Time for some stars

 Hi everyone, and happy last weekend of January! Didn't we just start January? Holy cow, I just don't know where the time goes. All I know is that it is never long enough when I'm trying to sleep, or when I'm trying to work on something really important with a deadline. Maybe the deadlines are why I can't sleep. What do you think?

So many questions! How about a pretty little finished quilt to break it up a bit? It was pretty cold this week, but we had more than one clear day so I took this bright little quilt outside and took some pictures:

 

 

Okay, that's cheerful and it isn't asking any questions! This is the completely finished Beothuk Star quilt, by Sandra of mmmquilts. I made the top in 2019, which I absolutely have to mention was now three whole years ago. It was the last little quilt top that I finished at our house in Delaware before we moved to Baltimore. It got packed away immediately and came out of the box here in Baltimore when I was looking for UFOs to repurpose and projects to be finished with. 

 

As you can see, it is much nicer all quilted up than it was in the box! I quilted this myself at the last quilting appointment I had, and then it hung around here for a little bit while I tried to figure out what color to bind it with. I couldn't decide, and then I actually looked at the scraps and found that I only had enough of the turquoise. I guess that decided things!

I bound this by machine, which is now my first choice for binding. Yes, I am surprised, because I never thought this would happen. I've had enough practice now that it is much easier than it was at the beginning, and I have to tell you-- it is so much faster! The key to success (for me) is to press the binding well after stitching it to the back. It makes a huge difference in how easy it is to flip it to the front and stitch it down.

The quilting pattern here is Daisy Swirl by Clothwerx and is the most complex pattern that I've quilted yet. It turned out great, so I am feeling much more confident about the whole longarming thing. I wish I could afford a machine of my own, because it would be really nice to load the machine one afternoon then actually do the quilting the next day, but even used ones are pretty much beyond me, so I'll be making another rental appointment soon.

So there's another happy quilt finish! This week I also finished piecing the Gridlock quilt top, but I'm planning to have it jump the line and get quilted next, so it can have some beauty shots then. I also may have started a new quilt, but that will have to wait, too!

Everyone have a great weekend! We're apparently going to have some snow, wind, and other weather, and maybe a *lot* of snow (they can't decide), so it looks like a good time to hole up and sort scraps. Maybe I'll even vacuum, but I wouldn't hold my breath for that! 

 

(Also, for anyone concerned about the brown bat we have here at the house, he's still hanging out under the eaves and seems to be just fine. It hasn't been warm enough for him to move, but he looks just the same!)

Sharing at Finished or not Friday, Brag About Your Beauties, and the Patchwork and Quilts linkup at Quilting Patchwork Applique.