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Monday, November 19, 2012

Oh. My. Stars!!

Beth did such a great job of choosing quilts that would interest ME, pulling them from the collection and setting them up ahead of time for our viewing.

Someone asked WHY we “Only got to see 4 quilts” ---It takes me a LONG time to view 4 quilts!

And Beth was graciously willing to take time out of her busy work day to accommodate us.  She also gave us a tour of several archival rooms with loads of other collectibles, everything from clothing, hats, shoes to period furniture and everything else under the sun.

Our time there was about 2 hours ---as much as I could ask from her time wise.  Though I wish I could have seen the WHOLE collection, it was time to be real and let her get back to doing her work.

The quilts she chose though!  OH!  She said she even did some research on ME to find out what I’d most like to see --- and she did splendidly!

See that cute funky star at the top?  It’s only about 3” tall.  And there was a WHOLE FIELD of them in this quilt:

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AWESOME!

There was not enough room to back up far enough from the viewing table to get a full view of everything…but doesn’t this knock your socks off?

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TINY!

I had started a quilt like this once….only getting so far and using the stars as two partial borders on this quilt instead:

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I dunno!  I just might have to try it again…3” stars are SO CUTE!  And here is a confession for you….NONE of these stars --- NOT A SINGLE ONE ---had a point that wasn’t chopped off in the seam!

Look!

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You ARE looking at the missing points now, aren’t you?

Some are MORE missing than others! :cD

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Have you found any intact yet??

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Nope…no perfect points here either!!

And I bet NOT A SINGLE ONE OF YOU said “oh, isn’t this a shame --- she should have been more careful!”  At least I hope you didn’t!

The missing points do not detract from the beauty of this incredible quilt!  Just look at those fabrics!  I love the brown star on pink above in the lower left that has two “different” points of a darker brown. 

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And how about that border??  X blocks!  AWESOME!

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The backing fabric was gorgeous on this one…just yummy pink on light brown.  The front was turned to the back as a binding.  The date on this one?  Somewhere around 1880.  Maker unknown.  But I sure wish I did know her!  I just LOVE this quilt to pieces and missing points alike!

Today is my LAST workshop of my travel year.  The last workshop I’ll teach until my New Year’s trip to Texas!  We are going to have fun with the bricks and squares today, sewing up Oklahoma Backroads blocks.  I’ve so enjoyed these two groups of  Michigan quilters!

I understand there is a fish dinner planned at an Irish pub tonight --- getting me stoked up for Ireland in June.   I have 3 gals coming from the Lansing group with me on this trip!  Ruby is bringing her sister, and Jackie, the owner of the awesome truck from yesterday’s post is also coming to have fun with me! YAY!!  For more info on the Ireland trip, click HERE! 

Don't forget we also have an Alaskan Cruise planned for  August, 2013!  I've added a tab to the top of the blog for that info.

Time to run and grab breakfast and get this day going!

Happy Monday, Everyone!

29 comments:

  1. Oh, Bonnie, your hostess sure knew how to pick 'em!!! What great quilts and such funky pieced borders. Such a wonderful sight to behold. So glad you got to enjoy these on your trip.
    Be save, have a great Thanksgiving with family and looking forward to the Easy Street quilting time.
    Faye in Maine

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  2. Thank you so much for pointing out the missing points. While I know, that it doesn't affect the beauty of the quilt and I would never notice in someone else's work, I find it so hard not to be critical of the same in my own work. Thanks for reminding me that it's the big picture that matters and that sometimes those tiny details are really not as important as I think.

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  3. I really like that X border....and the contrasting colors just made it even better. The quilt is gorgeous and one I would like to study too. Good lesson to see how the contrasting backgroud for each star separated the star from the main background fabric of the quilt. (does that make sense) Otherwise some of those stars would have just faded into the background. I love it. Thanks for sharing! Now I'm going to figure out how to do that X border......and I'll never worry about chopping off points again!

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  4. What a great quilt...scraps are growing on me...enjoy Thanksgiving and the Holidays...and time at home for more than a day or two without packing or unpacking...

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  5. Such a great quilt! AND those points are NOT chopped off--they are HIDDEN!

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  6. Anonymous8:37 AM EST

    yep, that's definitely a quilt worth seeing, and it does make me feel a whole bunch better about some of my own sawtooth stars that are in an 'otherwise great' quilt top that i made last month. Why is it i wonder that our own quilting imperfections are so much more important to us, but if someone else did the same thing we wouldn't even notice!
    i love that "X" border too. will have to keep it in mind for future quilts. Thanks again for sharing with us.

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  7. That quilt is beautiful! I never noticed the missing points until you said something. Someone went through a lot of work to create that piece of art, and all those flaws are just the "love stitches".

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  8. Oh, Bonnie, thank you for sharing this amazing quilt. It is everything I love in traditional quilts. Some good ideas in there!

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  9. Anonymous8:59 AM EST

    And how about that border?? X blocks! AWESOME! You got it baby and I think I want a border of X blocks soon....

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  10. Anonymous9:24 AM EST

    What a treasure! Thanks for sharing it with us Bonnie. Do you think that perhaps when she drafted the star block, cut apart the 'paper' draft, she just didn't add seam allowance? Must be something along that line to have all of the blocks with clipped points, correct?

    Sure would LOVE to have the patience to make this one myself. By the way --- the background on front for the star blocks is wonderful too. Whole quilt just dances right up to you --- awesome!

    Smiles, JulieinTN

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  11. What a beautiful quilt! Love the backing too- that looks like a really big quilt!

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  12. Absolutely beautiful. I am happy you pointed out the missing star points. I have some 4 inch stars I made years ago that I need to put together. I did draft my stars in EQ7. Actually I don't use EQ7 often and have to re-educate myself when I do.

    I have decided for 2013 that I am going to work on scrappy quilts because I have bunches and bunches of scraps. You are a real inspiration with your scrappy talent. I have been following your blog quite regular now with your many ideas. Thanks for all you do.

    Gale/Oklahoma

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  13. When I saw the photo of the quilt I just had to absorb it. It was a couple of minutes before I could even start reading what you wrote about it. So cool--and yes, I noticed the border right off the bat, but I did not noticed cut off star points until you mentioned them!

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  14. Thanks for sharing your visits to the Great Lakes Quilt Collection with us. That is a beautiful quilt that we otherwise wouldn't have been able to see.

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  15. What a beautiful quilt. It looks HUGE too! Glad she picked ones out that you would love, but then again is there a quilt you don't love? Alaskan cruise in August????? Are you still planning the retreat in August in NC as well????

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  16. That border is FABULOUS! What a marvelous quilt - I love it! Thanks so much!

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  17. Wonderful quilt. You are fortunate to be able to see these. Thank you for sharing the photos.

    Judy :)

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  18. I always say, you should strive for perfect but don't let it hold you back from getting it DONE!!
    If a guy galloping by on a horse can't see it, it doesn't matter!!
    Have fun out there.
    Cheers
    Lush
    London, UK
    PS the cheddar crosses in the border?? Be still my beating heart!!! Just gorgeous!!

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  19. Fantastic in it's simplicity, using two blocks. The sheer beauty in all the scrappy stars. I, for one, do not care about the points. I love the soft look of the constant fabric. A real winner!!

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  20. This might be my favorite antique quilt you've ever posted. I love how it's so imperfect up close, yet when you stand back it's gorgeous anyway. The tiny border is really intimidating, though - it's funny how the star blocks are so wonky while the border is so precise. Wonder if she made the blocks as an inexperienced youngster, and made the border later on? Love the backing/background prints, too.

    Hmm... 3" bowties as last year's L/E challenge, 3" spools this year.... maybe 3" stars for 2013? ;)

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  21. are the points suppose to be left on???? beautiful

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  22. are the points suppose to be left on???? beautiful

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  23. Thank you thank you thank you Bonnie for your regular encouragement in this area of chopped of points and imperfect intersections! I love triangles, and snow blocks, but trying to make them perfect ruins the fun and takes way toooooooo long, ugh. A new quilter at our quilt shop was saying she was about to tear a apart some of her blue sailboat blocks because of chopped off points. Thank heavens her teacher is another Bonnie Hunter fan and told her not too. I channeled you and told her to look at many top quilters' quilts on the internet and you will see none are perfect. Her quilt was darling. I was really encouraging myself too, because there are quilt snobs always lurking in quilt shop classes and I need to be brave in front of them, lol! Love the stars.

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  24. That star quilt had "Bonnie Hunter" written all over it-made from scraps and relaxed construction!! But, come on, 3" blocks-that would be an invitation to another "insane quilt" label!

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  25. What a stunning quilt. The background fabric is reminiscent of the original Nearly Insane, I think. That border is absolutely awesome -- got a quick-piecing method for it? (I know I could figure it out, but you, Bonnie, could design a quilt to go inside it. )

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  26. Wow, I wouldn't have even noticed the "missing"points if you hadn't of told us! I just love the stars and the fabrics too. How lovely to have seen the quilt in real life!

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  27. That picture of missing points really makes me feel a whole lot better as I have such a problem with points not getting chopped of that I avoid doing stars. I did not even notice it until I read the post about it. It is absolutely beautiful even with missing points. No quilt police there, I belonged to a guild where they wanted charity quilts to be show quality work.

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  28. Ok I'm seeing this as a Bonnie challenge.... let's see 3-inch stars... that means the center is probably 2 inches and the points are 1/2 inch?

    That would be fun.

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  29. I wonder how long it took this seamstress to construct this quilt? How many hours sitting in the lamp or candle light? Did she have an hour to press? Amazing work!

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