Death Star Mini in Progress

Six days and counting until Christmas!  Woohoo!  Many of my long arm quilting pals have already finished their final quilts for the year.  I have another Border Creek mystery identical to the one Jane sent me a few months ago loaded up and will be working on that over the next week or so, likely into the new year.

As for personal projects, I still have a half dozen or so in progress.  My red and tan quilt hasn't been touched as I have just been too busy with other projects.  I did start a death star mini in honor of the new Star Wars movie though!

I found the pattern and printed it from quirkygranolagirl.blogspot.com...just in case you'd like to make your own.  :)

I didn't follow her directions but instead opted to print out a main pattern, and a second on Stable Stuff stabilizer.  This stuff is pretty cool as it's actually made to stay in your quilt.  I cut each piece individually using my paper printed pattern as a guide for the colors (I wrote on each piece what I planned to use - dark, medium, or light fabric) and turned each piece using a glue stick.  I have already begun hand stitching the tiny pieces together in rows using black and white Invisifil.  I haven't chosen a background yet but I'm thinking solid black as I chose all calico prints for the blacks in the death star itself...so I think there will be enough contrast.

When I'm finished I will just wet the project and leave the stabilizer inside.  Water is supposed to dissolve whatever it is that makes this stabilizer stiff...and leaves a thin polyester fiber behind.  Kind of cool!  I will share a little more of how this process goes later on.  I have heard it is also wonderful used as a stabilizer for paper piecing!  I particularly like how it has the potential to leave fullness in applique that you might not get otherwise...or without adding some kind of trapunto.  Oh how we quilters love possibilities!

In other news that I am super excited to share...I finally got a Gravity Quilt to work on!  Woohoo!!!!  I'm so excited about this one.  It belongs to a semi-local gal who discovered me through my neighbor.  Well my oh my she's a modern quilter who has an affinity for Jaybird Quilts patterns so I'm pretty excited to see what more she has to send my way.  I get a lot of traditional quilts...which I absolutely love...but it's always fun to play around with something different too!

If I don't get a chance to before the holiday - have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  Lots of exciting things to share with you in the next year...and I cannot wait!

Until then...may the force be with you on your quilting journey!  :)