Quiltaway Weekend

A few weekends ago I went to the NSW Quilt Guild's retreat at Jamberoo. This is usually held in September but, luckily for me, this year they had to run it later as the usual place had already been booked for that weekend.  It was a perfect weekend.  Company was lots of fun.  Food was great and many things were completed..or at least there was great progress.  

Three quilts which I just adored were Chris Jurd's New York Beauty which was being made by .. the person who sat beside me all weekend and whose name I can't remember right now for the life of me :( but it is still a beautiful quilt.

 Another beautiful quilt was this one, which if I remember correctly is an Anne Summerland reproduction pattern.  It has also been a while in the making but will definitely be worth the wait when it is finished. 

The final quilt which I would love to have a go at some time was being made by Judith D.  It came from a magazine and looks similar to the Milliefirore Quilts designed by Willnye Hammerstein.

Perfect weekend for everyone.

 

Oslo

 A couple of weeks ago we visited our youngest son who now lives in Oslo.  What an amazing place.  This photo shows you what it is like 5pm on a Friday just ten km's from the centre of Oslo. Notice the lack of pollution and traffic. 

Here you can see his block of units on the RHS of the road and his office on the LHS. This photo was taken just to show how far it is he has to travel.  If you look in the distance you can see a red roofed building.  There are traffic lights there and if he wants to go to work during rush hour, say between 8.30am and 9.00am then he has to walk all the way up to the lights and then back down to his building.  Needless to say he doesn't go to work until 10 so as to avoid the traffic!

While we were visiting it was Paul's birthday and so Richard proudly gave him a true Norwegian souvenier...  a HUGE ceramic moose head.  Just what one needs when flying..huge and breakable.  He suggested we could take it in our hand luggage but I thought it might be considered a weapon die to the weight and size.  Luckily Wilbur survived the flight home and now has pride of place in the pool room (refer "The Castle").

And last but not least this waterfall is just behind Richard's place.  This river runs through the centre of Oslo, providing one of the most idyllic walks I have encountered in a built up area.  There are no free standing houses in this area.  All are medium or high rise but there are many beautiful parks and walks.  Just a merely 4km from the city centre there are three wonderful lakes and all are accessible by regular public transport.  Definitely a place worth visiting. 

If you like cold, snow and lack of sunshine then it would also be a great place to live.

Great Sign

 While wandering around London recently we came across this sign.  

Funny now when one reads it but wouldn't it have been terrible to have lived in times when people were actually drawn and quartered?

Oxford

 We have been very lucky lately and managed to visit both of our boys who live overseas.  PJ lives in Oxford and works at one of the oldest colleges at Oxford Uni.  He has a research fellowship with All Souls College and is having the time of his life there. While wandering around we saw lots of wonderful old buildings, is there anything else there? 

The photo above is of his office.  His room is just to the left and one floor above the entrance.  Fantastic view of some of the best buildings in Oxford. 

While we were there he took us to see Pitt-Rivers Museum.  The artifacts in this library were donated by Pitt-Rivers onthe condition that they be displayed in the same manner he had displayed them.  Consequently there are thousands of things  all crammed together with his original tiny hand written labels.

In this cabinet you can see some shrunken heads and the labels.  Did you realise that it was only the heads of important people that were shrunk?  They scalped the head off the skull and then filled it with hot sand(?) or something until it shrank and then filled it to regain the correct form.

Loved wandering around the place, especially as it was term break and there were very few people around. Mind you the old cobblestone paths get sore on the feet after a while.

Woo hoo! Another Surprise.

I have just heard that I won two prizes at the South Australian Festival of Quilts with my quilt Raconteur - the Storyteller's Collection. It won second prize in the Open Traditional and also the Retaining the Tradition Award..... Really brightens up the day.

I know this isn't a great photo... actually in truth it is a great photo but the problem is that this is a king size quilt of miniatures and so is very very hard to photograph.  You can see several photos of the individual blocks if you look through the blog.  

To celebrate winning the awards I am giving away the pdf pattern to make one of the collections (that's one of the large hexagons which contains seven little miniature hexagons).  To be in the running to win a collection simply leave you name and the collection number that you would like to win.  You can see all of the individual collections here.. or just pick a random number if you prefer:)
I will select the winner on the 23rd November.

Xmas Runner

Well here it is a Xmas runner.. oh if only it was as easy to make as it is to draw and colour.  Such is life but here is one colour version for a Xmas runner.  I realise that many people like other colours these days for Xmas but it is impossible to present every version.

  

Xmas in Australia happens in Summer and that is also when much of our fruit rippen.  Unfortunately we live in a fruit fly area and these 'darling' little fellows decimate just about every piece of fruit that hasn't been sprayed, even if the fruit is picked while still green. This year my husband decided however that he wasn't going to spray the fruit fly every two weeks.  After some web surfing he discovered that many home gardeners now bag the fruit to keep off the fruit fly. Yesterday his parcel arrived from China, amazing how much cheaper it is than buying locally, only $16/100 including postage.  In the $2 shop they are usually 2 for $3.  

So here is a photo of my husband 'bagging' his peaches.  And here is a close up of two of his apricots inside the bag.  He has bagged our apricot tree, peach tree and also the maqui berry bush, lucky he keeps all trees trimmed to under 2m :)  The berries have been bagged in a hope of preventing the parrots from feasting on them.  Our garden is a veritable paradise for animals.  

We used to have a blue tongue lizard until last year and he was wonderful for keeping out slugs and snails out of his strawberry plot.  Unfortunately for some reason last year he disappeared and so it seems as though this year we will have to look into something... anyone have a blue tongue they want relocated?

Everyone has their favourite animals and he works hard to preserve his fruit and vegetables...except from Thumper... an escapee from the local caravan park. Amazing isn't it considering Thumper only eats the youngest and best shoots.... I would include a photo but he hops away at the slightest sound..... the guilty always run away:)

The Big Day is Here.

Well here it is Wednesday and now I can unveil my latest block.  It has been really great seeing the fantastic array of blocks and if you haven't yet won your own copy please leave your name below for yet another chance.  If you are listed as anonymous please note I won't be able to track you down if you are the winner.  So please log in somehow; via your own blog or webmail addy are usually the easiest ways.

Now the block above is my final block.  I had originally planned for the outer green to be the same as the inner green but unfortunately miscalculated how much fabric those outer sections needed.  

My original plan was to make the block in colours similar to the layout just above and to the left  but couldn't find the right yellow for the background.  Yes I know it doesn't look yellow on the web, but in real life that is yellow. I included the layout on the right just to show you the difference colour can make.

My third layout was my first plan for the medallion layout.  This one would be perfect for someone who likes applique with all those open spaces near the middle.  However as I personally don't do applique it would be the design I am least likely to use.

Btw if anyone wants to try any of these three layouts you will need to increase the block by 200%.  The extra part blocks in the first two layouts are regular size.

And if you, like myself, have way too many UFOs but still want to try out this block why not make a table runner.  Three full blocks plus two quarter blocks with a small border makes a table runner a bit under 50inches in length and approximately 16in wide.  Perfect for Xmas..... just had a thought check back later.. say tomorrow and I should have uploaded a Xams table runner for those who like red and green that is.

Anyway back to the important thing... leave your name so you can be in the draw for your own copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Issue 6. Good luck.

   

 

Almost Here.

Well it's almost my big day for the 100 Blocks blog tour.  My post will go live just after midnight on Wednesday Sydney Australia daylight savings time, that is +11 hours GMT so if you are here and my post isn't posted yet then please check back.  Although each day's targeted blogs are posted at 12.01am on Quiltmaker's Quilty Pleasure blog not everyone lives wherever Quiltmaker is based.  Previous posts there have been people like me who have attempted to guess when we should go live to line up with Quiltmaker but this time round they have decided it is best if everyone simply goes live at 12.01am local time.  So if you are here before Australia's midnight kick off please check back in a few hours.

Blog Tour Begins

Well today is the beginning of the Quiltmaker 100 Blocks blog tour.  Each day everyone visiting the Quiltmaker's blog Quilty Pleasures has a chance to win their own copy of the magazine plus a host of other prizes. 

I have been working hard lately to release patterns from my latest quilt, Raconteur - The Storyteller's Collection and to celebrate finishing many of the patterns I have donated a set of instructions for this wallhanging from the quilt.  

The wallhanging consists of seven of the collections, joined together and then finished off with striped triangles.  I have just this night worked out how to add the triangles to my image and although it isn't perfect I think you can still see what it will look like.  The wall hanging still needs a small yellow border but I have no idea how to do that so I shall leave that to the viewer's imagination. 

If you are the lucky winner I would love a photo of your quilt when you finish to add to the gallery on my website...with the border included...it really will finish the quilt:)

 This is my first time that I have sponsored a blog tour and I can't wait to see another version of my quilt.  Good luck.

Woohoo!!!

I just received a parcel and you won't believe what was in it!   Yes Issue 6 of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks.  It is a great magazine and there are some fantastic blocks in here.

I had been told a couple of weeks ago that my block was going to be in this issue but I didn't realise that November would arrive so quickly.
Starting next Monday there will be a blog tour where you have the chance to win your own copy of the magazine.  
Each day Quiltmaker will feature several of the designers and on each of their blogs you have a chance to win a copy of the magazine.  
My day is Wednesday so be sure to stop back in for a chance to win my copy. Also by visiting the main website at Quiltmaker you also have a chance to win some amazing prizes from many sponsors.
So when you find some time go to Quiltmaker's Quilty Pleasures every day and check it out.

Bloggers' quilt Festival

I just received a reminder that today is the final day for entering the Blogger's Quilt Festival so that is why I have finally organised myself to upload my entry. 

A couple of years ago I used to dye my own fabrics, but after a relatively short time period I worked out that I could either dye fabrics or make quilts there was not enough time to do both and so I gave up dyeing.  

About the same time I decided I really should learn to applique and so enrolled in a class to learn how to do it properly.  After a relatively short time period I worked out I could either applique and have no enjoyment in my quilting or return to hand piecing and enjoy quilt making and so I gave up applique.

When I started to make the quilt that I hoped would use up all of my hand dyed fabrics I looked for a fabric that would add some strength and colour to the  quilt and although I hated black muslin it was the perfect colour for the quilt. After a relatively short period of time I worked out that I hated the black, hated the applique and was also definitely onto the path of hating the quilt..... noticing a pattern here?

In an attempt to get rid of my hand dyed fabric, my appliqued quilt with the black muslin background I knuckled down and finally finished the quilt, only took about five years.. it could have languished in the UFO pile for an eternity.  

I ended up entering it into a competition and won a prize for Best Use of Hand Dyed Fabrics.  It is quite a dramatic quilt but one must remember why I used so many fabrics in this quilt.... to get rid of my hand dyed fabrics so that I could give away all of my hand dyeing materials and simply get back to enjoying quilting.

So what did I win?  You guessed it $250 of dyeing products:(  I figured dyeing silk scarves had to be less messy than dyeing cotton and so purchased some silk scarves with my winnings.

 Several years down the line I remembered the scarves and last weekend a friend loaned me her silk dyeing dyes.  Voila!  Silk scarves dyed, dried (with the hair dryer) and blowing in the wind.  

Perfect finish to my dyeing and appliqueing attempts.

Details for my Blog Festival entry are

The finished quilt is huge, a big queen size, of about 100in x 100in.  If you want the pattern it is available on my website I would love to see what it would look like in other fabrics. 

What category am I entering in?  

      Well I would say it is definitely a ROYGBIV (colour wheel quilt), that was one thing I wanted to achieve and I think I was successful with. 

        Plus although I don't like the black I do have to admit that it does look good on the wall,so wall hanging is my second category.  Lucky we have 13 foot high wall:)

Go and check out the other entries in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival.... and vote for mine too if you like it.

Different Layouts

Raconteur Pricing

Cobargo Retreat

 Well I have finally finished the block.  Here it is in Civil War Reproduction Fabrics.  Doesn't it look different.  I have included another of the collections from Raconteur so you can see the change.  The blocks from Snippets, the one just here to the left were put together to show how different a collection would be if there was a stronger focus on dark colours.

I hadn't intended initially to add the white sashing but, unlike Raconteur, the blocks clashed when they were laid side by side and so the sashing was needed.  I have always loved scraps and so adding the log cabin corners was the perfect way to bring the seven hexagons into one collection.  The different coloured borders carried the scrappy feel right through to the edge.  

Since finishing this collection I have been playing with how to finish off the whole thing.  If I leave it at just one block then what you see is all that there will be but I have found a great way to join several of these collections with what appears to be a spiral.... so if the interest continues you may in some time in the distant future see another development... or then I might simply move on and finish some other quilts.

So why did I call this post Cobargo Retreat?  Well because that is where I will be teaching this class.  I can't wait to see what combinations other people will choose, both in colours and fabrics.  Also in blocks as at the retreat they all start with the same four blocks but then they can choose up to three different blocks to complete their collection.  It should be interesting.

More pairs

 I thought I would upload a few more block pairs from Raconteur so that people could again see the difference that colour makes to a block.

Although the first two blocks aren't identical you can see that they are almost the same.  Doesn't the dark frame add a class to the block. Or perhaps that is because, being civil war reproductions it was a more serious time and the fabrics reflect this and are more sombre.  Whatever the reason the change gives a different feel to the block.

The second pair or blocks are both at odds with the rest of the blocks in their respective collections.  This block, Crystal Dreams, appears quite soft when made in the pale green of the civil war fabrics.  It will most likely be in the middle of the collection being the 'odd man out' of that collection.  

The final block is the same one from Raconteur. By the time I came to make it I was fed up with all of the soft wishy washy backgrounds and decided to add some life.  

Funny when I was looking at the separate fabrics there appeared a stronger contrast between the two fabrics.  Another lesson learnt that in miniature it is important to look at every piece of the fabric.  I still liked the finished block although others haven't been as keen on it... but then again it is my quilt.

Memories

The title Raconteur -  A Storyteller's Collection comes from the fact that all of the blocks within the quilt are named and each represents either an event that happened or place that I visited whilst I was making it. A few blocks are named after something significant that happened previously in my life. 

The central block in this collection is called "I Remember", which I wrote for my mum. Mum unfortunately has dementia. when I made the block she had been suffering with it for about three years and by that stage although she could remember that I was a significant person in her life she no longer remembered who I was.  Although there are six children in the family  she had not seen most of the others for quite a time and as such they were total strangers to her. 
The writing, which fades as it approaches the middle, reads
I remember Mum use to smile.  She loved music.  She loved knitting, but most of all she loved us.  Sometimes she forgets.

Unfortunately now she remembers nothing.  I am luckier than my siblings. I at least had the advantage of spending time with her in the past few years while she could still remember.

What a Difference Value Makes

Snippets is yet another version of Raconteur, actually it is my fourth version but I haven't yet uploaded the other two.  They are all so very different and when I get around to uploading them..... which I will do as soon as I have finished enough blocks to show anyone :) 

The blocks in Snippets are the same size as those of Raconteur but in a different range of fabrics and values.  In the original Raconteur all of the backgrounds were light and the outer borders were the same, whereas the main design sections were pastels, or what I saw as pastels.  For Snippets I have decided to border the block in the same fabric as the main design.  As is obvious from just this block the change is quite dramatic.  

I have had to add sashing between each of the blocks in Snippets since unlike Raconteur without the sashing the different blocks clash.  I am still working on finishing the outer edge of the block and will upload the entire block when I have done so.  Hopefully in the next week or two.

Cathedral Windows

Well I have finally finished.  I have for many years wanted to make something using cathedral windows but figured my attention span wasn't in for the long haul.  

Actually about five years ago I even enrolled in a class with Megan Orr to learn how to do it properly.  Unfortunately only one person enrolled in the class... little me... and so it was cancelled.  I had been so keen to do the class that I had purchased the fabrics and was set to go.  

Well the fabric became a PIG (Project in Grocery Bag) until last year I met Megan at the Sydney Quilt Show.  As we started talking I told her about my fabric and plans to 'one day' make something small.  Megan was wonderful and explained how to do it.  She even had samples there to show me the different stages.

So armed with fabric AND knowledge I started my runner.

I made this one shorter than usual as the table upon which it lies is only small but I like it.  I have also been working on a normal length one using Australian flower in the windows and boy has that taken a long time.  With the help of a few friends I have now finished the top and now only need to quilt and bind it.  Hopefully should be finished soon.

Raconteur - Feathered Star

 Tonight I drew up the foundation papers for my feathered star...isn't it cute!  And yes before you ask the block is the same size as the applique ones I uploaded a couple of nights ago... 2.25in after the border has been added. 

As you can see  there is even some space around the star to allow it to float in the background before it reaches the border. This was added when I was planning just in case my block turned out too big.  There is no way I wanted the points cut off and neither did I want to have to remake the block.  

Definitely perfect for those small scraps you have been saving for just one day.  Mind you it is necessary to have a lot of those scraps. From memory there were only 142 pieces in this block.

I was in a real feathered star phase when I designed this one.  I had recently returned from the guild's Quiltaway weekend at Jamberoo where Jane Gibson was making tiny feathered stars and I knew I just had to try it.  I had never made anything so small and so I went looking into what would be the best way to do it and that was foundation piecing.  When I made this I figured I would simply make it the usual way, a square but have extra fabric around the edges so that I could cut the hexagon from it.  

In the second photo you can see the block when I was part way through making it.  Yes that is a bobbin in the corner and that little piece of paper beside it has seven pieces sewn to it... see I told you it only needed small scraps.

Raconteur - inspiration

A couple of years ago a friend, Isobel Lancashire, asked if it was possible to modify one of my patterns which had appeared in Down Under Quilts.  She wanted to make a large single bed quilt from what was originally a king size.  


The original design was based on New York Beauty.  At the same time I had this idea floating in my head and persuaded her to make it instead, even though she could only see what one block looked like rather than an entire quilt.  

 
Above left you have what it looked like part way through.  I am positive that Isobel was wondering what she had let herself in for at the time:) but she persevered. 

From this  came Jarrah's Track,on the right,  which was hung at the Sydney Quilt Show in 2011.  Looks great doesn't it.  And her grandson, Jarrah loves it too... he was heard asking if it was to ever return after Isobel had loaned it to me for photographing for Australian Patchwork and Quilting wanted to publish the pattern.
 

A short time later Quiltmaker called for entries for its new magazine 100 Blocks and so I thought why not.  Made a quick sample, and accidentally made an error with the arrows but the block was still successful and appeared in Volume 4 under the title of Isobel's Flight... her own block. 

 

While making Raconteur I wanted to include blocks from previous quilts that I had designed and so this was the inspiration for Isobel's Flight Too.   Interesting the original block was 8in in Jarrah's Track, the next was 12in in Quiltmaker and my latest was less that an 1 1/2 from one side to the other of the arrows.. a bit of a change.

Raconteur - applique

 I have been writing up my patterns for Raconteur and have been working on the applique patterns lately so I thought that I would share some of the blocks with you.  There wasn't much choice in what to feature here as I have only five applique blocks in the entire quilt.  Not bad considering there are 363 blocks altogether.  

I initially intended that there would be no applique apart form one by Merelyn.... a common held belief is that if a quilt doesn't have applique then it can't succeed at various quilt shows.  Applique has never been a technique which I enjoyed and so I seldom use it.  Merelyn was happy to make a block for me.  Can you guess which one she did?

Ok so it really is a no brainer... the star within the heart is my usual applique... fused and machined.  The travelling moons are my second kind of applique... a bit puffy and almost smooth.

 

Merelyn never does applique like this due to the fact that she always has points which are pointy, curves which are smooth and so little seam allowance that when you handle the fabric it feels as though there is only one layer of fabric... and she hadn't cut away the backing fabric... plus you can't see her stitches.  

No wonder she wins all of the competitions and everyone wants to learn from her.  

Mind you I still think my idea was the best... get her to actually make the block. I am positive my eyesight would go before I would have the hand skills to even pretend to be pretender!

Oh by the way the size of the blocks in Raconteur are only 2.25in AFTER the border has been added. This may not seem too small, particularly with applique blocks but wait until I upload some of the pieced blocks.

Raconteur

Well I know I have been lazy with this blog but there is a reason for this.  Well a few reasons.
1. I am lazy
2. I have been working
3. I had to finish Raconteur for the quilt show
4. I have started writing up the patterns for Raconteur.
5. I have started another blog just to do with Raconteur.
So there you have it. there are many other excuses but I think the biggest one is time or lack thereof.
If you would like to see what I have been doing blogwise check out my other site by clicking the link to the side or just here.

Copyright Infringement

Kathy Brown recently emailed this to an online group to which I am a member and I thought it was worth republishing.  Read and enjoy.
The story you are about to read is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.  

Thursday, January 12th. It dawned a clear, cold day. As I (lowly pattern designer) began my day - looking forward to a good day of filling orders, painting a new fabric line, and writing new pattern directions, the phone rings:

LPD (me - otherwise known as lowly pattern designer): Hello, The Teacher's Pet

IC (otherwise known as irate customer): Who?

LPD: This is The Teacher's Pet, can I help you?

IC: yes you can (angrily). I got this damn pattern at a quilt shop and it's all wrong. Why did you write something that is not right?

LPD: (holding the temper in check) Can you tell me which pattern you have?

IC: I don't know. The lady said it was the easiest pattern she's ever done and she was wrong too.

LPD: I'm sorry but I cant help you if you cant tell me which pattern you have.

IC: It says Teacher's Pet.

LPD: Yes ma'am, but that's my pattern company. Each pattern that I produce has a name. Can you tell me the name of the pattern? It will be at the top of the directions.

IC: Well hold on (aggravated) Here it is. It's Take 5.

LPD: OK now we're getting somewhere. Can you tell me where you are having a problem?

IC: Well if I knew that I wouldn't have called you now, would I?

LPD: (temper still in check, but getting strained) Ma'am, if you can't tell me where you are having a problem, then I suggest you take the pattern back to the quilt shop where you purchased it and ask them to help you.

IC: Purchased it?

LPD: (light bulb going off) Yes, you did buy the pattern from a quilt shop, didn't you?

IC: I would never have bought a pattern so incomplete as this one. No I didn't buy it. A lady that was buying fabric in the quilt shop - she gave it to me. She said the pattern was easy. And it's not. I keep flipping through these pages and nothing makes sense.

LPD: (light bulb flashing furiously) So you have multiple pages of directions, and they do not make sense?

IC: That's what I said. Are you hard of hearing too? Yes - I HAVE THREE PAGES.

LPD: (more than a little testy now, and counting to 10). Ma'am, what you have is a pattern that has been illegally copied and distributed, and you have not even been given all of the instructions. That is why nothing makes sense to you.

IC: (in a huff) Well how do YOU know it's been copied? YOU don't even know this person that gave me the pattern. How can you accuse her?

LPD: Because the original pattern that I have printed is formatted on 17"x22" paper, front and back. NOT individual 8 1/2" x 11" sheets of single sided paper. So the pattern has been illegally copied and given to you.

IC: (silence - about 10 seconds pass - it feels like an eternity). So what am I supposed to do now? Are you going to give me a free pattern so that I can make this quilt? I bought the fabric and I'm ready to sew.

LPD: (who thought she had seen and heard it all after 17 years in the quilt industry) No Ma'am, I'm not. I would suggest you go back to your local quilt shop where you can purchase the pattern.

IC: (angry again) Well YOU must think I'm stupid. I'm not going to waste my gas money to drive all the way back to the quilt shop when YOU can just TELL me how to make it.

LPD: (incredulous - but with an odd sense of peace slowly flooding over her). No ma'am, I don't THINK you're stupid - but I can ASSURE you that I'm not stupid either. You have a nice day, ma'am. Good bye.

As the phone gets placed down, the LPD slowly gets up, pours herself another cup of coffee, grabs the bottle of Advil, and prepares to start her day over again.

Kathy Brown
The Teacher’s Pet
www.the-teachers-pet.com
www.theteacherspet.typepad.com

Why?

Friends have asked me why I made the hexagons so small.  Well there are several reasons for this

1. I am a scrooge economical and didn't want to waste too much fabric trying out my new idea.

2. I am a scrooge loathe to waste and wanted to use as much of the piece of paper as I could.  Six hexagons fitted comfortably onto an A4 sheet of paper.

3. I wanted a portable project.

4. The tin which I was given at the Sydney Scquilters retreat was only small and so the blocks couldn't be too big if they were going to fit.

5. I thought my first sample was so cute I decided to keep all of the blocks that size.

6. I was only going to make a few blocks for a wall hanging for the Sydney Quilt Show.

The next question was then why did I make such a large quilt.

1. One of my first few blocks had only seven pieces and I was told that they were too big to be really classed as miniatures so I decided to make a lap quilt.

2. After making a few, well ok after making many, I decided that there was no way either of my boys would want a quilt like this so I may as well make it a usable size so queen size it may as well be.

3. 300+ blocks later I calculated that I had made too many blocks for a queen sized quilt so may as well make it for our own bed.  We have a king size bed.

Before and After

 Here is a photo of one of the blocks which I decided to machine piece.  Doesn't that look cute?  If you look carefully at the autumn coloured piece of fabric near the bobbin you will see a pin .. this is a clover applique pin which is only tiny.

Also looking carefully you can see on the foundation paper the markings for three feathers.... they are also very cute.

And here you can see the finished block... a feathered star.  I couldn't resist trying it after seeing some unbelievable feathered stars made by Jane Gibson a couple of years ago at the Jamberoo retreat. 

If you blow up the picture until the outer edge of the hexagon, the outer edge of the border around the hexagon that is, is 2 1/4in you will be able to see the block full size.

For anyone curious about the numbers this block has 138 pieces.  It should have only been 134 but I had to add four extra strips on the edges as I made it a tiny bit too small.  btw there is another block with more pieces...it's cute too.