Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Three for February Review

I just managed to squeeze in a couple of finishes before the end of the month.

I planned to go away for a long weekend, starting on the 28th February, so had to have these finished by the 27th.   I arrived back home today so this post is a little late, but better late than never.

Number 1
South Pacific Stars finished
South Pacific Stars, with a peek of the gorgeous backing fabric which is from TradeWinds by Lily Ashbury.
South Pacific Stars finished
The binding is another print by Lily Ashbury.
SOuth Pacific Stars finished
I rarely make quilts using the one line these days, but I really love the bright colours and almost every print in TradeWInds.  I still have a few fat quarters left tucked away in my stash waiting for inspiration to strike.

Number 2
The starflowers, although I love them, the thought of continuing making them to make a full size quilt made me feel sick. I just couldn't face sewing any more flowers and diamonds together,  so instead of making a whole quilt with these shapes as I had originally planned I'm now using this as a central panel. The next stage is to add borders around the edge. This is square, although in the photo it looks kind of misshapen. A note on this EPP project. I love sewing hexies, they are easy. When basting hexies all the fabric at the back stays within the shape of the hexagon. The diamond and kite shapes have little tails that hang at the back. You can see this in the photos below. These make it really difficult when sewing the shapes together, they get in the way and make it a PITA when sewing the points of the stars where they meet.
Starflowers - Slow progression

It's all wrinkly at the moment. I pressed it once I took the papers out of the back but as it's about to be manhandled again while I applique the borders on I didn't think there was much point in pressing ti to within an inch of it's life.
Starflowers ready for the next stage
As usual I didn't really think it through. I started to straighten up the edges. It was easy on two of the sides as I just needed a triangle shaped piece to fill in the gaps.
Untitled

When it came to the other sides, it wasn't quite that easy. After a lot of muttering and more than a little  swearing, I decided to leave the other two sides as is, add the borders and maybe add some appliqued  shapes.  After I added the triangles I realised that I needn't have bothered with them as I'm going to appliqué this panel to the dot fabric I used for the diamond shapes, that's also partly why I've left the other sides and not made them straight/square.  Next step is to add the borders. Lets hope the vision in my head is doable.

Number 3
I also finished one more Amitie Circle Game block.
Amitie Circle Game BOM

All in all I'm pleased that I achieved the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the month. Let's see how I'll do this month.


My Buttontraceyjay quiltstraceyjay quilts

14 comments:

  1. That Trade Winds quilt is fabulous, what a super pattern, love the way the stars emerge.
    EPP is enjoyable to work on - until the end, but I like the way yours is going and using the panel as a central feature is a great idea.

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  2. You've had a great February! South Pacific Stars is a gorgeous quilt!! Congratulations on finishing it. You're right about that Trade Winds range, it's all beautiful, great colours and patterns. Your EPP stars are going to look great as a center panel. It's such a smart idea way to use them so they don't end up as a UFO. Love your circle too!

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  3. Ooooo! Everything is looking so beautiful. Can't pick a favourite here. Love the finished Hopscotch. But the starflowers are doing to be a stunning quilt. Keep going. It is going to be great!

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  4. Youve been busy! Love the stripey binding on the Hopscotch quilt.

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  5. Just love the quilt...you have been a super busy gal! The EPPING stars are sweet too, and I totally agree that those little tails are a PITA! And so very impressed to see another circle game block done...a gold star to you!

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  6. Wow...I am tired just reading what you've accomplished! I still love your South Pacific Stars quilt and will keep dreaming about it. I've never done any EPP other than hexi's..and I need more practice on those. LOL Beautiful work my friend!

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  7. Good work, I don't think i have anything to show for the month that is finished. Enjoy the south pacific stars it is very beautiful

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  8. You've good reason to be pleased with all this achievement. I especially love the colours in the first one.

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  9. Love your star piece! That's the first time I've seen black used in patchwork and liked it... Hope you get it finished!

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  10. Gorgeous, gorgeous and more gorgeous! You had a great Feb x

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  11. You found your mojo! (and I think you must have stolen mine while I was visiting !)

    It all looks fabulous. I love the stars. It already looks fabulous so it's going to be GORGEOUS when it's completed with borders.

    How hard was it to go scrappy on the Amitie block?

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  12. I love that first quilt - so bright. I am a little afraid of such bright colors. absolutely gorgeous.

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  13. So, some how I didn't realize this was a re-cap of your month and reaching your goals, even though you say it so very plainly.

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  14. I love your starflowers. They really look great. Could you please tell me the size of your stars?

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