Starting the star quilt

Today, I started sewing the BOM from Planet Patchwork, Oh, My Stars by Diane Hundley. In the original quilt, Diane used primary colors with a black ground. That is just not me. I also wanted to make this strictly out of my stash, so I went with teals, turquoise, and golds and a light ground. This first section looks like a bit of a hodge-podge where nothing goes together. I have cut out the pieces for sections 2 and 3, using some of the same fabrics, and hope it comes together better when those are done. I love all these fabrics, so it will be something I like in the end. My favorite fabric in this section is the teal with peach flowers in the lower right flower block. I really wish I had more of it, or at least a manufacturer. I will just have to keep my eye out.

I was going through the bin of teals and turquoises when I found a very small amount of the fabric in the middle of this block. I fell in love instantly with this moth. I dug some more and came up with this white with a small blue print the same blue as in the moth. Then I snagged some scraps from the above project, including the rust corners, and put this together. I am not sure what I am going to do with it yet, but I really like it. It is about 8" square. I think it may become the center in a table topper for my end table. I will post it when I finish it.

Tomorrow, Sunday, I am going on an adventure with my husband. We are going to take some photographs for his stock photo business. Of course, there is a quilt shop on the way. Hopefully, we will have great photos and tales of Harbor Quilts in Gig Harbor, WA.

Thinking About Color

I finally found some time to get back to my intuition quilt. I keep finding wonderful colors and patterns in my stash bins (a gift from a friend) that I want to include in the quilt. Fortunately, the original color palette is one I can add my favorite colors to. I love interesting color combinations. I tend to select fabric in the olive green, gold tone, rusty orange, teal blue, and turquoise families. There are some purples that work really well in this group. I can also add other blues and greens and an occasional touch of bright orange. I really enjoy the happiness and the richness of these colors together.

For the house, I added the orange column to liven up the plain color of the house. I decided to use the golden batik to symbolize a warm sunny day. I found a small piece of the flower fabric on the left and knew I had to use it. There is a bit more of this I will use elsewhere in the quilt. The roof is made from the left over sashing and border of the D9P. In fact, many of the scraps used in this quilt are from the quilts I made last year as gifts for the family. I love having something to remind me of these quilts.

After I made the house, I decided to make some fabric and create another block for the quilt.

This is still a challenge to me. It is like making a collage, only I have to figure out how to sew it together - the challenge part. I chose this block to introduce a little more blue. They are scraps from a challenge quilt I am working on. You can see below how both these new blocks fit into the growing intuition quilt.

Three More Blocks and a Mug Rug

I have decided that making blocks is a good way to learn different techniques. I have also used the time to try and get a good 1/4 inch line on my sewing machine. I am getting better at cutting accurately, as well. All these are good things. The top block is the last of the block exchange for February at Fayza's Fabric Exchange. If you are interested in different kinds of exchanges, including round robins, this is the site for you.

While I was playing, I made this 6"churn dash. I like this block, and may make more for another lap quilt. I don't think I will use such a bright white on all of them.

This is the broken sugar bowl BOM for the guild. It is a 12" block. It will be interesting to see all the different green and white blocks at the next guild meeting.

Finally, I figured out what to do with one of the exchange blocks I received. I cut it into four triangles. I then turned them around and created two blocks that looked like this. I decided to turn them into mug rugs. Mug rugs are larger than coasters. They are perfect for a resting place for a drink and a small snack. If you look really closely, you can see the spiral I quilted on each black and white square.

I think I am going to start working on making the quilts I want to make for a while. Before I left the studio this afternoon, I cut some pieces for a Planet Patchwork BOM project for 2010-2011. This one is "Oh, My Stars" designed by Diane Hundley. I am only three months behind. When I get back in the studio on Thursday, I am going to work on catching up. I have changed the colors completely. I will post photos of my progress on Thursday.