2024, How Did It Sew?

I have spent 2024 trying to stick to the list I posted about last January in my first Planning Party report. At times sewing my list and sticking to the plan became very tedious, however I am very glad I persevered when I see all the quilting that was accomplished. A total of 8 quilts were listed. Of those 8 quilts, 6 are completely finished and 3 of those quilts were started and finished this year. However I did have a squirrel sneak in and run around, I'll show you that quilt at the end of the post.

Hearts & Wreaths was finished in June. From start to finish, it took a little under 3 years for this long term project.

The piecing of Dresden Stars was completed in February, sent to the long arm quilter in May then returned to me in August.

The anniversary quilt (listed as gift quilt) was pieced and long arm quilted entirely this year.

The months of June and July were spent binding comforter tops for MCC and machine quilting small quilt projects which I'm not showing in this post. You can read about them here, here, and here.

However, I am going to show you Dots and Dashes, this was the largest of the compassion quilts I quilted and donated. Quilting compassion quilts was on the list.

Most of the blocks for Dots & Dashes were completed, I just needed to piece a couple more blocks then sew the blocks together. The pattern for Dots & Dashes is found here. I may make another quilt from this pattern someday.

Tula Hexies was one of the quilts I quilted. She's staying at my house for me to enjoy. Tula Hexies was a new project I started in November 2023 and she's finished!

Radiant Blues was started and completed in 2024.

Radiant Blues is my favorite quilt of the year. I have been wanting to make a feathered star quilt for years and now I have. I enjoy looking at it displayed on the wall. 

Pineapple Blues was started at the Jane Stickle retreat in April. I innocently thought I could actually piece all 49 blocks needed for this quilt in one long weekend! I managed to complete almost 20. The rest were completed in September. She came home from the long arm quilter in November, another quilt started and finished in the same year.

The outer blue borders have been sewn onto blueberry pie. She won't be going into the quilting frame though. She measures 108" and I won't be able to have the hand quilting finished by spring. I don't like to hand quilt during summer and I feel guilty if I have a quilt the frame and not be quilting.

One of the projects I listed was Garden Party, designed by Bonnie Hunter. Thirty-six blocks were pieced at the November retreat, that quilt is on the list again for next year.

What quilts didn't happen? Fire Island Hosta was the only project on the list to not make it out of the project bag, it is also on the list for next year.

The squirrel quilt is Blessed by Nature which was a kit I purchased at Lolly's during my July birthday outing. Donna and I both pieced our quilts together in October then I sent my quilt to Calico Point to be quilted. Here she is!

Linking to TGIFF!, Favorite Finish December, Finished or Not Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts

Planning Party Update, 3rd Quarter Check-In

It's time for a Planning Party update and I'm posting my summer progress. Here is a link to the list I made in January of my tentative quilting plans for the year.

The Anniversary quilt was finished the first of August. This quilt is an anniversary (obviously) quilt that will be gifted next year. The wife loves purple!

In July, Tula Hexies was finished, machine quilted by me.

Several compassion quilts were also quilted by me. You can find links to them here, here and here.

Here is the largest of the quilts I've machine quilted. She's called Dots & Dashes.

Dresden Stars was also finished in August. Colleen Gall was the long arm quilter.

Dresden Stars and the Anniversary quilts were both started and completed in 2024.

Linking to Planning Party, Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle & Thread Thursday, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Finished or Not Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts

Dresden Stars

 Dresden Stars came home from the long arm quilter several weeks ago. The binding is finished and she's ready for her debut!

Colleen Gall is the long arm quilter who custom quilted Dresden Stars for me. 

I have many close up pictures of the quilting to show you. I added a red binding, it adds a touch of color to the edge.

A cream on cream fabric was used for the backing fabric. Colleen used the same brown thread for quilting both sides of the quilt. The cream backing fabric displays the quilting designs very nicely. Of course I took pictures of the back side.

Years ago I purchased two kits for Dresden Star quilt at Lolly's Fabrics in Shipshewana. Completing these kits was one of my goals for this year and I've done it! The center of the quilt is Dresden Star, a pattern by Edyta Sitar.

The Dresden Star pattern does not make a large quilt, two pieced kits were larger but still not bed sized. I added pieced borders to enlarge it. The finished quilt measures 91" by 104", a queen sized quilt.

I have a tub full of civil war fabrics, some of which I purchased, some were gifted to me by my friend Deanna when she moved. I liked civil war fabrics back in the early 2000's, now, not so much. The kit from Lolly's had some really blah fabrics so I pulled from my stash.

I'm planning on taking Dresden Stars along to the retreat this fall to display at show & tell. I worked on these blocks at several of the retreats. Some of the ladies told me they also bought the kit, maybe this will encourage them to sew their kits.

As I said, civil war fabrics are not my favorite fabrics, Dresden Stars will be donated to the 2025 Michiana Mennonite Relief Sale next year.

Linking to Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle & Thread Thursday, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Finished or Not Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts

Planning Party, 2nd Quarter Check-in

Summer is here and not much time is being spent in the sewing studio but I'm still making progress. Here is a link to the list I posted last January.

Radiant Blues is a flimsy and has been delivered to a long arm quilter.

I'm sorry this picture has a yellow tint, I think the bright sunshine affected it. I didn't realize the picture was this way but the quilt isn't at home. You'll have to wait for a better photo until after the quilting is completed.

Dresden Stars has also been delivered to the quilter.

Hearts & Wreaths is completely finished, my first completed quilt in 2024! Hand quilting does take a long time.

I did start piecing the pineapple blocks at retreat in April. I plan to piece more blocks sometime this summer.

Linking to Planning Party, 2nd Quarter Check-in, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Sew & Tell,  Design Wall Monday, Monday Musings, To Do Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss

Planning Party, Spring Progress

It's March so it's time to see the progress I've made with the list I published in January. 

Tula Hexies is a flimsy, I'm planning to quilt her sometime this summer with my sewing machine. She measures 51" by 80" at this time which is as big as I can handle with my machine. I'm sure she'll shrink after she's quilted.

Dresden Stars is also a flimsy and measures 94" by 105". This quilt will be long arm quilted sometime but I'm not sure when. I'm also not sure who or where it will be gifted.

The anniversary quilt is pieced. I'll get it quilted sometime this year and it will be ready to gift in 2025.

Are you making progress with your 2024 quilting plans?

Linking to Quilt Plan Check In, Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle & Thread Thursday, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Finished or Not  Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Patchwork & Quilts

Dresden Stars Flimsy!

Dresden Stars is a flimsy and now measures 94" by 105".  As we all know, this flimsy will shrink during the quilting process and no, it is NOT going to be hand quilted.

As you can see, this quilt is long enough to drag in the flowerbed! I shook it well after I unclipped it from the clips. I cannot pull the flimsy tight at the top.

For those of you who are new or as a reminder, this quilt was made from 2 kits I purchased almost 20 years ago.  I've had to substitute some of my fabrics in place of the kit fabrics. The border fabric I used here is NOT the striped fabric from the kit. 

The stripes themselves were perfectly fine but there was an added design and it didn't run straight! I took one look and just folded it up. It will be used some day as fabric backing or cut up into smaller pieces where the design won't be at noticeable.

The border fabric came from my civil war fabric tub and looks fine to me.

I did not have enough of this fabric for binding so I used a piece from the kit (not the striped fabric!) that was intended for binding. 

I am very relieved to finally have this quilt flimsy finished and crossed off my list of quilts for this year. Dresden Stars is now hanging in the 'to be quilted' closet until I decide what to do with it. It may end up with a grandchild or it may be donated to a charity auction, time will tell.

Here is a link to the Dresden Star pattern designed by Edyta Sitar. I made several design changes to this pattern because I wanted a larger quilt. The kit I purchased did NOT come from Edyta but a local quilt shop.

Linking to Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle & Thread Thursday, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Finished or Not  Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts, Favorite Finish

Dresden Stars

Dresden Stars has grown to the 83.5" by 95" size. All that is left to add is the outside border. That's going to take some time since the border fabric is a stripe. The mitered corners need to be matched and the border itself is pieced so that is another challenge. Hopefully the completion will happen next week.

Here is the progress on Dresden Stars so far.

These pictures were taken on a bright sunny afternoon so this picture has a glare.

The bottom and top borders have 2 rows of scrappy pieced 1" finished squares. The narrow borders also finish at 1".

I know I took a picture of just one of the side borders but that's disappeared into cyber-land somewhere. The patchwork square blocks are made with 25-1" finished squares. Some of the fabrics were in the original kit but I also pulled fabrics from my civil war fabric tub. The light blue inset triangles are from my stash. The fabric colors in this picture are more clear than the first picture.

Of course I had to show you the backside of the flimsy. If I were going to hand quilt this quilt, I would have definitely cut out the background fabric from behind the dresdens. I don't think it makes a difference for machine quilting.

This picture of the flimsy draped on the porch glider shows the true colors. Did you notice there is a narrow red border on the outside of the flimsy? The outside border is a blue that looks slightly faded, that seems to be the style of civil war fabrics in the early 2000's. The red will add some zing to that fabric.

Here is a link to the Dresden Star pattern designed by Edyta Sitar. I call the quilt Dresden Stars because there are multiple stars, not just a star. The pattern is for a quilt 53" by 73" but I wanted a larger quilt. 

I purchased 2 kits years ago because I knew I wanted a larger quilt.

The pattern looks so much prettier in the brighter colors that Edyta is using nowadays. I like the brighter fabrics much better than these civil war fabrics. Just to clarify, the fabric kits I purchased many many years ago, came from Lolly's in Shipshewana, Indiana, not from Edyta Sitar.

Perhaps someday I'll make another dresden stars quilt in brighter colors. If I do, I'll probably won't add the light colored triangle things to the dresden plates.

Linking to Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss, Put Your Foot Down, Magic Crafts, TGIFF, Whoop Whoop Party, Finished or Not  Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts

Dresden Stars, Sashing & Triangles

I'm piecing Dresden Stars from a kit. The 18 dresden blocks are appliqued and trimmed. The next step is sashing, cornerstones and side triangles.

The sashing is a very pretty blue. The corner stones were supposed to be a little darker blue and the side triangles is this very pretty maroon/red print fabric. 

I cut the maroon/red print into squares then laid the ruler on top to make the diagonal cuts. The pattern didn't run correctly if I cut triangles! You would see the rows run crooked. I'm not a perfectionist but crooked rows are something I do notice.

I dug around in my civil war tub and found this fabric. It was large enough to use for triangles with plenty leftover so I decided to use this same fabric for cornerstones. I thought the red was a better choice than the darker blue fabric.

But since the outside cornerstones would be against the triangles, I decided to use the darker blue fabric for those cornerstones.

I admit I wasn't very excited about this quilt but now I am. The blue sashing and the red triangles really bring that dreary beige fabric to life!

Unfortunately using the darker blue fabric for the outside cornerstones was not a good decision. You can't even see that fabric in the above picture but the red at the points of the triangles distinctly show.

You can see the blue when you are closeup.

The next step of this quilt is supposed to be a narrow border around the center. That darker blue fabric was supposed to be the border.

I don't think so. I've been digging in my civil war fabric tub again and I've come up with a better choice of fabric.

In my quilt, the next border is not going to be a narrow border. Remember, I want my quilt to be bed sized, not a throw. As of now, the center is 59.5" by 77.5". 

Edyta's pattern has us set the blocks on point which is what I did but I always cut the triangles larger so I have some room to play. The edge of triangles extend 1.75" from the outside points. I can trim some of that extra fabric to make pieced borders work. Now I just need to come up with a design. To make it more challenging, the side borders need to be wider than the top and bottom borders. 

I took the picture of the quilt in the snow first. Those spots that show in the above picture come from melting ice dripping off the trees.

Click here for a link to the Dresden Star pattern designed by Edyta Sitar.

Linking to Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle & Thread Thursday, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Whoop Whoop Party, Finished or Not  Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Hugs & Kisses, Patchwork & Quilts

Dresden Stars, the Circles

The table runner for my friend has been pieced and we took it to be quilted at Calico Point. They said it would be approximately 6 weeks before it was quilted. I wanted to get it into their quilting line-up as fast as possible because this is supposed to be a birthday gift in April. Sorry, I neglected to take a picture, you'll see the complete finish after it's quilted and the binding has been added. Nathalie was very pleased with it.

Since the table runner is out of the way, I returned my attention to the Dresden Stars. Technically the pattern name is Dresden Star but I call it stars since there is more than one star in the quilt.

In my last post about Dresden Stars, I had started appliqueing the plates to the background fabric using a brown variegated thread. I'm using the same thread to applique the circles.

I've mentioned before that the fabrics for this quilt are from a kit I purchased many years ago, probably at least 17 years? The pattern is copyrighted 2006. Civil War fabrics don't really appeal to me anymore but the kit is here so I'm making this quilt.

I grimaced when I pulled the brown for the circles, more brown! I dug in my box of civil war fabrics I have on hand and found a large piece of fabric that was gifted to me when Deanna moved. I thought this was much more prettier.

I prepped two circles then sent a picture to Kathi and asked her which one she thought looked the best. We both agreed on the brown. I really like that blue/gray flowered fabric but that is what I saw when I looked at the block, not the Dresdens.

But now I look at the picture and think that fabric doesn't overpower after all. Oh well, it's too late, the brown has been appliqued

I made a change to the pattern and trimmed these blocks to 12.5" which is larger than Edyta specified but I want my quilt larger.

Kathi asked me how I'm making the circles so perfect. I'm using this product. I've used it before but I don't remember which quilt. 

Edyta has a paper template included with the pattern. I checked and the circle is the same size as the largest circle in Karen Buckley's large size perfect circles. 

I traced the circles onto the sheets then cut them out. When I ironed them onto the back of the brown fabric, I made sure I left a good edge of fabric. Then I took a needle and thread and basted the edge of the fabric, pulled it tight and knotted it. When I pressed the top of the circles, I had perfect circles! 

The left circle is the gathered edge of the circle. The center circle is a gathered circle before pressing. The right circle is after pressing.

Edyta had said to use freezer paper but this worked much better and it doesn't need to be removed. It's supposed to wash out but I didn't try a sample. My friend Lynn uses this product all the time with her applique.

Finally, here is a picture of a finished block. All 18 of the blocks are finished but I only took a picture of this one. And yes, the variegated thread does show some but I didn't have the stress of dealing with invisible thread!

And the backside because someone always wants to see how it looks.

I used a zigzag stitch to applique the center and the dresden plate. I finger pressed the background fabric to make the diagonal lines. Finger pressing irons out easily. I left long threads when I started and stopped, then pulled them to the back side and knotted them several times.

The next step is the sashing and the setting triangles.

Linking to Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle & Thread Thursday, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Whoop Whoop Party, Finished or Not  Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts