Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Tish and the Star Thistle


When Jayne at Twiggy and Opal put out a request for pattern testers for her block for the Cloud 9 New Block Blog Hop I was more than happy to lend a hand.  I chose to set out of the hop this time around and was kicking myself in the rump, so testing Jayne's awesome design still felt like getting to play too.


I fell in love with the paper pieced Star Thistle the second it landed in my inbox.  Since the blog hop used solids I decided to make my test block using prints.  I was super impressed with Jayne's tutorial.  She did a wonderful job walking you through the process of paper piecing, and in no time, I had myself a completed block.


This block would also help me complete my OMG for the month, a very simple and vague goal  to simply quilt something.  Anything.  So I added a 2" border of background fabric and played around with designs.


My first two thoughts about the quilting was to; 1. take full advantage of all those wonderful geometric lines and add some dot to dot quilting and 2. somehow soften up those angles with some curves.

Next up was picking my quilting cast of characters, so into my Aurifil thread collection I went.


I'm pretty sure it's not the first time these four friends have acted together in a quilt.  From left to right we have Aurifil #2610 Light Blue Grey, #2250 Red, #5006 Light Turquoise, and #2021 Natural White.


I can officially say I am in love with ruler work.  Since the HQ Sixteen has a perfect foot for ruler work, I thought let's give it a go.  I made small dots with a blue water soluble pen where I wanted my lines to meet and aimed for a 1/4" away.  I couldn't be happier with the results.

Then my quilting plan went astray.  I kind of got a bit messy when I pieced my block sections together and let myself end up with an out of control large seam where they all met.  You can't exactly tell in the picture below, but it was so large that it wouldn't fit under my quilting foot.  Now what??

The brown fur in the top right corner is Miss Caroline trying to squeeze into the shot at all costs.

I was so frustrated I couldn't think straight, so I took to the Instagram.  Thanks to a wonderful quilter named Jamie (quiltinglibrarian_fl) I was talked off the ledge.  A simple  tweak or two and I was back to quilting again.  Instead of having my quilting start from that center point I worked from the opposit ends of the reds and white sections.   You can see the dot to dot quilting in the white center section below (I just eye balled those sections, no ruler).


Then I used my blue pen and a handy dandy dinner plate to mark my ghost circle in the middle.  Then all that was left to do was fill in my background with pebbles to add more curves to the piece.

Also, a little shout out to Sandra at mmmquilts.  A while back she surprised me with a small basket (and something else I'll share later).  It has come in sew handy at my Sweet 16.


It is the perfect size to use as a thread catcher and to hold my utensils as I'm quilting.


The addition of the flange binding had me jumping for joy, because I knew a completion was near.

So how about a few more pictures of Star Thistle?




You can get your own copy of Star Thistle at Jayne's Craftsy Store (for free) and check out her tutorial over at Twiggy and Opal.  A big thanks to Jayne for letting me pattern test this great block, I have loved everything about it.

Before I close, if you haven't had a chance to check out my post from Monday, you can help me celebrate what I'm calling a "Cheryl Party" to help Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs celebrate the release of her latest two patterns, Check Plus and Vintage Star.  She graciously offered a copy of each to me for a giveaway for two lucky readers.  So hop over to my Cheryl Party to enter and read more about the patterns.  Also a little cricket (David's text tone on my phone) just told me that his post about making Cheryl's Check Plus is now up over at Dave the Quilting Engineer.  Rumor has it, there may be a give away over there too.




27 comments:

Dave S. said...

This almost has a nautical star/compass feel after it is finished. It turned out nicely and I see you decided against the red flange. It looks really good

Ioleen said...

Beautiful block!!!!

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

I agree with Dave; this has a very nautical or compass kind of vibe to it. The quilting sets off the piecing beautifully, and I'm so excited that you are having so much fun quilting on your Sweet 16!

Puppilalla said...

You made a very pretty 'Star Thistle'. The quilting really helps to bring out the design.

Preeti said...

I bet Jayne is tickled pink. You took her fabulous pattern and elevated it even more!!! What an excellent job on the quilting. You should be so proud, Tish. The flange binding just adds to its flair!.
Hugs,
Preeti.

Kate said...

Beautifully done. The quilting is gorgeous and so is the finished block. Congrats on meeting your OMG for September too. Best of the best is to get to play and still make your goals.

Stitchin At Home said...

This is beautiful Tish! Adding the curves softens the whole piece. Great FMQing!

Vera said...

Looks great! Your quilting is a perfect touch!

Run 'n Stitch said...

I love the bubbles!! Great block.

Bernie Kringel said...

Looks great Tish. I saw this on IG when you were frustrated and I am happy to see it all worked out in the end. Lovely quilting!!

Leanne Parsons said...

Great choices for the fabrics and the quilting! I really love how the dot to dot quilting emphasizes the angles while the curves soften them. It looks amazing :)

Sharon said...

Tish, your block and the quilting are stunning! This was one of my fav blocks from the Cloud9 blog hop...you did it justice!

Anonymous said...

Tish... this mini turned out wonderful. It's been so fun to see all the experience you're getting at your HQ Sixteen.

Cut&Alter said...

So glad to read about this after seeing it on IG. It is gorgeous Tish and the quilting is wonderful. Once you marked out the circle did you just freehand it or do you have a circular ruler? I love seeing how people quilt their blocks and quilts - so inspiring!

Susan said...

You did a fabulous job testing the block, and quilting it! Thank you for sharing it on Midweek Makers

KaHolly said...

Ooh, yum! It looks dynamite! It's definitely added to my list of 'must makes'! Thanks for all of the helpful links! Enjoy your evening! XO

Lisa J. said...

It looks beautiful Tish and the quilting on your new machine is just gorgeous.

Vanni said...

Wonderful quilting! It really supports the design of the block - I love how the red an light blue really pop!

Sandra Walker said...

Tish your quilting is just spectacular! Love the pebbling in the background and especially the ghost circle...I like ghost anything as you know.

Rachel said...

Lovely! The colors are awesome. I've fallen in love with this palette for winter pieces lately! Glad the quilting all worked out.

Jayne said...

I am totally in love with everything...everything you did with this block! Perfect choice of fabrics. I was wondering how the block would look in prints and you showed me that it does! I'm always impressed with your quilting, you know that. But the way you tackled this block, especially the center is very smart indeed! That center seam is bulky! Mostly I love how you used the curve around the center. It never occurred to me, but I love it and will be using that idea! Pebbles...hundreds and hundreds! I just finished a project with pebbles like yours...My favorite ever!

Thank you Tish for testing this block for me. For taking it to another level!!

Jasmine said...

This is beautiful! I have the Baby Lock Tiara quilting machine and I love it!

Pat said...

Gorgeous. The quilting is phenomenal.

Heidi said...

This is so cool Tish, I saw the IG post & thought how cool to have the instant help of online community, I need to remember that! It turned out so well!

Anja @ Anja Quilts said...

I love Jayne's block. You did a great job with fabrics and the quilting.

Celtic Thistle said...

What a lovely block and a great version of the pattern, you have certainly done the designer proud!

Cheryl said...

It is a beautifully designed block and your version and the quilting are beautiful!

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