A place for all my crafty things
Fat Quarter Shop had this pattern in their latest email and it inspired me to create the above. It uses a 4.5″ HST from the 12″ Hunters Star collection and 4.5″ sashing. The border consists of equilateral triangles and 60 degree diamonds, but I’m not sure of their measurement at this time. It can easily be made without the border though.
Edit: Looking at the Storm at Sea 12″ collection, it seems like the border could easily be made using a 4″ border!
I started this post a month ago! Finally got the pictures I wanted into the post and now it’s published.
The last time I posted about this quilt, I was having trouble with the layout. Thanks to some really helpful suggestions, I removed the two palest blocks and replaced them with brighter blocks. Here are the fabrics, post-Inklingo.
The above is the final layout after a solid hour of arranging and re-arranging them on the floor. And here is the pieced top!
Then I had to make the backing. It definitely would have been easier just to use plain cotton muslin as I used to do, but since I pieced the backing for the last quilt, I’ve been quite enamoured with the idea. Plus, it uses up a lot of scrap! Unfortunately, I didn’t take a photo of the back after it was pieced, so I’ll have to post it up when I’m finished with the quilt. I’m not terribly happy with it, but it does look scrappy. After watching a significant portion of the lesson on Craftsy, I now know how I could have planned the back better.
The little tyke is now in the world, so I’d better get this done pronto!
So I have another post in drafts about the Hunter’s Star quilt, but I just got a new thimble and I’m very excited about it! I bought it from Liu Xin, the self-styled thimble lady and it is so cool!
Some interesting things to note. The thimble still had crud on the inside (probably the material used to grind it smooth), but some rubbing with a scrap of paper has removed most it and the surface is lovely and smooth. I like that the shape is slightly oval so that it doesn’t spin on the finger.
The only fly in the pudding is that it is quite snug on my middle finger which is the one I usually use the thimble on. It fits my ring finger beautifully and is a little less snug on my pointer finger. I am debating whether I should exchange it for a larger size. I’m going to try it out first tonight and see.
Thanks to CotSG, I’ve actually tried some hybrid piecing, though on the hunters star first. I love the idea of being able to use both machine and hand piecing, BUT I have a preference for hand sewing. I love its precision and portability. I like watching TV while sewing quietly. On the other hand (haha!), machine piecing can be very quick.
I’ve machine pieced on my old Bernina before, but using rotary cut pieces, so no lines to watch, just edges. With Inklingo, I don’t have to be so exact with my cutting, but it means that I can’t rely on the edges while sewing on the machine. I blamed the machine for my mismatched lines and borrowed my friend’s Pfaff (it has the walking foot feature). I also bought an open-toed foot so that I could see the sewing line. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find a way to pin the fabric so that the bottom doesn’t move. Is this normal?
I’m considering the replacement of the two lightest blocks with brighter colors. 
If you look closely, you’ll see I’ve inserted two candidates from my stash. Unfortunately, I have to go to work, so I’ll have to make my decision and do my printing when I get home tonight.
In the meantime, my commute is all about the Alabama Chanin swing skirt I started months ago.
This is the second panel out of four. At this rate, I figure I’ll have it done by the end of the year. Eh.
So the patches are done and now I’m at this stage. I really can’t decide on how I want to put the blocks together and it’s really frustrating. What do you guys think? Are any of these combos working? Any other suggested layouts?
I used to subscribe to Australian Patchwork and Quilting and buy any other quilting magazines and books that caught my eye and had patterns I loved. I stopped after a few years and accumulating several binders of “favourites.”
When I decided to make another baby quilt, I pulled out the binders and sifted through them, looking for ideas that would make a charming and fast baby quilt. And hopefully, Inklingo-able. Imagine my delight when I saw this hunters star pattern, not long after Linda released her collections!
Okay, so small and fast, I decided, so I must get the largest hunters star collection. Once I knew which size patch (6″ making a 12″ block), I grabbed the EQ file from Linda’s blog (so handy!) and started drawing the quilt. This was my original design idea.
These were the fabrics I selected after a trip to spotlight without a copy of this idea.
Turns out, they don’t quite match the original idea. I took this photo as color reference to test in EQ7. I considered making each ofthe blocks out of four colors but ultimately decided to keep it bold and simple. I have these two similar plans to lay out when the blocks are finished.
I think I’ll end up going with the second idea but I won’t know for sure until I have the blocks in front of me.
I originally posted the below in a rant to the Inklingo group. I wanted to defend the pricing of the collections to people who seemed upset that they weren’t free. The internet has made it easy to get a lot of things for free, but when it comes to small businesses, especially those that are providing a wonderful niche service like quilting tools, I think it’s extra important that we recognize their value and pay for their work.
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Occasionally I see rumblings over the cost of Linda’s collections and it surprises me. The way I see it, this method of getting shapes out of fabric that are accurate and fun to piece is worth way more than the price tag in convenience and a FINISHED quilt.
I found Inklingo during a search for a better method of getting shapes that couldn’t be rotary cut (one day soon, I will have that double wedding ring quilt I dreamed of from the beginning). I was at the point of making my own rubber stamps (egads)Â when I stumbled onto Inklingo.
Now, when I start planning a new quilt, I start with Inklingo and EQ7. I easily spend $100 for the fabric and notions and another $75 for batting and backing. Then, of course, there is the time spent piecing, basting and quilting. Imagine if I only half-pieced a quilt and after hours of tracing and cutting, just got tired of the whole thing. Into the UFO pile it goes and along with it, $100 and time lost.
Last time I posted this quilt, I was this far.
And then I spent the weekend making up bias binding. With Karen’s helpful tutorial on finishing the binding, it is done!!
Feast your own on the finished-ness below!
I’m still finishing the binding on the first baby quilt, but couldn’t resist making a start on the next one. It’s going to use the Hunter’s Star 12″ Inklingo collection and in rainbow colors since I don’t know the gender of the forthcoming child. I spent the evening doing all the printing and here’s the pile ready to cut!
Cutting out my shapes.
