I tried a different computer. Here is the picture of the circa 1890 quilt I made with some of my hst's

Barb, do you have a picture for us of the first 200 HSTs???

I just finished this top using 200 of the hst's from our SoTTT exchange - I replicated an antique quilt I had seen - Circa 1890

I will have it quilted and ready for Carol's DVD deadline in January. I still have over 550 hst's to use, hmmmmm.

I am getting started on a strip quilt next, using the batik strips from our exchange - have grand hopes of getting that posted next week.

Hope everyone is enjoying making their projects.

Have fun with it Ginochka! Looking forward to seeing what you decide to do!

Thanks Margo, I don't want to have the quilting to close as I see this as a quilt that will be used and I would like it to be soft with air pockets.
I have also noticed that the blue washout markers run out rather quickly, I'll be trying the crayola markers.
ginochka

Ginochka, you can get one Mark-B-Gone blue marker for $3.75 http://columbiariverquilting.com/mark_b_gone.html

You can get one Clover washable blue marker for $4.19 http://www.createforless.com/Clover+Water+Soluble+Marker+Blue+Fine/pid4915.aspx

Or, you can get eight Crayola WASHABLE markers for $4.49 and they come in different colors: http://www.staples.com/Crayola-Washable-Markers-Fine-Line-8-Box/product_430942 (Probably even cheaper right now with back-to-school supplies on sale!)

The only draw back to the crayola markers is that you can't "erase" the marks like you can with the other 2 markers. When I mark something wrong, I just get a different color marker and re-draw it.

No matter which of these markers you use, they MUST be washed out of the finished quilt. (Spritzing the blue markers to make it disappear only drives the chemicals into the batting to re-appear later!)

Borders first? It depends. I always stitch my outside edges down to be sure they stay square to the frame, and I will stabilize the borders as I go if I'm doing the center of the quilt first. I like to stabilize the entire quilt first so that I can then roll to any part that I want to work on without worrying about shifting. Sometimes this means that I baste the entire quilt with Superior's VANISH thread before I ever start quilting. That's what I did with "It's a Small World". Then I did the fill in the center and did the borders last.

As for your borders, I would stitch them like I drew them. Stitch around each square and do parallel lines between them. In fact, you could do the same treatment for the next row in, so the unquilted squares would alternate in the parallel lines. I'm not sure how much quilting you are intending to do, so it's hard for me to say.

Margo, just curious, do you quilt your borders first? Also a question about the crayola washable markers, is there a reason you prefer them to the blue washout quilt marker, are they less expensive or do you like having different colors to use? I'm not sure about the border because I don't have a solid strip , I have those squares in the border and I'm not sure if I would do the border motif right over them or design it around them?

Ginochka wrote:
That would be great! I would still make some kind of separation around the outer edges to create a frame, but that's just because I have a need for boundaries!!
I used an over-all design on mine too, just to give it some curvy texture.

[url]community/my-profile/Margo[/url]

Margo,
I'm using my longarm I was thinking of an organic freehand overall pattern from the front.

I don't know if you will be hand quilting or machine quilting on a domestic or using a long-arm, but this design will give you nice texture, and be do-able with any technique.

Just SID on every diagonal seam, and if there is no diagonal seam, stitch one in the opposite direction. Just parallel lines around the outside edge will frame it nicely.
If you will be using a long-arm, I would suggest lots of curves instead of the straight lines. Maybe a leaf motif?

I'd like to get my quilt done before Sept 1st but I'm not yet sure how I want to quilt it. I was thinking of an overall texture since the piecing pattern is busy with little pieces of fabric. I welcome any other ideas.
Ginochka

Leslie, Carol is accepting Strippers projects for the book also! I hope you have something ready for the January deadline!

Ginochka,
Beautiful! I am stalled with the designs on my HST quilt... just don't want to blow it! I am almost finished piecing the top for some of the strips from the Sensational Stripper (!) exchange. I had found a pattern in the Edyta Sytar book that I loved, so I am having a fabulous time with that. Next step (with some BOM work in between) HSTs!!! Would love to be in time for the Jan deadline, but don't know if I can make it.

I am impressed with the wonderful finished quilts. Wish I was farther along than that. I've blogged about my progress at http://quiltingbeargal.blogspot.com/2011/07/what-do-baseball-and-hsts-have-in.html if you want to stop by and take a look.

Now I need to travel with my HSTs to the design wall (or actually design floor).

Donna K. from N. TX aka Quilting Bear Gal