Half-Square-Triangle Star and Update on This and That

Hunter's Star made with half-square triangles

Are you still there?

I know I have taken forever to post to this blog, but here I am, trying to get back in the saddle again -- so to speak.

And SURPRISE! I actually made a quilt square of my own! As you can see it is the Hunter Star, but this one has a fun trick to it for those of us who appreciate success without too much challenge.

Half-square triangles (HST) make this easy peasy. And there are so many easy ways to make HST that you might be interested in trying various techniques.

The HST technique that I used is featured on an easy to follow video by Missouri Quilt Company and it makes me feel so clever. It is even easier if you use the pre-cut charm squares to begin this process. But I also cut my own squares and that is not too demanding. I like the part about putting the two squares, right sides together -- five inch squares are what I used. After they are aligned, stitch a 1/4-inch seam around the entire perimeter. The take your rotary cutter and ruler and cut diagonals both directions -- it shows you in the video.

The one concern may be that the sides are on the diagonal and will easily stretch, so you much carefully press and sew without stretching the fabric. That isn't hard to avoid.

So, for those who think I only write about or cheer on other quilters, here's proof that I can at least piece a square. I wonder if my son might like a quilt made using this pattern. Hmmm? Of course I would be forced to buy new fabric....

This particular star and another one just like it, hopefully will become place mats or if I get really industrious, a table cloth or runner. I might even get it finished!

Speaking of getting things finished. I'm back on the trail of getting my Subversive Stitchers: Women Armed with Needles novel written. I have thrown caution to the wind and taped a long piece of butcher paper on the wall of my office. Onto that I will write and pin and paste and print the storyline of my novel. I am also hanging a clothes line from which I will pin chapters and pages so I can actually get this thing into some kind of order and above all of this will be a shelf to hold my research materials. Organization seems like an excellent step forward. And since I am a visual person -- perhaps if I see it all of the time, I will actually work on it! I have many MANY pages of scenes and character development and research, now it is time to fit it all together into a story line. Stay tuned!

If any of you subscribe to Quilters World or The Quilter, you may have had the chance to read some of the profiles I've been writing for these publications. Quilt Trends has carried a few as well. It is exciting to learn more about such greats as Gina Paris Perkes and Kathy McNeil and Helen Remick and so many more. This is paradise for me -- writing about quilters and their work, their art. After seeing Helen Remick's yoyo quilts, I will never look at a yoyo in quite the same way!

Washington quilt artist Kathy McNeil's DVD for applique is the best! And her work always says so much. She really speaks with fabric. And Gina -- her machine quilting is pushing the limits, setting the bar higher and higher and the awards she's winning attest to that. If you haven't added her book to your library -- it is definitely worth the investment.

Well, that's today's new blog post. I hope after all of this time no one went into shock to see new info here. Thanks for sticking with me.

And for those who follow my husband and my journey through ALS and caregiving -- we're doing well. He's still able to work and his employer has agreed to a flexible schedule so he can also work from home when necessary. And I haven't been called on to do anything heroic in the line of caregiving -- so we're all good.

Oh, and we added a new member of the family.
Theodore (Teddy the Rough Rider) 'Theo' has agreed to being adopted. We LOVE the caregivers and volunteers at the Seminole County Animal Shelter. Nothing better than rescuing a furry baby.

He keeps us hopping! I'd forgotten the joys and terrors of life with a kitten. (Notice in this photo he is tuckered out from helping me write about Subversive Stitchers and he is pointing to Kathy McNeil's DVD. He really likes the bird pictures! Theo has good taste!