Erica's Stitches

My bright quilt was finished in June but I wanted to wait until both were done before sharing the pictures.  Quilting the blue quilt didn't take long but finishing the binding sure did.  I did procrastinate a bit as it was too warm to have a huge quilt on my lap for most of the summer.  After this, I'll probably do all the binding on my sewing machine (and stick to smaller quilts). Notice the cut-out corners?  That was a challenge.  I found instructions here and it looked easy enough but I wished I had practiced some.  After a lot of finessing I finally got good miters but I could have done much better. The cut-out corners allow the quilt to hang nicely over the edges of the mattress and it's a perfect match for a full sized mattress.  But, the top edge isn't even close to the pillows.  I wonder how the quilt fit on the bed it was made for. Here, at last, is the original quilt that I was copying.   I just...

A few weeks ago I was at the Local Quilt store basting my bright sampler. It's been ready to go for a while.  I've been working on a baby quilt and it's now done.  It's been a while since I've quilted so I'm glad I had a quilt to warm up on. Next I need to pull a folding table out of the garage and re-arrange my quilting space.  This quilt will have a lot more drag than the baby quilt. I've also been looking at pictures of similar quilts looking for quilting pattern inspiration.  I'm thinking of taking the easy way out and u se wavy lines like this quilt . I should start quilting next weekend!

I needed 2 more blocks to finish the gray version of the quilt.  I ended up making simple 9 patch/half square triangle blocks.  One is the yellow block in the lower left. Here it is closer up.  When I made the half square triangles I had the red fabric going the wrong way so you are seeing the backside of the fabric.  So the red in the triangles is a little lighter than the red in the center.  It wasn't worth redoing. The other corner has a blue block and I managed to get the front of all the fabrics showing. So, here's what it looks like almost complete. And here's the blue version of the quilt. I've got the backing and the batting for the gray quilt (the backing is in the washer now) and I'm working on the thread to use for quilting and how to quilt it. They are too big for me to free-motion quilt.  I don't have the space.  As it is, quilting with the walking foot will be a challenge.  These ...

This is the block I made up to replace the appliqued diamond block. It didn't have a name until I saw it in the camera viewfinder.  It looks like an earring so its the Earring block. Another section added and the quilt gets a bit bigger.  It's another bad day to get indoor photographs. Just the side panels to go!

OK, this is what I was supposed to make and was planning to make until a few days ago: the dreaded sunflower block. I drafted it out and started thinking about all those small triangles.  I could make the block but I decided that I really don't want to.  Even if I paper pieced it's still very intimidating. I've been working on these quilts for almost a year now and I really want to get back to fun piecing and finish the quilt. This is what I made instead.  It's called Grecian Square and I found pictures of it in several vintage quilts so it should go nicely with the other blocks.  I used the blue background fabric for the corner squared to give the feel of a circle.  For the rest of the fabrics, I matched as closely as I could.  It was easy to put together and I really enjoyed it after working on the Lone Stars. For my more modern quilt I chose a Delectable Flower block.  I've admired it since I've seen it on a few quilts....

I finally finished the last Lone Star - this is the medallion for the center of the quilt.  I'm hoping that this is the last Lone Star I'll ever have to make. The block needs to finish at 33 1/2 inches so each quadrant has to be 17 inches square. I have a 16 inch square ruler so by using 3 rulers I can tell it's really close to the right size!  Big sigh of relief. I'm even happy with the way that the back looks. What's next?  I have the blocks to add the side strip on the right but I need one more block for the left side.  That will be the last block for this quilt but the fact that I've put it off for this long tells you how much I'm looking forward to it.  The good news is that I've discovered a book that should help me with it and it's on order.   The bad news is that the block is probably the wrong size so I won't be able to use the templates. For the more modern version of this quilt I still need to mak...

You were supposed to see my final Lone Star next.  I made a cutting error and didn't discover it until too late; I had used all of a few fabrics.  So, it was back to the local quilt store.   I was able to find the same, or similar, fabrics except for one - the red and white gingham.  I ordered that online (I hate to get fabric online because I want to see the fabric) and went on to the next blocks.  After working on the Lone Stars the piecing was easy.  I had put the blocks off because of the applique.  It wasn't fun and the points are not as sharp as I'd like, but they are done. This block is the 2nd signature block in the quilt.  I haven't decided if I'm going to be adding the signature or not. Now you can see the background fabric for the quilt.  The original blue wasn't quite this bright but it is the closest that I could find.  Who knows, the original might have been exactly this color and faded o...

I finally finished a Lone Star! As you can see, the corner blocks are pieced which is why accuracy was so important and I couldn't cheat.   The points are going to be cut off a bit, but not as much as I was thought.  I wish I would have thought ahead and made the corner blocks one inch smaller.  Than I could have had sashing on all 4 sides so I could trim down if needed. The most important thing is that this section is the correct size.  So, I won't have to adjust the blocks that go around it. Next will be the Lone Star out of the traditional fabrics.  I'm going to be making each strip set a sliver smaller to make the star a little bit smaller.  Hopefully the points will remain intact that way. To celebrate making it this far I set out all the blocks I've completed so far to see how they look. There are still a few empty spaces.  The one on the left is going to be a scary block - scarier than the Lone Star...

I've got my plan for my real Lone Stars.  No more practicing!  I'll be using 2.25 inch strips of fabric using the entire width of fabric. Most of the fabric I purchased was in the form of fat quarters and the yardage I had was mostly chopped up.  So, I had to go to the fabric store yesterday. For the traditional quilt I needed whites.  Most of other other fabric in the star wasn't used or used sparingly in the rest of the quilt. I was worse off with the modern fabrics and had to find four more fabrics.  And the background fabric.  I picked a very dark gray.  2 of the blocks that I've pieced don't work on the gray background so I may redo them.  That's what happens when I make up the quilt as I go.  Luckily there are easy blocks. Today I'm prepping the fabrics so I'll be ready to go next weekend. For the traditional quilt I'm following the colors in the original quilt so it was easy.  For the other sta...

For the last few weekends I've worked 2 more Lone Stars.  I'm still using this tutorial from the Hopeful Homemake r. I'm getting better but I'm still not 100% happy with the results.  My star points look good under the ruler but sewing them together and keeping them lined up and not stretching them is a challenge. Actually, looking at these pictures help.  The obvious (to me) flaws disappear. So, I've decided I'm close enough to tackle the real Lone Stars.  So, I'll be taking the instructions and scaling them up to a much bigger Lone Star with 16 diamonds per point instead of only 9.  I'm hoping the 7 additional diamonds aren't my undoing. Stay tuned and don't hold your breath!

I am continuing to practice lone stars. This time I tried a different tutorial.  Each one I find is slightly different so I get to try different techniques and see which ones work best for me. Since I've gotten better with points and the quarter inch seam allowance and need to work on keeping the diamonds from stretching I picked this tutorial.  It has fewer, bigger diamonds so it should go faster.  It also doesn't have the set in squares and triangles so it will be easier to finish if I choose to do so. As soon as I started cutting the diagonals I realized I forgot the starch.  I just jumped right in and missed the main point of the block.  So, I decided to continue and focus on being as careful with the fabric as I could.  Guess what, my diamonds didn't stretch out this time! I got some stretching when I sewed on the triangles, however the block still turned out OK.  A couple of points are slightly off but most of them are rig...

The cause of the delay has been a Lone Star block in the middle of my quilt.  I've been practicing pieced diamonds but I'm still not ready to attempt the real one.  So far, I'm a big fan of this tutorial. At first, I had trouble with the quarter inch seam and getting the points lined up.  After a few really wonky blocks I had to pause to get some starch.  That helped and the blocks are getting better. So, I started another strip set and another round of diamonds.  The points turned out much better this time.  So did the quarter inch seam.  Each block is 3.5 inches across and the center diamond has perfect 45 degree angles. But, the blocks are not 45 degree angles on the outside so there is still some stretching going on. I'm going to have to work on my starching technique and/or mix up a stronger batch. The good news is that I'm getting closer.  At first I thought I wouldn't be able to pull it off but I think I can w...

As I've worked at copying an old quilt the most difficult fabric to find was suitable stripes and plaids. This block had 3 plaids and one stripe.  I was only able to find 3 plaids so they all had to go into my reproduction whether I liked them or not. I consider myself lucky to have found the stripe fabric that I did - it was from a collection of Christmas fabrics.   I love this tan stripe with the leaves.  Of course, I couldn't find anything like it.  Wouldn't that be a great fabric in lots of different colorways?   My modern block is boring in comparison. Here's a Monkey Wrench block with different white and brown stripes.  I looked through the prior posts and didn't find it.  So, maybe I missed it.  I hope I didn't miss others. I couldn't find any pictures of it and it's overcast and raining so all you get is a blurry photo.  I had to use the Christmas stripes again and have a passable...