Having pieced the major section of the center panel of Alena's quilt and laying it out all I see is a big white cross. The star effect has been lost with the placement of the smaller yellow stars in the corners - so do I replace it with a grey star or a block sandwich made of solid colour?

Any opinions?

Thought I'd show how much my feathering has improved with just a few blocks. I'm thinking about replacing this first block and repurposing it into one of the charity quilts
Can I be bothered making another?

Charity quilt well underway - 3 rows joined together, another waiting to be joined to the quilt and a few odd blocks

The back of the quilt looks like paddocks.. I bought a mystery bag of material from the quilt shop full of blues and greens..these are all being joined to form backing blocks.

Visual Play

Using the mosaic maker I made a mock up of the center panel of the quilt. The star points are way off size but it was fun to get a more pictorial idea of what the quilt will look like as a central feature.

My crocuses are currently in bloom and yesterday I went out and collected the stamens for saffron.. the amount I got was miniscule and I had to pick the stamen with teasers. Not sure whether to use them to dye colour into fabric (or if there is even enough of it) of to try to cook with it

The central panel

A visit to the Port of Adelaide yesterday near the old maritime museum led me to spy this old building...an eligible candidate for the next quilt photo shoot - but not sure how I would hang the quilt.
It is lovely any way.

Alena's Quilt - underway

Finally I might have gotten my mathematics right to form the stars. I still managed to muck it up by miscalculating the triangle size for the sawtooth triangles of the star. So I have lots of triangles cut for flying geese blocks for the charity quilt

I took the plunge and just decided that I would machine quilt the entire quilt. Maybe a little too adventurous but I will definitely have honed my free motion quilting skills by the end of it.

Last night I practiced drawing feather patterning for the large triangle surrounding the star just to get an idea of where I should turn and how much curve and generally what looks good.

I dont spend a lot of time deliberating whether I should do something straight off or actually practice it. In for a penny in for a pound,,,feet first.. If I stuff it up I'll just have to make another

So I had some trouble with the first feather looping and found that by changing my needle and re threading the machine solved that problem as I didn't think that I was going to slow with my machine.

The second half of the triangle looks better from behind but I had a couple of sections where my curves did not flow easily.

It certainly is challenging planning ahead where your machine is going and being able to visualise your work. Ideally I should have also done this section in pieces but I don't want a lot of seams showing in the star,

I LOVE The COLOUR!

I laid the pieces outside on the ground to get an idea of overall effect when joined in a strip.

And I couldn't resist photographing this flower at mum's house hanging through the fence from one of her succulent plants. Its beautiful isn't it

I have a lot of projects happening at the moment!

And for anyone interested in giveaway visit Stitch by Stitch for a birthday giveaway here

Hand Printed - Kim's Flower

 Made a new stamp for my internet buddy and new friend Kim.  It kind of reminds me of a hibiscus flower and has a little bit of a Hawaiian feel when printed in blue. I actually didn't know what I was going to print for Kim, I thought a couple of panelled strips and a larger piece of fabric might be able to be utilised together in some project she dreams up. Check out her lovely quilt in progress at Sarah Lizzies

Also completed a new panel for the Lotus Flower Quilt. New one below , followed by original where I dropped my stamp right in the middle of the quilt

Hand Printed - Sunshine Lotus Flower Quilt

In preparation for my nieces 21st I've started to print up panels of lotus flower in yellows and grey  for her quilt.
Might redo the center panel as I dropped the leaf print onto the lotus flower and had to over print the flower.. one mistake and you need to start again. I did prepare to print two panels by cutting out two 21 inch square pieces of cotton right from the start but the printing will have to wait for another day as I do have to get ready for work.

The large panel and these two strips will form the large center star.
The individual lotus flower panels will be cut for the center of the smaller stars.

A rough sketch of what the quilt might look like. i'm not sure what will be in the two upper triangles of the yellow square..perhaps more printed pieces. Anyway it is a start. maybe I will get this quilt done before her birthday and not a year later like my nephews.