In January I posted a quiz on my HollyDee Quilts Facebook page – How many of my own Judy Niemeyer Quilts Tops do I have to quilt? The answer was 11 – that was on January 16th. Today is February 1st and I now have an even dozen! I am so excited because I just finished my Captains Wheel Quilt Top, pattern by Judy Niemeyer. (Judy’s Original). (Someday I will count how many other quilt tops I have of my own to quilt!)
I started cutting the fabric on December 16th. (Remember I also am a long arm quilter and we had the holidays in there – I did not sew every day on this project, I just fit a couple of hours in here and there.

The fabric – time to chop it into little pieces…..see the tan and bright yellow in the back? They did not make the cut!
A fantastic rainbow of color – I hope this is as pretty as think it is going to be!

Lots of little pieces – the one in the very front here are the replacements for the tan and bright yellow
I think I am in love!

Look at the magic when you sew those little pieces back together to make a big piece of fabric again!

When you take the time to spin the ends you get rid of that huge bump that makes it very difficult to quilt. And a very pretty pinwheel. Thanks to Ardelle from Canada for teaching me how to do this!
See the fabric that randomly changes color around the smaller captains wheel block – that is the replacement fabric – much better than tan don’t you agree?
If you have already made this pattern or are currently working on it – you will notice that my corner is different than the pattern. I added a line down the center of the corner so my color wheel would work it’s way around the quilt properly.
The original pattern includes a rope that undulates around the quilt between the border and the Captains’ Wheel blocks
The rope really finishes it off and I love how the colors change as it goes around. I purchased the fabric at Houston International Quilt Festival in November with no particular project in mind – serendipity!
Now for some fun….. The pattern is “Captains Wheel” This is a companion quilt for “Mariners Compass”. Both of these quilts need names – do you have a good idea for a name?
Captains Wheel – “Fireworks”
Mariner’s Compass – “Spirogyra”
Northern Lights — or Celestial Navigation