Christmas Stars

Lori brought 2 quilts that she had quilted for me when she came to our mini retreat. The Christmas Stars quilt came along to retreat with me. 

I sewed the binding Saturday evening and she was a finish by 10 pm! Both sides were machine stitched. When I machine stitch binding, I sew the binding onto the backside then turn to the front for top stitching. Not all quilters do it that way but that is what works for me. When I hand bind, I stitch the binding onto the front then turn to the back for hand stitching. I only hand bind special quilts, quilts that I hand quilt. Machine stitching is so much faster!

The design Lori used was a perfect, it's a holly design with circles, so cute. And the red thread looks so nice!

I thought I had posted when Christmas Stars was in the flimsy stage but I can't find one. The last post I find is when the blocks were arranged on the display floor in August. Those blocks were on the floor for two weeks and I checked them several times looking for mis-sewn blocks.

When I displayed the finished quilt at retreat, someone noticed a block that was incorrect. They asked me if I did that on purpose. No, I did NOT!

That's a bunch of nonsense about Amish women purposely adding a mistake to their quilts. They're just like me, they don't purposely make mistakes, they just happen!

For backing fabric I used the red/beige fabric I had considered adding as a border. You all quickly dispelled that idea, this fabric was perfect for backing. The backing needed to be pieced and I added other Christmas fabric. Years ago I had participated in a Christmas block exchange. These blocks were never used so I added them here.

Here is a closeup of the quilting on white fabric, isn't this design fantastic?!

For now Christmas Stars measures 83" by 89". She'll shrink whenever she gets washed. 

I haven't decided if she's going to hang in the rafters or if she'll be displayed on a bed during the Christmas season.

Linking to Needle & Thread Thursday, TGIFF!, Peacock Party, Whoop Whoop Party, Finished or Not  Friday, Patchwork & Quilts

Christmas Stars

I finally got all the star blocks pieced and arranged last week on the display floor. 

I'll wait a week before sewing into rows to make sure I don't have the same fabrics next to each other. There are some fabrics that are similar in tone but if you look closely, you can see the difference.

I'm tentatively thinking of adding a border. I don't have a large piece of Christmas fabric or red or green fabric to use. What do you think of this light beige/red fabric? This fabric has been in my stash for at least 25 years! It's time for this fabric to be used.

After I took this photo of the blocks, I saw that there were 2 same fabrics next to each other. Of course I moved that block but then that entails moving at least 10 more blocks!

Just now, I noticed there is a block with a HST sewn incorrectly! That is probably one of the blocks that was moved, I need to find it and correct it.

That is why you should wait a week to sew the blocks together, this quilt might be a 2 week wait!

The Christmas Star instructions can be found here on Jo's Country Junction.

Linking to Needle & Thread Thursday, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Peacock Party, Whoop Whoop Party, Finished or Not  Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Patchwork & Quilts

Christmas Star

I'm slowly stitching blocks for Christmas Star. I have 60 of them partially pieced but I'm going to need a total of 120 blocks.

This is just a portion of blocks that have been pieced and pressed.

And yes, that's another UFQ on the display wall. I don't know if I'll get that flimsy finished this year or not.

I've had a request from a granddaughter for aprons for her and her sisters. Christmas Star has been put on hold until the aprons are completed.

Linking to Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Peacock Party, Whoop Whoop Party, Finished or Not  Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts

Christmas Stars

The components for the Christmas star blocks have been cut or  pieced. Now the fun starts! 

I'm going to sew the blocks in groups of 10.

The pattern and directions can be found here on Jo's blog.

Linking to Needle & Thread Thursday, TGIFF!, Peacock Party, Finished or Not  Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts, Oh Scrap

Christmas Star Quilt

I've started another Christmas quilt, no surprise there! I've seen this block before on Jo's blog but decided to start piecing a quilt of my own. Jo has a good tutorial on piecing the block.

I quickly pieced four blocks just so I could see how they look together. The star appears when you place the blocks together. 

This is what an individual block looks like.

I'm in the process of sewing the HST's. With 120 blocks in the quilt and 4 HST's in a block, that's 480 HST's! 

To make the HST's, I'm using the HST's ruler. 

Just make sure you have the right sides together and the triangles are ready to sew.

Sarah will be having a Christmas in July blog hop later this month but I'm busy then and might be absent part of the time. 

Linking to Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Peacock Party, Whoop Whoop Party, Finished or Not  Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts