Cotton Constellation

Cotton Constellation

My little quilt galaxy is complete!

This weekend I completed the final two "test blocks" of the Texas Star template and pinned them to my shades in the back room for a colorful constellation. A few things I learned:

Allowances

The seam allowance contraption was incredibly helpful at keeping the seams to 1/4". Training wheels, I suppose, but well worth it.

Get to the Point

Sewing on the bias is tricky. Much easier if the fabric is starched and precisely pinned. I also learned you can burn starch, and in turn, burn the fabric. Following the written instructions are important; someone took the time to write and illustrate them for a reason. On the last two blocks (the green and blue and blue and yellow two, on the left) my seams were much straighter and the blocks went together a lot easier when I followed the pressing, pinning and sewing directions.
 

Reality

I am a messcat. This isn't news, but I had barely finished trimming, pinning, sewing and installing before my work table was a complete mess. My next two projects are scattered about, waiting impatiently for me to get on with it.

Three Wishes

The experiment was a delight! Now I'm ready for the real thing, with some favorite fabric pieces. Stay tuned!

XO Terez

Walk to Work Wednesday

A Little Birdie Told Me

Golden Path

Between the Rails

Asphalt Applique

Renegade Bunch

The leaves have finally started to change but it feels more like the tail end of summer than the middle of fall--upper 60s today and plenty of sunshine. The steam radiators in my apartment don't know the difference: still clunking and spurting out heat despite the balmy air. Such a treat in November makes me wonder if we'll pay for it in February: a squirrel is already trying to build a den in my ceiling and it's not even freezing at night yet.

XO Terez

Golden Afternoon

Golden Afternoon Selvege

The Chez Terez studio's state of affairs has been in a sad state indeed.  My workroom, lucky enough to contain four Northwest facing windows, is flooded with full-sun from June to September and it's simply to hot to work in there. Instead it has become a repository for every craft supply I've bought or scavenged and after a terrible attempt to move large pieces of furniture by myself yesterday, it looked like this:

Buried Treasure

I was in the middle of moving that metal drawer of paper crafts and I was too lazy to move the Scrabble dice game to safety, and well, you can see how successful that was.

Solo Stretching

Mid-clean spree, I decided to put the extra leaf in my work table. Alone. I re-enacted it in the photo above to give you the full experience.

After four hours, the place was back in business. Tonight every craft item is sorted and with its proper neighbors. Stamps with stamp pads, fabric sorted and folded, beads and pliers stacked neatly, printmaking inks stored properly, rulers hung on the wall. It is a thing of beauty.

I started working on a star quilt:

Start of Star Quilt

I still don't have a proper design wall. I found a piece of white felt, some clothespins and a spare curtain rod and rigged this up:

Star Quilt Test

Which worked great until I knocked into it while rooting around in the closet:

Star Quilt Fail

That only strengthened my resolve. What good is one star quilt when I could be making three at the same time? But forget the design wall, I'm back to basics: a freshly made bed will do just as well to test the layout:

Star Quilt Redo

Stay tuned. I should have a spectacular constellation to show and tell next week.

XO TEREZ

Walk to Work Wednesday

John, Andrew, Paul and Matthew

Sneaky Sunlight

The Breakfast Club

Beacon Street Water Works

Mini Mums

How did it get to be November already? Autumn this year has been less than spectacular--the leaves are stubborn and refuse to change or fall from the trees. We've already had a snow storm--and still many people are without power. As for the temperature change, I don't mind...too much. I sometimes wish the summer away--the heat and humidity are worse in my mind than the bone chilling temperatures we're expecting in a few weeks. Fall and winter means Mamcat's-Not-So-Secret-Anymore-Hot-Cider Recipe, pot roast, Jane Austen, knitting, purling, quilting, Baileys & Cocoa, snowy Sunday dinners with friends, the Nutcracker, down comforters, holiday handmade gift making and purchasing (and sometimes keeping!). By February I'll be through but for now I'm settling in with a mug of tea and already enjoying the incumbent holiday season. And finally...finally...my fingers are itching to create some new baubles.
XO Terez