I'm still here!

It hasn't been the greatest winter around here. We had the flu and it was bitterly cold for quite awhile. Ahhh, such is life.
Remember the photo above? Turns out that project was the most difficult quilt I have ever made. It was inspired by an antique quilt that Stella Rubin had. She graciously gave me permission to make a mini version of it, but she requested a photo of the finished quilt. Had it not been for that, I would have ditched the whole thing many times! Miniature quilt making is always an exercise in problem solving, but this one was one problem after another! I neglected to get permission to use Stella's photos of her quilt, so I am unable to share those with you.
The white diamonds that immediately surround the stars were stuffed in Stella's quilt. So that was the first problem. Here's s what I did:

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Then it was time to sew the stars together.

The ruler shows you the size of the stars.

Sewing the rows  together.

Then came the biggest problem - the border. The original quilt had appliques. They were in the style of the early 1800's with that airy and whimsical look. I couldn't applique flowers and leaves that small. I tried embroidery, but cotton floss was too shiny. Then I tried linen floss, which had the matte finish I wanted, but the color selection wasn't right. A museum curator and friend, suggested stenciling. Oh, duh, why didn't I think of that? Next problem - I had to teach myself how to do it and find paints that would work on fabrics. Plus I had to make miniature stencils. Finally, it got finished.

I don't remember ever being this happy to finish a quilt. It finished  at 20.5" x 23.5 "

All the fabrics are from the early 1800's.

Well, a belated happy 2018! Hope all my quilty friends are well and busily quilting future heirlooms.

Till next time.......

Sheila