Star in a Star

When one has a cupboard almost overflowing with fabrics what can one do?  Make a quilt of course!

 

A recent purchase of fabric had me searching for a suitable pattern, one that wouldn't take forever to assemble, and one that wouldn't cause too much stress.  Something simple and hopefully effective.

 

I found McCall's 'Star in a Star' block and went from there.  The finished effect was in my imagination ... and having a relatively over active imagination the complete quilt was easy to envisage.  In fact this quilt didn't take much time, no more than one month which to me is quick.  I named this quilt ... Twelve Star ... no great imagination in that title!  [sorry about the little extra light that sneaked into the top left corner ... it came uninvited.]

 

Once again I used the quilt as you go method dividing the quilt in half and quilting one half, then the other, before joining them up and quilting along the join.  I do not have a long arm quilting machine, just an everyday Janome and am happy to have almost mastered this QAYG method.  Today the final stitch was put into the binding, and a few tie knots [more for decoration that use] were added ... now what's next on the agenda?

 

 

Towels and other things

After admiring these little useful projects at last I have managed to make a kitchen hand towel or two, or three.  June sped away from me, and July is promising to do the same. 

The impetus to actually make some handtowels came once I entered a swap.  And ... after owing my Janome sewing machine for over six and a half years and at least three tries at using the buttonholer [to no avail] I finally solved my problem ... there is a little lever that I hadn't previously pulled down.  Once I found that oh how simple it is to make a buttonhole!!  It could [accurately] be said that I made more towels than needed at this moment [the extra are in the 'gift box'] just to practise the execution of button holes.

First attempt ...

 

Swap items that included a dish cloth and a recipe ...

 

 

Towel and plastic bag holder, and hat ... for a birthday gift ...



The hat was an after-thought but with this being winter and the fact that I have an over-abundance of wool; hence the multi-colours.  I don't think it would be a mistake to say there will be more of these towels made before the end of the year!