Antique Star Quilt - Resolved

Hooray!  Let the games begin!  We celebrated the opening ceremonies with a little bubby (what else?).  To show our support for the United States, we only used red, white & blue flutes :)

Thank you everyone for your input in my huge star quit (aka circus tent).  Susan and I had discussed the quilt a couple of weeks ago and thought that I should remove 2 rows form the top and side, then re-add border fabric.

Many of you had suggested going right to binding.  Thanks, I needed that!!

Here is a photo of the antique quilt I saw at Paducah, price tag:  $4,000 and that was about 15 years ago.  Photo taken with permission.

I designed my stars 4" -BIG mistake (pun intended).  That made the blocks 12" x 9 (across & down) = that is 108" before borders.

I think the original must have had 9" blocks, making it about 97" x 97" with 8" borders.  I just didn't work out the math when I started this quilt.

My original quilt would have been 124" x 120" (I used a smaller border on the top).

After removing 2 rows from the top, and all the borders, the new size is 108" x 84" which will work great on my king sized bed.  whew.

So here is what I'll be doing during the olympics:

I've already quilted 3 blocks.  I have lots to go but it's not a timed event, thank goodness.

coco made a close inspection and decided the new plan is a good one.

Happy Olympics and Stitching everyone!

FFF - Crafting (all sorts)

Happy Friday!  Most fun thing today?

Opening Ceremonies of the 2-12 Olympics!!!  

College Crafting:

Last Friday Hanna had 3 college friends for a visit.  It was a stormy day, so they tie-dyed in the garage (how glamorous).

The shower curtain drop cloth looked a little like a crime scene.

What a sweet group of girls.

Here are the finished shirts.  You can really tell which one is a cotton/poly blend!

Hanna also made this cool crayon canvas with a hair dryer.

Aircrafting:

Look who my seat mate was?  This sweet little ball of fluff.  Can you imagine my coco on an airplane?

First stop in Chicagoland?  Portillo's.  I like to eat regional food when I travel, wee.

We attended a lovely wedding in Lincoln Park.  When I think of Chicago, somehow I always forget about the traffic.

Here is a car shot of Buckingham fountain.  Pretty.

This was the view from the terrace at the wedding.  Best wishes Chris and Emily!

Without a cute doggie on the way back, I had to content myself with these little indulgences.  I like to splurge when imminent death is a possibility.

Have a Wonderful Weekend and enjoy the Olympic Games!!

Seeing Stars

Seems like I haven't posted about what I'm working on in a while.  Here are my large EPP stars.  I'm working on setting all the blocks together.  There is a lot of steaming and pinning involved.

I love the movement of the birdy toile'.  Final inspiration came from a Quilt Engagement Calendar from July (cool coincidence) 1981.

Wish I had this pillar print, but I'm really happy with the large fruity print I had in the stash.

Can this quilt be saved?  My oldest quit friends will remember this quit.  I started it over 10 years ago.

There are 2 problems with it.  I is entirely too big.  I saw a quilt like this at an antique  booth at Paducah and fell in love it.  I mis-calculated the size of the block and it turned out the size of a circus tent - seriously.

I also don't like the border fabric.  It is too weak and does not  frame the quilt well.

I have already invested a lot of hand quilting (a lot) so I'm keen to save this.  I'll be back with updates and raw numbers soon.

Finally, I give myself a Star today for donating blood.  I was inspired by my sister-in-law, Nancy, who is a regular giver.

After donating, I was treated to a chocolate donut and a free movie ticket - hooray!!

Happy Summer!

Fun For Friday - Company

I took a little blog break this week while my daughter has a visitor from college.

The only quilting I managed was to make up a little kit that Kathie sent me.  She saw this quilt on the Rouge Quilter blog.
What a clever use of the mini tumbler block.

I did simple quilting with gold silk thread and used this gold fabric for a single binding.  I love how it turned out.  Thanks Kathie!!  Can you tell that I organized the fabrics by values?

I put my man, George, on the back.

It's been super super hot here.  On Tuesday I took the girls to Seaside Heights.  Home of the Jersey Shore crew - yikes.

We had lunch, fried oreos, and salt water taffy.  The girls took in a ride and got henna tattoos.  It was hot, but fun.  We went swimming too.  A real Jersey Shore experience for her friend from Ohio.

Last night after dinner we indulged in the best summer treat ever invented.  I thought, hey, wouldn't it be good with a little creamy peanut butter?  Yes, it was.

When we have a house full of people, coco never quite knows where to go.  This way?

That way?

She often splits the difference to keep her options open.

Have a great weekend!

FFF - Day Tripping and Fun Fast Food (at home)

Happy Friday!

Wednesday Hanna and I took a little day trip up the Hudson.  We were headed for the Frederik Vanderbilt Mansion in Hyde Park, NY.

This is one of 43 mansions built by the Vanderbilt families.

Hudson river view - north.

view south -

The side facing the river -

Entry hall.  Italian marble, French tapestries.  The interior shots were taken on my cel phone and no flash was allowed, so I'm sorry they are so bad.

 The gold room (ladies sitting room)

ceiling

This is Louise's bedroom.  It was styled after Marie Antoinette's at Versailles.  Check out the gate around her bed.

A column on the 2nd floor landing.  I thought it would make a good border pattern.

The gardens - lovely.

This is a model of the 60 member staff that worked at the mansion and on the grounds.

Fun Fast Food to make at home on a busy summer day -

BBQ Pulled Pork

A 2-3 lb pork shoulder (or you can use 2lbs of pork tenderloin), salt, pepper and 1 can of cola (or enough to almost cover the roast) into the crock pot.  Cook on Low 8-10 hours.

Prepare cole slaw - the photo says it all.  People have actually asked me for the recipe.

Remove fat and bone from the pork and reserve liquid.  Using 2 forks shred the pork.  Return to the crock pot adding a bottle (or to taste) your favorite BBQ sauce and heat through.  I also add back some of the liquid to thin it a bit.

Easy and delicious!

I recently tried this box mix cookie bar.  It was great.  I added a banana to the brownie portion. They were gone in a hurry.

Along our way we ran into Jake and Elwood statues, the Blues Brothers - how funny!

A quilting report is on tap for next week.  In the meantime I hope you are finding ways to have fun!