month:

This hasn't been sewn together yet.

One of the corners finished in the past 2 months.

For those of you who are desperate for spring, here's the latest bouquet:

Camellias & daffies :)

For those who love food, here's the buttermilk dark chocolate cake I'm making for my foreign student's birthday, homemade (even using my own vanilla extract!): 

Yum! Never forget to eat chocolate!

Little Dickens, rest in peace :(

Have a wonderfully creative day, 

whatever your endeavors! 

Spring Chicks...Is it too early??

Applique Chicks

It's WIP Wednesday!

I decided to applique some chicks with my machine. My Pfaff Creative Performance is only a little over a year old, and I still have so much to learn about it. In the past few months, thanks to my sister's interest in purchasing some appliques and embroideries online to use on my machine (see her creativity at: SewCraftyChick.blogspot.com), I followed their instructions and taught myself how to do applique. While it's a bit tedious and time intensive (changing threads frequently for color changes, adding fabric bits for parts, snipping fabric to stitch lines), I really like doing it. The appliques turn out cute, and, one part I really like, I get to use bits of fabric lying around--got plenty of that! So I went a bit "chick wild":

I also made some lavender scones (homemade!)  and picked some daffodils from the yard. The weather's getting spring-y!

Crocuses in the yard are blooming, too!

Linking up with:

Mystery Quilt Block 2: Alex's Star

I am enjoying the "reveal" of Eleanor Burn's mystery quilt block party--a new one each month for six months. I've never done a mystery quilt before, so I find it a little scary to commit to the fabrics, but committed I am now! I like some of the techniques that Eleanor teaches and she's been quilting for years.

Here's the new star I made for February, named after her special guest Alex Anderson:

 
I made 8 of these which were then joined to either side of January's stars named after special guest Marianne Fons. I'm excited to find out what the next star will be which will be revealed March 11.

Have you ever participated in a mystery quilt? Was it hard for you to wait and to select fabrics, too?

Happy WIP Wednesday!

What's in a Name? Fun with "Leftovers"

It's WIP (Works in Progress) Wednesday! I continue to make progress on that big queen-size folksy or homespun "Stack the Deck" quilt I'm making for my husband featured in last week's post (January 29). Will it be finished by Valentine's Day?? I doubt it... My sister and nieces came to our house for part of the weekend. We had a great time together, laughing, talking, eating a great lunch and dinner at restaurants in town (The Plank and Toshi's Ramen), and most of all, SEWING!! I worked on my quilt, putting long strips of vertical sashed rows together. My sister, Diana, tried her hand at sewing ovals, which she found discouraging. My oldest niece, Aubrey, made progress on a quilt she's making for her in-laws.

This is NOT the in-law quilt. I believe the pattern for this quilt is called "Hip to be Square" by Me and My Sister Designs which she's making for a friend, a generous and talented young lady!

Yesterday I worked on machine embroidery. I produced a quilt label for my sister (SewCraftyChick.blogspot.com). Then I pulled out some "leftovers" from machine quilting practice and scraps of fabric to make mug rugs or coasters for the two international university students living with us. With a little machine embroidery, they now know where to place their beverage glasses and cups on the kitchen counter! Keep in mind these little items are not "professional", they're just "experiments" that are imperfect but fun to make.

One student from Saudi Arabia and one from Japan

No more overloading the dishwasher daily with a ZILLION glasses and cups they've used throughout the day, a little pet peeve of mine. Perhaps they'll learn our custom of re-using them throughout the day, and then getting out new ones for the next day. It's not unlike little children (and even some BIG children) changing their clothes frequently in one day and throwing whatever they've rejected on to the floor, or into the dirty clothes basket...they're usually still clean! (I hear there's even adults who do this, LOL.) What's the custom in your home?

Have fun with your leftovers, too! It's fun to create.