Onward to the Applique

Here she is, at a mere 1280 pieces (plus outer border) and only 67" square (well, mostly!). And best of all, I have not purchased a stitch of fabric for this quilt. I got really tempted to get something for the narrow border, but held off. I have some applique being designed for the outer border. The prep-time of starching and pressing all of that is innundating. I never thought that this quilt would be pieced as fast as it was. I fully expected that this quilt would be ready for quilting first. But it, too, is awaiting applique, and monopoly thread to sew on the applique, and for an unknown reason, Superior is not able to keep this item in stock. I hope to find a substitute later this week. These lone star or carpenter star quilts are challenging to make, even for the most patient of piecers. The number of Y-seams is higher than I can count. I'm not real high on that patience scale, nor am I all that eager to pin every single unit that I stitch. And I do mean EVERY one. These pieced diamond units are somewhat strip-pieced (or I'd definitely be certifiably nuts), but because the units are on bias, if you don't pin the heck out of this, no seams match up. On the areas that are more "colorwashed", that is no biggie, but where dark green meets ivory, it doesn't look so hot. At a close look, you can see areas that don't align exactly, but what the Hell. Take off your glasses, have a glass of wine (yaddy-yadda) and it looks pretty good. Pretty I think. Best of all, it may hang (if not too large) in my new dining room, and look just smashing when this is on the table (which I made last year sometime). I guess you can tell what colors I am drawn towards :-)

I'm off to MQX tomorrow for the week. I'm taking classes with some of the great longarmers, hoping to bring home some good tips, ideas, and of course purchaseable goodies! There will be plenty of pictures to show as well.