Update 8 – 2017 Buckeye Ties

I finished most of northeast Ohio today. You can see the shore of Lake Erie and the area between Cleveland and the Pennsylvania border. Hello, Amanda, Nate, Jack, and Ivy – livin’ in the Heights!  That yellow triangle is for you, having fun at the park, with those great lake views.

Buckeye Ties Northeast Ohio – Cuyahoga, Lake, Ashtabula Counties and Lake Erie

Update 7 – 2017 Buckeye Ties

Will this quilt be finished by the Genesee Valley Quilt Club’s deadline? I have to deliver it on Tuesday, May 30 for judging for the 2017 QuiltFest. I’m averaging two stars a day, so in theory I have time to complete the blocks, sew them together, and quilt. There are 49 Ohio Star quilt blocks making one huge Ohio Star, so 50 in all. If you squint a bit, you can see the white star points beginning to emerge.

Buckeye Ties on Design Wall 14 May 2017

A map of Ohio is superimposed on the design, so the lower corners are dark. They’re like the edges of a jigsaw.

Update 4 – Ohio Stars

A temporary job has been taking most of my time for the last month or so, but that’s over so . . .

Four Ohio Stars

Using more of my father’s ties, here are some new Ohio Stars, including one that overlays another. All these fabrics are from dad’s ties except the beige with red and blue stars. I am now using interfacing only on silks. The navy with white stars is cotton, although it was a tie.

The Genesee Valley Quilt Fest is a few weeks away. I’ll be taking another break from these blocks to prepare my entries.

 

Update 2 – Ohio Star

Taking apart my father’s ties underscored how different silk fabrics can be. Some with woven motifs are sturdy, others are as slippery as scarves. I am fortunate to know award-winning silk appliquer Chris Wickert, who suggested using fusible interfacing to stabilize the fabric and cut down on fraying on the straight of grain. (Silk doesn’t fray on the bias.)

Interfaced fabric – Ohio Star back

Since I also have some non-silks in the mix, I chose a solid red cotton, a solid blue silk from a pocket square, and a metallic woven stripe to experiment with. All adhered well to a light nonwoven Pellon fusible. I cut a quick template for the triangles and used my even feed foot to machine sew a 6″ x 6″ block. This represents the smallest Ohio Star in the planned quilt.

Interfaced fabric – Ohio Star front

The piecing isn’t very accurate; I need a better template. But what I’m more concerned about is that the silk isn’t flat along the on-grain edges. So I’ll draft a better template, try a different foot, and switch fabrics for the next attempt.