Saturday, January 18, 2020

Spiky Stars and Simple Houses

Welcome to Treadlestitches, a blend of old and new.  

It's a snowy day today, but the plows are out, even in our neighborhood, so we're not exactly snowed in.  I'm thinking warm thoughts of rainbows--specifically the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I love the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!

If you've been here before, you may have seen these spiky stars.  They were one of my quilts for the RSC last year.  As I made the blocks each month, I layered and quilted them.  Once I made the last blocks, I was ready to start on putting them together.
The whole project suffered from what I call back-burneritis, meaning I kept putting it on the back burner while I worked on something else.  This week I moved it to the front burner, and finally Got It Done.
Above you can see how I quilted the borders.  I often use Golden Threads paper to mark the border quilting design, but when I ran out of it, I remembered I had a roll of this in the basement.
  It's called Borders Made Easy.  (Click HERE to go to their web site.) I have had it for MANY years, and I wasn't sure how it would work.  There were peel and stick strips on the back to stick it to the quilt, and the glue actually hadn't dried out while being stored.
Here it is, stuck to the border.  The pile of paper is the peel part of peel and stick.  Once it's on the quilt, you just sew right through the paper.  This makes it very easy to see the lines.  However, it is NOT fun ripping this paper off.  I definitely should have sewn with smaller stitches.  And I'm going to have to get out the vacuum cleaner to get up all the little pieces of paper.
Here's the whole quilt, laid out flat.
So, that's one done from 2019.
What about 2020?

I've got 3 projects going for the 2020 RSC, and this is the third one--simple house blocks in 1930s fabrics.

I'm using both repro prints and vintage prints/feed sacks.

The pattern is fun and easy, and comes from this magazine, still (I think) available in stores.
The pattern quilt is called Home Made, is made from flannel, and has some upside down houses.

I don't think I'll be turning my houses upside down, but we'll see.  A topsy turvy house would just about describe my lifestyle!
I can't thank Angela enough for guiding us through the colors each month, and hosting a linky party for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  It is so much fun using up scraps to make quilts.  You can come, too, you know.  It's never too late to join!
Linking up with
Angela at So Scrappy
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday
Cynthia at Oh Scrap 













24 comments:

  1. I just read through a bunch of your posts and enjoyed them every one. I think selling rice in a cloth bag is a wonderful idea and could be used for much more and then reused as you are doing. Love your quilt as you went stars and the house block now. All your work is interesting and wonderful. Happy Stitching from me in Canada...where we are waiting for our first snow storm of the year.

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    1. Nice to meet you, Jocelyn! You are so kind. Good luck with the snow storm. We had our first on Halloween this year.

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  2. I love the house blocks, very sweet. It takes months for the USA magazines to appear at my local newsagent, but I will be looking out for this magazine, thank you.

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  3. Sylvia, your Spiky Stars quilt is wonderful! The peel and stick paper for quilting the border design is fascinating, too. Looks like it worked really well in spite of the papery mess afterward. Love the new house project, too!

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    1. Thanks, Diann! I kind of felt like I was pushing a rock uphill to finish Spiky Stars, but I love that it's done. And I can't wait to make more house blocks!

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  4. Nice job on finishing your 2019 Spiky Star quilt, Sylvia!! Have fun with "building" Houses this year. About the topsy-turvy ones? I sometimes like to have quilts that don't require a "THIS END UP" sign on the back! :o))

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    1. Thanks, Joyful! It's another reason to make symmetrical blocks--I can't accidentally turn them the wrong way! Saves wear and tear on the seam ripper.

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  5. Love your Spiky Star quilt. If the blocks were all quilted, how did you add the border? I've never did a quilt-as-you-go quilt and I'm having trouble understand how it all comes together. Is there a video you would recommend? Spiky Star looks awesome on that bed. Congratulations! ;^)

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    1. Hi, Chantal! I'm sorry, I don't know of a good video. I learned quilt as you go back before the internet(!) from books by Georgia Bonesteel, etc. I show some of my usual method in this post: http://treadlestitches.blogspot.com/2016/06/farewell-to-downton-abbey.html
      Adding the borders is easy, and doesn't require any handwork. I stack the layers like this: border, right side down, quilt right side up, border backing right side up. Sew through all layers, and press the border and border backing away from the quilt. Then I add a strip of batting, and spray baste it in. I don't add the batting in the seam because it makes a lump. Then it's just quilt as usual.
      I hope this makes some kind of sense. Good luck!

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  6. Your Spiky Stars quilt turned out great! I've been meaning to try more quilt-as-you-go to get my quilts finished.

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    1. Thanks, Julie! I love quilting the blocks, but I sometimes get bogged down putting everything together.

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  7. Love how the spiky stars turned out! It nice to know that others suffer from back-burneritis from time to time and that there is a cure! Well done!

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    1. Thanks, grammajudyb! There is a whole lot of stuff still on the back burner here, that I hope I get to someday soon. For me, the cure is grit, gumption, and gallons of Earl Grey tea.

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  8. Congratulations on a beautiful finish. This year's houses are going to make a darling quilt too.

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    1. Thanks, canuckquilter! I'm looking forward to making these fun houses all year.

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  9. Your finished quilt looks fantastic and it's all from scraps...bonus.

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  10. Great job buckling down and getting your RSC quilt finished. It turned out lovely. And I love your green houses - That is going to be one charming neighborhood.

    Thanks for sharing with Oh Scrap!

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    1. Thanks, Cynthia! Buckling down is definitely the hardest part!

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  11. I'm excited about the house blocks! They are simple, but not too simple. And Spiky Stars is looking super! Quilting right through the paper is a really interesting way to do borders :)

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    1. Thanks, Louise! I keep trying new ways to mark the quilting. The paper is kind of a mess, but at least the lines don't disappear while I'm quilting!

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  12. What a great finish! I like the RSC too! and yours is wonderful! I like the projects you have picked out for 2020 as well!!

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    1. Thanks, Alycia! I love seeing all your quilts, posed in the snow!

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