Red Star Quilt, Completed. 26 Aug 23.

 Here is the red star quilt that I finished this summer.  This was made mostly from upcycled men's 1% cotton shirts.  The sides and corner blocks are mainly my own design, and the body of the quilt was based on a pattern from Today's Quilter by Lynne Goldsworthy.  

I'm happy with the result.  A couple of the shirt fabrics were a more delicate weave than I should have used, and not as durable than I wish it was.  Lesson learned.  I have started cutting multicolored batik fabrics for an entirely different take on this theme.  Something to work on next winter.

Resuming Posting. 26 Aug 23.

 I haven't been posting for a while.  It's been a challenging summer, and I can't do everything I once did.

I hope that continuing to post is a sign of resilience and hope for the future.

Gardening is as important as it ever was.  Good for health, mental health, emotional health, nutrition, outlook, community, and the environment.

Disappearing Hourglass Quilt Block in Batik. 5,6.23

I wanted to make a quilt for Ning's sister, that I could make faster than the usual  cotton men's shirt upcycle quilts.  There are various versions online of disappearing hourglass.  I decided to use batik as the deeply colored parts and off-white with grey markings for the background.  I ordered precut 10-inch sampler bundles, but will also add some other fabrics.

First sew together a light and a dark square, facing together.  Sew a 1/4 inch seam all around.

One thing I discovered, is the precuts are not all perfectly square.  So it takes some finagling.

Then, cut corner to corner, both ways.  (I didn't photograph the first one, so the color is different now.

Then open what are now half square triangles, press, rearrange to make hourglass blocks.

Sew together.  That's the hourglass block.

Then cut into perfect thirds, horizontal and vertical.  That disappears the hourglass.

Now it's a nine-patch.  Rearrange the sides, corners, and middle.

Sewn together like a nine-patch, the block at the top is the result.  There are some challenges.  All of the pieces are on the bias.  The corners didn't come out perfectly on the first two blocks.  I think it still be ok with practice.  Also, the white backgrounds in the sampler aren't all what I want, so I need to replace some.

Drunkards Path Block, Pillow Sham. 5.6.23

 I've been wanting to try a drunkards path block, and wanting pillow shams to match a much earlier quilt made and like a lot.  It turned out pretty easy.  Here is the quilted pillow sham on the older quilt.

Now I want to make a few more.  

The secret to getting those round seams to work, is first use a washable 1/4 inch basting tape to connect them.  Then sew the curved seam.  Nobody tells you that.  It works very well.

Red Star Quilt. Ready to be Quilted. 5.6.23

 Here is the red star quilt so far.

It's all pinned together with the backing and batting.  I've been procrastinating actually quilting it, but I think I'm about ready to.

Also, I think I'll also make a multicolor, richly colored batik version of this quilt.  I like the pattern and how it came together.