Seeing Stars!

Since my machine is in the shop (sniff, sniff) I thought I would do a little show and tell. I have galleries of quilts over on my other blog HERE but really do plan to move them over here at some point. My family likes the blog about the kids and garden, but I wanted to spend more time playing with my quilts, so that's why I started this blog. So the grandparents and cousins don't have to shuffle through all the quilt mumbo jumbo and my quilting friends don't have to watch my garden seeds germinate and my kids' every little achievement.

So let's get started! How about some star quilts? I do love a good basic design and the more versions that can be created, the better! I have a love of stars (among oodles of other blocks) but here's a few I have made:

This one is from a tiny photo on a website because the pattern was either sold out or out of print. I never let a little thing like that stop me! So I just drafted it in the size that would fit nicely over my sofa and not give me too much of a math headache. It is originally a Minnick and Simpson design, but I may have completely screwed it up in my attempt to replicate it. It makes me happy, so that's really all that matters, right?

 

Then I made this one for my sister and her husband for Christmas 2009. I was trying to make a quilt that would work with the colors in their home (in the Arizona desert) but still be fun for the holidays. I am so glad to know that they really like it a lot. Whew. It was fun to make and I used the Nancy Halvorsen fabrics that I had been collecting over the years (plus a few from the stash!)

I made this quilt for my parents 50th wedding anniversary a few years ago. I must say this quilt was WAY out of my comfort zone. Three fabrics only was really hard for me. I'm scrappy at heart, but I really wanted my parents to like it, and they this is the style they like...so I'm glad I perservered and that it was loved! I designed it with 50 stars set on point, with a sashing from the background fabric. No pattern here, just an idea that I thought would be appropriate. They deserved it, and it makes me happy that they got to enjoy it together before my dad passed away.

This is a quilt that I thought might be an eternal ufo. I started this early in my quilting career when I knew nothing about y-seams and set in seams, etc. A couple of the stars got out of control and had to be remade (maybe more than once!) but I am so glad that I finally finished it years later. It makes me smile every time I look at it.

This one started in a Bonnie Hunter workshop called Cathedral Stars. I chose a bright color palatte knowing that it would be for my 11 year old niece. She is so sweet and fun and cheerful, that these colors seemed appropriate. I wanted to work with some fabrics that weren't my usual go-to fabrics. This quilt started me on a path of brights that I have really enjoyed!

I hope you enjoyed seeing a few stars!

PS: I wish some of these photos were better, but since I no longer have some of these quilts, there's not much I can do about it...sorry!