Hunter's Star quilt top

Hi Everyone,

Over the long weekend, I worked hard on my hunter's star quilt.  It was all worth it.  I am pleased with the results.

Now comes the contemplation of how to quilt it.  I would like to show off my piecing on the stars, I am very proud of how well I was able to do on my first star block.  And I would also like to try to emphasize the secondary arrow blocks.  

I think I want to do some straight stitching with the walking foot as much as possible maybe with some free motion in the borders.  I'm thinking I will start with some stitching in the ditch along the straight lines that go all the way across the quilt but not go into the borders.  I will avoid the lines that cut into an arrow block.  

Once this is done, I'm going to try to continue stitching in the ditch on the stars and along the arrows.  Possibly without any fillers inside the stars so that they will stand out.  However, in the arrows, I am thinking that I might do a couple echo lines inside to accentuate the arrows so they will stand out as well.  

It's way too early for me to decide what I will be doing on the borders.  I just saw Angela Walters do a wavy V design on the border of her "Frequency" Rainbow Star Quilt on YouTube.  This idea I will be thinking about.  

I am open for suggestions.  I am very new to this and anything is helpful.  

Thanks for stopping by,

Cherie

Linking up to QuiltFabrication, Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts, My Quilt Infatuation, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Free Motion by the River.

Hunters Star Progress and a Little Family

Hi Everyone,

I'm very excited to share with you today.  I hope you will enjoy my post.

I'm currently continuing with my Hunter Star Quilt.  I've got all my blocks made and have laid them out on the floor of my living room.  Everyone is having to walk around them until I finish getting them all together.  They aren't too happy about that, but they don't complain much.  I had my son evacuated to my home during the storm so there is extra traffic.

We live in Abbeville, LA and didn't get any destruction here.  The storm was more to the west of us.
I am very grateful for that, but am saddened by what has happened to our neighbors.  I have been through a few storms in my life living down here.  Only one caused damage to my property.  We didn't have electricity for a week.  That was very difficult.  I didn't have to evacuate very far, just to some friends home 15 miles to the north.  At least I was comfortable there.  I feel very badly for those in shelters.  I also remember the devastation when the hurricane hit in New Orleans.  It is just so difficult to shelter that many people.  It gets crowded and dirty quickly.

On to a better subject, my parents are going to Ohio next week to visit my dad's sister.  She is also a quilter and we have been discussing our projects.  She is very supportive of my work and I am elated.  When she was visiting down here a couple months ago, she mentioned a quilt that my Great Grandma Wise made.  Since she had boys that are not interested in quilting she offered to give it to me.  I realized this was going to be a wonderful thing, but I had no idea how wonderful.

I'm told that GGma Wise did that applique, but she is unsure of the actual year. She did tell me that she passed away in 1970 at the age of 89 and she recalls that toward the end she was doing mostly crochet. So it was some time before that.  My Aunt had it hand quilted in 1980.  I am honored to receive this gift.

I am also including a couple pictures of her and my GGpa.  I don't recall her as I would have been only two years old when she passed.

This must have been here as a young lady but I don't know the date.  I will have to follow up with my Aunt and Dad to provide this for me. I will update the post when I have the info.  

 This was their wedding picture.

50th Anniversary.

I hope you've enjoyed this as much as me.  Thanks for stopping by.

I'm going to try to link up with Let’s Bee Social, Freemotion by the River, Cooking Up Quilts.

Cherie

Shop Hop Goodies

Hi Everyone,

This weekend I finished up my shop and I wanted to show off a couple of my purchases.  On weekend one,  I got this layer cake on sale and loved the colors.  I said to myself, "Self, I'd like to do something wonderful with this I just don't know what it is yet."

So this final weekend of the hop I ran across this wonderful shop quilt and inspiration hit me.  I think this will look nice using the pattern.

What do you think?

I also worked a little more on my hunter's star quilt.  Here are a few of my stars coming together.  I am hopeful I will get the top done in the next week or so, but that's only if I can stay away of the above new purchases.

Thanks for stopping by.  I am always open for suggestions and comments as I am new to this.  

Cherie

New Project: Hunter's Star

Hi Everyone,

I had a wonderful weekend.  I did my first shop hop in Louisiana.  I convinced my husband to drive me.  That was no easy feat.  He did finally gracefully acquiesce and was my chauffeur for a day.  This hop lasts for 2 weekends and covers 10 shops.  There is a wonderful grand prize of a Baby Lock Jazz and a hand full of gift certificates.  Each shop has a door prize you can enter when you get your passport stamped.  All the shops were also giving away goody bags.  I purchased a pass for my husband also so I'm hoping if he wins anything he will give it to me.  It felt like Halloween and I was going shop to shop saying trick or treat with all the bags that came back home with me.  I made it to 6 of the shops with only 4 more to do next weekend.  I was pretty tired when we got back home travelling 600 total miles.  We had some bad weather while we were in the New Orleans area.  I noticed on the overpasses there were some flooding on the below streets but didn't realize it was so bad until I got home and noticed pictures posted on Facebook.  I'm glad we didn't have to drive in that.

My new project I've started is going to be a Hunter's Star Quilt.  I've watched Jenny's You Tube video a dozen times and I'm hopeful that mine will turn out good.  This is intended for a Christmas gift.  My chosen fabrics are Ophelia 10" squares from Nancy Gere for Windham Fabrics. My contrast is Brick Red solid from Moda.

So far, I've cut the layer cake and yardage down to 5" squares and laid them out on my makeshift design board.  Please excuse that I haven't covered it properly yet.  I haven't purchased the flannel yet, so I just threw some muslin over the top and started sticking.  I hope the colors are working well together.

The tutorial next instructs to make four patches.  So I laid a bunch out on the floor and this is what I came up with.

Next, I'm told to make half square triangles and trim them up. So I am off to that.  I will send an update once I get further along.  

Thanks for stopping by.  

Cherie

Sugar Bloom Quilt Finished

Hi Everyone,

I've finally finished my Sugar Bloom Quilt.  I tried my hand at free motion quilting.  I have some practice to do before I consider myself competent.  But overall, finished is better that perfect.

It took forever to do the quilting.  I did enjoy the free motion.  It certainly was different.  I think the next time I will try some sort of meandering pattern rather that something specific in each block. That is what I find took the most time.  I cut a lot of threads.  Here are pictures taken in the sunlight that shows off the quilting better.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cherie

Free Motion Quilting Continued

Hi Everyone,

I've finished the FMQ hills and ditches on my Sugar Bloom quilt in the white 1/2" areas.  It is not perfect or even great, but I am please with the results so far.  As I worked through the whole quilt areas where I wanted this design, I did feel as though it was getting easier as I moved along.  This makes me very happy that I may conquer this new skill eventually.  All the blogs I have read are very encouraging as well as those who took to time to like my posts or comment on Instagram and Blogger.

I believe that the item of this skill that will take me the longest to win is keeping the stitch length even.  I am getting used to a sewing speed and rhythm that works for me and hope soon it will be easier.

So, on with this weeks trials.  There are areas on the white background fabric that are 2 inches wide.
I wanted to try something simple but different in these areas to increase my skill.  I'm not sure exactly what this design would be called but I doodled it on a couple papers I printed from my electronic book by Lori Kennedy "Free-Motion Quilting 1-2-3".  I have found this book quite helpful. This was the design I choose that I was able to doodle fairly easily.  I marked some lines and dots to help keep my designs consistent.  Take a look at my practice.

I am finding that my machine does a better job moving from left to right.  I was tending to break threads when I would come back the other way.  Any suggestions if this is a machine issue or operator error?  Maybe it is something in my movements that aren't quite smooth enough that is making this happen.

So as of this moment, I am working this pattern on my quilt.  Still as I continue to practice, It seems that it might be getting easier.  I have a full time job with an oilfield company so I can only devote a limited amount of time to this.  Usually, a few minutes after work, but not many with all the dinners and chores I have to do.  On the weekends, I try to get more done, but those chores get in the way again.  So it is slow going.  Never fear, I will complete this project and be proud of my accomplishment even if it is not the best.  Please take a look at my progress on the quilt.

I haven't chosen a design to do in the colored areas and there are triangles on the corners as this quilt is on point.  I have consulted my book and started doodling.  Once I find a pattern that seems that I may be able to accomplish at my level, I will let you know.  

That's all for now.  Thanks for stopping by.

What?! Free Motion Quilting

Hi All,

I've been working on my Sugar Bloom Quilt as well as giving this FMQ thing a go.  First, I finished stitching (sometimes) in the ditch around all the seams in the quilt.  I thought that when I tried the FMQ in the white parts it would show the borders on that back.  I am hoping it will look alright. Take a look.

Let's talk about Free Motion Quilting.  I have watched quite a few you tube videos as well as read Angela Walters and Lori Kennedy's books on it.  However,  they make it look much easier than it is.  I am still optimistic and believe that in time it will get easier and better.  I do like to quilt using my walking foot using straight lines.

I am also seeing advertising on this ruler quilting.  I see will have to see about that.  Any thoughts?

So, I used the bobbin holder and sandwiches I made earlier and gave it a go.  I worked out most of my tension issues.  I will only be able to use the same color tread in the top and bobbin, but it doesn't eyelash, only dots show on the top.  Cannot further adjust my tension on the bobbin to my knowledge so this will have to do.

I will show you those pictures, but please do not grade too hard.  It was only my second time.  I only did hills and ditches.  They were the easiest.  I encourage any suggestions from your experiences if I can do something differently that would help me out.

I sewed up 2 sandwiches and then decided I would try on the quilt.  I felt scared and excited.  Here's how it's going.  

So once I finish putting the hills and ditches across the whole quilt, I have the 2 inch white strips to do something with.  Any free motion suggestions would be welcome.  Have a bigger quilt picture.

Thanks for stopping by.  I can't wait to hear from you.

Cherie

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