Design Wall Choices

Borders are always the hard part for me. I think I auditioned all the fabric in my stash this weekend and what I finally decided I liked was the red and a darker outer border. At first I was going to use the solid gray you can see in one photo below. But when I put the half stars on it, I didn't like the look at all. With the darker borders, my eye was immediately drawn to the center design. With smaller stars in the border, it all seemed cluttered and disjointed. Without the smaller stars in the border, I'm definitely going to use more stars in the center design, and now I am looking at those options.

More of the large stars,

Or the smaller stars.

It's funny how taking a couple of pictures and being able to look at them together helps me see things I didn't see before. After looking at these pictures, it's plain to me which one I should use. Do you see it too?

And of course, now I need to buy a different fabric for the outer border.

Linking to:
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Monday Making at LoveLaughQuilt
Main Crush Monday at Cooking Up Quilts
Moving it Forward at Em's Scrapbag

Sunday Challenges

It was challenging to get any sewing time in this week. My mother-in-law was taken to the hospital Tuesday, and this time it was real. She's been the boy who cried wolf so many times that it has become hard to tell when something is really wrong. I'm glad she was at the nursing home so they could make the call. We're still trying to empty her apartment too and Hubby and I stayed late a few days this week packing and hauling her stuff to our attic so it will be here when she decides she wants it in her room at the home.

Meanwhile, there was a little Thanksgiving prep, a little cleaning, and a little sewing. We had plans for a working weekend here at the house - move part of a wall and finish insulating. But mother-in-law was released from the hospital Friday and Hubby had to wait a long time for the paperwork, then take her to lunch, run by her apartment, and then to the nursing home before he came home. Needless to say, we didn't get any work done on our house, but I got a lot of sewing done while he was gone.

Below is what I worked on this week, and if I cared about percentages, I spent 86% of the week sewing, and I'm at 79% for the month.

To my stash, I added more than I used this week. I bought some batiks to make some adult bib scarfs for mother-in-law. I haven't drafted a plan yet so I hope they turn out to be useful.

Added to stash 1.50 yards
Used                   .25 yards
Gain to stash    1.25 yards

Linking to:
15 Minute Challenge at Life in Pieces
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate

Stars Progress

If you recall, I got a wild hair last week to do something with the EPP stars I've been making for a year or more. As if I don't have enough projects going on, right? I should be finishing a UFO. But this will be a fast project, and I'm telling myself it will be an easy Christmas gift too. This week I finished appliqueing the stars onto blocks and this morning, I joined the blocks and rows to finish the quilt center. It's a gray day today, so even with a flash, these pictures are too dark. Sorry about that.

The center looks a little sparse at the moment. I made some smaller star segments to use on the border but wondered what it would look like to have small stars mixed with the larger ones. I think it's too busy, but then I like simple. I'm also not sure I have anymore paisley-ish scraps to make any more. What do you think?

Linking to:
ScrapHappy Saturday at soscrappy
DrEAMi! (Stands for Drop Everything And Make It) at Musings of a Menopausal Melon

On the Design Board Today

It was a cold, gray weekend, which turned out to be perfect for getting stuff done around here. After having a standoff with Hubby about insulation, we both compromised and I cut while he hung it, and we got all the walls finished Saturday. Sunday afternoon, I was able to get in a few hours at the cutting table and sewing machine. After arranging and rearranging several times, I was able to finish only three blocks. But it should go faster now that I have a system and more of the star tips tacked under. Now I'm trying to decide if I want a secondary block in the corners or just have floating stars.

Linking to:
Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt
Show and Tell Monday at Bambisyr med sin Quiltglädje! (That translates to Quilting with Bambi I think)
Main Crush Monday at Cooking up Quilts
Moving it Forward at Em's Scrapbag
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Sunday Stash and 15 Minute Stitching

This was a good week. I have gotten into a steady pattern of stitching and am especially enjoying unwinding in the evening with some handwork in front of the tv. As a result, I've sewn every day this week. I haven't kept up with my stitching reports after not stitching anything for such a long time, so I won't try to update it for the rest of this year. I know my percentage is so low that it would be discouraging.

I'll just say that this week is 7 out of 7 days, or 100%. Yay! The bad news is that I didn't start stitching at the beginning of the month, so my monthly average is only 76%.

I've completed a few more stars and bought some fabric that I think will work as a background block for all of them. I was going to use a light green with tiny boxes, but then took Kate's suggestion (Life in Pieces) and looked at some grays and really liked one of them. I also bought a couple of fat quarters for a little color variety. So yes, I added to the stash this week, but I've already used all of it, so it's all good.

Fabric in this week: 1.5 yards
Fabric out this week 1.5 yards
I'll see about bringing my stash report up to date in the next week or two.

Linking to: (as soon as I get online Sunday)
15 Minute Challenge at Life in Pieces
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate

Still Making Stars

English paper piecing used to be relaxing, but this week it has been taxing. I don't know if it is my eyes, poor lighting, or my fabric color choices, but it has been a struggle to sew the black stars with black thread this week even with my magnifying glass. I have to finish one more black star and then I'm not starting any more of them.

As I've been making these, I have been trying to decide whether I want to join them in the traditional manner, or try something different that I can do with the sewing machine. I'm leaning toward the sewing machine after this week.

I'm linking to:
Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt
Show and Tell Monday at Quilting with Bambi
Main Crush Monday at Cooking up Quilts
Moving it Forward at Em's Scrapbag
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Stitching and Destashing

It's been awhile, but I finally got back into the swing of stitching every day, or at least every day that I was home. For me, it was hand stitching this week. I printed more diamond paper shapes and used some scraps, and then stitched a few diamonds and put a few stars together. The black thread on black fabric nearly killed me, but I did it - until I ran out of thread. Then I had to switch to just making more pieces.

I'm happy to report that I stitched 6 out of 7 days this week. I had weekend plans and wasn't able to do any stitching Saturday. I hope I can continue stitching, but I'd like to use the sewing machine next week.

This weekend was my annual spa day with friends. These are friends I have known since junior high and beyond. One friend even goes back to first grade! I met one friend Friday afternoon and went on with her to another friend's house where everyone was to meet. When we went out to eat Friday night, they all surprised me with birthday cards! We spent Saturday morning at the spa being massaged and pampered. Then on to lunch, and an indoor craft bazaar. I bought a gift for the grands and thought of buying a sign for our barn, but it wasn't quite right and was way too expensive. So I got out of there with most of my money. Another dinner out and then back to our host's home for a chilly evening around the firepit with everyone wrapped in quilts and feet propped on the edge of the pit. We talk and laugh so much that it's hard to part company even for sleep. All too soon, it was time to leave after a late breakfast this morning.

Linking to:
Week 45 Stitching and Destashing at Life in Pieces