Thursday, May 24, 2018

Garnet Star Crystal


I can finally cross this one off the list and call it finished.  Though it hasn't been hanging around for to long, as far as WIP's and UFO's go, I have set it down a few times to work on other things.  This is my version of Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl's Star Crystal Quilt.  How did this mini come to life?

I introduced a challenge to guild members to create something in their birth month colors to be revealed at our June meeting.  Being a January baby, meant my project would be full of rich dark brownish reds, representing the garnet.  I have to admit, this has never been my favorite color and I wasn't necessarily turning cartwheels at the idea of my color palette.  Then I found a pretty paisley fabric that would allow me to stay true to the concept but sneak in a few more colors...like blue.


 I decided to use an original design by myself and David.  I cut all my pieces and quickly went to work.  Standing back and admiring my work, I couldn't help but think, man this would make a great mystery quilt.  I talked the idea over with the mister who said, go for it!  So I did and Fireburst Mystery Quilt (going on now here) was born.  However this left me, the thrower down of the challenge, without a challenge project.  So back to the drawing board.

I needed something quick and easy.  I've been wanting to make the Star Crystal Quilt for quite some time and decided this would be the perfect opportunity.  Instead of the whole quilt, I went with just one block.  Lucky for me, I had just enough fabric left over from Fireburst to pull the one block wonder off.  Well I didn't of that deep red, but did of a more medium tone.


Once I was able to focus on the quilting, I was able to quilt it in just a few hours.  I wanted to keep my quilting threads matchy matchy with my fabrics.


My weapons of choice was Aurifil #2021 Natural White for the yummy Moda Grunge fabric and Aurifil #2460 Dark Carmine Red and, my personal favorite, #2260 Wine.  This is probably the only time it is acceptable to spill wine on a quilt...and spill Wine I did...all over that delicious dark red fabric.


I started in the background fabric first.  I knew I wanted straight lines and lots of them.  I just love the texture it gives. 


A little dot to dot ruler fun in the darker sections of the star.
Just for fun I added some continuous curves and pebbling in the other star points.  I have to admit the paisley fabric threw me for a loop...or swirl...or what ever paisleys actually are.  I didn't want to spend much time putting a filler in there because chances are the fabric is so busy you wouldn't see it.  So I went with straight lines like in the background.
I LOVE all the quilty texture I was able to cram into this little one.  After all that quilting and Aurifil Wine, I was drunk and in love.

I was able to finish this one in time for the local quilt show, but we will talk about that in another post soon.  Now I will bombard you with quilt pictures but I promise quilty goodness as well. 








I cannot wait to reveal my challenge project at the meeting next month and see what everyone else came up with.  Super Dave has his project pieced and if he doesn't quilt it soon, I may just have to steal it and quilt it for him.  Hopefully, the ladies will give me permission to share their projects with you as well.  Does your guild participate in challenges?  I'd love to hear about it.


Today I'm linking up with TGIFF, and Can I Get A Whoop! Whoop!

**As of Friday, blogger doesn't seem to be emailing of comment notifications and I am currently trying to figure out how to reply to comments by email without their help.  If you do not hear from me, know that I appreciate your comments and I'm tring to figure out how to fix this.  Hopefully, Blogger will fix it as well.**

18 comments:

Susan said...

That is a great quilt enhanced by amazing quilting. I hope you will show pictures from the guild meeting. I'd like to see what other people did with your challenge.

Home Sewn By Us said...

Hi Tish,
I love the depth you achieved with the fabrics! It looks 3D to me, and the texture you achieved with quilting. Ooh-la-la!! I really appreciate the closeup photos - it gives me ideas. I am absolutely PINing this for the future. Happy Thursday! ~smile~ Roseanne

chrisknits said...

Gorgeous. The star has a 3-D quality to it with that dark medium combo!

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

It turned out so beautifully, Tish! Your points look great with the binding and the quilting brings it to life. :)

piecefulwendy said...

This is such a pretty quilt. I love those deep reds, they remind me of my favorite wine actually. I might have to have a glass tonight in honor of this finish! It's cool that there is a bit of a three-dimensional quality to the star. We do challenges in our group from time to time, and next year I'm taking over planning the activities for the year, so I'm taking notes. This would be a fun challenge! Looking forward to seeing Dave's too.

Stitchin At Home said...

Wowzers Tish! This is gorgeous and the quilting is sensational.

Lisa J. said...

Tish it looks so good. I must make this quilt one day.

Louise said...

Gorgeous quilting, Tish! Love the colors and texture on this one so, so much. And now I'm even more intrigued by Fire Burst...

Anja @ Anja Quilts said...

This is amazing. You did a great job with the quilting.

Brenda @ Songbird Designs said...

This is an awesome quilt - and a great challenge! I love the way you quilted it. It has such depth! It really looks like a star crystal!!

Our guild also has a challenge during the "off" year (the year that is not our quilt festival), and that is this year. Our challenge is to present a favorite childhood story book. I chose Alice in Wonderland. It is due next month and I am nowhere near finished! Next, on my list of projects! LOL Gotta get really busy!

Kathleen said...

That is a beautifull quilt! I am really drawn to the colors and their interplay. It is such a rich quilt!

Jayne said...

How gorgeous! I love the birth stone challenge idea! Your quilt has a 3D vibe about it that is so cool!

Vicki in MN said...

It turned out gorgeous with the addition of some wonderful quilting. I really like the design in the dark red-especially how you threw in a bit of curve inside the large middle design. I agree the paisley would have thrown me too, I prefer tone on tones so we can see the quilting as we quilt it and afterwards of course:0

Joy from Days Filled With Joy said...

That is gorgeous and I love the way you have quilted it, just makes the start pop out! xx

Bernie Kringel said...

Tish, the 3-D look to this is so cool. Between the light and dark fabric and the quilting, the star pops right out. Awesome!

JoanG said...

Tish, this is a really rich and lush looking quilt. I love the texture your quilting gives it. Our guild does a show each year and it is always a challenge proposed by the people on the show committee. We have done black and white plus one (where you may add one color to your palette), it's a small world (no quilt bigger than 30 x30), and this year's challenge using only 2 1/2 inch strips for your quilt (although you could then add applique over the strips). I like the challenges because they always stretch you to try something new.

Julie said...

Beautiful quilting, my friend! I like the matchy-matchy here, too.

Sandy Panagos said...

That is SO pretty! The colors are really rich, and the quilting is beautiful. I especially like the photo on the bench.

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