nova star completed!

Just over a year ago, I joined a quilt along for a quilt called Nova Star.  The gal hosting (the pattern designer) had made the quilt in a number of colorways and one in particular spoke to me.  So I decided to join.

It started with a fabric pull:

I believe the turquoise that looks paint spattered was my color inspiration.  And I added a few more fabrics after this photo, but this was my start.  The blocks were to be scrappy, with only the white with silver dots (way right) to be a constant.  So I cut pieces from each color for each part and mixed and matched.

I clipped blocks together and had to sew one at a time.  (Maybe towards the end I got adventurous and made more than one, but I can't remember.)  I remember finishing these during an at-home retreat I did about a year ago.  The retreat was an interesting experience, but I did get a lot done - including these blocks.

Not long after, I assembled these into a top.  I even bought a back for it!

That orange one.  I love it!  (Actually, I love all of these and I think all of them have now been used on quilts, so hooray for me!)

Last week, the hubby and I did some work on my longarm.  It was a simple task, but it broke a tool!

You can see in the bottom one the little end broken off?  The top one, though the photo isn't great due to shadowing, you can see that there is a little ball-like end on the wrench.  I'm not sure what purpose this serves, but it did not help us, as it created a weak spot in the tool that broke when too much force was applied.  I'll be asking for a better tool for Christmas!

With that done and a little testing, the machine seemed like it was going to behave, but until you actually get something real on there and use it a while, it's hard to know for sure.  Let's do a quilt!

On the whole, it did MUCH better than the last quilt.  I think a few tweaks are still going to be needed, but the constant thread breaks were much reduced.  My biggest problem is wonky tension.  I know my machine doesn't like batiks, but it varied a lot from one fabric and one direction to another.  More research will be needed, but I'm definitely on a good path.

Speaking of batiks and my machine, I shot this photo and added some text for a friend.  You may get a kick out of it too?

This was stitched in one go and you can see how the tension is awful in the loops on the batik, but just fine in the white and blue.  It's always fought me with batiks, so I try not to use them, but this yellow was so perfect.  And I think once it's been through a wash and dry, it will fluff and loosen and be okay.

It took a lot longer than I anticipated, but I did wishbones in all the sashings and that eats thread and takes forever.  It looks nice, though, except for when you forget what direction you're supposed to be going or a cat jumps through the throat of the longarm and you forget to focus...

Anyways, it is spitting rain outside today, but I ran out for a quick photo, as I don't think we're going to have any nicer weather for a few days.  And it actually worked out nicely - no sunshine to fight and the fall leaves that are making my lawn look unkempt actually do it a favor maybe?

The turquoise for the binding is not in the quilt anywhere else, but since this was scrappy, a lot of the fabrics in there were either used up in this quilt, or have been since used.  It's okay.  Scrappy means I can do that.

And a closeup of one of the blocks so you can see the quilting.

Not perfect, but I don't have a computer.  And I'm okay with that, but it makes it hard to compare quilts.  I see all these finished quilts with gorgeous, perfect quilting and it makes me feel like mine isn't very good.  But then I pull myself back and have to remind myself that those are done by a machine.  There is something to guide every single move and stitch length and everything so it should be perfect.  And while there is skill involved in getting that all to go right, I think getting wishbones to all line up correctly while jumping over cats is also an admirable skill.

Anyways, there you have it.  Another quilt off the list!

Quilt Pattern: Nova Star

Designed by: Then Came June

Size: 72x72"

Pieced and quilted by me!

Oh, you thought I did this without help?

I almost didn't get a whole-quilt photo today because this is how Toby situated himself as I was working my way around the 714th (and final) side of the binding.  I couldn't bear to move him.  But when he heard me up and around, he also got up.  (And I'm just noticing my finger is in there...I thought I cropped that out...oops!...I was trying to shoot photos with one hand and hold the quilt with the other and not disturb the cat and, well, things don't always go perfectly here either!)

This week I have also finished assembling the tiny stars into a top.  No photo there, as it is bulky and heavy and huge and with the weather I didn't want to try to wrestle it on ground that was a bit damp.  I promise soon I'll get a photo.  I want to quilt it soon, too, but with all those seams, I think I need to make sure my longarm is behaving perfectly well.  So we'll see.

The cats have been keeping me entertained as well.  The other night I was reading in bed and looked up to see Gabby "using" her scratching pole/cactus:

She seems to like to do this and then reach down and scratch.  As long as it's not my furniture, I'm happy however she uses this.  But she never ceases to entertain and amaze me.  This one is creative.  And wild.  Don't forget wild.

I walked into the back room another day to drop a box in the recycling box.  I looked up:

This box is on the top shelf, on top of another box that sits at about eye-level.  You can see the top of a door frame and the corner where the wall meets the ceiling.  Granted, this is a wonky ceiling and a bit low on that side (this is an old farmhouse and anything goes - trust me, we've got all sorts of oddities!), but he is at least six feet up.  Perfectly content.  But I now understand how the things next to the box keep ending up on the floor.  He is not particularly graceful, but he loves him a good box.  And if it's filled with other (broken down) boxes, even better!  (He will be sad when the box is full of recyclable boxes and the whole things goes to the crusher.  I'll make sure he isn't in there, no worries!)

Another day, I walked into the back room and heard odd scratching.  Not mouse-like.  Litterbox-like.  But not quite.

Toby decided the freshly-changed litterbox was a good spot for a dust bath?  I've caught him doing this since, in another box.  I'm not sure what he's up to.  If he's trying to leave his scent or if he has some sort of parasite I'm unaware of?  (If he has fleas, it's news to me.  He isn't itching or acting odd in any other way, but I guess it's not impossible?)  I tried to get him upside down, but he was being stubborn, posing for his glamour shot.

Freddie has not made a photographable appearance lately.  He has been more affectionate, as he tends to do when the weather turns colder (I'm a nice source of heat and give out scritches, too, though about half the time he acts like hurting and/or annyoing him - can cats be autistic?!), but being black and stubborn, he is difficult to photograph.  Never fear.  He is still with us and still goofy as ever.

And that about wraps up my week.  Some work.  Some baking.  Some shopping for a few new clothes.  Nothing terribly exciting.

Who knows what this week will hold?  A new quilt project?  More kitty fishies?  Naps?!

Happy quilting,

Katie