Quilting the Stars

The quilting is coming along pretty well, though of course slower than I'd hoped.  I've sewn vertical and horizontal lines along the sides of the stars, now am finishing outlining them.

Some photos of the in-progress quilting:

Overhead view

Outlining the stars

The design to quilt around the stars in straight, unbroken lines (begins at #1, bottom left).  This outlines the stars completely with two passes per row.  Pretty clever if I say so myself ;)

You can just make out the star shapes behind the quilting lines

The planned motif to decorate the white squares between the stars:

All scans from "Heirloom Machine Quilting" by Harriet Hargrave

Ideas for the borders:

I think I'll use one of these on the larger dark blue border.  I'm thinking diagonal lines on the smaller light blue border to echo the edges of the stars.

A New Passion

I've always been fascinated by anatomy and medicine, and planned to be a doctor.  This plan solidified at age 15: I would be a general surgeon and practice in the developing world where help was needed most.  I love using my mind and hands together.  Then I developed a constant headache, and later fibromyalgia and muscle pain, so became a professional patient instead.

With pain came many hours to fill...daytime tv is even worse than it sounds!  I'd always been interested in beautiful textiles.   I took up knitting to keep from going crazy.  I also started quilting, even making a twin-sized quilt for my best friend.  She still uses it :)  I started garment sewing more recently.

I was forced to find a new passion in handwork and am glad for what I've learned.  The feeling of creating something beautiful and unique is unmatched. Sometimes, though, I can't help but think "what if."

Have you had to find a new passion, or did one sneak up on you?  Is your passion a retreat from the stresses of everyday life?  I'd love to hear what most excites you about your hobbies and passions.

Life, Quilt

Some things have gone well in my life, others haven't.  I have a new good friend and we see each other weekly or so.  Last weekend we went to a cabaret show--so much fun!  This weekend has some good plans as well.  I miss having a local best girlfriend.  Haven't had one since high school, though, so I should be used to it by now.

I have been making progess on the baby quilt.  Most of the basic horizontal and vertical line quilting is done, so is outlining some borders.  Now to do detailed quilting of the blocks and borders.  I also haven't decided on a marking technique; maybe water soluble marker.  My free motion quilting is terrible so I'm doing as much with the feed dogs up as possible.

I'm still adjusting to the loss of function in my dominant arm.  'Nuff said.

Quilt is Basted!

It took two tries but the quilt is basted :)  The first try had the backing stretched too tight, so I had to redo it.  My rug is great for smoothing out fabric--it sort of velcros the fabric.

I spread the backing fabric, then the batting, muslin and the quilt top.  I smoothed all the layers, especially the backing and top, so there are (hopefully) no wrinkles in the final quilt.

Quilt roll up

Lots of safety pins=sore fingers

 Unfortunately the backing fabric shrunk in the wash so it's a little short.  I'd calculated so there would be extra, but forgot to account for shrinkage.  Luckily there's extra width so I'll chop some off the side and seam it to the top.  If I do this well it'll blend in with a quilting line.  I think I'll hand baste 1/4" below the seam between the borders then position the backing patch and sew.  This should position the seam well, but we'll see.

Too much and too little backing fabric

New Furniture

I have a new living room :)  I moved last year and finally have furniture that works here!

Living room, from the entry

I bought new bookcases that are open so don't block the light.  I really like how it divides the space, leaving a reading nook and dining area (aka sewing room in winter).  The embroidered cushions match a lampshade I already own.

New comfy couch

The new couch is black leather, not something I ever imagined buying.  But it's thick leather, comfy, I love the chaise and the headrest is awesome!  Tall people need neck support too.

Reading nook, also cat bed

I bought some lovely fabric today for shirts.  I've realized how nice woven shirts are for warm weather, and happened to be passing the fabric store.  But I need to finish the quilt first: next step is pin basting.  Maybe I can get it done tonight.  I may use lemon bars to bribe a friend into helping ;)

In less happy news, Picasa ate some of my photos.  Luckily I have backups, but it's annoying to lose photos on blog entries and tedious to replace them.