Lone Star Quilt Part 2

I finally got the quilting finished on my lone star quilt.  I have to keep reminding myself that I'm still a beginner on the frame because I get very frustrated when my work isn't as neat as it is when I was FMQ on the table top.  Also when I work, I am close up with it, so every longer stitch or wonky line is extra visible. I can still count the number of quilts completed on the frame on one hand.
However, when I step back and look at the quilt as a whole, the effect is quite nice really.
I know some of you probably think I'm nuts but I'm a perfectionist and am always striving  to be a technically better quilter.
Here's the photos.  See what you think.

Even though I have a ruler, I chickened out of using it.  I drew the lines, then free handed them.  I'm puzzled as to how I can use a ruler without a stitch regulator to stop the machine when I stop.

I'm in the process of binding this now  - I used a solid red.   I'll come back and add a photo of the whole quilt when I'm finished.
Next up ?

 Well, I just loaded a plain piece of fabric and I'm playing - lots of rolling the quilt back and forward here because of my small working space but I am making it work for me.  Its a steep learning curve but I'm having fun!!

Enjoy your weekend!
Rhianon.

Lone Star Quilt - Part 1

This year I made a decision to try the patterns I've always wanted to.  Lone star was pretty high up the list but I was always put off by piecing the diamonds and also the dreaded 'y' seams.
A very good friend of mine sent me some beautiful fabrics from the USA and I thought they would be perfect for this project.

 I liked this part, sewing strips together then cutting on the 45 degree line.
Its quite a fiddly block because its important to to match all the seams precisely.

 Back of the block with seams pressed open.

 Doing the 'y' seams.

                                                              First attempt --fail!!!

                                                         Getting the hang of it now!

 Before long I had 12 blocks made.  They finish at 14.5"  The colours look luminous here but its because of the flash ( hate dull winter weather) . It will be a bright and cheerful quilt.

 Playing with layouts here but I didn't really like the solid red sashing so I decided to off set them and use the star colours randomly for sashings.

 It has its outer border on now and is on the frame. My second post will be about the quilting.
Here's a wee sneaky peek of how its going so far.......

I'm hoping to get this finshed later this week.  Binding is ready to go.

If you would like to make a lone star quilt here is a link for the tutorial I used. Jennifer's instructions are concise and clear so why not give it a go.
Thanks for visiting today.
Rhianon.

Celtic Solstice - the final link up.

I'm just in the nick of time to add my post to Bonnie's Link up.

I did get my mystery quilt finished.  There was a slight delay in the quilting of it while I waited a week for more thread to arrive.

 I'quilted it on my Gracie frame and worked a freehand circles pattern.

I love the texture created on the surface of the quilt.

                                                          Here it is on my bed - I love it!!

If you would like to make this quilt, the instructions will be available online until June ( I think ), so head on over get printing. Click here to take you to the relevant page on Bonnie's website.
I'll end this post by thanking Bonnie for a beautiful quilt.  She really is the queen of mega piecing and I love how she constructs the quilt.  Wonder what she has in store for us this year!!!
Thanks for visiting.
Rhianon.

Gecko Quilt

This is my gecko quilt.
It measures 68" x 86"
I used one layer of Hobbs heirloom 80/20 and it was free motion quilted on my Janome 1600p on the table top.  The flowers were hand painted after quilting :)