We are a group of crafters who have pledged to complete as many of our UnFinished Objects as possible this year...

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Indecision ,Thy Name Is Molly

This is an update on the guild challenge I posted on last week. I decided to just plunge in---enough with the agonizing.

At first I was tossing around different stars in my head, and leaning strongly towards your helpful suggestion of the friendship star.

But then I was flipping through some old quilt magazines and found a block called Uncle Sam's Star [also known as President's Star, very apt, considering the year that's in it!] and I fell in love.

So, with a fire finally lit under me, I made my first block.

Voila!




I love it!

But, Houston, we have a problem! Reckless that I am, I went with your suggestions to use gold. I had a brighter yellow [on the left in the picture] but got cold feet, and went with the more muted gold batik.

"So where's the problem?" you're asking, tilting your head at me quizzically.

The problem, my friends, is that the size of the remaining piece of gold is 9"x3"!
It must have been a remnant I picked up somewhere, because there was less than a fat quarter when I started. Which begs the question "Well, genius, why did you use it at all?"

"Because it was perfect!" And I didn't know when I started that I'd want more of it for the background of the entire piece. Yeah, forward thinking. Not my strong suite.

I'm also dithering on which of those two greens to use. I like the dark blue but can't make up my mind about the lighter blues........and I can't use more than five fabrics in addition to the challenge fabric, so six altogether.

If I had more of the gold I'd attach wide strips of it to all four sides. Then I'd do some applique over it. I looked up the stargazer Lily, Faerie Queen. What a beautiful flower! If I could come up with a simplified version of it I'd incorporate it into my applique....sigh....

The pinwheel in the center of the nine patch was my own attempt at, ahem, creativity! After it was finished, I wished I'd used the "cleaner" lavender, but I may just live with it. Time is racing by! Deadline is 26th.February. Picked up SIL from airport today; go again tomorrow for OC, who is cutting his trip to the frozen north short because the hospice nurse has told us his mom may not last much longer, go again on Sunday for oldest son and two grandchildren---I could probably give my car a push and it could go, all by itself, to the airport and back!

Since sister-in-law is here now, I may be able to manage a quick trip to my favourite quilt shop, fingers crossed all the way there that I'll find some more of that gold. That would really make my day!

4 comments:

Suzy said...

Oh I do love it - that is a great star and I love the pinwheel centre.

I have my fingers and toes crossed that you can get more of the gold, it looks perfect with the other colours.

Lindi said...

That's a gorgeous star! I don't think I've ever seen it before. I really like your version with the pinwheel. Good luck on your hunt!

Birdydownunder said...

oh that looks great.
Why can't you use a similar piece, it does add interest when the back differs slightly. Like the sky or the grass, never all one whole colour. every quilt needs that 'pazazzz bit to it. sorry can't spell that. but you know what I mean.

Marilyn said...

That block looks fantastic and your piecing is very good. Your pinwheel adds a nice touch.