Lone Star - Ta Dah!

Fabrics from the Vin du Jour collection by Moda

It's finished! The Lone Star wall hanging is complete and ready for patterning. I'm pretty proud of the feathered wreaths. Even though they have beaucoup flaws, the overall effect is just what I wanted...traditional and full of wonderful texture. Cross another project off the list. This baby is done. Watch for the free pattern at McCallsQuilting.com when the January/February issue releases.

Stitch by Stitch

All the ditch quilting is done on the Lone Star, and I've been working on the feathered wreaths. This will be the only visible quilting on the whole wall hanging, so it needs to look good! I'm trying to take my time and enjoy the process, but I'd love to be finished, to be honest. I've gotten more comfortable with machine quilting over the past 2 years, but it's still not my forte by any means. Still...practice makes perfect! Back to it...

Feathered Wreath Practice

I gathered up my courage this evening and stitched a sample feathered wreath like the ones I have planned for the Lone Star wall hanging. And look....it's not bad for a first try! I even made myself do it without rotating the piece, something I find I want to do when I feel insecure about something I'm machine quilting. There are certainly flaws. Some of my backtracking isn't exact, and I wobbled away from the marked lines a bit here and there. But I'm very encouraged. And I think I have enough courage now to start working on the wall hanging!

Lone Star with Borders

Vin du Jour fabrics by Moda

Well, here it is...my Lone Star Block now has borders. I decided to use some leftover strip set segments, and I like the effect. I think they add much-needed movement to the design. I also started marking quilting designs on the top tonight. Scary! I used very light pencil marks, and I'm challenging myself to try feathered wreaths...gulp! I'll keep you posted. The weekend should be interesting.

More Lone Star Fun

Vin du Jour fabrics by Moda

Today we shot how-to photos for making a Lone Star Block, including setting in the outer squares and triangles. When I brought my sample home, I set in the last outer square, and here it is...my Vin du Jour Lone Star Block. I need to turn it into a wall hanging that we can pattern as a web bonus on McCallsQuilting.com. I've got an idea to use leftover segments in the border treatment...we'll see how it turns out soon!

Lone Star Samples

Today's project was making samples for photos for the January/February 2014 issue of McCall's Quilting. The project is a star quilt designed by Lissa Alexander using fabrics from the Vin du Jour collection by 3 Sisters for Moda. I got to do a bunch of strip piecing and segment cutting,

and then to make pieced diamonds and stars.

I'm a lucky quilter...best homework ever!