Carlene Foster's Gallery : Machine Piecing, Charity

Bonus blocks

Carlene Foster — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 16:01:15 GMT

What do you do with the parts of your hst that you cut off? Do you throw them away, or keep them until you have enough of them to do something else? I save mine. These are leftover from quilts I have made in the past 2 years, with a basic filler fabric to calm it down a bit. This is already a large lap without any borders. And, basically, it was a free one for me...I like those :) I have 3 more large collections of free quilt blocks, just need to decide how to group them into something that will resemble a finished project. :)

Scrappy stars

Carlene Foster — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 21:56:42 GMT

Never give me a batch of scraps and think I'm never going to use them...I find ways of putting them to some sort of use! Just need borders to finish this one. The star blocks finish at 8 x 8. I just used neutral sashings and scrappy cornerstones to keep the background from swallowing the stars.

Duck tracks--very scrappy

Carlene Foster — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 18:32:25 GMT

This is the reason my local quilt shop owner hates scrappy quilts. This is a 60 x 80 quilt top made with nothing but scraps, the colored pieces were all 2 x 2 or smaller. Unfortunately, this didn't make as much of a dent in my scraps as I was hoping...more scraps to come! :)

Catch the Rainbow!

Carlene Foster — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 22:52:32 GMT

What do you do when you find yourself with a rainbow of scraps? Make a rainbow quilt, of course! This was a controlled paper bag pieced quilt. Each block had no repeats of fabrics, but the order that the block went into the design depended on which order it got pulled from the paper bag. So, each block got sorted by color, then thrown into the bag and pulled out one piece at a time.

Black, white and red allover

Carlene Foster — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 15:05:51 GMT

This is a technique using a special ruler called a "Twister'. This particular throw used one fq bundle and some yardage for the outer border. It isn't very large, and I still have a stack of biased red, white and black 4 patches left over from the process. I am not a fan of the waste that you get from this tool. You start with a charm pack, or a bunch of 5 x 5 patches, sew them all together, then use the tool to cut a piece of every intersecting seams. I have cats, so there were many times that I feared my stack of petals would be rearranged until I could get back to them. By the time I had done this throw, I was over the process. Maybe as a one or two item accent......potholders. a cornerstone for a larger quilt that you just want to do something different....but, I'm not a whole quilt fan of this tool.

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.

1600 inches

Carlene Foster — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 13:47:52 GMT

This is a fun way to use a jelly roll to create a nice throw quilt with some interesting texture. The applique chicken was just for fun.

Circle of Blooms

Carlene Foster — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:30:20 GMT

This is my rendition of a pattern by Pam Bono that was published in Quilter Magazine June/July and August/ September 2011. I instantly fell in love with the finished product. The process in getting there was a little more "painful"......I'm not certain if I just was so excited to be doing it that I failed to carefully read the directions, or what happened, but I did a lot of unsewing and a lot more piecing when I thought I was ready for actual construction. This was the first large Pam Bono project I have ever done, so it is hard to say why I just couldn't get things to come together as the instructions stated. I love the finished product, though, and I'm ready to do another of her patterns. :)

In the meantime, Bonnie K. Hunter: Please excuse the fact that I have not completed the Orca Bay Mystery quilt steps 7 or 8 yet. I was a little preoccupied. :)