Stitchin' . . . in time!

Since we've been here, my sewing "stuff" has been in the storage unit. We haven't had the space for it. Now that we're a little more settled, and since there's only so much house cleaning, t.v. watching and blog surfing one can do in an afternoon, I felt it was high time to drag it out. I felt I was wasting a lot of precious time that could be put to good use. After all, time is a precious comodity. And a stitch in time saves nine . . . (sorry, I got started with the 'time' thing and . . . well anyway)

So Scott and I went to the storage unit and dragged out 3 big bins of fabric and sewing tools and my machine. OH HAPPY DAY!!! (cue the spotlight over the bins and the angels singing "aaaAAAHHH".) I was a kid in a candy store. I opened up my bins and just had to look and see what fabrics I had stashed away. It was such a treat. I had totally forgotten some I had purchased just before we'd left (those are for Jen's quilt!) And I saw "old friends" that I can't wait to put into quilts. And then the books of quilts with future projects just calling out to me "make me! make me!"
Don't you just love my scissors? I think they are beautiful. They're Ginghers. They are the only scissors for any seamstress that is serious about her craft. Ask my mother, I know she'll agree.

First I picked out a color combination that pleases me. Then I cut the fabrics into the different sizes. This quilt pattern is called "Chocolat Stars" (that's really how they spelled it). The original I saw at "Pine Needles" at Gardner Village (oh Jill, how I miss our happy place! Lunch at Archibalds, the raspberry lemonade! *sigh*). I think I was there with my friend Jessica. The quilt was stunning and huge. I had to have the pattern. Forget the fact that I already have several projects in the works. Any quilter knows that doesn't matter. At least I didn't buy all brand new fabrics to make mine "chocolate"! Mine will be more of a "Scrappy Stars" when it's finished. I love scrappy quilts! But even more important, I want to use up fabrics that I already have.

I carefully sew the pieces together, being very precise so I won't cut off any points on the stars. Below you see the pile has dwindled as I put the pieces together.

Ironing is crucial to making perfect blocks. It's tedious but necessary!

Whoever made this pattern was brilliant when it came to getting the most out of the fabric. First I must explain what a fat quarter is: if you cut a quarter yard of fabric straight from the bolt it would be long and skinny - a fat quarter is a quarter yard but cut shorter and "fatter". You get way more use from it. In this pattern with only 2 fat quarters, one light and one dark, you get 8 blocks!! EIGHT!!! Four large and four small.

So there you have it. That's my quilting fun in a nutshell. Now to choose more color combinations . . . oh, it's so hard to decide. So many choices . . .

This is half of the stars I've already completed. Most of this pile was completed before we left. But it gives you an idea of the different color combinations that I've done so far.

To be continued . . .