Friday, August 4, 2017

Sample Star Blossom


Man, I hope you aren't tired of seeing or hearing about the Star Blossom Quilt, because I just love it so much.  I know I might be a bit bias, but I can't help it.  With that being said, a local quilt shop in my home town, Helen's Hen House, expressed an interest in having print copies of Star Blossom to sell in their shop.  Saying I was over the moon happy to hear that is a complete understatement.  I even offered to piece and quilt a sample for her to hang in the shop.

So Helen and I worked together to pull fabrics to construct the baby quilt version of the quilt and these are the fabrics we landed on.


I love that center flower print.  I always drool over it when I'm in her shop.  The fabrics did not disappoint.  They came together to form a happy fun version of Star Blossom.

I'm becoming quite the pro at piecing this quilt.  I could probably do it with my eyes closed.  Though considering that would require running a rotary cutter and an up an down jabbing needle, I probably shouldn't, but you get my point.  I think I had this cut and pieced in just a few hours.


One phone call later, and I was in my mom's garage basting the small top together and 30ish minutes later the quilting could commence.


For this quilt I decided on four different colors of Aurifil 50wt thread; #1100 Red Plumb, #2610 Light Blue Grey, #2775 Steel Blue and #2024 White.  I just love how all the threads melt into the background fabrics.


Just like my love for Aurifil thread, my love for rulers is not a secret.  For this project I decided on the number 8 curved ruler from The Quilted Pineapple, the Handi Quilter 2"x 6" straight ruler and the new Handi Quilter Slice ruler only available to those that sign up for their Ruler Quilting Club.  I used the number 8 curve ruler to create the flower like design in the gray bars and the straight ruler for most of the dot to dot line quilting and piano key borders.


The HQ Slice Ruler came in very handy for quilting the continuous curves and radiating lines in the corner of the blocks.  Having a curve and a straight edge on the ruler makes it nice because you can use just one ruler and it fits nicely in your hand.


Since this is my 4th time quilting this pattern, I wanted to try a few new things.  I'm still rocking my hook swirls, so those made yet another appearance.  For the center pink and blue star shape I added some simple dot to dot angles, using my seams as aiming points for the lines.  For the white center star shape I was stuck.  Should I echo the side lines a 1/4", give it a filler or try something else??  After polling David, Julie (Pink Doxies), Beth (Cooking Up Quilts) and Sandra (mmm!quilts), I landed on a simple stipple but in a much smaller scale.


I'm glad that's where it landed.  I just love how it make the pink and blue star pop a bit.

Because the border fabric is a bit busy, I wanted to go with a much simpler quilting design in that space.  Sometimes, it's best to save the quilting bling (and your time) when you know it can't compete with the beautiful pattern of a fabric.  Why spend all that time doing feathers if you really won't be able to see them?  So I decided on a simple quick 2" piano key design.


How about another picture of the back of the quilt, to see all the quilting goodness on it's own?





I can't wait to deliver this quilt to Helen.  I hope she likes loves how this little quilt came together.  I still have two more baby quilt versions and another lap version of this pattern to quilt...just a warning to all you :)  If you would like your own copy of Star Blossom, it can be found in my Craftsy Store here.

So what's coming up this weekend and next week?  This weekend will be filled with catching up on the QAL's I've been participating in (well hopefully) and working on a tutorial post for next week.  You may have noticed I used (yet again) a flanged binding on this quilt.  Addicted.  I use this method all the time, but I've never officially written about it.  I guess I've never had anything new to add to the process.  I do now.  I documented the process of connecting those tricky little binding tails and hope to write a more detailed post about that process for next week.  That is probably the hardest part of this method and if you can conquer that fear, you may never machine bind a quilt the same again.  So until next week, I'll see you on Instagram.  Go quilt something!!!


Today I'm linking up with Finished or Not Friday, and Can I Get a Whoop! Whoop!



11 comments:

Vicki in MN said...

Another wonderful finish. I am the say way the more you do the same the easier and faster it gets, then one doesn't really have to look at the pattern anymore!

Nancy J said...

The view from the back, wow!!! It makes that centre star shine all on its own. The threads, and the binding, what a beauty altogether. I struggle to line up the flange and join on the bias every time!!! Help is coming, so I have read. I won't try and do another till I read how you have sorted this tricky part.

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

Beautiful, Tish! I really love these colors and how they were pulled to coordinate with the floral print. The quilting detail really shines from the back of the quilt, and I am sure the shop owner is going to love it. :)

Stitchin At Home said...

Beautiful quilting Tish! Love that floral fabric and the coordinating fabrics.

piecefulwendy said...

I don't know how anyone is going to be able to walk in that store and see that quilt without being wowed by it. I love the colors and the quilting. The backing is perfect for showing off that amazing quilting!

Lisa J. said...

WEll this is another lovely version of this quilt. I love the combination of dark blue and pink.

KaHolly said...

Never tire of seeing a new version of this quilt! Great quilting job! Your hooked swirls are so perfect.

Beth @ Cooking Up Quilts said...

The quilting looks great and really makes the piecing pop. It's perfect! I need to get me some of those curve rulers from QP - I've been eyeing them far too long!

helenjean@midgetgemquilts said...

Woo hoo ! Fantastic news ! I can't or rather I can believe how well it looks at the back . Perfect

Cheryl said...

Beautiful quilting! It accentuates the design so well!

Myra @ Busy Hands Quilts said...

Beautiful fabrics, and how fun to collaborate with the LQS for a pattern!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...