More Placemats for Halloween
Just as I thought it was getting cooler, the temps are going back into the 80s this weekend. I guess this is normal for Missouri. My cooler nights and fireplace will just have to wait.
Working on the Long Arm
I’m getting ready to start a new and exciting project on my long arm, but before that, I have to finish a couple smaller projects like the rest of the Halloween Placemats and my Halloween pillows.
If you recall from yesterday, you can read that post here, I’m working on the Skill Builder lesson from August 2019. I finished the Sawtooth star block and today’s block is a Friendship star. The skills I’m learning are:
- Apply
- Concatenating Draw Patterns
- Placing background patterns using Draw Pattern to stitch continuous
- Creating border patterns from P2P Square patterns
- Saving Patterns
- Multi-use of patterns
Easy Placemat Pattern
The pattern for this project is quite simple. Select four of your favorite block patterns in a 12” finished block size. Add 3” finished borders to each side of the block. That’s it. Easy-Peasy.
Friendship Star Placemat
I made two of each of four block patterns and quilted four using black thread and four using orange thread. So far, I like both colors so I’m glad I split them up.
Piano Key Border Variation
The Friendship Star uses a variation on the piano key pattern in the side borders. This pattern adds a column of pearls, or dots, spaced between the keys. I think it adds interest to the keys.
Once again, I’m using the Apply feature to place the key pattern. I’m getting better at lining things up. I can see that piano keys feed my perfectionist nature. I’ll have to watch that so I don’t get crazy.
Background Squares and Triangles
The corner squares and side triangles in Friendship star are quilted with a curl and pearl design and a triangle pearl design. This triangle is a little different from the one used on the Sawtooth Star because the triangle here is formed from a half-square triangle. In this case, the triangle is designed to fit perfectly into the half-square triangle.
The Star Points
For the star points on the Friendship star, I used a pattern designed for half-square triangles. It still fits the theme of curls and pearls.
The Center
The design for the center is a single block design. The square spiral is normally placed as a diamond and looks a bit like a spider web when quilted out. Rather than placing it as a diamond and having unquilted corners in the square, I turned the block to make it square so it would fill the square completely. I think this one turned out cute.
Another placemat with a lot of learning and practice. Tomorrow, I'll share the last two placemat blocks. I hope you enjoyed this peak into the process of long arm quilting a project.
What are your current projects?
Until till next time,