Scrappy Sparkle Punch

Soooo.... after finally finishing my wonky stars quilt top, I hopped right to creating a pieced quilt back, and really enjoyed it! I'd found yardage of red and white stripes to use as the main fabric, and combined it with several holiday prints and a few of the leftover Christmas scraps. 

Remember, I'd used the Sparkle Punch pattern by Elizabeth Hartman for the scrappy improv stars, and the quilt top measured 60" x 72" - a generous lap-sized quilt.

With the #wonkystars a variety of colors, it made sense to coordinate quilting thread with the background, a mix of grays. Aurifil 50wt 2600 [Dove] seemed perfect as I quilted a simple grid. With the finished quilt blocks measuring 3" square, the quilting plan made for medium-density quilting. It felt like enough for this particular project, and I confess, I was able to quilt the whole thing in under three hours - pretty much a record. And also a relief, after the weeks that went into piecing. After that, several hours of hand-stitching the Kona Silver binding was the perfect reward.

I'm curious what you think about the use of various grays in the background. Due to the fact that I kept adding in more choices the further I got on the quilt, there are a lot more darker values of background in the bottom half of the quilt. Personally, I kind of like it, and think it 'grounds' it nicely. At any rate, I am pretty excited to have this one complete before month's end! AND all ready to use and enjoy during the next Christmas season.

Linking up with Meadow Mist Designs' Favorite Finish Monthly Linky.

Wonky Star Progress

I promise I'm still a quilter! After all the handwork I've shared lately, I'm sure you were beginning to wonder. But slowly and surely, I've been working each day on the Sparkle Punch quilt I started in late December with all my Christmas Scraps.

Happily, I included nearly 75 unique prints! Not all are specifically holiday-themed, but they HAVE all been used in holiday projects over the years. It's been fun revisiting them and using the very last bits of many.

For the background, I used four Kona cotton solids - Silver, Lighthouse, Ash, and Overcast - plus an Essex yarn dyed in Steel. I'm sure the chaos of how I used those grays might be a bit much to some, but personally, I really love it. My only 'rule' was to make sure I used the Essex at least one time in each section.

I actually stared piecing the sections together before I finished the blocks, just to maximize the use of my design wall. The final two rows were actually laid out on the floor, but it worked.

And yesterday, I finally finished the quilt top. I gotta say, it was a struggle. But I kept at it, day by day, and I'm so glad I did. Coming up with a backing, basting, and quilting seem like an uphill battle from here; but I'm committed, and am going to try and stay focused. I know I'll be glad when this quilt is all ready to snuggle with when the holidays roll around again.