Carlene Foster's Gallery : Woman

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.

Strings!

Carlene Foster — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 15:26:09 GMT

I cannot bear to throw away those strings: the cuts left at the end of the fabric that are less than 2 inches wide down to 1/2 inch wide. I sew them to 7 inch mujslin backs and then trim to 6.5 inch squares. This quilt top is 84 x 84. That is a lot of strings!

St. Louis Star #3

Carlene Foster — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 15:49:52 GMT

I did mention that I love this design, right? This was made with 8 inch finished stars, which I thought afterward were entirely too small (meaning, I didn't feel like making 50 of them to make a queen sized quilt). I put a 3 inch border of the background fabric around each star and set them on point to make them appear larger. :) Necessity is the mother of invention, right?

St. Louis Star #2

Carlene Foster — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 17:47:39 GMT

This is my second St. Louis Star quilt. The centers are fussy cut, and since there are only so many motifs available on one piece of fabric, there are some variations in the group. Different color pallate than the first, but equally visually interesting. The nice thing about the St. Louis Star is that there are no Y seams in the construction, although it certainly appears that there were several. I love it when someone figures out the easier way to do something for me ahead of time. :)

My first St. Louis Star Quilt

Carlene Foster — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 12:34:00 GMT

This is one totally versatile design and can be done in many different sizes and arrangements. I have done.....4? I saw this first published in a quilting mag and used my own red/green/black and wow fabrics. As it turned out, the original quilt was done in kind of a rusty brownish red and a kind of olive green. I took a class from the designer a couple of years later to learn how to do the glorified 9 patch. It was an experience I won't soon forget. :)

Buggy Barn teapots

Carlene Foster — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 12:25:04 GMT

Ummmmmmm....in my typical buggy barn fashion, I forgot to shuffle the bases for the teapot, so I had coffee pots instead. I took the dainty little bottom off the cups and made them coffee mugs to go with my newly formed coffee pots. It was a way to use up a fat quarter bundle I got from Connecting Threads.

Sampling sampler quilts completed

Carlene Foster — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 23:04:25 GMT

This is how I finished the blocks into a completed quilt top. You would think I shouls be finished with these fabrics by now, right? I found another 4 yards of the wild rose in the house after I had ordered 3 more yards (that brought the total to 15 yards purchased outside the original finishing set for the original wildflower rose BOM. And, I find myself with a bunch of the other fabrics left as well. Might be a lap quilt or more left in this batch....we are beyond bonus. Now we are into the "challenge phase" of how to use up this fabric.

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.

Stonehenge BOM 2012 (full picture)

Carlene Foster — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 16:04:52 GMT

Daylight allows me to take a picture of the entire quilt, as long as it is not raining or the wind is not blowing excessively. A little wind today, but not so bad temp wise, and no additonal snow (yet) I love the full effect of this quilt....more than I liked some of the individual blocks. If you make this one, watch the color combinations. I had a couple of blocks that were brown on brown with the biggest contrast being another shade of brown. I substitued the orange to liven it up a little.

Snap bags

Carlene Foster — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 19:35:59 GMT

Did I mention I have a lot of scraps to work with? Snap bags....held shut by two pieces of 1 inch wide tape measures cut to length. You would be surprised how stout the closure is...Pull tabs on the sides are recommended. Handles are optional. You can make all 3 sizes from two coordinating fat quarters, one to serve as the inside lining, the other to be the outside. Fast, easy and a certain gift giving wow factor. When my scraps were a little too narrow, I used coordinating fabrics for an extra strip on each side. No one said extra piecing wasn't allowed! LOL

Insanity in reds and greens

Carlene Foster — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 15:12:46 GMT

Carpenter's star and filler blocks. This was the third quilt I did........ever. I had a hard time figuring out how to put the rows together because of the fillers, so I did a lot of partial seams as I traveled down each row. Now that I know a little more of what I am doing, I wish I could find this pattern again! You could do this in any color combination you want....I just chose various shades of red and green because that is what the one in the picture looked like. I am kind of a visual person. :)

Let it Snow!

Carlene Foster — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 23:01:40 GMT

Coordinating batiks make for a quick quilt.

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.

Strip Therapy Kaleidoscope

Carlene Foster — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 04:07:21 GMT

One jelly roll, background fabric and border.......easy quilt. Strip Therapy Book 4, "Kaleidoscope".