Monday, June 29, 2009

A NEAR finish; and inspiration hits at 10:00!!!

Candace's Stars (Granny's Stars) is nearly completed. All that remains is the binding, so one good hour should see it completed. Maybe tomorrow night???
However, I won't have much time tomorrow to do any quilting because I'll be at school, sitting on an interview panel for a new JH SS position....
I was finished with all the border attachments and quilting by 11:00 this morning; I should have just bit the bullet to put the binding on, but I sat back and admired a little too long; then lunch hit. 

Afterward, I just twiddled and tidied the sewing room (VERY LITTLE).  I pulled out some recent purchases over the past month and ironed/folded.
While doing so, I was inspired by some of the newly purchased "shirtings," the darkest blue in the pic and the red on bottom left;  I dug through my fabric to see if there were other "civil-war-looking" fabrics and came up with what is pictured.  Now....those will sit together (probably for the next year or so) while awaiting the perfect pattern.

Trust me!  There is something to waiting for that perfect pattern.  I had been collecting those FQ's and Fat-eighths of 30's fabrics for over a year (the ones that went into Candace's Stars). 

And speaking of 30's fabrics...
tonight, after taking some time to do a little more quilting on the DWR (**SIGH**--that quilt is starting to be the new monkey-on-my-back!)
Anyway, I got back into "tidy-mode," and ironed/folded some more of my fabrics that have been sitting for some time!  Then, I came upon my "scraps" of the 30's fabrics.  Golly, that pattern REALLY over-estimated the amount needed.  It called for 21 FQ's----HA!  I DID (amazingly) have 21 different fabrics, but once I started unfolding them, I found out MANY of them were only fat-eighths!  No biggy---I had PLENTY, with quite a bit left over. 

It was nearing 10:00 (PM), and suddenly I was INSPIRED!  I took exactly ONE minute to walk across the room to the exact spot that THIS PATTERN had been lain out, patiently waiting if (and when) I would ever make it.
Clearly, I didn't have any Charm Pack, but with about 30 minutes of cutting, I had all 24 - 5" squares needed, and 64 - 2.5" squares.  AND---what's more...I was given a "sign!"  I had used all of my white muslin up on the DWR and Candace's Stars, so I had to hunt around to see what I had in white.  I pulled a crumpled pile of white (NO LIE!  It was very crumpled from washing/drying MONTHS ago!) from the floor and ironed/folded it.  I had JUST enough for what was called for, with only a little string left.  Yup---it was meant to be!

Anyway---after another 10 minutes, I cut all the 5" squares in half, but really didn't want to sit and sew.  My movie had ended just after 10:00, and it had been so quiet that I didn't want to disrupt the silence with my machine.  All bodies had gone to bed at 10:15, so... it was so peaceful.




Instead, I prepped all 64 of the Prairie Points needed.  Golly!  Those things are TINY!  Can you kinda guesstimate from the pic?  It started as a 2.5" square.  This will be the first quilt I've made using Prairie Points.

This quilt should be easy enough.  It sure would be nice to have another finish by the end of June (umm...yeah...that'd be tomorrow).  But, I promised to take Cassie for a short run tomorrow night;  she'll be running the kid's 1/2 mile at my 5K race next weekend over at my sister's city.

So, 4 minutes to midnight---I suppose I better TRY to get to bed. BUT, #3 (Candace) had a late nap (5:00 - 8:30!!!) and is WIDE awake watching Wow-Wow-Wubzy and eating a bagel. Oh dear.....I'll give her 15 more minutes, THEN I'll tie her down and tape her eye-lids shut if I need to.

Happy Midnight!

8 comments:

Lurline said...

Gorgeous, gorgeous finish and very pretty start!
Hugs - Lurline♥

Amanda said...

Your Candace's Stars is really pretty, I love the border especially. I've just looked over at the new pattern, it should look lovely with the 30s fabrics. I'm amazed that you have so many fabrics in your stash, and even stuff that you didn't know you had - but lovely to be able to pull everything together like that without needing to purchase anything.

BitnByAQuiltingBug said...

Your quilt if beautiful! Slow down though, you're really making the rest of us look bad! Ha! Have a great Tuesday!

Laurel said...

Wow! You put Candace's Stars together so fast! You must be burning up the dog feet! lol

Congrats, it looks great.

Andee said...

WOW, I really need to get sewing! The Candace Star quilt looks fabulous! Can't wait to see what is next!

Cornfield Quilter said...

Love "Candaces Stars", it is absolutely beautiful! Bravo-Bravo!!

Candace said...

Beautiful quilt and wonderful quilting. I am doing a bit better with mine, but can only aspire at this point. I'll bet she is one happy impatient little girl waiting for her special quilt.

Kevin the Quilter said...

This quilt is absolutely beautiful! I am sure your daughter loves the fact you made it for her, and will cherish it forever! Just lovely!