Summer Sunsets nearing completion (of piecing)

The plan for yesterday was to do a lot of cutting because the piles on the cutting table are out of control. 

I started by cutting 2 more veterans kits from my patriotic batiks. I have 6 kits cut now and am waiting on some more beige batik to cut one or 2 more. After that I'll just have a small bin of scraps to use up when these quilts are done.

Then I decided to tackle the corners of the Summer Sunset quilts. I was able to tape 3 rulers together to get the length I needed for the diagonal cut. I don't know why I've never thought of taping rulers together before. It works great!

So here's the big star! 

Next I will add a 5" gradient border to get it to the size I need. We decided that we prefer it with the yellow end on the corners and the purple in the middle. I will get this done by the weekend for sure because I really want to move on to something (anything) else!

Here's the little one done. I want to get this one quilted soon although I know it's going to be a huge challenge where so many points meet. There's SO MUCH BULK in this quilt. The quilting is going to be much simpler than I originally planned. 

But before I do any quilting I will remove all the paper from both quilts. This paper was supposed to save a ton of time because it's "leave in" paper. If yo are familiar with the applique papers that you leave in, this is basically the same thing. It works great for applique because the paper isn't caught in layers and layers of seams. I may not have to remove ever single piece but I will remove it where there are seams. 

I will never use this paper for foundation piecing again. It seemed like such a great idea but I think this needs to in the applique toolbox. Thank goodness I still used the tiny stitch length that I usually use with foundation piecing!