A Two Year Project

  Name:  Lucky Stars aka the Paper Pieced Beast

Design: Lucky Stars Block of the Month by Elizabeth Dackson

Size:  68" by 68""

Fabric: Stash fabrics including Anna Maria Horner selections from Innocent Crush, Stof Basics text, 

Kona solids, Sweetwater Reunion line, Sandi Henderson, Henna Garden

Binding:  Kona Berry

Quilted: by me with Aurifil 50 wt in light grey, 1" apart straight lines on the diagonal

I finished this a few weekends ago but with wedding and the rain, I have been unable to get photos.  Yesterday morning,I zipped outside with the quilt under my arms and pinned it to the clothesline quickly before rain came again.  It was a lovely morning and I could hear frogs already in the woods.  Rain water was dripping off the trees but there was a smidge of sun trying to make an appearance.  Even though we are only in February, we have had such a mild winter and the yard is waking up.

This quilt has been two years in the making.  I signed up for Don't Call Me Betsy's Lucky Stars Block of the Month and then I signed up for the second year in order to grow the quilt bigger.  It was quite a project.  I used a print from Anna Maria Horner's line Innocent Crush as the jumping off point, and some lovely Konas along with a text print from Stof.  The rest of the fabrics are scraps and bits and pieces.  I did find a light green/white print form the Sweetwater Reunion line for the setting triangles.   I really struggled with picking a fabric for those setting triangles and finally settled on the light green but I only had a scrap of it.  I found a supplier and then I was off to the races.

I started quilting in simple straight lines.  I was half way done the first line and I thought, nope.  Unpicked it and went on the diagonal instead, about an inch apart in fabulous light grey Aurifil 50 wt.  The grey works perfectly with all the colours.

I backed the quilt with a Michael Miller Eiffel Tower print that is extra wide and a bit of the Sweetwater Light green.

So there is is.  I am so happy it is finished.  I don't often have such long term projects!

Ready for binding

Since I am a weekend quilter, my Lucky Stars quilt sat on the floor all week waiting for me.  I put all the blocks together last weekend, spray basted it and then walked away.  My husband said to me yesterday, you might want to get your quilt off the floor before all the company comes next week.  Yep.  Company coming because we are 6 days and counting until our son's wedding.  Woo hoo!

So yesterday I had a bit of a quilting marathon and it is done.  This morning the binding choices were auditioned and picked.  Binding made and attached and all that is left is the hand stitching it down.  I am SOOOOO glad this one is so close to being finished.  Hopefully, I will have a chance to take a photo of it this week but there is a lot of wedding happening and we couldn't be more delighted.

On the design wall...

I have been working away for the past two years on the Lucky Stars BOM from Don't Call Me Betsy.  I finished the last block yesterday and I have to say that it felt good.  Good because it was done. Good because I am really over paper piecing.  (At least for awhile!)  Good because I was getting tired of seeing it on the design wall.  Just good.  Especially good since the second to last block, which I completed on Friday was a dilly.  I think it was a combination of problems with the cutting directions and not having made a block for awhile.  Paper piecing requires a certain brain set that needs constant refreshing.  At least for me.  Anyway.  Here it is.  It tried just a square layout but I am drawn to the on point layout.  I have been driving my husband crazy with setting triangle options.  I think I have settled on a fabric but I don't have enough so an order is on the way.  And it is a green by the way.  I will show you when it gets here.  And I will spend the next while moving the blocks around until I am happy with the layout. I have already moved a few since this picture was taken!

And back to work tomorrow after the Christmas break.  A new year.  New challenges and even a wedding in our family at the end of the month... our son and his lovely fiancee.  Delightful!

Leaving you with a picture of one of our overwintering hummingbirds today.  Taken while the snow is falling but our wee birdie just keeps on going.

on the design wall...

Well, this is not on the design wall but on my new sewing room counters.  Most exciting.  Anyway, this is the September Lucky Stars Block.  It is Canadian Thanksgiving so that meant 3 days of sewing.  I was able to get a lot done.  I also made the October block but I forgot to take a picture of it.  I am seriously looking forward to this all being done as it is my longest work in progress.  Two years in January.  Good grief.

I usually fuss a lot about the direction of the text print but I threw all caution to the winds with this one.  Wow!  It was freeing!  I just let it all happen.

Happy Thanksgiving!  Linking up with Judy for Design Wall Monday.

On The Design Wall: Lucky Stars Block of the Month

I continue to work away on Don't Call Me Betsy's Lucky Stars Blocks of the Month.  Here I have both July and August up on the barn wall.  I cannot remember if I have shared July but I think not.  Let me tell you, these have a lot of pieces but Elizabeth's instructions for cutting and piecing are pretty darn solid and the blocks have been going together smoothly.  I keep all the fabrics I use for the blocks in a plastic shoe box so I don't have to go hunting for them each month and I also don't have to look at them out in a pile all the time.  I am using an Anna Maria Horner fabric from her line Innocent Crush as the focal fabric for all the star.  I use the Stof basics text print in many of the stars as well.  Only a few more months of blocks and we will call this a quilt!  I have not done May's block yet.  I was super busy at school then.  And speaking of school, today marks the end of my summer vacation and I am back to work!  Eep!  The summer has flown by.  Linking up with Judy for Design Wall Monday.  Have a look down below for all the stars on my design wall.

Getting busy!

Yesterday I put together the February Lucky Stars Block of the Month.  It had fewer pieces than some of the other ones of late so it was a welcome change.  For some reason, the centre pinwheel is a bit off but in the big scheme of themes once it is in a quilt, I don't think it will be a big deal.  My husband didn't notice it when I showed him the block and that was a good sign!  He he he!  16 blocks and counting!

Then I worked on a little Valentine's project with some itty bitty half square triangles.  So fun!

I also put together a zippy pouch for a door prize donation at the next quilt guild meeting.  I used a bunch of my "sawdust"scraps and pieced them together with some Kona Charcoal.  And by sawdust I mean those little scraps that are too big to throw in the garbage but too small to go in the scrap bins.  I keep them all in a shopping bag and every once in a while a dive in a do something with them.  This was a good use of them!  I just apologize for the really bad photo that I took just prior to quilting the front and back panels.  What was i thinking?

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for Work in Progress Wednesday!

What did I do this week?

I signed up again for Elizabeth Dackson's Lucky Stars Block of the Month again this year.  This is January's.  Oh my goodness.  What a lot of pieces!  And the bonus block is just below.  I made that one at the sew in on Saturday with my guild buddies.  It took me all day because there was a whole lot of talking going on and subsequently, a whole lot of stitch ripping.  Erg.

And together they look like this... Interestingly, the January block is a bit smaller than the bonus block and I think that I am going to make it work because I just don't fancy making another one.  I think that could have been another template printing issue.  But the funny thing is that I printed the templates at home at the same time.  I am just going to make it work.

And this is what it all looks like together on the design wall so far.  Placement is completely random at this point.  But it is starting to look pretty nice!

And I have started another quilt.  Yep.  So far it is just cut up fabric.  This is going to be Geometric Slide from the fabulous new quilting book Vintage Quilt Revival by Katie Blakesley, Lee Heinrich and Faith Jones!  Such an awesome book!

And that is what I am working on this week.  Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for Work In Progress Wednesday .

Lucky Stars Block of the Month... December

I signed up for Elizabeth Dackson's Lucky Stars Block of the month last year. Elizabeth blogs at Don't Call Me Betsy.   13 blocks later, I now know how to put together a variety of paper pieced blocks.  I have a lovely selection of paper pieced star patterns in 2 sizes and while I could put these together in a quilt now, why not keep the fun going?  Elizabeth has put together a whole new year of Lucky Stars blocks and I have signed up again!  I am going to keep this quilt growing.

This is what I have so far.  13 of them.  One for each month and one extra.  That was the practice block.  I have learned a lot about paper piecing.  Can I offer some tips?
- Follow the cutting instructions.  That will save you a lot of anguish as you put your block together.
- Keep a few sewing machine needles strictly for paper piecing because paper really dulls your needle.
-Reduce the stitch length to make tearing the paper off easier.
-Keep all the fabric for the block of the month project in one tub if you are following some sort of colour scheme.  It keeps you organized when the block pattern appears in your email.
-Have fun.  It is supposed to be fun after all!

I line up all the cut up fabric in order of use so I am ready for the block.  One column is for template A and the other for template B.

I am following an organized colour scheme for the blocks.  The Anna Maria Horner fabric (second fabric from the top in the picture just below) is my "boss" fabric and all the other fabrics that I use bounce off of the colours in that print.  Fun!

Linking up with the Needle and Thread Network and Lee at Freshly Pieced for Work in Progress Wednesday.

On the design wall...

I like to get my Lucky Stars Block of the Month done as soon as I find it in my email.  Seriously.  I need help.  So there it is.  This one was a bit tricky in that it had different components that all went together.  It worked really well so that was a good thing.  Having all your fabric pre-cut makes a huge difference.  If I was to do this one again, I would not use such a dark grey but that is okay.  I have also signed up for the Lucky Stars BOM for next year as well.  I need an intervention.

Here they are altogether so far.  Not too shabby!  Linking up with Judy's Design Wall Monday.

Oh my goodness it is a lovely day!

Today was the perfect, sunny fall day.  Blue skies and leaves beginning to fall.  I had lots of uninterrpted sewing time and managed to finish bee blocks, work on my Marcelle Medallion, finish my Warp and Weft challenge project and I made the Lucky Stars BOM block... Chaos Star.  This block, with a mere 72 pieces of fabric, went together like butter!  Yay!  Having all the pieces cut, and in rows according to their placement makes all the difference!  I swtiched up the grey pieces a bit for a little bit of extra interest.  Rather than have the greys alternating, I placed them together.  Does that make sense?  So there.  October's block done like dinner.  Only two more to go and I will have to think about turning them all into a quilt.
Linking up with Judy's Design Wall Monday!

On the barn wall...

Before September had officially arrived, I cranked out the September Lucky Stars Block of the Month from Don't Call Me Betsy.  Elizabeth sent out the pattern early , knowing that a long weekend might mean extra sewing time.  Like all the other blocks, this one went together without a hitch but they are time consuming.  Having the fabric precut and lined up in a the order of use saves my paper piecing sanity.  I also write on the instructions the fabric I am using for each piece to help with that.  I am keeping the fabrics that I am using for this project in a plastic shoebox so I don't have to go looking for them each time and so I don't have to look at the fabric for a whole month until the next block comes around.

I popped them up on the barn wall yesterday to see how it looks.  I waffle between a standard and a on point layout.  Here they are.  Looking pretty!

Linking up with Judy for Design Wall Monday.

Lucky Stars for July

Oh, I got right to the July Lucky Star Block.  I couldn't let it sit.  After a few really intense blocks, Elizabeth went easy on us for July.  It went together stress free.  Very little stitch ripper action required!

And just for fun, this is what the rest of them look like...

Linking up with Judy's Design Wall Monday...

Lucky Stars BOM... June

I made this block completely on my Featherweight at the Sew In on Saturday and here it is on the barn wall.  I kept the colour scheme going but this block is more subdued.  I did that because Elizabeth suggested a more muted colour palette in the directions but I am still on the fence a bit.  I think it works in the whole scheme of the rest of the blocks and I will post a picture of all the blocks together tomorrow.  I thought I had taken more of the bright green with me to the the Sew In. It is a bright green pin dot from Camille's Ruby line.  All I had with me was a little scrap and I used every last little bit of it for those little green bits in the block.  Silly me.  Oh well.  And this took me hours to make by the way.  I am not sure if I am a pokey paper piecer or if this is normal.  I even had most of the fabric pre-cut and it still took me forever!!!!!!  I have to say that I am glad I  only do one of these a month.  They are really pretty but..  Just saying!  Have a super day!

Lucky Stars BOM...

Yesterday I took care of the May Lucky Stars Block.  It came together quite easily.  I did not, however, have my iPad close by so I did not have a colour reference as I cut out the fabrics and put it together.  I think had I referenced a colour picture of the block, I may have made different choices for the various pieces.  Nonetheless, I am pleased with it and they all look just snazzy together!  6 blocks done.  Half way there.


Happy Victoria Day and that means a long weekend.  And that means more sewing and more flower bed weeding. Linking up with Judy's Design Wall Monday.

Design Wall Monday...

I have been working away on these paper pieced blocks that are part of the Lucky Stars Block of the Month from Elizabeth who blogs at Don't Call Me Betsy.  I decided to do these in mid February so I was a little late to the party but I knew that I would have time on spring break to try them out.  The patterns for the blocks, including the test pattern (a bonus) are super detailed and in 2 sizes.  I am making the big ones (12.5") but the little ones are really sweet.  Now that I am all caught up, I can take my time with the rest!  I have really just started experimenting with paper piecing and I love the look of the blocks but I do find there is a lot of fabric that I just cut off.  That bugs me.  I have been saving all the bits from these blocks and I have a plan.  Of course some people (Husband) would just call the bits sawdust but I have a plan!

The block on the bottom left is the test block and I used scraps of some text fabric and I should have paid more attention to the direction of the text print.  Lesson learned.  That is why it is a text block!

Linking up with Judy's Design Wall Monday!