Friends of Baltimore, Stars Upon Stars

Happy Fall. I saw my first brilliant yellow Maple tree yesterday. Unfortunately, I was driving and not able to stop and take a photo. But it was beautiful. The weather has turned and the days are sunny and awesome. Love this weather. Spent yesterday in Springfield with a friend and had a great day.

I have decided I need a table for my sewing machine. I’m getting tired of putting my machine away and bringing it back out in between applique handwork and machine piecing. I looked at actual sewing machine tables but have decided what I really need is what is termed as a writing desk. Who knew there were so many to choose from. I think I got cross eyed with all the options. I have narrowed it down to this one. Namely because it has a drawer to keep sewing machine accessories handily available, and the legs are similar to my desk. It measures 40 x 20 and will fit perfectly in the space I have available. So now to order it.

Friends of Baltimore –

I have completed two of the corner blocks for the borders. Only two corner blocks left. I’m hoping to have them finished by the end of October. Woo hoo.

Stars Upon Stars

Finished the first installment just in time to received the second installment. Plus I have been supplementing the civil war fabrics from pieces I have found at the local quilt shops just to make it my own.

Each star block is made up of 9 fabrics. It’s always interesting to see how the fabric choices and the order I put them when actually sewn together. Makes me wonder, what if I had put fabric 6 where 3 is, what would it look like. But boy oh boy those ‘Y” seams. By the end of this quilt I should be a master at “Y” seams.

I had a visitor and I discovered he likes cantaloupe. For such a little guy he sure puts it away.

Now if only I could teach Buddy, my sister’s cat and Buttercup, to operate the lawn tractor.

Hope everyone has a great day.

Happy Stitches

Sissy

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Friends of Baltimore

Corner Block Friends of Baltimore

Today I am hoping to finish the corner block basket on my Friends of Baltimore quilt. One down, three to go. Wheeeee.

I received a wonderful thank you and compliments from my niece and sister in law for the Paper Doll Quilt. I am thrilled they liked it. It’s so encouraging.

Buttercup has taken up residency on my deck furniture. Little does he know the plans I have for him. I see a vet appointment in his near future. I have even caught him relaxing on top of my camper. Is he trying to convey a message to me? Like, a traveling kitty? It’s not unheard of.

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Realization has struck this morning. Fall is fast upon us and I will need to start making plans for bringing in all my lovely houseplants from out of doors. The problem is where to house them for winter. Last year I put them all in my kitchen eating area. That worked well so I may continue to give up that space to ensure my plants thrive during the winter months. I do so love my plants and flowers. My nasturtiam has grown considerably since I received it. No flowers yet. Maybe next year. I am hoping it will winter outside. It’s supposed to be a perennial. There are some that are annuals. I’m hoping I got the perennial.

Well, I’m off to work on my corner block. Happy Stitches everyone.

Until next time.

Sissy

Dolly Days, Friends of Baltimore & Stars upon Stars

Good morning everyone. It’s Friday. My how the week seems to fly by in retirement. All items needing attention not quilt related have been attended to so now it’s quality time in the sewing room.

Dolly Days (Paper Doll Quilt) is complete and has been shipped to the mother to be. Hopefully she will receive it today. I have to admit I totally enjoyed the quilting of it on my Bernina Q16. I challenged myself and was very pleased with the outcome. Being a novice at free motion quilting I do not as yet have many stitches in my personal library, but managed to enhance the quilt top with my meager skills.

I have now returned to Friends of Baltimore quilt. I have prepped one corner square and am in the process of sewing the pieces. For some strange reason the side borders did not attach and fit the pattern as indicated. I know I cut them absolutely correctly so not sure about the pattern, which leaves me to make adjustments but allows me to be creative. Still playing with the spacing. Will be adding more leaves, and possibly some flowers. Oh and discovered I had somehow missed embroidering the little stems to the red cherries on the left side border so I will have to go back and complete those. How I missed those, not sure. Silver moment.

Lost my mind and signed up for Edyta Sitar’s BOM Stars Upon Stars with Homestead Hearth. Received the first month’s installment and decided that I did not want it to become relegated to a bucket list tub so I have challenged myself to complete each month as I receive it. Well……. I have a pretty good skillset for intricate piecing but boy has this pattern challenged me. I have admired but really had not aspirations of working with 8 pointed stars but for some reason this quilt spoke to me and I listened. Actually I have avoided them for years. All those Y-seams and such. Eager to get started I watched several You Tube videos on her technique. Thus, I began. I have substituted some fabrics with some from my stash, as I will continue to do throughout the year. I read, reread and reread the instructions. I made a sample star block from watching her video which measures 11″ square. That turned out very nice. Then I began cutting the pieces for the small 8 pointed stars and realized they will be 3 1/2″ square. I made 2 and was not happy at all with the outcome (good thing I’m using my own fabric stash) so cut out more and combined Edyta’s technique with my own way of executing Y seams and voila I have a 3 1/2″ star block that lays pretty flat. I made 4 of them and the 4 half star blocks. Next up will be the sashing strip. From what I have read she indicates you will need to sew a scant 1/4″ SA. Some have suggested moving the needle position a bit to accomplish this. I’ll have to see if I am able to play with the needle position on my Bernina. I know I could on my Pfaff but it is currently loaned out at the moment. Otherwise I’ll use tape.

Have a great weekend and happy stitching.

Sissy Malone