Hawaiian Quilt Update

Lest you think I've been ignoring my quilting with all the knitting I've been writing about, let me post some progress. Last time I posted I was working on all those border units. There were four copies of four different (but similar) units. After doing the first single one just to make sure I knew what I was doing, I did the rest two by two. It seemed like a manageable amount on my little desk and still a little faster and more efficient than doing them one by one. In a larger block of time I could get both done, or if I only had part of an evening I could get two done over two evenings. I didn't take note of the date but I think I got the border pieces done shortly before Thanksgiving. It was such a good feeling. The rest will be fun going...

I found a small [but crucial] printing error on one pattern piece and was able to pass that along to the other club members through the LQS by email.

The next section I did was the lonestar. I have never done a lonestar before and perhaps that worked in my favour since this paper piecing method is different than the traditional method (so I hear). The basic unit is split into five strips which are paper pieced separately and then sewn together. So you make all eight copies of strip 1, and then all eight of strip 2, etc., until all 5 strips are ready to be pieced into the eight lonestar units.

I ran into trouble on the first strip because I didn't put the pattern pieces close enough together and ran out of room on my strip of fabric. So I only got 7 copies instead of eight. I figured out the problem for strips 2 through 5 and got them done relatively quickly. Whenever I worked on it I could get one set of strips done, and then last Friday (on my first vacation day) I got a whole bunch of work done. I started to think I might actually get some of these units done so I could take them home with me.

Since I will be seeing my sister who helped me pick out the fabric when I go home for Christmas, I'll be bringing the pieces home to show her. She actually asked me to, but hey! like she has to twist my arm! Plus I have some decisions to make about which colours to use in the remaining pieces and would love it if she could help me with that. With this motivation and my vacation time I got six of the lonestar units pieced! I was very please with that. I can piece one more, but then I will have to cut some new fabric to make up the copy of strip 1 that I am missing.

Here is a quarter of the quilt laid out:

The blank spots will be filled with "melon spike" and "curving geese" units. These are the ones I have to still pick the fabrics. The pattern calls for a selection of the "dark" fabrics. So I have the option of my 3 blacks, 3 blues, or 2 greens, or some combination of them, of course. I wanted to take a look at the layout before I chose the final colours.

I still think I will change the black used in the center compass star to one of the greens. I think it will play off the use of those colours in the bigger corner spikes (with the red and pink above) and there's too much black in the middle with the first ring of the lonestar being black. But I'll do that at the very end...there's no hurry while I still have other things to do.

The next club meeting isn't until the third week of January so if I get the last two lonestar units done I will be happy. That would give me until the February meeting to get the melon spike and curving geese units done, and then by the March meeting I could have it all pieced together.

That would just leave the assembly and quilting...hmmm..."just"

All for now. I won't get more quilting done this week because of the travelling but getting some colours picked will keep things moving along.

Thanks for reading,

christina