Blogger's Quilt Festival :: The Stars of Summer

When it came time to choose a quilt to share in the Blogger's Quilt Festival, I chose one that is in fact, quite simple. It began with five star blocks that had been languishing in my stash closet for a while with an uncertain future. I loved them, but didn't know what to do with them. 

There was always the option of making more blocks to keep them company in a quilt, but in the end, I decided on a more modest approach. And as I explained in my original post, I did trade out one of the original stars to improve the cohesiveness of the color palette. Soooo, I proceeded to stitch the stars in a vertical row.

And I chose a couple of solids to really set them off - Marcus Fabrics Royal and Kona Zucchini. I swear I had every blue and greenish-yellow bolt of fabric out on the floor at the fabric shop to 'audition' them with my quilt blocks! But when I added the large swaths of solids to my column of blocks, it was clear my final choices really pulled everything together.

So you see what simplicity was there in the construction of the quilt? I kept it fairly simple with the quilting too, though by doing something unique in each section, it added alot of interest. I machine-quilted horizontal straight lines in the blue and vertical in the yellow-green. Then one big zig-zag down the blocks, echoed at 1" increments.

For the binding, I revisited a technique I had done just a few times before.

And that would be matched binding, which I really love on certain quilts, this definitely being one of them!

So in the end, I used those blocks that had been set aside and made a quilt I really love, exploring new territory by incorporating more negative space than ever before. With the quilting pattern variances, and the matched binding, it has a style all its own.

Blogger's Quilt Festival stats:
Name of quilt: Stars of Summer 
Completed quilt measurements: 48" x 60"
Special techniques used: Matched binding (tutorial here)
Quilted by: me

Best Category: Lap Quilt, Home Machine Quilted Quilt
Entry # 110

Linking up with Blogger's Quilt Festival and End of the Hallway 2012.

W.i.P. Wednesday

I'm feeling pretty good as W.i.P. Wednesday rolls around - having a finish I'm really pleased with, a couple of new small projects done, and blocks pulled out of the stash! Definitely can't complain about that! 

Completed projects
Solstice Stars - What started as "Solstice Star" blocks was transformed into The Stars of Summer {full post}, and I must say, I'm tickled with the finished quilt, plus really enjoyed playing with some of the elements.

"Read" Book Bag - It was a pleasure to help Michelle of City House Studio by pattern testing her book bag pattern {full post}. 

Zakka Style Sew-Along project #13: Patchwork Pot Holders {full post}

I chose a block for my month (July) of the Modern Blocks Bee and sent off fabric! The block I chose is Binary by Angela Pingel. This picture doesn't do it justice, but the background is KONA Ash, and I chose a variety of cool solids to send my bee mates. Pretty exciting stuff! 

I decided to go for it and made a page on facebook for A Quilter's Table! It seems like a fun avenue to share more quiltyness and maybe even more discussion. Feel free to stop by!

Ongoing projects
4x5 Quilt - I dug my blocks from rounds 1, 2, and  3 back out of the closet, and have them pressed and up on the design wall to see them all together. Sorry that Blogger seems to be having trouble uploading pictures right now, so the short of it is, I need two more blocks to have enough for the quilt top. So I made "Criss-Cross Triangles" by Amanda Sasikirana, and "Just Passing Through" by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr. I think you'll agree they are great additions to the blocks I already have from my bee mates. {here, here, and here} Framing is cut, and this quilt is my project of the moment.

  

And Tuesday at the {summer} Table ends tonight, so if you have a summer recipe or table/kitchen project you want to link up, do so soon! And take a peek at the links - so many great recipes and several quilted projects, including a rash of awesome potholders! A random winner will be announced tomorrow, and I have a new theme planned for July, so stay tuned . . .

Upcoming projects
* more Zakka
* QWERTY variation
* a quilt to coordinate with my Christmas tree skirt - Christmas in July??
* scrappy Metrolink
* Plus quilt for my sister-in-law - waiting to see her palette
* Tutorial for pieced binding
* Always Bee Learning July block NEW
* EZ Dresden Challenge project - maybe?? NEW
* baby quilt - fabric on its way NEW

Linking up with W.i.P. Wednesday where Felicity is hosting today, while Lee is taking a well-deserved break.

The Stars of Summer

The story of this quilt actually began last winter, when Faith of Fresh Lemons Quilts held her Solstice Stars Series. I told you last week how I recently dug those stars out of my stash, switched them up a bit, and began to actually make a quilt out of them.

Using one of Faith's suggested layouts, I hooked them up with two coordinating solids: Marcus Fabrics Royal and KONA Zucchini. Though a little nervous about my choices at first, it was soon evident, to me anyway, that they were just right for the look I was after.

So piecing was quite easy, and before I knew it, I was quilting. I'm usually a one-direction-straight-liner, but with so much solid fabric, I decided to stretch a bit. (Plus I'm so impressed when I see different kinds of quilting in a quilt, so this is my beginning stab at that.) So it's horizontal in the blue and vertical in the yellow-green. Then in the white I did one big zig-zag down the blocks, and then echoed from there, the stitching throughout at 1" apart.

Then on to binding of course. And I gave you a little hint of where I was heading, but I'm not sure anyone caught on. Carla and Kelli came close.

But it's not quite scrappy. I call it pieced, though of course any binding usually is. Coordinated binding? Whatever, I thought the quilt called for it, and I like it. Just the right finishing touch.

Measuring at 48" x 60", naming this one was a bit of a struggle. It doesn't seem fair to call it a Solstice Stars quilt, since I only used four of the series stars, subbing in a Quattro Stagioni Star for one of them. But today IS the summer Solstice, after all, as Toni so kindly reminded me. So I'm thinking The Stars of Summer is a good compromise.

Thanks to my mom for sharing her lovely garden, and assisting with my photo shoot . . .

 

Linking up to show off friday, sew & tell Friday, {sew} Modern Monday, and Fabric Tuesday. 


This project was on my original post for 2nd quarter, so I am linking up with Quilter in The Gap's 2nd Quarter Finish-A-Long linky party!