Lone Star Update (post 6)

Larger scallop design

Happy Easter! Today, my dad would have celebrated his 88th birthday. He said he could remember Easter falling on his birthday once. He died December 24, 2016, I still miss our daily seven pm calls.

Continuous curve in the diamonds

I 've been noodling the next round of quilting design on the Lone Star quilt. Physically, I wasn't able to hold the ruler with enough strength to quilt a smooth line because the length of the curved line was too long.

In March, I drew some small scallops; but, that wasn't the "right" design. I thought about the space for a few more days. I kept coming back to the scallop design. I decided to try a larger scallop and that worked. 

Goal number six on my April list was to begin filling in the spaces that I've outlined. When I wrote my goals, I thought that I'd start in the section closest to the inner star legs and work my way out to the outside of background.

When I sat down to quilt, the diamonds in the lone star called me to quilt them. I had envisioned a simple continuous curve in each diamond. I quilted three diamonds. I didn't like the look. I removed the stitching. I penciled some designs. No doodle felt right. When that happens, it means I need to think some more.

While I'm thinking, I moved to another section of the project to quilt. I've found that if I continue to stew over what to quilt, I get no where but frustrated!

Four inch arc template/ruler

Because I was stumped on the diamonds, I decided to start in the middle of the background with the petal shapes. I've a number of quilting rulers that I don't use. With this project, I have challenged myself to incorporate as many rulers as possible. If I don't use them, they won't be hanging around the studio.

I started with laying the half circle templates against the quilted petal. The quilted line that I could create using those templates didn't excite me. When I auditioned the four inch arc template/ruler by Westalee Designs, I liked the shape of line I could create. I liked how it fit my hand. 

First of eight petal shapes stitched

Before I started quilting, I chalked lines into one of the shapes. When I viewed the chalk lines, I knew that I would be happy with the quilting result. 

I have drawn the shapes on paper and doodled. I have used a clear plastic over the quilt (with the edges marked with painter's tape) and doodled. I have learned that I can get into a design that I like quicker if I use a chalk pencil to draw on the quilt.

Before my car accident, I would hold a quilting ruler and quilt in any direction. Post accident, I'm not as coordinated. I found I had better control and better results if I held the template with my left hand and quilted in a forward direction. 

View of a quarter of the motif

Then, I needed to deal with the stop and starts because my curves looked better if I didn't try to complete them in a continuous line. Also, I didn't like the thread build up on the petal shape. It probably took me an afternoon to determine what pleased me the most.

All eight sections of the petals are quilted with those curved lines. I am pleased with the over all look. I might quilt straight lines in the background after I fill the current areas. The quilting plan will develop. 

I'm going to work on my maze project while I think about what I may tackle next on this project. As long as I make progress every month, I'm pleased.

I'm linking to Cynthia and Oh Scrap/Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework.