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“I have given skill to all the skillful, so that they may make all that I have commanded you. “ Exodus 31:6


“O Thou who art the all pervading glory of the world, we bless Thee for the power of beauty to gladden our hearts.
We praise Thee that even the least of us may feel a thrill of the creative joy when we give form and substance to our thoughts and, beholding our handiwork, find it good and fair. “.
Walter Rauschenbusch


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"Come, and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what He has done for me.
I cried out to Him with my mouth; His praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished sin in my heart, the LORD woud not have listened and heard my voice in prayer.
Praise be to God, Who has not rejected my prayer or withheld His love from me!" Psalm 66:16-20
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Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Jeff's "Trailing Stars" top

I have been trying to make the most of these days when we've been stuck inside due to inclement weather.  I cut into all the light fabrics that I bought at the secondhand store, and I cut out squares from my old red, green, and blue fabrics.

I designed this quilt on graph paper, because it's construction didn't allow me to use a regular block formation in EQ4.  There is a way to do it there, but it isn't worth the trouble it takes, to me.  I guess I'll always be a graph paper girl at heart.  In order to stagger the star placement, it was constructed in rows, rather than individual blocks.
Anyway, I cut two corners off of 5 inch squares and added back 3 1/4 inch triangles.  Then I trimmed these down to 4 3/4 inches, and mixed them with lots of other light and dark 4 3/4 inch squares to form light and dark stars, and light and dark background.  The "trailing" design is easy to see from a distance, but gets lost when you're observing the quilt up close.

This is the first time that I have really observed my body getting sore from piecing a top.  My left arm developed an ache in the upper muscle from holding the ruler down while trimming the squares.  And now, I have an ache in my right side from hours of sitting and turning in my sewing chair.   Ah, the wonders of getting old !
Not complaining, mind you, just commenting !

So, when Spring eventually gets here, I should have more than one top to get basted outside underneath my carport........if the wind will cooperate.    I always wonder why I don't do more piecing and quilting throughout the cold weather season, but I realize now that 1.  I forget to baste up plenty to quilt while I have ample opportunity and good weather., and 2.  I shut off the sewing room to keep from having to heat more rooms than necessary.

But, praise the LORD, life goes on, and it all gets done, right?

3 comments:

  1. This is a tricky quilt pattern. I thought I had it figured out when you dropped the one square to match the other corner squares. Then I realized it had to have a couple of fillers to make it work. My mom quilted so I have a great appreciation for the art. This going to be a beautiful quilt.

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    1. Thank you. I had to keep referring back to the sketch as I lay it out, or I never would have matched the design. I tried to make it charm-square friendly, either using 5-inch squares, or being able to trim others down to 4 3/4 inches, and that big size made it difficult to see the design up-close. Also, I didn't have room to lay out the entire top, so I feared that I would reach the last rows and only have one color of squares left ! But it all worked out in the end.

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  2. Yes! it is a beautiful quilt ,love the organization you used to make it.

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Thanks for stopping by !