Carlene Foster's Gallery : Twin

One block wonder

Carlene Foster — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 12:03:26 GMT

This is a repeat of the same star block, just by using different corner pieces, they look totally different. Of course, it is me, so it is still scrappy. :) The small sashings bring your eyes out so that it looks like one star is framed in the middle of a bunch of x's. I just thought that was the appeal to this pattern...starting with one thing and ending up with something that appears much more complex than it is. Downfall to this pattern was that it called for 2 5/8 inch squares for the outer corners, and I was using scraps from 2 1/2 inch strips, so I lost most of my star points in the process. Even rounded off, I like them (although it obviously bugs me).

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.

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! :)

Grandmother's Flower Garden made modern

Carlene Foster — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 12:30:52 GMT

Most of us have, at one time or another, gotten the English paper piecing bug, if for no other reason than a multitude of scraps and a curiosity about the process. I had done several flowers and they had set around for a few years waiting for me to address them. So.....I used mine in a quilt as you go setting, separating each flower into its own block, then surrounding the garden with a picket fence. Now, I don't have to feel guilty about not tending to my flowers. :)

Antebellum Ladies

Carlene Foster — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 12:22:09 GMT

What do you do with those preprinted panels that call to you from the fabric store? There were 12 ladies on a sheet, the challenge was what to do with them. 9 patch blocks on fabrics coordinating with the ladies dresses, wide rick rack to mimick the rick rack surrounding each of the ladies on the panel, and a lot of microstippling.

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.

Pinks and purples

Carlene Foster — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 20:31:34 GMT

Inspired by one block from a sampler quilt and leftovers from the Wildflower Rhapsody BOM that I completed. I'm liking this combination of fabrics almost better than the original quilt.

Sampler

Carlene Foster — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 20:23:04 GMT

Sometimes, for inspiration, I need to do a sampler quilt. Then, I can decide if there is a block I like better than the others...something to inspire the next project. This was one of those quilts. I had a lot of fabric left over from Marty Michel's Wild Rose fabric line. So, I just went to town making this quilt.

Rhythm and blues

Carlene Foster — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 20:03:56 GMT

Patter by Me and My Sister Designs called Lemon Blush. Mine was doen in a Blue Hawaiin jelly roll and the border fabric was a tribute to 150 years of the Blues, out of KC, MO.

Pentagon prototype

Carlene Foster — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 18:23:27 GMT

This wasn't a pattern, per se. The stars were made with a specialty ruler called "Jewel Box Gems 5 and 10". I had bought the wide border fabric a few years ago at Hancocks when it was on sale (of course), so there was no chance of getting more. I had enough of the wide border fabric to fussy cut the spokes on the stars, and then found out there was enough left to do a border around the outside. The pink fabric around the stars was the only piece I had leftover from another series of fabrics, also not a current line. It was my limiting factor, as there was only enough of it to do 6 of these pentagon shaped medallions. The blue......controversial choice, but I was tired of the muted colors and didn't have a green that would match the swirls in the border fabric, so I went with the turquoise. The connecting wedges......eek.... I didn't have any more of the pink fabric and I didn't have anything that would match any of the rest except the turquoise, which I had already had some resistance to. So, I went to the quilt shop, took the pieces, explained what I wanted to do. The owner majored in engineering when she was in college, so she figured out the angles for me and we picked the dark pink fabric from her inventory. It took me about 4 months to get the courage to decide to complete this endeavor. My first task was to find my Squedge ruler, which is the 18 degree one, because I needed a 36 degree angle. Freezer paper template was made, I was in business. Lucky for me, there was enough of the dark pink to bind the quilt when it was done, too. That is how this quilt came to be. All because I wanted to (1) use up some fabric that was already in my stash and (2) to finally use one of those specialty rulers that I "just had to have". This is the first quilt I have hand quilted in a few years now. Pentagon.....probably would fit a double bed, but I'm thinking it would drape better off a single bed. I could see this pattern done with red stars, white insets and an entirely navy blue background, blending the wedges into the background pieces.

Bits and Pieces

Carlene Foster — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 22:33:41 GMT

I love brights, and I love scrappy. This pattern allowed me to use up some of my scraps and practice some new patterns. I think I needed this after a round of pastels and florals....

Glorified 9 Patch

Carlene Foster — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 22:30:53 GMT

I actually had a chance to take a one day class with Toby Litscho and this was the result of that class. The border, although complicated looking, is simply a large stripe fabric. I just love the color and play in this quilt design. Toby is big on curved piecing and accuracy. For me, the hardest thing about finishing this project was getting up the skill and the nerve to do the free hand feathering to complete the quilting. I finished the top in August/September 2010 and didn't get the quilting done until 2011.

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. :)

Flourishing St. Louis Star

Carlene Foster — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 21:34:50 GMT

This is my third quilt this season from Robert Kaufman's Flourish fabric. I am hoping there is only enough left to make a table runner or something small. I'm ready to be finished with this fabric, although it is still my favorite so far. The pattern for the stars is from Toby Lisshko's St. Louis Star. The large one is 16 inches, the smaller are 10 inches. If you have a chance to check out her book, you will see how sinfully easy these stars are....there are no Y seams. My biggest challenge was that I ran out of the green fabric and had to really scrimp to make it go as far as it did. That was the beauty of the St. Louis Star pattern. You can make a lot out of a little. The quilt pattern itself is one of my own making.....I'm not certain how much of a design you can call this, but I definitely did not have a pattern beyond the stars themselves.