Radiate

Right now, Radiate is the working name for this quilt.  It's taken a long time to quilt.  There was  a lot of delay while I figured out what I wanted to quilt in it.  But, once I had that figured out, I was off to the races. 

Yesterday afternoon, I had to pick a bunch of quilting out of the center.  After I'd done all the rest, some crooked and badly placed lines needed to be moved.  But, that's all done now too. 

I've really enjoyed working on this quilt.  The piecing was a pain because that's a whole lot of bias.  And, we all know what bias likes to do.  And, there are a ton of mistakes.  So many that even I was worried whether they'd quilt out.  And, a few did not.  But, most of them either quilted out or the quilting distracts you from being able to see them. 

I put the feather wreath in the corners, then decided what to quilt in the centers.  I was pretty sure it was going to be an eight pointed star.  That star was the hardest part of the quilt to mark.  It's a simple shape, but I really had to think about how that star is made and what goes into it to be able to get it right.  And, draw 3/4 of it.  Four times. 

I guess you can see why I'm calling it Radiate.  An active verb.  For an active quilt. 

Now, it's just the borders, which I'm going to feather...because that's what I do.  Nothing fancy.  A straight line down the center and feathers to the edges, in a square.  I can hardly wait to get started.

I also took a few minutes to piece some of the card trick blocks.  I got 7 made. 

They're coming out just like I expected.  They are 3.5", so they'll finish at 3".  And, I am using every skill I learned from Sally Collins.  One of the most valuable is ironing pieces, then laying a ruler on top of them and letting them cool.  That weight makes them lie very flat.  A lot of nesting seams and sliver trimming to exact size. 

I was using a very small 2.5" ruler to sliver trim the 9 individual sub units. It just made so much sense when trimming a 1.5" block, right?  But, I kept thinking, you're going to cut the tip of your finger off.  And, then I switched to a larger ruler, 6", and that made it so much easier to hold the ruler down and get my fingertips out of the way.  Because I need the tips of my fingers.  They are very important.  So, learn from me.  Sometimes, bigger is better. 

Lane