Miniature made during a busy, busy summer!

This summer has been very busy for us, with more to come. I'm so behind in blog reading and emails. Despite that, I managed to get a relaxing quilt related project going. It took me a whole month to make the top of this miniature.

Carol Doak, the queen of foundation paper piecing and the Carol Doak Quilting Yahoogroup, posted a free challenge pattern in early July. The Royal Miniature Star Challenge. All members of the group can download the pattern (and loads of other patterns) for free. The current cover photo for the group is of Carol's design for her pattern. The deadline for the challenge is August 15, but you'll still be able to download the pattern for quite some time after that.

It's been way too long since I made anything quilty. (I've got a few knitting projects to share one of these days.) It was time. 

One of the member's of our group, Mona, draws the patterns in EQ7 and shares it with the list. There is someone who draws it for Quilt Pro, too, but I have EQ7. I've never taken the time to really learn how to use EQ7. I used it to print out blocks of the pattern, in the original form and in two stretched sizes. (I couldn't just make the original design of the pattern!) Then I proceeded the old fashioned way. I cut up the blocks, arranged them, and glued them to paper. 

Then I scanned that and in Photoshop I whited out the extra lines.

 Then I colored it in.

I did make a very annoying mistake. I started the piecing using the patterns I printed on the printer paper instead of using the Carol Doak foundation paper. I was too lazy to start over again and I paid for it at the end in the HOURS it took me to take out the papers from the back. I don't think I will ever do that again!

Here is the finished approximately 9 1/2" square top.

The top was sitting on a black surface for this photo. I'm hoping that white batting and some quilting will camouflage the dark shadows. 

Enjoy!

Debbie