Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Winter Star--Finish


This finish feels like it has been a long time coming, so I am very happy to share it with you today.  This is the last of the Aurifil Mystery Designer mini quilts from 2015.  It completes my set of 12 minis.  The finial one.  The pattern is called Winter Stars and was designed by Celine Perkins. (You can read Pat Sloan's interview with Celine here)  Celine's version of Winter Stars showed a wonderful off white print for the background fabric and rich deep blues for the stars.  When I started piecing my version I was getting quite tired of the color white.  We were in the middle of snow storm Jonas and this was the view from my sewing room.


I still wanted my quilt to have a winter feel so I decided on switching the colors a bit.  I wanted a back ground of dark blue with bright pops of white stars.  When I found the fabric with the little anchors I was in love.


Piecing went pretty quick with this one.


In no time at all I had flying geese and strips sets assembled into blocks.


The snow stopped falling, the sun came out again and I found myself with a completed top.  I decided to trek out into the snow for a few scenic shots of quilt tops.  I thought this would be the perfect chance to see Winter Stars against the snow.  



I figured by the time this one was quilted the spring peepers (tiny frogs) would be chirping again...and I was right.

The quilting plan for this one came together very quickly.  This mini knew exactly what it wanted as soon as the markers hit the Plexiglas.  My love for tiny pebbles and the ease of quilting dot-to-dot designs ruled the design.  (check out my Craftsy review of Angela Walter's Dot-to-Dot quilting class.  If you have not tried this simple form of quilting you are missing out.)


I knew I wanted my thread to match as closely as possible.  I found two spools in my stash that would work for the lighter blue sections.  I went with the gray spool on the right, it just blended better.


None of my blue spools quite worked with this project.  Most of them were not even close in shade or seemed to bright against the fabric.  I hopped over to Hawthorn Threads to check out the color chart of Aurifil 50w thread.  I narrowed it down to two spools that I felt certain would work and ordered both of them.  We all know I will use that other spool eventually...I LOVE THREAD.  This is my only complaint about online ordering, sometimes you just have to have the spool in your hand.


I am glad I ordered both spools.  I was leaning toward the one on the right based on the online pictures but the one on the left worked like a charm.  Now with my spools chosen it was time to put thread to fabric.  Let the quilting begin!


The only lines I marked where the straight diagonal lines breaking up my background.  I used my walking foot to quilt them.  Everything else was pure free motion fun.


For my background I stuck with pebbling and a continuous curvy line.  The stars and patchwork blocks had various dot-to-to lines and curves.  Let me officially introduce you to the Aurifil thread that brought this creation to life.


#2021 natural white, #2610 light blue grey and #2785 very dark navy

And how about a few more goody shots before we wrap up?






And of course I framed my quilt using Susie's Magic Binding method over at 52 Quilts

2016 has brought with it a new Aurifil Designer Mystery BOM.  Pat Sloan releases the new block around the 15th of each month over at her free pattern page.  I believe 2015 was the first time they tried the mini quilt a month.  I'm not sure how well it went over, but I loved it!  I hope they will consider doing it again in the future.  But it is never too late to make one of the mini's from last year.  Here is a recap of all the Aurifil Mini's I made from last year.  For more details hop on over to my Aurifil Mini Gallery.




Now that my 2015 goal of finishing all these little babies is complete, it is time to recharge, refocus and complete some of my 2016 goals.  One of those goals included more pattern writing.  Last year I participated in the Fabri-Quilt New Block Blog Hop and created Watermelon Taffy.  I am happy to announce I will be participating in the New Block Blog Hop again this year hosted by Paintbrush Studio.


The hop will be at the end of the month and is being hosted by Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl, Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs and Stephanie at Late Night Quilter and will run March 28th through the 30th.  I hope you will stop back by to see what I come up with.  Will there be a ton of tiny pieces in my block or will I go with something simple?  We shall see my friends.





16 comments:

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

The quilting on this is fantastic, Tish. Actually, looking over all 12 of your mini quilts from the year, I have to say this might be my favorite, but it's a tough call. Congratulations on getting them all done!

Heide said...

Such a beautiful little quilt, love the colors that you picked and wonderful quilting.

Anja @ Anja Quilts said...

Congrats on the finish. And congrats for finishing all 12 minis. I made the January BOM but didn't like the February one. I thought it would be fun after seeing your minis. But I think I might go back and make the 2015 ones. What size plexiglass do you have? Need to add this to my list to go find.

Unknown said...

Wow. Your quilting is superb and your minis are spectacular!! Thank you for sharing - it's always such a creativity boost when you see beautiful quilts. And thank you for sharing how you decide on your quilting. I own that plastic stuff and forget to use it. No more - you've made me sit and get smart about being able to choose great patterns for the quilting!!

Jayne said...

Oh Tish! The quilting is amazing! Love all the detail. I have got to go watch my Dot To Dot class (I'm so behind)!! Every one of your minis are amazing. Seeing all these makes me want to make half a dozen or so and practice my FMQ! Thanks for sharing!

Sewmotion said...

Wow! Well done on such a mammoth finish, they are all wonderful, though I particularly like your last one, stunning quilting, Angela Walters is a true inspiration isn't she! I'm visiting from Lorna's Let's Bee Social, nice to meet you.

Marlene said...

This mini is just gorgeous and what awesome quilting that really brings it to life. Congratulations on finishing all twelve minis, they are great-a nice display all hung together.

Lisa J. said...

I love this quilt so much Tish that I want it. The dark blue makes a beautiful background and the quilting is of course divine. I'm looking forward to seeing your new block design...I'm kind of sad that I couldn't participate in this one as I'm "international" but oh well.

Stitchin At Home said...

Beautiful Tish!! The quilting is fantastic. Congrats on getting them all done, I only made the first one.

Kate @ Smiles From Kate said...

I've had a great time looking at all the quilts in your Aurifil Mini Gallery. I think Hi De Ho Cheerio is my favourite, it was the quilting that got me, lovely. Just clicking through from Can I Get a Whoop Whoop.

Vicki in MN said...

I love your new mini finish! Fab quilting too ;-) So glad you showed all your mini's since most were made before I knew about your blog!!

Beth @ Cooking Up Quilts said...

I am in awe of your mad quilting skills! Your mini's are just fabulous and I can just imagine them hanging together on a wall of mini quilts. Seriously, I just can't say enough good things about how great your quilting is Tish. :)

Anonymous said...

HELLO,just beautiful!Want to do one like it! Thanks for sharing!
msstitcher1214@gmail.com

karenquiltz said...

great innovative quilting, I'm sharing your link on my blog and I am looking forward to seeing what you do next.

Unknown said...

Love the top and your quilting. All minis are great! I love them.

Sandra Walker said...

Okay please slap me up side the head because I somehow missed this post. I absolutely LOVE the second last shot of this mini holy Dinah, it shows off your beautiful quilting Tish!! I'm also partial to the flimsy on the snow...ahh. I could use a little of that on a hot day like today! The collage is fabulous; what a great idea and I bow to thee oh mini queen. You better win something in that contest. Or speaking of slap up side the head, I might be doing that to one of the people running the contest/giveaway, whatever it is. Beautiful and so well done from fabric and thread choices, to piecing execution, to quilting, to binding. Will this one to me okay?

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