Carlene Foster's Gallery : Jewel Tones, Strip Piecing

Hanging Gardens

Carlene Foster — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 15:55:50 GMT

This quilt is called "Hanging Gardens" and was designed by Georgette Dell'Orco of Cozy Quilt Designs. It is meant for 2 1/2 inch strips. I ran across a 30 strip 5 x 22 bundle of cuts from a quilt show I had attended a couple of years ago and thought it was time to put them to use. This is a twin size quilt, as I only had a potential of 30 full strips after I cut them in half, one piece was black, so I took it out of the stack and was down to 29. The border fabric was in my stash for about the last 4 years, so it was time for it to go as well. It's a fast quilt to piece...I started Friday at 5:00 pm and finished Sunday morning at 12:35 am. (Let's say I was possessed and let that go! LOL) The background has a very light beige print on it, but I think the quilt will have more character if I have the long armer do it with a varigated thread.

Disappearing 9 patch with hearts

Carlene Foster — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 14:18:55 GMT

I did this from a pattern I got online. What a way to use up some of those fq's that you have no clue what to do with them! I loved it! Half a heart was 6 inches x 3.5 inches, so these were not small pieces. Just watch where you place the dark and light colors when you make your nine patches (before you slice and dice into individual blocks again.) Simple, fun, fast.

Iowa Star Scrap Quilt

Carlene Foster — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 14:25:22 GMT

This was a pattern created by a native of Traer, Iowa. This is just up the road from my sister's house, and I didn't even know there was a quilt shop so close to her...guess where I am stopping my next trip? This is the kind of quilt you do when the partiallly used fq's and the scraps outnumber the full pieces. It used a lot of scraps, and a lot of those fq's that I just didn't know how I was going to use them anywhere...ever. Loved the effect....and there will never be another one exactly like this one...ever. Next one I make, I will keep the neutrals very light and not use so much yellow on a focal block.

Orca Bay Mystery Quilt 2011

Carlene Foster — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 13:57:55 GMT

Bonnie K. Hunter's Orca Bay Mystery Quilt ran from Thanksgiving 2011 through January 1, 2012. This is my finished quilt top. Once again, Bonnie walked a group of quilters of various skills through a complex pattern by breaking it into managable steps. For me, the twist came at the end with those black/white border pieces...I never would have guessed that was what those were for. I was trying to put them around the Ohio Star units and thinking that the red string blocks would be around the border somehow. The biggest challenge I had putting the top itself together was those blue string blocks....if they weren't placed properly, the flow of the pattern just died in place. There are some of those that got removed and replaced at least 3 times, some 4. I blame it on quilt dyslexia. :)