Archive / Star QAL

About Stars and Sashiko

I’ve made some progress with my Star Quilt-A-Long project and I’m happy to say that I have completed all 30 blocks and cut up all my sashings/cornerstones, waiting for sewing now :>

There has been a number of completed tops at the group’s flickr folder and I thought that the quilt is ‘too square’ to fit into any rooms in the house. haha. A quick calculation shows that I can turn this into a Queen-sized quilt with an additional row. So, I added 2 more Stars and 3 more setting blocks.

And I also took some time to pick out my border and backing fabrics too, and they are washed and ready to go when I’m done piecing the top together.

You can see the preliminary layout below, without the sashings/cornerstones/borders. I have a piece of tape on each block to indicate which row/column they belong to, so I don’t have to bother with laying them out again until they are joined.

Here are my 2 additional blocks – Dutchman’s puzzle and a 9-patch star.

Recently, I found that my quilt shop carries Sashiko needles and I got really excited (for nothing). Unfortunately, the shop does NOT carry the Sashko kits/fabrics or even threads. It has been very painful looking for Sashiko stuffs in our local craft shops . And that of course gave me an excuse to shop online ;> Bought a bunch of placemat kits, some samplers and also sashiko threads. Of course, I did not have the patience to get my camera and snap a picture of the parcel as-is, but I remembered to take a pic of my spree here after I started stitching on a few coasters.

I felt that the threads supplied in the kit are not as good as the ones that you buy ‘ala carte’. They seem to be more loosely twisted and a bit harder to pull through the fabric. So I’ll probably just buy the sampler or the marked fabrics in the future. This is my 1st attempt at Sashiko sewing, though I’ve known of it for a while. Never got the chance to try my hands at i till now, because they are almost impossible to find in Singapore.

Then I visited the bookstore and bought The Ultimate Sashiko Sourcebook by Susan Briscoe which is really packed with loads of Sashiko history and patterns for reference. I. Love. It.

Loads of WIPs since the beginning of the year, and I sure hope I have more finished projects to show for in the coming months.

Thanks for sewing with me!

More blocks!

Completed 2 more blocks for the Star QAL. Saw a completed top at Flickr and I can’t wait for mine to get done too! :>

Here’s Week 8. See how hard I’m trying to use up the ugly yellow flower fabrics? I must be careful that I don’t turn it into the main feature fabric of the quilt! hahaha. But I think this print is going along quite well with the rest of the yellow prints :>

Here’s Week 9. More ugly yellow flower. But I kindda like it here :>

As if I don’t have enough UFOs, WIPs and what nots lying around. I started on yet another project with my quilting friends – Stack and Whack. Its really fun fun fun! I’m using a Quilting Treasures print for this Baby Quilt, for my son. I REALLY love how the blocks turned out. I guess if with better pinning, cutting, sewing, and pressing, the kaleidoscope effect would be phenomenon. So, gotta practice some more then ;>

First 6 blocks…

Then another 6 makes 12 blocks!

I LOVE the zebras & flamingos…

One of my favourites! :>

Before I go, here’s a look at my latest spree on eBay :p Bought some AB fabrics online too. Can’t wait to get started! MUST start at least ONE pattern this year! hahaha… I don’t dare to commit to COMPLETING a project… to be able to finish one would be a great X’mas pressie for myself then ;>

Goodnight, my sewing friends!

PS: Amy has a new book Little Stitches for Little Ones… LOVELY… :>

Playing catch up

My Yellow Star Quilt has been quite neglected (along with other UFOs). There is so much to do – work, baby, house, MarioKart Wii (:D) that I feel bad sewing with all these stuffs at the back of my mind.

The thing about sewing is that once you start, it is VERY hard to stop ;>

Last week, I cut up all the fabrics for Weeks 6 through 11 in a single night and went to bed with a sore back… Today, I put aside my work and sat at the sewing machine for a while and I completed 2 blocks (Weeks 6 & 7) and finished ALL my setting blocks! YAAY!

I think that the setting blocks look pretty on its own, but when I placed a star block next to it, I find that the setting block pieces look very bright orange. But as I laid out more blocks, I think it is turning out okay as the setting blocks act like ‘frames’ for the stars. Nope. I don’t have a picture of the blocks laid out here. Spent the time sewing instead! HA!

Week 6’s block. I’m using up the ugly flower fabric here :> Gosh, I’m glad to get rid of them here!

Week 7’s block and this one I LIKE!

Week 7 and 8 pieces laid out here. I have the week’s cut pieces separately bagged. And I’m doing them 2 blocks at a time. The missing bits of the blocks are at the sewing machine :p

I really had a good time doing these setting blocks. I like the fabrics and I like the easy piecing that turns out so neatly too! Took the ‘production line’ way and chain pieced, chain sewed and chain pressed the pieces. And I had the greatest satisfaction by completing 12 blocks at one go!

Another reason why Star QAL took a backseat for the past couple of weeks is because I started on a really fun quilt for Benji ;> More pictures coming up soon! :> Till then, happy stitching!

Power up :>

This weekend has been fun fun fun! We caught up with some friends and she made us a really good dinner, and the kids enjoyed themselves very much too.

I also felt that Benji has grown a lot in these past few weeks. As he turned 15 1/2 months, he took his first steady steps last week and today he managed to stand himself up without holding on to any furniture, or legs, or walls. And he also finally figured out how to get in and out of his favorite push-car! It’s great to see him playing with the older kids and learning to be more independent because of his newfound mobility.

My parents came back from their vacation and they were exclaiming how much Benji has grown (in 10 days) and so many new tricks learned. One thing’s not changed – he still has his bib around his neck! Yah, my son has a MAJOR drool issue.

Over the weekend, I power-sewed. I cut up the borders for my Tales & Tidings quit, I also caught up with AmandaJean’s Star Quilt-A-Long and also cut up the fabrics for the 12 setting blocks. Phew! Chain-stitching frenzy! Half-way through to making the 48 X 4-patch pieces.

Here’s Week 3’s block. I ‘fussy-cut’ this orangey bloom fabric, which I don’t like very much. I think it turned out quite nice here! :>

This is Week 4’s block. The colours turned out more orangey with this camera. Just try to imagine it more ‘yellow-y’ :>

This is Week 5’s block. Tiring, but pretty block. After all the triangles, it was just good fun to cut strips and squares to work on the setting blocks.

All in all, I’m pretty happy with the progress made so far. Fell back a few weeks because of vacation, etc. But once you get into the swing of things, the blocks came together pretty quickly :>

New star on the block!

Gosh, talk about being on the roll. Done with Star QAL block 2 last night! YAAY!

But I caught the flu bug – woke up feeling really horrid. And I’d really hate for Benji catch anything from this episode. So DH had to send him bright and early to my mom’s. 🙁 Will probably stay in bed to catch up on some sleep and then continue with the hexagons in the room!

Want to get well soon so I can cuddle my boy again, and of course, there is the sale at the quilt shop tomorrow too ;>