Spoiler Alert

I already spilled the beans to middle daughter, Ainsley, and mentioned her (surprise) bridal shower, coming up. She knew about it, but said, "what shower?" Oooops. I might be able to attend, but it is iffy at this point. My sewing goal for May is a gift for the surprise shower, and the even more surprise party game. I won't tell you what I am sewing, but I promise to show before and (hopefully) after photos at the end of the month. The wedding is July 4th, in Boise at Municipal Park by the Boise River. I am excited to be sewing swishy skirts for the flower girls, and a pretty dress for myself as well. The girls' skirts will be white, and my dress will be solid summer green. I will be using rayon challis over double gauze from Imagine Gnats, a fun online shop, blog, and sew much more. If you are interested in checking out the fabric, you can click on the link at the right side of my blog. She also has patterns, many of them free downloads. I especially love the variety of adult sized garment patterns that are available.

Last month my sweet sister, Pam, came to visit and teach at my quilt guild's retreat. She shared a fairly new ruler and technique with us, the Quick Curve Ruler (QCR) from Sew Kind of Wonderful. Here are some highlights from retreat:

Leona happily creating.

Pam rocks the hair tie.

My sample poinsettia, with the QCR.

Jody from Homegrown Quilts sewed the rows and borders of this group project.

Adorable Pam, showing her pressology expertise.

Pam finished this "Metro Scope" quilt top, one of the patterns using the QCR.

I finally finished the quilt top for Dianne, the Utah Star. It looks about the same as the photo before I sewed the edges, but here it is anyway. Pam is going to quilt it. It is about 90" square, almost king-size. As a nod to Dianne's mama, and her Utah heritage, there will be bee hives quilted into the corners. I can't wait to see it finished!!!

Dianne Hunt's Utah Star, pieced by her mama, Ramona Shurtliff.

Other news update, the toad is active in the garden, a fat female chirping and peeing when picked up. (I just learned that the females are the ones with those behaviors... ) I am so glad to have an organic garden, and to witness the wildlife. We have a baby cotton tail rabbit in the garden as well. The stuff of stories...

The Artist Will Prevail

Now I see why her mom cried over this lone star quilt top. It lies flat but the bias is taunting me. The artist will prevail where the perfectionist tailor was stymied. It is gorgeous and I know she will love it! Here it is, ready for pattern pieces of the corners. I had to add the olive-brown edging to help it play nicely with the ecru corners. It will be 3-dimensional to the rest of the top. 

I will have to hand shimmy the diamonds to work this star into submission.Completing this top was my February goal, and since I didn't get it done, it is my March goal for ALYOF . I drew the pattern pieces, so cutting and sewing them will be next. 

In other blog news, I made blocks for Stash Bee's block exchange for January and February. The bar is set very high for quality, fabric selection, and fun. The tutorials are easy to follow, and so far I have wanted to make myself quilts with these designs. 

January's Hunter's Star 16 ½" sq.

February's String 9 " sq.

I pulled out a very old UFO from a class I took over 20 yrs ago in Seattle, "Special Effects, Iridescence/Opalescence" on color theory. I put together the pieces and here it is. The upper left corner is iridescent, the rest is opalescent. I thought it looked like an eye. I added a border that makes me think of hawk feathers, and named this, "Eye of the Raptor."I am not sure the hot pink will work. I may need to make it paler. I might try covering it with some tulle. Stay tuned.

Plain Jane

Last fall a friend from Boise asked me to finish an incredible lone star quilt top that her mom started. The star is hand pieced in 70's calicoes of brown, yellow, orange, and ecru. It is a masterpiece, and lies perfectly flat. It needs to be cornered, and then quilted. My goal for February is to sew the corners of this lovely star. I believe it deserves to be hand quilted, which is a big goal, and not one for the faint of heart.

An article in my favorite, and no longer published journal, The Quilt Life, (Oct 2014) discussed the setting for an antique star quilt using unlikely background colors of red and dark olive green. It makes the stars ZING. I am inclined to do that for this lone star quilt, and here are two audition photos:

The center fabric is my first dyed attempt, and is browner than the photo. 

This center fabric is a primitive weave linen looking cotton.

I like the colored fabrics best. The ecru piece is what some people like to call "plain Jane." Ouch.

I'd really like your opinion on the colors, though I am at the point in my life where I do what I like and I like my own color choices.  Since I hardly ever ask for opinions, go for it!