Two things....

Here is the current Brackman Block.  I am happy to be caught up and staying current.  Just a reminder - I am using the same plain background fabric in all the blocks to keep the 4" blocks from being too busy.  I had to go back and change a couple of blocks, as in the beginning of this project I forgot what I was doing and didn't use the plain fabric in all of them.  Isn't getting old fun????

Karen at the Log Cabin Quilter ( click on the name to visit her blog.) left a comment saying that she was surprised I was hand piecing the Miniature Bethlehem Star.  She has a wonderful blog that showcases the lovely work she does, so check it out.  She mentioned that she had successfully pieced a couple of these quilts by machine.  Judging from her blog, I am sure the quilts were very nice indeed!  (Time out right here to thank everyone who troubles themselves to leave comments.  Bloggers love comments and I am no exception.)  Anyway, thought I would elaborate on why I am doing this series of quilts that way.  Here goes:
In late 2008, I started the series now called the Portfolio Series.  I wanted to do a whole bunch of quilts made with antique fabrics.  The date of the fabrics would be in keeping with the style of the quilt.  All these quilts would be roughly the same size.  The maximum size that will fit in my artist's portfolio is 13.625" x 15.5".  That is not very big for a quilt. It presents a lot of problems to overcome.  One problem is seam allowances - a quarter inch is just not going to work when you are making quilts on this scale.  It is possible to piece them with a quarter inch and then trim the seam allowance down.  So, that method is a good one to use if you are machine piecing.  Another machine method is foundation paper piecing.  A very accurate method and I have nothing against it other than I personally don't enjoy doing it and it gives a certain look to the finished product that I am not after.  I am trying to create miniature versions of antique quilts.  I want you to look at a photo of these quilts and think that it is a full size antique quilt.  That is my goal.  Why?  I don't know.  I just enjoy doing it.  So, after much experimentation and thought over the years, by 2008 I knew what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it.  Hand piecing.  I find it to be straight forward and relaxing.  For me it is the easiest way to achieve my goals.  It is also in keeping with the way a lot of those original quilts were made.  I also hand quilt all the quilts in this series.  I do not have anything against machine piecing.  I have machine pieced full sized quilts in the past and have had some of them machine quilted.  It is just not what I chose to do for my miniature series. Hopefully the photo above gives you some idea of how small the pieces are and you can see why hand piecing just turns out to be easier.
Let me know what you think.......
Sheila