The final four stars

These are the last four of the twelve Carol Doak paper pieced stars that will make a lap quilt I have a bunch of things in progress and these must have the paper removed -- not really a big deal, just a bit time consuming.

Then I will quilt them one by one in a "quilt as you go" method because I want to do mostly outline quilting. And finally I will put them together.

Happily I found another black that is very, very much like this background fabric of which I have only about a third of a yard left. The new fabric is the same black but instead of the polka dots, it has tiny hearts which are in the same colors. I think the blend will be close enough that one will need to look carefully to realize I've used to different fabrics.

And I purchased enough of the new fabric for the back so there is no question now of what to use for the back. I have a couple of completed stars that did not satisfy me enough to use on the front. They may find a less conspicuous home on the back. Very little happens quickly in the world of quilting -- well some things do. I have just finished a couple of crib size quilts for a charity project and they went quite rapidly. I don't have a photo yet, but soon.

Four More Stars

I've done four more stars. It's clear that I will do only four more of these because I won't have enough of the background fabric for four after that. So the quilt will be 3x4 blocks, probably with stripping and of course a border and will be something around 42x54 which is a very reasonable size for a throw.



As I work with Carol Doak's Fifty Fabulous Stars book, I admire her more and more. I had previously made 21 of her designs. Most of these are ones I had not made before. I supposed she planned these variations with a computer program but that doesn't detract from the constant interest. Plus she then sewed examples of every one of the fifty always making interesting color choices -- always different than I'm using.


If you look at the complexity or simplicity of the different stars, you'll also appreciate her design ability. The most complex of these four has 120 pieces in the block, the least complex has 40 pieces in the block -- and each block is 12x12. When the paper piecing methods have been mastered the sewing is not hard, although there are some places where you can see less than perfect sewing. But I do have to protest just a little that these blocks still have the paper on the back and have not been ironed so they were not lying totally flat when I photographed them.There is distortion. I'm sorry I cut off some of the tops.


I've discovered a way in which a digital camera is harder to use than the old fashioned film camera -- I was usually conscious of pressing my arms against my sides and pressing the film camera firmly against my nose when I pushed the shutter. With the digital camera, in order to line up the photo it must be held away from the face and I often move a bit. I'm going to purchase one of the digital cameras that has an old fashioned view finder, then I can hold it still. Also I won't have the sunny day problem of finding it hard to see the screen clearly. Meanwhile I've got four more blocks to sew together. I'm enjoying making this quilt a great deal.