Away we go!

The zig zag star quilt was bound, washed, dried, and sent on its way. This is probably the truest colour representation.

It was approximately 54" wide by 72" long. This is the size of a double bed but it will be meant for a couch quilt.

The navy Bali was my starting point. I made the stars with a variety of teal fabrics but the star itself is a soft aqua with some mauve shadings. The centre square was a bright aqua. The zig zag was squeaked out of a mottled fabric that had some teals and touches of purple. It went well with the Bali and I did a bit of piecing to get my last triangle. You cannot cut a pieced block in half for the edges. You lose the seam allowance so they were especially made as half blocks.

The quilting was done with a variegated blue thread. I'd have preferred a better, more subtle blend of the blues but I had 2 spools of it and I wasn't as smart as I am now. lol A touch with a permanent marker fixes up a few troublesome stretches of the very light blue on the very black background. ;^) The quilt needs to be soft. I use cotton batts but kept the quilting about 2 inches apart so the quilt is pretty cuddly.

The backing was pieced and I would pay better attention to the fabric edges as the backing thread needed to change colours. Toile is such an excellent backing as the thread just disappears whether it be light or even the darker thread colour. This was left over from another quilt backing and it was really wide. I wish I had more and other colours but who knew how great it would be!

I hope I've answered a few questions about my process. The wee bit of pieced block peeking out from my design wall is probably my next project after I get my WIP blocks all pieced and the layout confirmed. Something to look forward to as spring approaches.

I'm off for a winter weekend away. I'll be thinking about my weekly journal quilts and the possibility of making them colour studies. I'll post this weeks quiltlet next week because I won't get to it till then.

When I wish upon a star

When I met my new neighbour many years ago she invited me to come learn to quilt. Making more work for myself by cutting and resewing didn't seem like something I wanted to do. I sent my little girls. But we became fast friends in spite of our differences and when she moved again within the year I went to visit her and she took me to Quilt Canada. Whoa!!! Totally changed my work ethic! LOL

She has been diagnosed with the big C and I knew she needed a quilt. This zig zag star top has been in my Loose Feathers section waiting for this moment.

I got to know my new machine when I did the zig zags. I used the walking/evenfeed foot and the guide to mark my line. I am constrained by time and I want a soft quilt so the lines are far apart.

I did a free motion heart in each centre and then I did a curved outline around the centre and around the star. This was surprisingly easy to do. I'll do more.


I wanted a free form, unmarked shape for the outer square. I was thinking something like an ele in script but it morphed into a kinda bud or leaf shape. By the time I was done I had figured the best way to do it and I unpicked the first 2 blocks to improve them.



I got to luv Nina when we finally got into the free motion MQing zone. I remembered why I luv machine sewing!


I like the effect of variegated thread but I do not like the real light on the dark nor the real dark on the light fabric. I wish I could find a better blendable brand of variegated thread.

I will use that walking foot to put on the binding because this afternoon another neighbour and good friend is coming to help hand sew the binding. She sews but doesn't quilt.

I wish everyone had good friends, best buds.

I wish everyone had good health, robust.


I wish everyone had good hobbies, creating.

(I also wish I could take better photos.)

Another Find

My last couple of projects weren't exactly lost. They were set aside as I pursued bigger, better, bolder, etc. Their day has come.

The Bali inspired the star blocks. They are scrappy in the sense that I gathered many teals to make the backgrounds of the stars. I always feel it is better (and safer) to use many variations of the main colour.

The centres are my bright accent fabric surrounded by the Bali. The star points are a very light rainbow-like fabric in aqua, pink and mauve. Then the star block was set in a square of the theme Bali.

After making the blocks I wanted to try a different set, hence the zigzag. The mottled fabric was the best choice and I was nervous about having enough. The top seemed an odd shape, more long than wide so I set it aside and there she has laid.
I have a friend; she was the one who introduced me to quilting who has the dreaded C word in her life and I thought of this top. She is a 'blue' gal! Teal is close, right! It would be a couch quilt so perhaps the shape is okay. I have the Bali and a couple of neat chunks for a backing.
The plan today is to get it off the design wall, the backing sewn, and be well on my way with the basting as I need to get the other 'found' blocks up on the design wall in preparation for Wednesday's Workshop In Progress.
It is incredibly white in my world right now so playing with all these colourful fabrics just warms me up tremendously. I find I am making happy noises! 8)