I wanted to get a quick idea of how these would look together, so I went out of order and sewed 2 rows of 2.  That means that I needed to finish four more sets of 2 before I can get back to sewing these  one row at a time.

So…for now I need to complete the tenth one – just so I can sew the ninth one on.  I’m impatient – I admit it!  I’m sure there are plenty of people who cut out all the strips first, and then cut all the individual pieces next and so on.  Working a block at a time inspires me though because I can see the actual progress.

One thing I really like about paper piecing is because there is a fair amount of cutting and pressing, it’s easy to do when I’m on the phone.

I was on the phone with three different friends Monday night, and again for another hour or more last night.  The first was my neighbor across the street.  “Are you sewing?”  I laughed – of course!  She knew that already because she knows I sew in the front room of our house so when she sees the light on in there, she knows what I’m up to.

Initially, I printed out 30 copies of the template page – I’ll need 100 by the time I’m done (and yes, that means I’m almost a third done with the top – yay!). By the end of Monday evening, I had cut enough templates for 2 more blocks as well as pressed the seams on the ones I had finished sewing.  That sped up the sewing process last night but it’s not good for me to get too far ahead.

One other thing I noticed on some of the early blocks was I was missing some of the points of the star. I’m not crazy about using pins (and yes, in this picture I grabbed what I had and a flat head pin would’ve helped).  Holding a pin in place at the tips has made all the difference in the world with having sharp points at the edges so I’m glad I started doing that before I got too far down the road on this quilt.

Initially, I had a crazy idea I might like to make a feathered star quilt.  I think I have gotten that out of my system for now at least – haha!  I might still make one next year or so, but definitely not when I’m working on the Splendid Sampler or any other big projects.

And finally, a random photo of our kitty.  She thinks she the boss – can you tell?  She’s 17 years old and from the looks of it, she’s missing a few teeth but she’s as feisty as she ever was.  That would make a great art quilt…