3rd Place Ribbon at the EAA Quilt Show for The Morning Star Quilt

The Lakeside Quilt Guild (website) in Oshkosh, WI, hosts an EAA Quilt Show during the Experimental Air & Aviation (EAA) Convention every year.  Since I rejoined the Guild last fall, I entered the Morning Star Quilt in the show.  To date, it has been the most challenging quilt I've ever made, and still there is room to improve. 

 

I got a 3rd place ribbon out of about 80 quilts in the show.  I am honored!  And still I know there are things that I'd do differently next time as far as technique to make it even better.

BIG Finish: The Morningstar Quilt is Complete!

At long last, The Morningstar Quilt is complete! 

I spent 4 hours on Saturday doing the background filler quilting on the black corner squares -- little loop-de-loops.  You can't really see it as I used black thread.  The main purpose was to push down the background so that the applique flowers and vines would POP!

 

Michele and Christian

I started this massive project in 2018 with the intention of finishing it in time for our 2oth wedding anniversary in 2019.  The appliques took much longer than anticipated, so it took twice as long to finish, but that's ok.  We're still together.  You can't rush a masterpiece!

 

Sweetie holding up the quilt.

 

On the bed.  It's a little big for our bed, but we'll make it work!

Detail of one of the appliqued flowers and vines.  

Quilting the background makes those flowers POP.

 

Quilt Label. Always important to document these quilts.

Perhaps now that I have my mom's embroidery machines, I'll start making fancier quilt lables?

 

The pattern and kit is by Jinny Beyer: The Lotus Quilt.

 

Hobbs Silk Batting

The batting is pretty light; The better quality quilting fabric is heavy.  The silk batt is supposed to be light, but warm.  We'll see how it does this winter.

 

It seems like I've been working on this for more than just 4 years!

Here are all the previous posts about The Morningstar Quilt:

• Progress on The Morningstar Quilt - Borders - July 12, 2021

• Diamonds and Pearls on The Morningstar Quilt - June 27, 2021

• Sneak Peak at the Morningstar Applique Blocks - April 28, 2019
  

• Progress on the Morningstar Quilt  - March 10, 2019

• Morningstar Quilt is Sandwiched and on to the next Stage of Quilting - Feb 25, 2019

• Finally Feels Like Progress ... Morningstar Quilt Top - Feb 10, 2019

• The first one is the hardest ... - Dec 15, 2018

• Slow Work : Turned Under Applique Flowers for the Morningstar Quilt - Sept 30, 2018
  

• The Morningstar Quilt Comes Together - Sept 26, 2018
  

• The Stars Are Out Tonight ... Or The Morning Star Quilt Comes Together - Aug 26, 2018

The leftovers:  After any quilt is complete, there will be leftovers and scraps.  I can finally put this box away, or turn the leftovers into something else.

I had to keep track of each fabric while making the giant star in the center, so each fabric was numbered.  Don't need that anymore!   

 Maybe I can get some place matts out of the leftovers?

Progress on The Morningstar Quilt - Borders

This Morningstar Quilt has been stalled out for a couple of years now. Even during the pandemic, I couldn't bring myself to work on the background fills of the applique blocks to finish them off.  So I set that aside in favor of the outer borders, hoping inspiration might strike as to a solution for those forever backgrounds.

 

This is how I worked it up in You Doodle Pro, where I can draw on a photo, to get an idea of how the stitching might look.  I never intended to use a green thread -- It just showed up better here.

Here it is stitched out.  One pass in the purple, and a second pass with the tangerine thread.   The thread colors were meant to be subtle.   You can see I was using the black "beads" in the border as landmarks for the larger loops.

 It's probably easier to see from the back, with those interlocking loops.  The second smaller set of loops was fund to do -- The larger loops were a bit too big -- I'd get lost moving from 1 black bead to one on the other side. But I made it work.

Here are the undulating waves in the black border, stitched out with red thread.

Next Steps:

I could move on to the binding, but I still need to finish the backgrounds on the corner applique blocks. 

Diamonds and Pearls on The Morningstar Quilt

                                                        The Morningstar Quilt, pin-basted

This quilt has been on hold for the past 2 years.  Sometimes on a colossal project like this, you need to set it aside and take a break until the joy comes back.  Today was blessedly cool enough that I could be upstairs in my sewing studio doing the free-motion quilting on it again ...  Also I'm between projects, so it's a good time to pick this one back up again.

Today I stitched the red ribbons in the background of all the applique blocks.  The side triangles were already about half done, so I finished those today with a little more stitching -- mostly black pearls in the background -- very stealth.     The object was to make the applique POP!  The background stitching is subtle, and very hard to photograph.  It looks much better in person.  Here the threads look washed out when in reality, the thread is red, purple and blue to match the applique.    You can't really see it, but I used black thread to stitch pearls / bubbles around the red ribbon--again I wanted the black to stand down so that the red ribbon would stand out more.

I'm still not quite sure what to do with the corner blocks.  Perhaps some echo stitching around the flowers?  I don't think it needs to be as dense as the side triangles.  I am not fond of sleeping under a quilt that is so densely quilted that it might be mistaken for a carpet.

Large corner applique block, with ribbons. The space needed something to showcase the applique, without taking away from it.

While I think about how to finish those corner applique blocks, I worked on the first "row" of the border.  I used the diamond motif in the fabric.  The small square in the middle pops out once it's all said and done.    You can't really see it in the photograph, so here it is from the back:

Sneak Peak at the Morningstar Applique Blocks

I am beginning to echo stitch around the appliques on the Morningstar quilt.  It's not hard, just take a little time and some maneuvering the bulk of the quilt.   I have more corner block to go.  Then I have to figure out how I will fill in the rest of the "empty" space on those black and applique blocks.

I'm thinking maybe 1 more echo and then onto swirls and whatever I can fit into the spaces ...  That is something I should practice on the iPad, first ...

I am using a variegated blue thread to do the outlining.  I shows up nicely on the black, but doesn't detract from the bright applique flowers and vines. 

I finished up the quilting on the giant center star a few weeks ago.  It's hard to photograph, or you'd see it here ...  After that, I stitched the edges of the black border squares to hold them in place while I did the free-motion quilting around the applique flowers and vines. 

Next step was to decide what color threads to use on that black background.  Maroon?  Blue?  Something completely different?

Progress on the Morningstar Quilt

I got a late start on quilting the Star Quilt last Sunday.  I was procrastinating because last week, it seemed to give me a touch of tendonitis / carpal tunnel, and I was not wanting to repeat that.  Not sure why -- My hands and wrists are mostly flat / straight as I hold the quilt sandwich flat, and move it around under the needle. 

But once I sat down to it, things went better this week -- I think because the very center of the star is done now -- That's where fully half of the quilt (more than 50 inches of quilt sandwich plus safety pins) has to be bunched up in the throat of the machine.

[The colors are truest in this photo vs some of the others.]

Things I learned :

• Warm up on a piece of scrap for the free-motion quilting.  It will be time well spent.  And I won't have to rip out stitches on the real thing.  
• I've been using the Tangarine thread so far for the center of the star.  That seems to blend the best with the reds, golds, and purples.  Not the color I would have picked, but the color the quilt called for.  Listen to what the quilt wants you to do -- It will tell you--Just listen. 
• Rotate the star clockwise, that way you are moving bulk out of the throat of the machine.
• Use the Floating clamps to take the weight of the quilt.
• This silk batting is very light.  So far, it seems similar to Hobbs 80/20 batts I like so much.  But lighter.  I am looking forward to seeing how it washes up. 

 

What am I doing with all of those basting safety pins?  As I stabilize / stitch an area, I pull the pins and toss them into this little cabbage pitcher.  I don't even bother to close them, as I'll just need to open them again the next time I need to baste a quilt, so it saves me a little time.   So much for "safefty" pins.   The pitcher reminds me of my old friend Sandy, who loved skunk cabbages in spring.  Once I even found a set of skunk cabbage salt and pepper shakers at an antique store, and gave them to her as a gift.  It was so her!

I was so enjoying the process today, and thinking about how easily this part is going now, I was even sad to think I'd be running out of diamonds in the star to stitch in a few weeks.  Not to worry-- I have several other quilt sandwiches waiting to be quilted. 

 

  

This weekend, I was able to move on to the purple / blue layer of the star.  

I am using a variegated blue thread for the stitching.   

I love the hand-drawn look, and am not at all bothered that it's not perfect.

 

It's very relaxing going freehand from point-to-point in all those diamonds.

Like a Zentangle meditation.  Did I say that already? 

It's easier now, working on the outer rings of the star.  But still I can only do it for a couple of hours at a time, as my neck and shoulders start to ache.

Time for a break!

Morningstar Quilt is Sandwiched and on to the next Stage of Quilting

I went to the monthly Open Sew Day at the county building, sponsored by the local Lakeside Quilt Guild.  I knew they'd have nice big tables where I could work on sandwiching and basting this quilt.  I don't have the space to do it at home, and am not planning on going to Quilt Camp in March.  So this worked out well!  Saw some familiar faces there with Lynn and Liz, and Marilyn, and Glennys--many of them from the October Quilt Retreat. 

I used a Hobbs Silk Batting for this quilt -- yes--it's a special anniversary!  It's very light and airy batt, and supposedly very warm.  It should crinkle up like cotton after it's washed. ;-)  The good quality quilting fabric is what makes it heavy (coupled with all those safety pins) -- but not bulky.

There must be 500 safety pins holding the sandwich together now.

I need to do a little re-hab on the borders.  I didn't do my usual measure down the center, then cut the borders to that length because I knew the borders would be mitered--and how would you measure for that?  Turns out-- you really do need to measure down the middle and cut borders accordingly.  There was a certain amount of excess fullness at the edges.  I can take some of the excess up by re-doing the miters at the corners, but I should probably just re-cut them to the proper length as measured down the middle.

I think I can still go ahead and quilt the star in the middle, get that stabilized, then deal with the borders.

Now --How to quilt it?

 And so it begins ...  The quilting stage.  

I started in on the darkest tines of the star with the tangerine thread.  It shows up nicely. 

I was using a 16 Jeans needle, but switched to an 18 after breaking 2 needles.

I think I'll have to find a different path around the star.  It's difficult working from the center -- now that that part is done, maybe it will be easier to do the other diamonds?

I think just "cathedral-window" the diamonds in the star.  Not very inventive, but effective for this type of quilt.  So far, I have not been able to settle of thread colors for the star.  Should I use invisible thread?  Or choose something that will blend with the warm and cool colors?  They are all complementary, so I could even be wild about mixing warm with cool colors in the threads.   Then I have to figure out my path across the quilt, to maximize efficiency, and minimize the turns ...  It's all a part of project planning a quilt from start to finish. 

As for the corner and side blocks, I thought I would echo the applique flowers and vines.   If I used a nice multi-colored thread, it will show up on the black, but not be so over-powering as to take away from the applique.

Then I'll have to fix the borders, and then decide something for that space as well.  Lots of time to think about it! 

Finally Feels Like Progress ... Morningstar Quilt Top

Progress on the Morningstar Quilt!

Since October (at least), I've been working on the applique flowers and vines for the 4 corners and 4 diamond side panels of this Morningstar Quilt.  I can finally get back to sewing again -- Last weekend, I was able to start top-stitching the applique flowers and vines down.

I spent part of the day with a glue stick securing the pieces to the background.  Yes-- normally I would have done that with a fusible.   But this project posed some barriers to making that possible.

1) it would have taken hours to shape and iron all those bits and pieces with the fusible. (I did do one triangle piece that way, and it took an entire afternoon and a sore back.  No thank you!
2) Once I got everything in place at the light box, it was difficult to move it all to the ironing board where I could fuse it.  Things would invariably move in the transition.

Therefore, I decided it would be much easier and sensible to use the purple glue stick again, to glue it in place at the light box.  (I must have used a dozen or more glue sticks in the course of this project!) This seems to have worked out well enough, and saved oodles of time over the fusible webbing method.

Now back to stitching ...

I've missed my sewing machine these last few months!

  I used the open toe foot, but did not set up for free-motion stitching.  I wanted the feed dogs to help keep me on track, and to help provide an even stitch length.  Steady and sure got the job done in less time than I would have thought. Done in 2 afternoons.

 These are the threads I used for top-stitching the appliques.  Burgundies, Tangerine, and  mixed blues.  Although the applique flowers and vines were glued in place with a simple purple glue stick (the Elmer's kind you find in office supply stores, or with school supplies).  Purple worked better than the white, as the white tended to dry stiffer and white.  The purple dried clear, and was not so stiff.  That's my preferred adhesive for this project.  

The thread is a polyester embroidery thread from Thread Art.  Very strong, and very pretty.  You can get some pretty good deals on the sets on lack Friday.  It's so strong, I can even quilt with it.  I'm very happy with this thread!

Here is one of the completed applique panels.  This one fits in the corners of the giant star.  Each one of those bits and pieces was cut out of those pieces was traces to freezer paper, cut out of the fabric, and then turned under to provide a finished edge  The glue gave it a little body, so I didn't need interfacing for most of it.

Here is one of the other flowers, stitched down.

THe top-stitching went so smoothly, that I even had time this afternoon to set in all the squares with the Y-seams.  Again -- this is not a beginner project.  That said, the Luminous Lone Star class I took online at Craftsy (now BluePrint) proved very helpful for this project.    

It still needs the borders, but I'll save that for next weekend.

Then I'll have to sandwich it with batting and backing -- something I usually do at Quilt Camp where I have big tables and can work with my basting boards.   

Then I have to think about how to quilt it.  I have some definite ideas.  This is indeed on track to being finished by June for our 20th Wedding Anniversary. Wa-hooh! 

I'm really pleased with what I see so far.  ;-)

Like what you see?  This is the Lotus Quilt by Jinny Beyer.  I purchased a kit on sale a while back.  Perhaps they were having trouble selling these due to all that fiddly applique?

Theresa -- How did yours turn out?

The first one is the hardest ...

Last weekend, I worked all afternoon on stitching and stabilizing the applique flowers for the Morningstar Quilt.  From picking appropriate thread colors, to choosing a path around the objects, to 

The week before, I fused all the flower applique pieces to some black interfacing, and then cut around all the edges.  This helped to stabilize the pieces before I stitched the edges down.  Prior to that, they were glued (with a common school glue glue stick, like kids use) and fragile.

After some trial and error, I discovered that the tangarine / orange thread looked the nicest on the reds and purples  golds and oranges in the flowers.

I also learned that I needed to sew off the ends of the flower points.   If I tried to stop and pivot at those points, the point pulled up through the foot, and got crumbled up.  If I sewed off the edge, it stayed flat.  I was using the free-motion foot, but perhaps I could have chosen the foot with only a hole for the needle to pass through?

The non-stick oven sheet was very helpful for allowing the piece to slide around under the needle, and not get hung up in the uneven sewing table,

I also got one of the triangle pieces worked up, with all the vines and flowers glued / fused in place.   I cut some steam-a-seam into strips and pieced it around all those curves for the vines.     I still need to stitch it down.  Still thinking about what to use for stabilizer?  I want this to puff up a little like Trapunto, so maybe a piece of batting?  Or perhaps I should save that for the quilting stage?  Only 3 more triangles and 4 larger square corner pieces to go ...

There are so many things you need to know to make a quilt like this -- things that are not explained in the pattern.  Good thing I've been quilting for the last 15 years, and learned a lot of techniques through the years.  It all helps!

All that work -- and somewhere along the way, one of the smaller flowers got lost.  Can't find it anywhere --  Do I make a new one, and backtrack to do the threadwork again, or do I just wait it out, and see if it re-appears?

All that work today, and it feel like I didn't really get anything done.  I was sewing all afternoon, but don't feel like I have anything to show for it.  That's how I've felt the whole time working on these applique pieces.  This is the bottleneck stage of the project.  The putsy stuff.

Slow Work : Turned Under Applique Flowers for the Morningstar Quilt

 

This should really pop on a black background!

I've been trying to think of an easier way to do the applique for the Morningstar Quilt.  I decided against the technique of raw edge fusible applique (my usual method).  This is going to be more of an heirloom piece, will be washed more than a wall hanging, and would need more stability -- hence I am biting the bullet and investing the time to build these flowers with a technique I learned from WendyButler-Berns in a workshop many years ago.

She taught us to use freezer paper templates and a glue stick to build the pieces.  It works!  I've put together a kit with scratch paper to use as a blotter (1 per flower), the glue sticks, baby wipes, scissors, the freezer paper templates, the fabrics, a model to follow ...

I have to make 8 small flowers and 4 large ones.  Then I can start working on the filigree in between.
1 step at a time ...

Maybe I  can work on these in the evenings before supper?  I hate to take precious weekend time.