Lone Star--Out of Time Out (post 2)

Pinning the intersections

I had planned to begin piecing the Santa tree skirt that I cut out months ago. I wanted to use all of my ironing station to layout the block sections. This Lone Star project, however, was in the way because it was resting on the half of the station. 

I started this Lone Star project in a Saturday Workshop last January. I posted about my progress at the end of April. I could put it away which would mean out of sight, out of mind. Or, I could finish piecing the strips together. I decided to finish piecing the strips.

Why I stopped working on the Lone Star was that I was having difficulty matching the intersections. All the ripping and restitching was painful so I put the project in time out! I figured three months was a long enough break.

Auditioning  a variety of colors and tones

This time, I again placed a tic mark on the quarter inch mark at the seams. I pinned the seams together. Then I basted each intersection. If I needed to readjust the fabric, I had six to ten stitches to remove. When I had basted all of the intersections in a strip, I stitched it. This process, while taking some time, worked better for me. Along the way, I did manage to flip a few pairs and sew the wrong edges together. I did get to rip a bunch of long seams. Sigh. . .

The good news was that I did get myself back on track. It was nice to see the pairs of strips come together to reveal a whole star leg! When I pulled the fabrics from my stash for this project, I planned a cream fabric for the setting squares and triangles. The teacher commented that it would work. I thought cream because I could do some fun pattern with the quilting. Other class participants set their lone stars into bold prints while others used fabrics that read as a solid in purples, grays and blues. Perhaps, cream was boring and perhaps, choosing a fabric with color would make this project feel more modern. 

Half of the design

Since my goal is to use from stash, I looked through what I have on hand. Sometimes, I'll audition a fabric that isn't enough.That fabric will be a color I like which is helpful when I go to shop for the fabric. In my head, I thought a bluish purple or an orange. . .well, neither of those were the "one." I went to the local quilt shop and found a blue that seemed to want to be "the one." I bought it!

Picking the fabric for setting squares and triangles was goal number eight on my July goal list. I reviewed YouTube videos about figuring the math for the triangles and squares as well as setting the triangles and squares into the star legs. I cut the setting triangles; but, I didn't have enough fabric to cut all of the setting squares. I needed about 23 inches to cut each square so I wasn't able to cut two squares out of each width of fabric. I was short two squares of fabric. I'll purchase more fabric next week to finish setting the squares. 

When I laid out the star legs, I discovered that the striped center configuration was not pleasing to my eye. I hadn't considered how not fussy cutting the stripes would alter the look of the project. I rotated the legs until I could see a swirl in the center of the star. The movement, draws my eye to the center of the quilt. That center, by the way, went together perfectly! 

Set in corner

I was curious how the blue would look as the background fabric. I was also curious about how well I could set in those triangles and squares. Sometimes Y seams can be "fiddly!" Regarding the latter, the videos helped with the setting in process. I had no issues with those often dreaded Y seams. It does lie flat although it doesn't look like it from the photo! 

Please leave me a comment to let me know what you think of my background fabric choice. It sure is bold! I love the joyful feeling the blue gives to the project.

I'm linking to Oh Scrap/Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework. Please visit and enjoy all the scrappy projects!

Regarding COVID: 

Worldwide: 207M cases; 4.36M deaths

United States: 36.7M cases; 621K deaths

Oregon: 238K cases; 2,958 deaths

In Oregon, the COVID cases and hospitalizations are rising at such an alarming rate that the governor mandated mask wearing indoors again. The southern portion of the state has exceeded hospital capacity. Elective surgeries are once again being canceled. The national guard is setting up field hospitals to handle the case loads. The cases are more than 90% unvaccinated people. Sixty-two percent of the population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. Fifty-seven percent of the population is fully vaccinated. 

Two more squares to piece

When I was at the library earlier this week, there were two maskless ladies manning a table in the foyer. They were available to answer questions about the vaccine and to share locations where to receive the vaccine. Because I was masked, they assumed I was unvaccinated. When I explained that I had been fully vaccinated since January, I watched them sit straighter in their chairs. When I explained that I worked in a hospital, their eyes widened. 

One asked, why are you wearing a mask and why are you standing six feet away from us? I replied, because people not wearing a mask are either vaccinated or not. I continued, "While the adults in my immediate family are fully vaccinated, my grandchildren are not old enough to be vaccinated. I wouldn't want to inadvertently pass COVID to them nor would I want to inadvertently pass the virus to any of my co-workers." (I watched their eyebrows shoot up toward their hairlines at the conclusion of my comment.)

One perfect center

There are more and more cases of vaccinated people testing positive for COVID. Yes, they are sick; but, thankfully they are generally not sick enough to need hospital care. Some people have been carriers of the virus. In other words, they have been infected with the virus but not shown any symptoms of it. They didn't get sick; but, passed it to members in their household/pod who did get sick and have symptoms. 

The college aged son of a police officer came down with the virus. All in the family were fully vaccinated. Through testing, the police officer dad had the virus; but showed no symptoms. The other two family members never tested positive. 

The fully vaccinated daughter of a quilting friend came down with the delta variant. She works in an outdoor environment and has no idea where she contracted it. Two days later, her dad who has a number of underlying health issues, exhibited symptoms and tested positive for the variant. Two days after her dad's symptoms, her mom exhibited symptoms and tested positive for the variant. All were sick. The dad exhibited the most severe symptoms. So far, her unvaccinated children are not exhibiting COVID symptoms. After two weeks, all are feeling better. Thanks to the vaccine, none in that multi-generational household needed hospital care. 

Wearing a mask, especially on hot days, is uncomfortable; but, it is preferable to not contracting the virus. I'll continue to avoid groups and if I choose to attend an activity, I will be wearing a mask.