Finished Lone Star Pillow & LePavot Table Topper

 Slowly but surely, projects do get finished up around here!

I made this Lone Star block earlier in the summer as an experiment for potential quilted Christmas gifts.  I decided against using Lone Star blocks as a jumping off point for gifts, but I did turn the block into a pillow.  I think McKenzie approves, but she'll never get to lay her head on it, so who knows?!

The pillow worked out great on the sofa at our camp!  To my eye, the pillow would look better with a larger border around the LS block, but I was using a pillow form I had on hand (16"), so I had to trim the border to fit the pillow.   Note to self: for pillows, choose a quilt block size several inches smaller than the desired pillow form, to allow for a larger border around the block.

This table runner was inspired by a blog post and a mini charm pack of LePavot fabrics.  I later learned this block setting is also called Patience Corners.

I used fabric from my stash for the blocks and backing.  Some straight-line quilting added the right amount of crinkly texture.  Binding also from the stash.

Dear Hubby made the oak ice box many years ago.  It's a great place for seasonal decorations!

Speaking of seasonal - I did not expect to be making hurricane preparations again in October!  Current predictions call for New Orleans to be on the outer edge of the storm, but we are told not to be complacent, as the forecast could change once the storm gets into the Gulf of Mexico.  The area where the storm is forecast to go ashore is still recovering from Hurricane Laura, so this is a double whammy.  December 1st (the end of hurricane season) can't get here soon enough!

Meandering Through June

Just like the Mississippi River, I feel like I'm meandering through the month of June.  

I've worked on this and that, but no big sparks of creativity (or energy) seem to be flowing.  I guess I'll just keep meandering and see what turns up - something always does!

One recent project was mastering the art of the Lone Star block.  After inserting the background pieces - which required using Words of Power - I decided maybe I don't want to make Lone Star themed gifts for Christmas this year.  I'd still like to make a large Lone Star quilt for myself, but the thought of lots of Little Lone Stars now gives me a headache!

I'm still planning to turn this star into a pillow.  I did some basic straight-line quilting, but I want to make the pillow with a zipper, which requires a trip to the fabric store.

This small quilt (30" x 30") was just a bag of four patches a few weeks ago.  The fabrics were left over from Barbara Brackman's Grandmother's Choice BOM from 2012.  Once I had the double four-patches pieced up, I found a nice hunk of Brannock & Patek (circa 1997) fabric in my stash to use for the outer border.

For quilting, I used straight lines through the four patches, and pumpkin seeds in the border.  Since I suck at free-motion quilting, I did the pumpkin seeds using the walking foot feature on my sewing machine - feed dogs engaged.  It was fun figuring out the best way to make the design without having to start and stop the line(s) of stitching.

The backing also came from my stash - an antique map print.  You can see the quilting a little better from the back.

And every quilt deserves a label - even the leftovers!

BTW, I got brave and used my laser printer to print the label.  First, I ironed the label fabric to an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of freezer paper.  I wrote out the label using my word processing program, then played with different fonts until I found one I liked.  The font is called "She Persisted" - which I thought was perfect.  After printing the label in the printer, I also heat-set the design using my iron.  This has been through the wash; it may have faded a tiny bit, but not enough to matter.

Meanwhile, at our camp, I have a new pressing/storage table!  Dear Hubby built the shelf unit, then added a removable, expanded top.  I covered the top with padding and cotton canvas.  I love it!

I put the new pressing table to good use last weekend making more "Lego" blocks.  I only need a few more blocks and I can start assembling the quilt.

In between quilting projects, I've been pickling goodies from our garden.  The garden is small, but prolific this year!  I can't keep up with fixing cukes in fresh dishes, so I made a batch of refrigerator pickles this week.  This is two 4-cup pyrex storage containers full of pickles (graced with a few pieces of red jalapeño).  I've also pickled more banana and jalapeño peppers than I can count.  

I'm going to meander on to this project next.  I think some creative energy might be starting to flow!

Lone Stars in my Eyes

One of my goals for this year is to rev up my Lone Star quilt making skills.  Ultimately, I'd like to have a stash of Lone Star pillows to give as Christmas gifts.  Most of the intended recipients are residents of the Lone Star State (Texas), hence that specific quilt block choice. 

I made one large Lone Star quilt many years ago.

It was a gift for my mom, completed sometime in the mid-1990s.  She decided it was "too pretty" to use, so it remained packed away for years until I convinced her to hang it on the wall of her new house.  Now I get to pet it every time I visit her!  

My guiding star for making that Lone Star quilt was The New Lone Star Quilt Handbook by Blanche Young and Helen Young Frost (1989).

The "new" in their technique was the use of strip piecing, followed by rotary cutting diamonds from the assembled strips.  After making that first Lone Star, I knew I wanted to make more.  I had no idea it would take so many years for me to return to this quilt pattern.

I have been thinking about Lone Star quilts since January.  Searching the internet, saving pictures to Pinterest, returning to my library of quilt history books - all looking for inspiration and motivation.

I already had a fat quarter bundle whispering to me about becoming a practice Lone Star block (Chesterfield by Studio RK for Robert Kaufman Fabrics).  And when yesterday turned into Waiting for the AC Repairman Day, I knew it was time to start practicing!

Since I knew I wanted a small-ish, pillow-sized star, I followed an online tutorial from the Hopeful Homemaker which used 1.5 inch strips.  The current star measures about 16 inches.  I imagine I'll add some type of border, but the general idea is for the finished quilt block to fit an 18 inch pillow form.

I hadn't given a lot of thought to the background fabric for the star, assuming I'd find something appropriate in my stash.  This is an off-white Moda Grunge fabric.  I'm not crazy about it, especially since there's not much contrast with the light-colored paisley fabric in the star tips.

Then I remembered I had this Color Weave fabric (P & B Textiles - alas, I don't think they're still making this line), which I think will be perfect.  Fortunately, I have at least a yard of the fabric, so I should be able to finish an entire pillow.  

On a completely unrelated note:

We have a bluebird family in residence at our camp!  We haven't had any bluebirds for several years, so we enjoyed watching them build their nest.  I'm going up tomorrow to check on the garden, and I'm looking forward to seeing them!

Second Thoughts

Recently I pulled a UFO out of the pile to prepare it for hand quilting.  I've been without a hand quilting project for some time now, and this was the oldest top in the queue.  The design was good for hand quilting - lots of empty blocks to fill full of stitches.  But the more I worked on marking the quilting lines, the more I wondered if this quilt was really a worthy choice for hand quilting.

Yes, the smaller quilt is truly a scrap quilt!  It was cobbled together using leftovers from this Lone Star I made for my mom years ago.  The nine patches effectively used up all the Lone Star scraps, but I didn't have just the right setting fabric to go with the nine patches.  The blocks languished for many moons until I pulled them out about a year ago and found the perfect pink for the alternate blocks.

My rationalization for not hand quilting the nine patch quilt is that it's too large for a wall hanging - and a wall hanging is where one wants to show off one's hand quilting skills.  It's a better size as a lap quilt, and I just can't see doing a lot of fancy quilting on something that will probably be used and abused by kids and pets.  So glad I marked the quilt with a FriXion pen - one swoop with a hot iron and all the marks will be gone!

Not that I'm shying away from hand quilting...it's just that I have some more worthy projects coming up next in the queue!