Primitive Maverick Stars

Have I mentioned before that I love Bonnie Hunter?  I love how her blog is set up, her mystery quilts, and the free patterns on her blog!  Quite a while ago I was looking through her free patterns and found one called Maverick Stars, here is the link to that particular pattern: http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2005/06/maverick-stars.html.  This is one of the few patterns I have found that is just for the block.  I had an overflowing bin of scrap triangles and 2 inch light squares so that is what I began with.  

 When I started to place the blocks together I thought their individuality became lost.  I played with different colored sashing and cornerstones until I found one that worked.  At this point I realized that they appeared primitive to me.

All together I had 24 blocks.  The quilt ended up being 23 x 33 inches.

                                                               

I utilized coordinating fabrics to make a scrappy backing and ended up quilting it in a leafy swirl pattern using a variegated thread on my domestic sewing machine.
































I decided to hang this one right on my kitchen wall....It was a very labor intensive quilt.  Lots of  squaring up and ripped stitches.  All in all a wonderful challenge from Bonnie Hunter, thank you so much!

Cold in the House

No quilting at all this week.....I simply haven't had the time.  I have been busy with bookkeeping for the fire department, prep for preschool, and generally life.

I think the business of it all has affected me, as it always does.  Whenever I allow life to become too hectic, when I don't allow myself time to rest, don't get enough sleep, don't nurture my needs...I become sick.  Well this week is no different.  For the last few days I ignored my congested head, and slight tickle in my throat, though I can usually ward off a cold if I catch it soon enough..I woke up last night multiple times with my throat raw, my head pounding, my chest burning.....So on goes the essential oils.  A day of pajamas and rest is in order.  Eating a very healthy diet is a must.   I also put a turkey carcass with garlic, onions, dried herbs and a couple Tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in the crockpot to start some homemade broth.  It usually takes 12 to 24 hours if I want really good bone broth with wonderful gelatin, however;  I will probably drink the broth before that point since it is so good for you even if it hasn't extracted all the gelatin and collagen from the bones yet.  I really like this post listing the reasons for making your own broth and how to do it, though I have never actually followed a recipe and I have been making homemade broth for years.  http://www.theyummylife.com/Slow_Cooker_Chicken_Broth  I started out making it on my stove top, progressed to making it on my wood stove cook top, learned how to make it in my crockpot, and recently made it in my pressure canner.  I have to say my favorite way to cook it is in the pressure canner.  It gels so much better and the quality of the broth is so rich.  The easiest is by far the crockpot....The homiest has got to be on top of the wood stove...today though it is crockpot time.

When someone in my family is sick, I always start thinking....what can I do to help and in this instance I remembered as I sat here feeling miserable...Onion honey, that's right.  It is something I have wanted to make for some time and just had not done.  I researched the Internet and found this blog post, http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2009/11/homemade-cough-and-cold-syrup.html.  I made a red onion honey, with cloves.....

 It smells amazing!  I taste tested it numerous times and it is reminiscent of the glaze that my grandma used to put on her baked ham...I am pretty sure I will have no problem taking this medicine all day...Already the cloves and honey are soothing my throat.. yum, yum.

Two new baby quilts

Well this week has been a busy week for me.  I completed two different baby quilts.

A traditional Four Patch in peach color.  I quilted it on my frame with my Juki TL 2010q.  I chose flowers and swirls.

and a traditional Rail Fence..  

I also quilted this one on my Juki, however; I chose to sit down while I did so.  That is what I am familiar with, how I have learned to free motion quilt.  I wanted to compare two similar patterns on both the frame and sitting down to quilt.  

I seem to love flowers right now so I did an all over flower/swirl pattern in the middle and feathers in the border.  

I definitely see the advantage of the frame, particularly because you don't have to baste your quilt sandwich.

However;  I think I'm learning that the grass is definitely not greener on the other side...I always thought I would love quilting on a frame and I am finding that I don't like it so much.  I LOVE quilting at my machine, sitting down, seeing up close exactly what I am doing.  I suppose with practice I will become much better on the frame but I'm not sure I want to.....Something to ponder and consider for the future.

Grand Illusion Finish!

I am so happy I chose to do Bonnie Hunter's Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt, http://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/grand-illusion-mystery.html.  I have learned an absolute ton and I am tickled by the final results.  Because I chose to not use my green sashing in the original quilt and instead make a separate lap quilt I think they both reflect more of who I am.  

That little cutie in the right hand corner was my assistant in hanging this quilt.  

 I absolutely love the backing!  It is Moda's El Gallo Rooster fabric and I think it totally makes the quilt.  A wonderful lady from my local quilt guild found it at Prickly Pear Quilts and I instantly knew it was IT....

I did an all over meander on my Handi Quilter table top frame.  I also really wanted to do something different on the binding so I sewed it on the front by machine and then flipped to the back and embroidered all the way around.

Finally my bonus quilt, finished!  I gave this one to my oldest niece as a moving out present.  I am so proud of her!

Don't be afraid!!!

So I have a little bit of a rant today.

Last night I went to my monthly scrap club meeting at Prickly Pear Quilts in Helena, MT, http://www.pricklypearquilts.com/.  I absolutely love this group!  Every lady is amazingly talented, gloriously different, and all around awesome.  I leave feeling refreshed and ready to start something new....LOVE them!

We had a discussion though regarding the actual quilting of the quilt.  Now, I truly feel we should not do something we hate in regards to quilting and there are individuals who hate the quilting part on our domestic machines, (or dislike it intensely if hate is too strong a word).  Then there are others that do not enjoy piecing, I know.... gasp! I think if that is the case you should do what you enjoy.  The piecers of the world unite and take your quilt tops to the longarmers of the world and it makes the world a better place.  Both are just as talented as someone who enjoys both parts of the process, (and yes there are lots of people who vary on the spectrum of what they do and don't like, crossing into both sides, me included) .

What I don't want any quilter to feel though is that they can't.  They can't quilt the actual quilt so they don't try, or they are scared to try because the results have not been good.  This makes me sad because at one time that was me....When I was younger I didn't paint because my brother was so good I couldn't compete.  I didn't quilt because my grandmother and aunt were so amazing.  I didn't garden or try rollerblading.  Probably because I have a personality that says, "be the best".   When I was 25, after divorce, I said to myself.....life is short, this is it, if your scared- do it anyway, if you know you will be bad, do it anyway and don't judge whether its worth doing based upon the result but how it made you feel!  Just give yourself up to the process.

I followed that motto and it led me to painting which I thoroughly enjoyed.  The gardening bug hit and I am still gardening.  Quilting came along and I danced a happy dance, though I was atrocious at the start.

Then I discovered FMQ and I fell in love, despite tension issues, ugly stitches, and breaking thread.  All of which sometimes continues to this day.......I have quilted every quilt I have made because of this love and given myself permission to not be perfect.  It does not look as good as a longarmers quilt but it's mine.  I take classes because I enjoy them, I am constantly striving to be better because it's a challenge...and now with my new frame I would like to tackle a different way to FMQ....

So end of rant .....  I pray that the fellow quilters of the world will be gentle with others of our kind, but most especially ourselves and not be scared to try free motion quilting because sometimes it is a catharsis to our soul.

Update Grand Illusion Quilt

I feel like it's been forever since I blogged!  Life can be just crazy and I feel like I am scrambling to find time in my sewing room.

I decided to focus on my Grand Illusion quilt while at Quilt Retreat weekend with my local Guild. While working on it I decided to make a separate quilt out of the green sashing.  I didn't like how the green sashing played with the main blocks.   Now I have two for the price of one!

I still can't decide what backing to use for my Grand Illusion quilt.  While I figure it out I put borders on the extra quilt, sandwiched it, and put it on my Juki to FMQ.

Initially, I mapped out my plan and this is what I came up with:

I decided the Mctavishing was too much though so I stuck with pebbles, swirls, and feathers for the body of the quilt.  Both the feathers and pebbles are fairly new to me so this is definitely a 'practice' quilt.

I think I will attempt the rope design on the inner border...Not sure yet though.  

Thanks for looking!

Grand Illusion Catch Up

1/1/2015 Part 6: The Reveal of the Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt was released by Bonnie K Hunter at http://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/grand-illusion-mystery.html and I realized, I haven't even posted part 4 or 5!

Part 4 had two separate broken dishes units:

Part 5 was 4 patches, two separate types.  Unfortunately I ran out of yellow in the middle of this clue, so fabric was ordered and I awaited the next part.

Part 6 was the reveal, and even though I never finished part 5 I could not wait to start putting blocks together.  I absolutely love this mystery.  I have learned so much!  

Without sashing:

  With sashing:

I actually think I like it better without the sashing, it will be interesting to see how it looks in the end.  If you would like to see some other wonderful Grand Illusion quilts in the making hop over to Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Monday Link-Up! http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2015/01/mystery-monday-link-up-part-6.html