Plugging away...

Back when I started this blog in August, I joined the Star Flower quilt along hosted by Amanda of A Crafty Fox. The diamonds were quick to cut out and the stars came together in record time. But the row piecing has kind of been slow. The first several joins didn't work out and I ended up having to undo and redo some stars and seams which got me a bit discouraged. It's also not very conducive to chain piecing, but I'm trying to sort that one out.

So it's sat for a bit, staring at me from my work table.

Anyways, last night I decided enough was enough and got going again. School is back in session, all three little rug rats were in bed (on time!), and my hubby was working late. After the usual self pep talk that practice makes perfect and perfect isn't necessarily the goal (ahem... maybe sometimes), I started.

I've adjusted the row/column ratio for the quilt. The length/width in the original design is a bit long and narrow for my taste. I've finished my first row and am looking forward to doing the rest.

Its not a lot, but rows are coming together. And I love the fabrics so much that I just want it done, now, in time for fall. (It's still meltingly hot here, but that can change quickly.)

 

That being said, my baby just went down for morning nap, I've got a fresh cup of coffee and a stack of stars calling my name.

Today I'm linking up to two smashing new blogs (new to me) I found called "My Quilt Infatuation" and 627handworks. Thanks ladies!

 

 

Progress

This week, over at  Amanda's A Crafty Fox's blog, we are cutting our fabrics into strips and then diamonds and hexagons. (I LOVE hexagons and star flowers, so this is bound to be a keeper.)

 

I really cannot wait to see how we construct the quilt top. It'll be fun to play with the diamonds to see what pattern I end up with.

 

My sixth Swoon block is now complete - only three to go. 

 

 

I need to work on accuracy when working with half square triangles. I've been wondering if the marking pen I've been using doesn't have a sharp enough tip which is causing my seam allowances to be slightly off periodically which shifts things for the whole block. While this won't really affect the quilt as a whole, I really prefer accurate piecing. I'm going to try using a mechanical pencil for my next block to see if there is a difference.

 

Our family spent a day at a corn maze/family farm last Saturday - it was gorgeous and hot. We had to soak the dirt off the kids that night, but it was definitely worth it - they loved every sweaty, dusty, laughing moment.

 

 

There was a porch with a row of rainbow painted rocking chairs. It was so beautiful.

 

And it was the perfect spot for a little person to sit and breathe... 

 

 

 

... before getting up to run again.

 

 

Today, I'm linking up to Lee at Freshly Pieced's Work In Progress Wednesday.