Welcome to Slow Sunday Stitching where we celebrate all the wonderful benefits of the art of hand stitching! I am so glad you can join us this week and I have some photos to share of an outdoor visit I had with some quilting friends this past week. It was a sunny day, we had a lovely visit, and they brought some hand stitching with them.
We had a quilt being bound by hand. It is so close to being a finished project to be enjoyed at Christmas time.
And we had a bag of hand pieced blocks that one of the stitchers brought to show us. They belong to her neighbour who found them in her mother's belongs after she had died. The neighbour wants someone to finish the quilt for her. Should I volunteer?
We spread the pretty blocks out on the patio table and we all fell in love with these pretty 6 pointed stars. If I tell you that they are all slightly different sizes, likely made over several years, and varying about 1/2" in size from side to side, do you think I should try to tackle putting these together? I want to simply because of the story that goes with it, but will it be stressful? Impossible? A regretful decision? I would love to hear your thoughts on this dilemma.
Today I'll be working on my embroidery again. What are you hand stitching this week? Please link up your post below and share your projects with us.
28 comments:
Sounds like a wonderful way to spend the day, outside, with friends, stitching and knitting! What if each star was appliqued onto a background square and the the squares were put together, perhaps offsetting every other row? The size of e ach star would not matter then and there would be less stress.
Oh, how beautiful all those hand pieced star blocks are. You know you want to volunteer to piece them all together even though they will be "stressful", "impossible"...but I don't think you would regret it, just because of the beautiful story behind them. I know you will come up with something brilliant. Fabulous you ladies could get together and spend a lovely time together working on your individual projects.
Knitting, binding, embroidery and hand piecing, such a clever bunch all working together. I certainly wouldn't be able to tackle those stars, but you might. I'm sure you will let us know what you decide, or maybe someone else will take on this job.
Sounds like a wonderful visit with friends. Happy stitching!
So glad you had a wonderful weekend with hand stitchers friends. I bet you said yes to those hexies/stars and I am looking forward for seeing what you will come up with.
Have a special Slow Sunday Stitching, Kathy!
What a nice day you had. I bet you volunteer even if it proves a bit difficult to put together. I wonder if you can start by sizing each star and seeing how many variations you end up with. Then maybe start with the smallest group and a border and carry on like that!
yikes! i've adopted a few of those projects along the way myself. (refering to the highly sentimental, treasured "almost done" quilt project from a dear relative...)
on first thought i'd advise: NO! with the shape of them, it will be even harder, and the varying sizes. yikes! again...
BUT: here's an idea off the top of my head: why not finish them all (individually) like mini-quilts? maybe some lightweight interfacing to stabilize them if they need it.
then, they could be a Christmas ornament (that would be really neat!) or even a bunting? (that seems to be popular these days) or, even as a window treatment? ( i have something similar to that in my sewing room with vintage quilt blocks, even though those blocks are much larger)
just my two cents...
Your day stitching with friends sounds wonderful! I'm intrigued by the hand-pieced sew-along, too. Those stars are beautiful, and it's too bad their sizes vary so much. I wonder what it would be like to sew them together!
could you hand piece the stars together easing them in enough that it wouldn't be noticeable that they are different sizes - most people haven't a clue what kind of work in involved if the person understands that they are uneven and would not be perfect - depends on what time you have
Oh, you know you will have to tackle that, but you need to get paid to do it. Do not volunteer for free, it is too much work. I would add corners to make them all into squares and sew them together on a machine. Offset the rows so you don't have to line up all the seams on uneven blocks, or sash them. Whatever you decide to do, just be kind to yourself.
I’m sure if you persevered you could make a beautiful finishes. No matter what the size. They are beautiful stars.
I can't help you with your quilt dilemna. You need to decide whether the frustration of different size blocks outweighs your desire to assemble this quilt for your friend. The yarn that your friend is knitting is gorgeous. It is sad that you snipped your letter "e". An easy fix, but annoying.
What fun to sit outside and stitch with like-minded friends. I enjoyed seeing their projects and thanks for sharing them. The stars are beautiful and would be tempting to see completed. Personally, I would seriously consider my UFOs and wanna-make projects currently on my bucket list before tackling another one especially if there are the possibility of difficulties. Estimate the time involved. I think you currently have a full-time job. Perhaps it could be a group project for friends or for a quilt guild. I want to make every quilt I see on pinterest (lol) yet realize it is impossible. Best wishes on your decision.
Oh, you know you want to do it. And you've had several suggestions already on how to bring the blocks to a uniform size. Just make sure you tell your friend you need a flexible time frame for completion. After all Bonnie's mystery quilt will bee here before you know it.
Pat
I so admire your attitude to complete the stars that someone began with good intentions. Perhaps grouping them together by size, to make a few smaller projects…table toppers or mug rugs. I initially thought about sashing, but I think the logistics to make sashing to come to the right size might exceed my math skills and sounds like it would be a headache. You’ll come up with something fun and look forward to seeing what it is!
No. Complete sentence.
An amazing way to spend time with fellow crafters. That yarn brings back memories of a baby sweater a few years ago. The stars could be sewn in a medallion style. A center, then a round of the same size stars, then another round robin with another size of stars. Discovering those blocks was a treasure and imagine a finished quilt for a lifetime of comfort?...
So great that you got to spend time with your friends. The 'all sizes' blocks will be very frustrating. Instead of setting them side by side as would be traditional, could you border them with a smallish sashing strip and then trim everything to the same hexigon size? If you chose a white solid, the stars would 'float', which might be a nice look.
No, I have to walk my unicorn.
I admire the tiny stitches of the person hand sewing blocks for the Border Creek sew-along. They are so fine and even!
Oh, those stars! What a challenge they would be to sew together when different sizes. From the comments it seems like you've had several suggestions and I don't have any better ideas.
It's great you were able to get together with friends.
And thank you for hosting Slow Sunday Stitching every week.
Yes you should definitely try to put them together. Nothing says that they have to all go into one quilt. My slow stitching will have to wait till later, I have started curling with encouragement from a friend. I will blog later today also!! Glad you got to play with some quilty/knitting friends
What a fun day with friends. Love the pale teal yarn. I would be tempted to sew over sized scrappy triangles on the stars to make square blocks all the same size.
I like Gail’s idea of appliquéing them to a background square and then sewing them together.
I love all the wise hands in this post... thanks so much for the linky to keep me inspired to take pics and make progress most of all!
Kathi
Such a beautiful afternoon spent with stitchy friends! As far as the stars project, you’ll know what to do.
Our quilters’ heart whispers to us.
Beautiful stitching all around! Those stars are so pretty ... :) Pat
i say finish it...it would be a labor of love and even though not perfect, it would be a treasured heirloom...forget the quilt police and do the best you can and give someone a tangible memory...
If I had this decision to make, I would turn my body sideways to the hexie stars, and without looking directly at them, sidle slowly in the opposite direction until neither party feels threatened, then allow the hexie project to wander off of its own volition.
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