Feathered Stars Finish

Feathered Stars

It's a finish!

And it is all hand quilted.

80.5 x 97.75

Chickens and Roosters are the Feathered Stars of this quilt. 

More details such as pattern source are on a previous post. 

You can't really see the hand quilting very well in these photos but you can see some of the hand quilting in the December 2020 post back when I started the quilting. 

There's a feathered wreath in the center of the block...

...and lines in the neutral spaces of the block...

...and there are hand quilted feathers in the sashing. 

I used a lot of big print chicken fabrics that I didn't want to cut into for piecing the backing. 

Now these Feathered Stars can roost with their wilder cousins - Boho Roosters - that I finished back in 2018. 

I still have some poultry fabrics so someday another cousin may join the hen party. 

Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts

 

What's In The Hoop?

I started hand quilting Feathered Stars. I finished the top back in March of this year. 

I used the pattern from 19th Century Patchwork Divas' Treasury of Quilts by Betsy Chutchian and Carol Staehle.  I'm also hand quilting mine similar to the one in the book too. I knew I wanted to quilt in feathers somewhere in Feathered Stars. It looks like the quilting in the book was done on a machine; however, I am not good at quilting on my DSM and have better control with hand quilting designs like this as well as the straight lines. PLUS I enjoy hand quilting and find it relaxing. I don't enjoy quilting on the DSM and find it far from relaxing. 

I've used this feathered wreath stencil several times before and I was lucky that it fit the centers of the stars in this quilt. 

So far I've hand quilted all of the star centers. I used chalk and a pounce pad to mark on the dark centers and...

...I used a purple disappearing ink pen I had on hand still in the dusty package and never been used to mark the lighter centers. It's been a week and the ink still hasn't disappeared yet so I guess I need to apply a damp cloth now and believe in magic. 

Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts

 

It's a Top! Feathered Star

 Feathered Star

It's a top!

80 1/2 x 97 3/4

I blogged last month a little bit about this UFO started in March 2018. Last month I vowed to work on it a little bit every day until I had a top. My determination paid off. 

I love novelty fabrics and have quite a few collections of different themes. This quilt came out of the chickens and roosters box. I fussy cut some big prints for the star centers but really didn't make a dent in the poultry fabrics.   I'm always looking for different ways to use large print novelties and sometimes a play on words triggers a quilt. Why not use chickens and roosters and make them the Feathered Stars! (Crazy, I know!) 

 Pattern is from 19th Century Patchwork Divas' Treasury of Quilts by Betsy Chutchian and Carol Staehle. 

Finished or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

Peacock Party at Wendy's Quilts and More

Wednesday Wondering

Feathered Star 

 It's no secret that I have a lot of UFOs. For the last several years I have made a list on December 31 so I know what I have going into a new year. There is a tab at the top of my blog with the list.  As I finish things I cross them off. If I have a new start I add it to the bottom of the list. 

Yesterday I decided to work on these Feathered Star blocks again mainly because I have a little pile of neutral fabrics I thought might be good for these block backgrounds set aside and I want to use some of the fabrics if I can in other quilts. 

I am not sure why this is a UFO. It was a new start back in March 2018. According to my blog post then I made four blocks and said they were easier to make than I thought so I stated there would be more of them. I just didn't say when there would be more of them. 

This is the quilt I intend to make. It is from 19th Century Patchwork Divas' Treasury of Quilts by Betsy Chutchian and Carol Staehle. 

 So yesterday I made three blocks and had nothing but problems. 

 I did a lot of seam ripping and then some more. I was ready to throw the blocks I made previously into the orphanage.  I had no idea why back in March 2018 I thought they were easier to make than they look. I had problems with pieces stretching out of shape and I had nothing but problems with those little HSTs.  The method in the book for making HSTs is the cut squares, draw diagonal line and sew on both sides and cut apart method. I'm not a fan of that method of making HSTs. 

Today was a new day. After yesterday's fiasco I decided to try again to make one block and use my Easy Angle ruler to cut the HSTs and I didn't have to use the seam ripper at all.  So I have made a note in the book about several of my changes to the block making process should I want to make another one some day. (Yes, I am already thinking about it. It is a fun way to use some large print novelties.) 

Anyway...I have 8 out of 20 blocks and I'm going to work on this UFO a little each day until it is a top. 

Feathered Stars

Feathered Stars

They are easier to make than I thought so there will be more.