Revitalised, well nearly!

In my last post I mentioned I’d started a new job which was keeping me away from stitching and as it turns out, a lot of things actually.  Well as it’s a temp job I’m looking forward to it ending in 2 weeks. This job has meant a lot of commuting, a very messy house and no sewing due to sore hands.

Anyway to quilty things, I’ve really been enjoying Taryn’s online exhibition of Red & White quilts which is particularly fabulous for those of us who have no chance whatsoever of getting to the real thing.  One of the quilts that caught my eye was 35 or 44 the quilt that both Sue and Mary Jenkins posted.  Looking carefully at the photos I’m certain its the same quilt.  It so inspired me that I decided I would pull out my assorted reds and only buying the neutral fabric would start a large red & white star quilt.

Now I’m simply not disciplined enough to use one plain red, it’s just never going to happen so I chose approximately 13 fabrics and decided to show Margaret while I was visiting and she was so enthused she generously contributed some beautiful fabrics to my quilt.

So the reds are all cut out as is most of the neutral.  I also used my new Westalee ruler I bought late last year as well as my Easy Eight ruler. I’m about to go off to do some sewing but I’ll leave you with a little taster of what I’m doing.

Here’s some of my initial fabrics

My initial red fabrics

Ages ago I pledged to mention/blog about My Process so here’s me using my Westalee ruler for the first time, and I’m really pleased I bought it as it made cutting these strips much easier, particularly as they were an odd width.

Using my Westalee ruler

And here’s a step by step of the Easy Eight ruler in action, particularly if you have never used one.

Preparing to cut the first angle

The first cut

Trimming the first diamond

A beautiful diamond

The first diamond requires a little more effort but after that its back to your strip of fabric and one cut after another produces a perfect diamond for your project.  And waiting to be sewn together is the first section of my star.

The beginnings of my red & white star quilt.

ciao for now, hopefully I’ll blog a little more regularly as soon as I finish this job in the city.

Advertisement