another UFO d...oh..um... and part 2 of vacation sewing

Part two of my vacation sewing was another UFO off my list - what is listed as "Bikes and Flowers" because not only could I not remember the name of the fabric line, I also didn't have the magazine with the pattern handy when I made the list.  But I knew the fabric had bikes and flowers, so at least I knew what I was doing.  I think...

I bought this bundle of fat quarters ages ago (probably pre-blog even!) at Tuesday Morning because I could.  It's pretty cool fabric, but it was a good deal, too.  So why not?

They'd been washed, ironed and folded neatly a while ago.  (So long ago, in fact, that upon ironing and releasing the fabric softener scent, I didn't recognize it...and we've been using the blue Snuggle kind for a long while!)  This bundle, along with a background, came with me another year as a potential for Swoon.  It didn't happen and I changed my mind about that choice later.  (Though it still would make a nice Swoon!)

Mid-year last year, I saw a quilt somewhere online, from the magazine Modern Patchwork, that was THE quilt for these fabrics.  I made a special trip out for the magazine even!  The pattern is called "Shooting Stars in Stars" and I love it!

(color is a little dark here, but you get the idea!)

The first order of business, again, was removing the fold wrinkles and choosing my fabrics.  (Actually, now that I look at it, the above photo are only the fabrics that made the cut.  There were others - it was a nice bundle!)

In pressing, I realized the selvedges had information about the fabric line!

It's called "Weekends" from Free Spirit!  There is no date on any selvedge, but at least I know a little more.  And this one - a bit 60's-funky, but fun anyways!

Then, selecting which will be big stars inside and big stars outside and small stars...and of course, cutting!  I did the big stars first because...well...because!

First one - lay out all the pieces...

...well, that's kinda busy...

Sew it up!

During the construction of this block is where I realized my needle had moved itself a touch.  When I went to sew the flying geese units to the center square, it didn't quite fit.  A little unsewing was needed, but I was thankful I'd only cut and pieced one block at this point, so it wasn't a mass-effort!  And with the little correction, my seam allowance was once again under control and construction resumed without a hitch.  (Other than those darn nosy flying geese with their beaks up the next guy's behind!  Try as I might, there's always a few of them!)

In no time, I had all four large blocks (24") done!

Whew!  Still busy!  But that's okay, right?

Next up was to cut all the pieces for the little stars.  They finish the size of the inner stars on the big blocks, but have a smaller star inside.  So some of those pieces were 2" to start!

But here is where I found a pattern...well..error?  The instructions for fabric needs state 14 fabrics - 7 light and 7 dark.  The cutting instructions give instructions for cutting 7 fabrics - two inner and two outer stars of each.  Well.  Even the handy cutting diagram backs this up.  But the quilt itself is definitely done with 14 fabrics, each one being one inner and one outer star, and that's what I wanted.  Thankfully, I caught this after cutting just one fabric and was able to amend their cutting instructions to my needs.  I'm sure the magazine has pattern testers, but depending on how they do that, the discrepancy could have been missed more easily than a piecing error!

Onward...cutting 40 billion squares...or so...

Each stack represents half of a star.  One smaller stack was matched with a larger stack for a whole star.  That was done next, making sure I didn't have any that were exact opposites of each other.  Some I liked better, so it was hard at this point not to match up my favorites with each other, but I was good and diligent and, without the help of cats, this took much less time than normal!

And then on to sewing...the instructions, for both size blocks, have you making the flying geese with the "no-waste" method, which needs to be trimmed anyways, but you do waste a lot less than the stitch-and-flip method.

Instead of one at a time, like with the large stars, I decided I could make this work chain-sewing.  It made for a LOT of trimming all at once, but sped up the process in the long run, which was nice.

About this time I looked out the window...

...actual geese!  Loads of them!  (Pooping all over the lawn and beach...)  But this photo shows the beautiful blue skies we had most of the week much better than the photo from my last post.  And that's the marina again, straight ahead.  And the tree peeking out on the left side actually shaded the cabin (facing mostly west) in the afternoon until about 6pm from the worst of the sun, which was nice.  The other cabin, the one we've rented in the past, doesn't have a tree.

Oh, wait, we're sewing here...

After construction of the blocks comes the layout process.  Again, some toe-stubbing on table legs was necessary here, but I had enough room!

Notice how the large blocks are offset?  (The pattern mentions how nice it is that there are no points between blocks to match up.  Well...um...kinda...not...)

So I very carefully sewed these and consulted my photo to make sure the blocks were all still in the right locations.  I tried to keep the bikes and little flowers and big flowers and all the colors well distributed and that was no easy feat.  Careful, careful!

I sewed the last seam of the top and took it outside for a photo shoot...

...so proud of myself for finishing this Thursday night, giving me plenty of time to pack everything up on Friday so we could be ready to roll out early Saturday morning.

On the way home, I sent this photo to a few friends (once I had internet connection again!) and then really looked at it.

WHAT???????????

I sewed that last strip on backwards.

So, my UFO is NOT done.

Oh well, it was an extra one - putting me ahead another month - and it's not going to be THAT much trouble to fix it.

This week back has been busy.  The boss-lady scheduled me 5 shifts, plus all the other catching-up-from-vacation stuff, so I just finally unpacked my sewing stuff yesterday.  Today I will be deconstructing the top...soon...kinda procrastinating now...but the orange blocks await, too...

Speaking of packing sewing stuff.  In my last post I mentioned I get it all in one suitcase.  And since it was still packed, I thought I'd take a few photos...

All tidy in there!

But wait, where's the machine?

Ta da!  Hiding at the bottom!

I also promised to share my side trip purchases.

At guild the Thursday before we left, stories of a quilt shop having an 18th anniversary sale were going around.  This shop is about an hour from home and about 5 minutes out of the way for our trip.  So we stopped!

While the shop carries a lot of reproduction-type and wool fabrics, I did manage to find a few treasures!  (With everything on sale at least 18% off, who couldn't find something!)

The fabrics on the right are one-yard cuts and were $4!  I have no plans for them, but I have a huge weakness for fabrics with words on them.  (And it turns out, these prints, the white one exactly, were also in my orange quilt from the last post!  Also, the fabric used for the background of the quilt above was in the orange quilt kit.  I'll have to show a closer photo of that fabric when I do a finished post.)

The kit on the left is for the pattern "Cabin Fever," a free pattern from Jedi Craft Girl.  The quilt shop didn't provide the pattern, but the information is on the package.  But they DID take my e-mail and e-mail me the pattern, though you can find it free through the link I put above.

It's kinda hard to tell, but the background for the quilt is a minty-ish green.  I'm trying to break out of white or black or grey background for quilts, so this is a good place to start - kits!

(And I got home and my friend, Carol, was posting on her blog that she was making this exact same quilt.  Different fabrics, but still.  Too funny!  Great minds think alike!)

I also got something for my mom, but that's a secret for now!

That's enough for now.  Unsewing and orange are calling my name!

Happy quilting,

Katie