Sneak Peek: Lone Star Quilts

A little while back a friend from college, Marcy, asked if I would be interested in making a Lone Star quilt for her.  She was inspired by a partial Lone Star wall hanging she saw on Pinterest, which came from this post at Better Off Thread.

She wanted it king size, so after I recovered from my panic we agreed that I would piece the top and then it would be sent to a longarm quilter for quilting.  My little Janome just can't handle a quilt that size, and I didn't want the pressure of perfect quilting in all that negative space.  Marcy and I worked out some details, and she went shopping for fabric at High Prairie Quilts in Parker, CO.  This is what came in the mail a short time later, along with a cream and gold map print for the backing:

Cutting into all these fabrics made me nervous, so I decided to do a practice run with my own fabrics first.  I was most concerned with the proper width of the strips and the overall finished size of the star.  Thankfully I have an old quilting book with a Lone Star pattern in it that includes a king size option, so I wasn't totally without instructions or guidance.  But still, I wanted to practice first.  Here's what I came up with:

With strips cut at 3.5", the star came out bigger than I wanted -- and that's why I'm glad I practiced first.  Plus, some day I'll finish this up and keep it for myself.  I love the fabric combo.

Back to Marcy's quilt -- I cut strips 3" wide, pieced them together in sets of 6, and then cut them on a 45-degree angle to form the large points of the star.

The star is 79" tall and I expect it to be around 42" wide, with a straight edge on the left where it's only partially pieced.  The negative space will be filled with dark red solid, which I have to tackle next.

Two Easy Crochet Baby Blankets

At just 3 days old, snuggly baby Oliver chills out on a chunky crochet baby blanket that I made for him.  If you're learning to crochet and want to practice on something with a purpose instead of just a swatch, I recommend you try this pattern: the Easy Baby Afghan from Aesthetic Nest.  I'm a fan of Anneliese at Aesthetic Nest (as you may have noticed based on the many projects I've made from the site), and I immediately loved the colors she used in her afghan.  I have more knitting skill than crochet, but since the afghan is just single crochet all the way, I figured I could probably handle it.

Instead of 3 strands of 4 or 5 weight yarn, I used 2 strands of 5-weight chunky yarn (Deborah Norville Serenity Chunky, colors were blue and sailboat, I think).  After some fits and starts with the starting chain and first few rows -- my first attempts were far too wide, so I kept restarting trying to make it smaller and more manageable -- this blanket worked up really quickly.  It's so thick and plush -- the perfect spot for baby's tummy time.  The corners curled up on me, and I'm not sure if that's just due the pattern or a result of my inexpert crocheting, but it's not a huge design flaw that I feel I need to troubleshoot if I ever make this blanket again.

Determined to improve my crocheting, I made a second blanket for Oliver (lucky guy).  This one is the sedge stitch cowl pattern turned into a blanket -- again from Aesthetic Nest.  (See, I told you I liked that site.)  I've made 3 or 4 of these cowls for myself in various colors, and I like the bumpy texture, so I just made it bigger and turned it into a blanket by leaving off the seaming step at the end.

I mixed two colors of my favorite yarn for baby items, Bernat Softee Baby. As with the other blanket, I had to restart this one a few times until I was happy with the size, but the good thing about crochet is that it works up quickly, so ripping out and restarting doesn't feel as futile as when you're knitting.  With this yarn, I like to make the blankets less than 30 inches square.  It's a manageable size to tote around, and it works well for tucking around baby in the car seat or swing.



Here's Oliver at 2 months, as happy as can be.

Big Finish: Celtic Motion Group Quilt

I must point out that this is my third "Big Finish" post in a row, which shows you how many deadlines I've had this spring.  I'm looking forward to more fun, in-progress style posts to come, but for now, here's the lowdown on this group quilt project.

The blocks that make up this quilt were constructed by 16 people with varying levels of sewing experience and skill. In my other life, I'm part of an adult Irish dance group called Celtic Motion. One of our longtime members is getting married this summer, and another member suggested that we all work together to create a quilt as gift from the group. After ruling about a bunch of designs that would be too complicated, we settled on the foundation paper pieced pattern Four Ways Knot. Unfortunately, it is no longer available.



I selected a foundation paper piecing pattern because I knew it would produce the most consistent blocks, which would make putting them all together into a quilt top more manageable.  I created the two blocks above to test the pattern and show the group what they'd be making.  Each contributor received a kit containing all the neutral fabric pieces they'd need, paper foundations for the 4 quadrants that make up the block, and a neutral square for their signature block.  Each contributor was responsible for providing his/her own green fabrics, with the only requirement that the greens contrast each other for the best visual impact.  I also created detailed instructions with photos showing what the quadrant should look like at every step.  Some folks made 1 block, some 2, and some more.  I lost track of how many I made in the end -- 6, I think.  Another contributor and I trimmed and sewed all the 4 quadrants into blocks, again to ensure some uniformity.

After all 30 blocks were made, my partner in this project assembled the top with sashing and borders. We shopped for backing, and then I spent 2 hours using every last pin I own basting the quilt. I took advantage of the empty classroom space at my local quilt shop to spread it out on their tables and make the pinning process much easier.

The 10-inch blocks made it necessary to quilt over them instead of around them, so I used a simple crosshatch pattern and marked every line first to keep them all straight and evenly spaced.



For the back, we chose a green quilter's flannel with a leaf print, and I inserted the panel of signature blocks that everyone made and signed.  We used this tutorial for the blocks.

I played with some different layouts while these little blocks were up on my design wall.  We had the perfect number for a 6x6 block, and I thought it needed a frame to set it off from the rest of the quilt back.

Finally, leftover bits of fabric made a scrappy binding, and I used my favorite decorative stitch to secure the binding by machine.  This quilt was a lot of work -- from planning to creating instructions to coordinating to finishing.  I was lucky to have some enthusiastic contributors who were so thrilled to see their work come together into the finished quilt.  For some, it was the first thing they'd ever sewn on a sewing machine!  Everyone did a great job, and I hope this quilt is appreciated and used for many years.

Big Finish: Plus Quilt

My recent finish was this Plus Quilt, commissioned for friend Lily's 1st birthday.  You can see my first post about this project here.  It's a twin size (approx. 65 x 90 in) and possibly the largest quilt I've made to date.  I've entered this quilt in the Blogger's Quilt Festival, in the Bed Quilt category.  Click here to vote for my quilt!

The fabric is Hot Chocolate by Jacqueline Savage Mcfee, purchased from Hawthorne Threads. For the back, I used a large dot print, with a pieced insert to get the desired length.  Despite some trouble with my basting process, the dots on the back are surprisingly straight.

Because of the size of the pieces, quilting this was tricky, and I ended up mixing techniques. First I hand-quilted inside each plus sign using #8 perle cotton (pink and white). Then I stitched in the ditch of each horizontal seam. Left with some spaces that were still too large to leave unsecured, I added a tie in the center of each block. (Thanks Mom, for helping with those ties while I finished the embroidered label!)

Lily's grandmother requested the label below.  I made a similar label for Lily's Raw Edge Circle Quilt and still had the font saved on my computer, so that's a nice link between the two quilts from Lily's grandparents.

 

The timing worked out perfectly and I was able to deliver this quilt in person to Lily, her mom, and her Gigi.  I hope it will be well-loved and used for many years to come.

 

 



 

 

Big Finishes: More Chenille Blankets

Picture-heavy post, folks.

I recently finished two more chenille blankets for baby gifts.  The first one I made late last year was paisley with orange, red, and yellow chenille -- check it out here.  For blanket #2, I used a blue floral print (Momo for Moda) with blue, green, and turquoise flannel for the chenille.

Blanket basted and sewing lines (1/2 inch apart) in progress.

Tension reliever -- slicing through the flannel layers. The slash cutter is essential for this blanket.

After being washed and dried, the flannel edges curl up into chenille.  I was happy with this result and the pop of turquoise.  These blankets are a bit of a risk -- it's really hard to envision the finished chenille, so it's always a surprise to see what comes out of the dryer.  This blanket went to my friend who is expecting a little girl.

  

The binding is a DS Quilts print from Jo-Ann
 

Blanket #3 is a chevron print and chenille that reminds me of ribbon candy.  I ordered the chevron from Fabric.com and selected red, aqua, and white flannel for the chenille.  This blanket now belongs to my cousin, who's also expecting a girl soon.

This binding is also a DS Quilts print.  It's the perfect tomato red, and I like that the little slashes mimic the sharpness of the chevron.

Birthday Cupcakes for a Yarn Enthusiast

My dear friend was nice enough to surprise me with these amazingly decorated cupcakes for my birthday last month.  It's yarn!  In frosting!  On cupcakes!  With chocolate needles!

The design/instructions are from the book What's New, Cupcake?. You've probably seen the book, or the first one by the same authors, Hello, Cupcake! It's one thing to admire the designs and think, "Some day, I'll give those a try," knowing full well that you're being optimistic and those gorgeous cupcakes will never materialize. It's another thing entirely to create them -- and do such a great job of it! (Oh, and that's while knowing that you won't be eating said cupcakes because you're in the throes of gestational diabetes. My poor, selfless friend.)

These were a great birthday surprise, and they were almost too pretty to eat.  Almost.

Best Wonton Soup

If you are sitting through a rainy spring day and just want something to warm your bones, try this great Wonton Soup recipe for dinner.  I made it this weekend and it just hit the spot. Don't be intimidated, the wontons are easy to assemble and yummy.

Filling
1/2 lb ground pork
1 green onion, diced
2 Tb. soy sauce
2 tsp. corn starch
Dash of pepper

Broth
2 boxes of chicken stock (approx 4 cups)
Sliced mushrooms (as much or as little as you like)
3 green onions, diced
3 Tb. soy sauce or to taste
1 Tb. seasame oil
1/2-1 tsp. ground ginger, depending on preference

Wontons
1 package store-bought wonton wrappers
1 egg, beaten

Steps

1. Mix all the filling ingredients together in a bowl and set aside
2. Mix all the broth ingredients together in a saucepan and keep warm on medium-low
3. In a second saucepan, start 4-5 cups boiling while you assemble the wontons.
4. To assemble the wontons, put about a 1/2 tsp filling in each wonton and seal with egg wash. I would recommend you watch this how-to video on wonton assembly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsDOWCyf3tc.
5. Drop the wontons in the boiling water and cook until they float. With a slotted spoon, make sure the wonton wrappers are not sticking to the bottom of your pan. Then, add 1/2 cup of water, and let reboil. Once the water is boiling again, scoop the wontons out of the water and add them to the broth.

I personally like more wonton and less broth (see picture) but this recipe should provide you broth lovers with enough out there if you want more.