Neatness is over-rated, right?

Lately I have been thinking about and working on Feathered Stars. 

 I found an excellent tutorial online using Google, book-marked it, and referred to it constantly.  This did NOT prevent my making a number of mistakes (this is, after all, a spatial task, and this is, after all, me) but I'm beginning to get the hang of this!  Find Molly's excellent step-by-step instructions here:   http://sewhappy10000.blogspot.com/2010/05/feathered-star-tutorial.html


It's essential to have a place to lay out the pieces....and in fact, it's helpful to view all work in progress vertically (instead of laying things out on the floor like I used to.)   The DHubby helped me create a design wall.   Alas, all kinds of things end up stuck on the design wall because it helps me keep track of them and gives me quick access (versus having to recall where I stored items last time I needed them.)

The design wall allows me to keep the elements organized.  Parts of three yet-to-be-assembled stars are laid out, while a completed star is in the upper left quadrant.  Exciting!  These 'Radiant Stars' have about 128 pieces each.  The pattern is from a book subtitled 'Really Hard Blocks that Take a Long Time to Make.'

I have since moved/consolidated/put away some of the items and straightened things out...because I had the next part of a Round Robin coming in the door.  In fact, putting this picture on my blog is shaming me into going downstairs and removing all of the non-essential odds and ends.  I hate spending time on the 'housekeeping' instead of working at the sewing machine.....but this mess is reaching critical mass, isn't it?