Weekend Skill Building

Pathfinder Quilt using Windham Paper Art Safari

I found this fabric, Windham Fabric's Paper Art Safari designed by Whistler Studios, on sale at Hancock's of Paducah. I bought yardage in all of the colorways without any idea on what I would do with it.  I searched for patterns, and I found this Whistler Studios (designer for Windham) Pathfinder free quilt pattern. It is only 40 x 40"...so not really big enough to serve as a throw--but one can preserve the inner medallion and make larger.  I really love this pattern and the use of fabrics/contrasts.  I thought I would try it. It does say for advanced quilters.  I'm not advanced, but I'm a little further along than beginner.   What was I thinking?  (note that the pic is NOT my quilt production but a photo of the finished quilt in the pattern).

Well, I was thinking that I have evolved enough in my quilting that I could tackle this pattern--or fail in a way that I would advance my skills meaningfully.  I was not wrong.  I tackled curved piecing, foundation piecing but not the eight pointed star.  But I thought I would give this a whirl.  Here are a few nuances.

Directional fabrics.  Notice the the ring outside of the star.  The direction of the fabric is maintained.  That means...taking some care to rotate the template.  (Same with the outer borders--order of fabric placement.  I did not take care to notice that at first and was happy to have my seam ripper in hand.)  I'll not make those mistakes again.  It seems so obvious...in retrospect.

Eight pointed Star.  I've never made one of those, and there are two videos (Edyta Sitar and Dee Christopher) that demonstrate this technique two ways. Please see here. I liked Dee Christopher's technique.The eight pointed star in this quilt has a template to cut the diamonds.  The diamond sides are not equal--there is a longer taper at the top of the star. (A small nuance for a newbie like me.).  Nevertheless, I made it, warts and all.  I also pieced it into the ring (sewing the inner circle to the outer. I still need to make a few adjustments.  My points do not line up with the seams--but it is okay with me.

The outer ring is foundation pieced.  I did a practice run on some scrap fabric.  There were no surprises--and this is a technique that I mastered previously after dedicating myself to it. To make this quilt, though, I had to order additional  Optic White Windham Fabric.  I had a mini-bolt of 9 yards, and I used my last piece on another project (Sparkle Magic Shine).  It is a lovely, brilliant white. I ordered 15 yards to get a "buy more and save" discount bringing my cost to $4.79 per yard.  (Note, that I had recently purchased some Kona "Snow" which is a new purchase for me.  It is a softer white than the Windham Optic White.  You just cannot know the difference until you look at it.

Which brings me to looking at fabric colors.  Like paint colors, fabric colors are relative colors around them and light.  (I think that is basic color theory).  Buying fabric on line (which is 90" of my purchases), one is limited by the monitor's interpretation of color..  Being able to buy some 'snow' and compare to 'optic white' helped a great deal.  And both have a place.

This pattern, then, gave me a superb way to tackle  deeper cognitive understanding of some more advanced techniques.  There is no better learning than doing, failing, and doing some more and failing better!