Lone Star Quilt--Ditch Quilted and More (post 5)

Back view of ditch quilting

On Friday, August 19, 2022, I began ditch quilting the Lone Star quilt that I began in a Saturday workshop in January 2021! On Friday, August 27, I completed the ditch quilting. 

I pin basted the project pinned last February; but, I hadn't taken the time to get it started. Ditch quilting, while necessary, is so boring to do. I chose a monofilament thread in the needle and red Aurifil 60 weight thread in the bobbin.

Ditch quilted Lone Star

Over the next few days, I'll determine the thread and the quilting designs. It would be great if I could make progress on the quilting of this project next month! With each project I quilt, I can sure tell that I have less time to quilt before my arms and hands numb. I notice the numbness more on my left side. This is residue left from being rear ended in a car accident 13 years ago. Sigh. . ."maturing" sure isn't for sissies! 

This was goal number seven on my August list. It was goal number four on my third quarter list. It was also my one monthly goal!

Batik sleeve

I'm linking to Patty at Elm Street Quilts. Please check out the link to see all the other inspirational projects! Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal - August Finish Link-up

I also made and attached a sleeve to a quilt for a friend in my Mystery Mavens small group. She made Frolic which was the Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilt in 2019. She doesn't like attaching sleeves and decided to pass on entering the quilt in the upcoming Mt. Hood Quilt guild show. The show, Quilts of the East Wind will be held October 14 and 15.

My friend, while participating in Bonnie's mysteries, doesn't make all the blocks and sets the blocks different from Bonnie. Her quilts are always fun to view. Other people would enjoy seeing her work so I volunteered to add the sleeve. 

Back of my secret sewing project

Honestly, I feel the same way she does about quilt  sleeves! I even measured her quilt and pinned the note with the size to the sleeve so it will be easy for her to complete the entry paperwork. 

I did use a quarter yard of fabric from my stash, which was a win for me! Even better, the fabric was in the "chunk" section of my scraps! It is a batik sleeve because the fabrics in her quilt as well as the back are all batiks. I've now used 64 yards of fabric from my stash this year!

Goal number three on my August list was to do some secret sewing that Gertie, my inner squirrel, convinced me to do. She is pleased with herself because I've finished the project. For now, I'll share the back as it is a secret project. Gertie is busy writing the post. She is most pleased that no yardage was harmed with this project. We made the project out of scraps!

I'll also link to Cynthia at Oh Scrap/Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework. 

Book project

Goal number nine on my August list was to come up with a plan for a project inspired by our current Thread Tales book. We are reading, "Color-A Natural History of the Palette" by Victoria Finlay. 

The cover of the book inspired me with the color palette. In Martha's projects was this Costa Rica star project from Judy Mathieson's "Mariner's Compass Quilts--New Directions" book.

The colors in the project were what I envisioned. The project has issues. I'll write about that in a future post. For now, I'm going to try to make it work. If you have suggestions about how to inset that circle to an oval. . .please share!