Another Quilt Is Home . . . .

Virginia's Star, Lifetime Quilt Number 70, is back home from the quilter.

I'm very happy with this quilt, the quilting style perfectly matches the feel of this quilt. And I had nothing to do with it! Connie Lancaster, at Quilts Plus in Indianapolis, quilted this top for me.

Here's a nice closeup of the border designs, I think the crosshatching in the black checkerboards is perfect, so is that leaf design.

Connie wasn't happy with my choice of this plain muslin fabric for the backing, I thought it was a good match for the front but she thought her stitches showed too much on the back. They sure look good to me and I like being able to see them. But I did promise to start sending backing with a floral print in the future.

Here's the obligatory red couch photo . . .

another winner.

Every time I blog about another quilt being home from the quilter, at least one person asks, "where do you keep all those quilts". Well I don't keep them all, but here's a peek at one of the rooms in my house and the quilts I have out.

So in addition to Virginia's Star on the red couch,

I currently have Father's Fancy on the love seat,

Monique's quilt is in the TV stand,

and this quilt rack which is holding, from top to bottom, Mocha Trails, Myths of Avalon, James River Blues and Jake.

Simon's quilt which Cooper uses as his "place" is on the floor.

That's a total of 8 quilts in that room. I move them around and replace them every month, that room gets a lot of sun and I don't want any fading going on.

Cooper's "place" is where Cooper goes when we say, "Cooper, go place". He has to stay on the quilt until we say "free dog". It comes in handy when the UPS man or company stops by. We also make Cooper place before he can eat his dinner or while we eat our dinner. He's so used to placing now, that when the doorbell rings he just runs to his quilt. It's his best trick, and yes, he gets a treat every time he places! And no, he doesn't always wear a tie, we do have business casual days here too!

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Virginia's Star Quilt . . . Finished . . .

Remember this project? Of course you don't, I hardly remember this project!! The last time I blogged about my Virginia's Star Quilt was February 14th!! (here)

So to refresh your memory, Virginia's Star Quilt is a pattern by Lori Smith for From my heart to your hands Quilt Designs. It's a great pattern that provides detailed instructions for making this quilt in several different sizes.

I got my center star blocks all done then decided I wanted to change the border.

So I added this checkerboard/9 patch border, but ran out of fabric. That's the last time you heard about this quilt.

Luckily for me, a friend had this exact kit at her house and offered her border fabric to me so I could finish my quilt.

So I finished up that black and tan border, stood back and looked at my quilt and thought, "oh no, that's not good." I thought the black and tan blocks overpowered the star blocks, to the point where you didn't really notice the star blocks at all. What a disappointment!

So at this point I'm trying to decide what to do, go back to the border that was with the pattern (maybe that Lori Smith knew best!) or go ahead and add the final border of scrappy half square triangles and hope it all worked out in the end.

I decided to stick with my plan and add the outer border to that black and tan inner border.

And miracle of miracles, somehow those scrappy half square triangles evened things out, somehow they toned down those black and tan squares. What a relief!

This is Lifetime Quilt Number Seventy,

finished at 54" x 66"

and has approximately 1,436 pieces.

I had a few scraps setting on my sewing table when I was all done and thought maybe I could use them for something.

And came up with this little mug rug, it finished at 6" x 6".

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A Little More of Virginia's Star Quilt . . . .

With Belle Meade done it was on to my next project. After working with nothing but French General reds, whites, and blues, I was in the mood for some different colors.

So I went with this . . .

Virginia's Star Quilt by Lori Smith for From my heart to your hands Quilt designs. My favorite part of this pattern, it comes with 5 different quilt size options. The star block can range in size from a 4 1/2 inch square to a 10 1/2 inch square, and this pattern has detailed directions for each size.

So here are all my stars . . .

I wish I could take credit for choosing all that lovely fabric, but this project is the result of a kit, a kit I've had for several months. This project was kitted for the 6 inch square blocks, so that's what I went with.

So that was easy, the size was chosen for me, the fabric was chosen for me, no drama for this project, right....right...., uh not right.....

I wasn't particularly fond of the border provided in the pattern, a 6 inch piece of plain fabric with a star in each corner.

I thought I could come up with something a little better ( you know me and borders) and thought maybe a scrappy checkerboard inner border would have a good look and feel.

It didn't take long to figure out that the scrappy checkerboard border fought with the scrappy stars, so back to the drawing board......I was a little limited since this was a kit, and I really don't have much in the way of fabric on hand.

Then I noticed the binding fabric that came with the kit, and tried this.....

This I like,

so the binding became the border!

I'm still deciding on the perfect width for plain tan inner border, and plan to add another plain strip of fabric to the other side of the checkerboard border. I'm also still deciding about whether to add the hst units along the outside, like the pattern.

This I am sure of, I ran out of fabric! The kit didn't come with enough fabric to finish the border using my pattern changes!! I was able to order more of the dark fabric from the quilt shop where I got the kit, the plain tan border fabric, it's available, but the color is a little different. It has a hand dyed look that probably changes on each bolt. Luckily for me, I know a quilter who had also bought this kit and she is willing to part with her border fabric so I can finish mine! Aren't quilters the nicest bunch of folks you would ever want to meet!

So while I wait for more fabric to finish this project, I guess I'll get started on Eventide!

Stop back tomorrow for an update on my Eventide progress and some sew along updates!!

Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm wearing my Valentine's Day socks and eating red food all day. I just love it when I have to eat Red Velvet Cupcakes for breakfast, just in the name of a holiday! I'm all for any holiday that adds a little fun to what would normally be another boring winter day. If a valentine doesn't find its way to you, don't hesitate to treat yourself to a little something....it's all about love, and shouldn't you give yourself a little love everyday, but particularly this day!!

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Eventide Sew-Along and Winner . . .

First, to all the folks who have so much snow that they have to actually shovel their roofs, I am so sorry I complained about my measly 22 inches!! I don't even shovel my drive, is there a service for that type of thing.....I can't imagine getting up on a slick roof to shovel snow. No more complaining about snow from me, no sir......now the temperature, that's another matter, today it's 0!

I'm so excited, it appears as if we have around 25 quilters up for an Eventide sew along! At first I was amazed by the number of folks who said they would participate, but then it is an amazing pattern. And for a Carrie Nelson pattern, pretty low on the pieces scale, only around 1,115.

So here's the list of folks who I think are in the sew along:

Leona

Nicole - Sisters Choice Quilts

Sherri - A Quilting Life

Cindy B

Anita

Sue - Cozy Little Quilts

Mary Lou - Cheaper Than Therapy Quilting

Deb

Linda - The Quilted Pineapple

Gretchen - Stella Bella Quilts

The NCQ - The North Carolina Quilter

Brenda - Quilting Along Life's Way

Chris

Laura Dublin

Dresden Quilter

Carol

Becky - The Quilting Book Lady

Mary

A

Cheryl

Paula Frances - Love Zao

Shelley

Kathy - Troublesome Creek Quilts

Lisa - Stashmaster

Sarah

Betty

Deb

Gayle

Sinta - Pink Pincushion

If you want to join us, and I missed you, just leave a comment or send me an email, cupcakesndaisies@gmail.com. If you're on the list in error, I'm sorry, leave me a comment or send me an email and I'll remove you from the list.

Anita, Mary, A, and Cheryl. You left comments saying you wanted to sew along but I don't have a way of contacting you, please send me your email address. I'm happy to do the blogging for you.

I have a few more folks still thinking it over, quit thinking, come on and join us, and send me an email or leave a comment so I can add you to the list.

Here are the rules, start when you want, finish when you can and if you finish by the end of March, 2011, you get a mug rug, made by me! We'll also have other drawings as we go. Oh, and a prize for the first person done, piecing the top. Shelley started this project with Carrie in Wisconsin, so she has a head start....just throwing that out there for you competitive types!!

I plan to blog about the Eventide Sew Along every Tuesday. Feel free to blog about your progress when it suits you. If you have a blog, I'll link to it. I just love the parades that Sherri and Sinta have for their monthly sew along, so let's do the same, have an Eventide Parade the last day of March.

That's it! What could be more fun!

Added later - If you are looking for an Eventide pattern, the Fat Quarter Shop will have them online in the next 24 hours or so. Also, Kimberly from the Fat Quarter Shop has donated a gift certificate for our sew along! Thanks Kimberly, that's very exciting news! The fun just keeps happening and I've yet to even unwrap my fat quarter bundle!

And the winner of the Eventide pattern is

Jayne - of Jayne's Quilting Room.

Congratulations Jayne, and thanks to all who stopped by and left a comment.

I'm working on this project right now,

Virginia's Star Quilt by Lori Smith of From my heart to your hands.

I just need to finish the stars, sew them together, and add the border.

Depending on how Virginia's Star progresses, I'm hoping to start Eventide the end of next week.

Someone asked about my progress on my needle turn applique project, I'm loving it and am still working on my first block. I would show you my progress, but I get the idea that appliquers blog about their applique when they finish a block, and I'm new to the club and don't want to break any rules, so hang in there, there will be a applique block to share soon.

(If it were up to me, I would show you a picture every time I added a piece, wouldn't you just hate that!!)

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