Tangled Stars, Almost Ready to Turn

The Tangle Stars table topper is almost ready to turn on the frame.  I need to turn it, because there are a few pieces that are wider than the area between the quilting bars, and I prefer not to break up the design.

Can I get this thing done??  The wedding is tonight!

Ready to Roll the Tangled Star Quilt Forward

First row done...

Tangled Star Table Topper -- Top Done

The top of the Tangle Stars table topper is done and ready to be loaded onto the quilting frame.  I still need to cut backing and piece together some batting.  I have one more day to quilt and bind it.  It measures 43" x 43".

Again I add the photos of the bride's dishes, which was the reason for the fabric choices of the table topper.

Fabric for Tangled Stars Table Topper

I've pulled fabric from my stash... printed a foundation on thin newsprint... I'm ready to start!

Here are a couple of pictures from the bride's kitchen -- hence the fabrics I chose:

Tangled Stars Table Topper

There is a wedding next Sunday evening.  We aren't related to the young couple, but we've been friends with them and their families since we were children, and they are friends with our children -- and the bride is a cousin of one of our sons-in-law and one of our daughters-in-law.

I have a gift for them... but I wasn't planning to make anything.  But... I've been making wedding gifts for our friends for several years now, ... and I finished Emma's quilt... and I have plenty of time to finish the coffeepot cozy for my great-nephew... 

And then EQ7 popped up right in front of my face, and what was I to do about it?  

Hmmmm... I have one week.  If I made big enough pieces, instead of those itty-bitty multi-pieced blocks I seem to have a penchant for, I just might have time for a table topper...

And here's what I came up with.  The pattern is called 'Tangled Stars'.  It's 43" x 43".  The colors may change; I don't know what colors the bride has in her kitchen.

Working on Coffeepot Cozy

A little bit is done on the coffeepot cozy... with a lot more to do.

Grandmother's Fan, with lace.  I still need to add pearls and hand embroidery -- both with floss and with silk ribbon.  I'm using the plain white fabric as a foundation.

Half of a Lemoyne Star.

Happily, the curved shape fits the coffeepot perfectly.  There are six gores.  Two will be cut to accommodate spout and handle.

The Start of a Coffeepot Cozy

I've collected some things to start a quilted coffeepot cozy.

Does this look promising to you?

This is an ironstone coffeepot in the Federalist pattern, by Harmony House.

The turquoise/teal fabric will be the lining.

Let's see... I also need beads... pearls... embroidery floss... silk ribbon... Letraset Promarkers (silk dye)... Insul-Bright (insulated lining)...

Let the crazy quilting begin!

Polymer Clay Tac Pin

A friend's mention of jewelry made with a quilting design reminded me of a little tac pin a vendor gave me at the AQS Quilt Show in Grand Rapids, Michigan, back in 2013.

The lady, Jennifer Patterson, makes each piece of jewelry from clay, with a process almost like piecing a quilt.  On her website is a short video clip showing how she does it:

http://www.quiltedinclay.com/

I went to take a picture of my pin, but it’s not where I generally put it – which means it’s still on the lapel of the suit on which I last wore it.  I’ll take a picture the next time that suit floats to the surface.  😉  (I use my clothes on a rotating basis:  hang them on the left, retrieve them from the right.)

M pin is so tiny (about half an inch square), it’s hard to believe the lady actually put each color together as a separate piece.  I had originally thought the pieces were painted – but no, she presses long shaped and colored pieces together in a long tube, then slices it.  Well, you can see what I mean on the video on her webpage. 

The design on my pin is the old-fashioned flower basket pattern, with lots of HSTs.  It’s green and white.  Pretty – but one of my least favorite colors, and right there in front of my nose was another little tac pin done with a Lemoyne star pattern in burgundy, cream, and navy.  I wanted that one!!!!!

But the man was giving me the pin, and my Mama taught me to be appreciative and polite, and I certainly didn’t want her turning in her grave, now did I?

Yeah, I could’ve bought it... but we were a long ways from home, making a vacation of our trip to the quilt show, with a long ways yet to go.  And we were counting every penny.  One would hate to spend the last night mopping a truck stop just to earn enough money for the last tank of fuel to get one home, wouldn’t one?  :-O

*     *     *

Okay, I couldn’t stand it any longer, and had to go look for my tac pin.  Hmmm...  it’s green, so I would put it on a suit lapel it would coordinate with ...  I peered into my closet, spotted a dark navy/gray/charcoal/purple plaid suit with a dark teal thread running through it, pulled it out a bit – and sho’ ’nuff, there was the pin.

So here are photos of it: