Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Star Blossom-Baby Quilts


If you haven't heard my news yet, David (Dave the Quilt Engineer) and I have finally released our first pattern together called, Star Blossom.  You can read all about it here and even enter a chance for a give away of the pattern (open until Sunday at midnight). 

But today I wanted to talk a little more in detail about the quilting of these quilts.  When I wrote the pattern and got to the finishing section and typed the words "quilt as desired," I must admit, I cringed a bit.  I know I can't be the only one that develops a tick when I hear/read those words.  Why is it that after spending all that time chopping up fabric and putting it back to together those three words can stop us dead in our tracks, make us cry and abandon a project quicker than a blink??? 

I DO NOT want that to happen to you.  No I do not.  So I decided to talk a bit about the quilting, so that maybe just maybe, if you make this quilt, you can be inspired to finish it completely.  The pattern cover quilt (lap sized) was quilted entirely with good ol' straight lines using Aurifil #2021 50wt.


I guess we could call this beginner quilter friendly.  Seriously, all you need is a walking foot.  Straight lines provide wonderful texture to just about any quilt you can think of.  But do not limit yourself, go for wavy lines.  Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts almost always uses simple wavy lines and her quilts are scrumptious!!!

Next on deck is the smaller baby quilt (38" square) made by David.  He went with a scrappy look, using grays, black and reds.  I think it gave the quilt sort of a masculine feel.


I'll call this confident beginner quilting and really it's mostly straight lines with just a little bit of free motion going on.  I decided to do all the quilting in Aurifil #2610 Light Blue Grey 50wt.  This beautiful gray was just the right shade to add texture without overwhelming the prints.  Grays are always a nice neutral to have on hand. 

I started off by quilting straight lines on the diagonals of the center of the quilt. 


And then simply echoed the "v's" that were created at about 1/2" apart.



I chose to quilt them with rulers and a ruler foot, but you could easily use your walking foot.  With a walking foot, you could mark the lines with your favorite disappearing marking utensil or just use the edge of your foot as a guide. 


I left the red corner stones of the sashing unquilted for a little bit of poof and free motion quilted ribbon candy into the sashing strips.  If you wanted to stick with straight lines (which I kind of wish I had) you could easy have quilted simple straight lines in the sashings.  The outer border is quilted using piano keys stitched 1" apart.  When I came to the corners I stitched radiating lines for a little bit a fun and interest.

After David finished this version, I decided it needed to be a bit bigger so I ran to the local big box store and grabbed some cheaper yardages to test the pattern adding a 2" inner border (which I loved the addition and wrote it as an option into the pattern).  I was floored when I actually fell in love with my 'make-do" fabric quilt and felt it needed to be a bit more custom quilted.


For the blue and green sections I chose Aurifil #5017 Shining Green and #1126 Blue Grey.


In the center star I broke each section into two diamond-ish shapes using dot to dot quilting.


And in the tulip like shapes, I added some more dot to dot quilting and filled the center section with a swirl hook.  Really any filler would look great or even just echoing the center shape inside itself.




In the small yellow border I stitched simple straight lines 1/4" from each edge in Aurifil # 2130 Medium Butter.  For the quilt's background I chose to stipple in Aurifil #2310 Light Beige and also echoed 1/4" from each edge in the center star shape.


I chose to treat the corner stone squares and the three connecting budding squares as one section and quilted them all in Aurifil #5017 Shining Green.  The green and dark blue squares received a wish bone filler going straight into continuous curves for the yellow squares.


In my large borders, I stitched a wavy spine around the quilt and filled the inside with feathers and the outer side with pebbles in Aurifil #5017 Shining Green.  Hind sight, I probably would have just went with the piano key border.  The fabric pattern is so busy  that it's kind of hard to see the quilting, but I had fun, so that counts.


I almost forgot the dark blue sections between each of the tulip sections.


I used Aurifil #1126  Blue Grey and since it blends in it's a little hard to see the stitching, but I used swirls to create a heart in a heart shape.  I drew it out on my Plexiglas board so that you could see the shape a bit better.


Here is a picture of the quilt from the back so that you can see all the textures a little bit better.


One of my main goals in creating and writing patterns is to create pieces that show off your beautiful fabrics, but also will inspire you to quilt them as well.  If you would like to pick up your own copy of Star Blossom, it is on sale right now in my Craftsy Store until Sunday at midnight.  The pattern includes instructions for baby, lap, full and queen size quilts and is beginner friendly.


There are infinite ways to quilt these quilts.  How would you quilt yours?  If you have purchased Star Blooms and make the quilt, I would love to see how you quilt it or have it quilted.  If you get stuck shoot me an email, maybe I can help. 

As always, thank you for stopping by Wonderland and may you have a happy quilty day.


One last picture...me with the baby Star Blossom, I entered in the local quilt show.  She got a second place ribbon!!!  So proud of her.




22 comments:

SandraC said...

Nice quilt and so nice to get quilting ideas!

Jayne said...

I hear you on 'quilt as desired'!! I still think straight line quilting is good for just about any quilt, but there are times when we want to spread our wings! Using a walking foot helps a lot. And FMQ...you gotta take a chance every once in a while! You always come up with great designs. My brain doesn't seem to go there very often!

Home Sewn By Us said...

Hi Tish,
Thank you so much for sharing your quilting ideas and method. I love straight line quilting because I am comfortable with it (and even a little curvy lines) but you are inspiring me to branch out more and more. That is what is so great about the quilting blog community - inspiration abounds! ~smile~
Roseanne

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

I really like that you shared so many different ideas and thoughts on quilting this pattern. It sounds like you might even be inspiring others to try FMQing a bit more, too, which is awesome! :)

Mari said...

Congratulations on your ribbon! These look great together. I also cringe at "quilt as desired." Straight-line quilting almost always looks great. Thanks for all the ideas! (I also love how you've shown the designs, on the plastic.)

Susan said...

Great quilt design - congrats! I, too, don't like 'quilt as desired' and try to include quilting ideas in the patterns I write, by explaining how I quilted the sample. At least it's a starting point. Thanks again for sharing this cute quilt on Midweek Makers

Nancy J said...

This is so helpful, and I admit when I get to the quilting stage, I stop!!! More confidence and lots more practise will help, and your photos, and all the details, and showing designs on the plexiglass are a huge bonus.

Stitchin At Home said...

Quilt as desired should be followed by a few suggestions. You more than accomplished that with this post.

Kathy S. said...

Beautiful colors -- and quilting. Very thought out. Come join us at Mama Sparks world for a linky party. There could be a giveaway! Tell her Kathy S. sent you.
http://mamaspark.blogspot.com/2017/06/wips-with-friends-and-giveaway.html

Janice Holton said...

Thank you so much for taking pity on those of us with no imagination. Or maybe I should say those of us stuck in indecision on how to quilt things. That was a great idea to show how you quilted your quilt and your choices were great! The texture on this quilt really is lovely. It definitely deserved that ribbon!

Tu-Na Quilts said...

Loved reading about the quilting motifs you chose. A couple questions: Which erasable markers do you use? I don't have any quilting rulers yet since I haven't done that technique but my elephant quilt demands some straight lines so I need some recommendations since I've heard one can't just use a ruler used for rotary cutting. and finally, you must have been the source that posted about the plexiglass. I've tried finding that post with the idea but up to now have not been able to find it so if you could send a link my way, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

Goofin' Off Around the Block said...

Tish, It's a beautiful quilt top and your quilting really enhanced the beauty of the quilt. Congratulations on the ribbon! I haven't won a ribbon since a color contest back in the 2nd grade...I won't say how many decades ago that was. --Andrea

Lisa J. said...

Thanks Tish for sharing so many different options for quilting this quilt. It's great to know there are so many ways to approach quilting a quilt. It's also really nice to see the quilt in so many versions.

KaHolly said...

Tish, this is a most excellent post! Your swirl hooks are perfect! Remind me again what machine you are quilting with! Your work is so wonderful. I don't know how you are finding the time to accomplish so much quilty goodness.

Rebecca Grace said...

Beautiful baby quilts, and I always love seeing different quilting options for the same pieced design. This post reminds me that "quilt as desired" isn't an afterthought; it's more like permission to personalize the quilt and make it your own!

Lynn said...

I always appreciate quilting suggestions/advice. Thanks so much for this post - and I love the stippling.

Kate @ Smiles From Kate said...

Thank you for guiding us through your quilting process and the different options available Tish, I found it so interesting as quilting certainly isn't one of my strongpoints. Come to think of it I'm not sure what my strong points are. Need to have a think about this one hehe.

stitchinpenny said...

Love the shared process on quilting. You allowed people to get some insight on what they might like.

allthingzsewn said...

I follow you by email. I meant to tell you I like the plexiglass idea and your sharing your quilting that way. Thanks

somethingrosemade14@blogspot.com said...

I always love seeing the beautiful quilting but for me I'm a die-hard straight line quilter although I have done organic wavy lines. I like the texture and look of straight line and maybe one day I'll try FMQ but until then I'll just continue to admire the wonderful quilting, so please continue to indulge me with your quilting--it is wonderful.

Sandra Walker said...

So glad you spent an entire post discussing quilting options. No quilting motif/pattern/technique is wrong on a quilt, and I think a TON of us (myself included) get so hung up on 'quilting it wrong'. It ALWAYS turns out fabulous (ask me how I know) and the point is you have texture AND most importantly you have a finish. 'Finished is better than perfect' says Angela Walters and she is so right. Beautiful quilts, all of them, and each one so different. Kudos on the 2nd place!

Jennifer Fulton Inquiring Quilter said...

Congratulations on publishing your first pattern. That's so awesome! I love that you've shown so many ways to approach the quilting. This post will be a wonderful reference for anyone who makes your quilt. Thanks so much for linking up to Wednesday Wait Loss!

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