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.

Scrappy Christmas Wonky Stars

Before the new year even dawned, I'd started in on a new scrappy quilt project. As I was putting away scraps and such from this year's Christmas bag making, it dawned on me that maybe, just maybe, those scraps could turn into a Christmas quilt for us. Inspired by Katie Pedersen @sewkatiedid and Elizabeth Hartman @elizabethagh and their wonky star quilts, I decided to make a few blocks and see what I thought.

I definitely liked what I saw, and decided then and there to make a quilt. Bit by bit, the collection on the design wall has grown.

By now, I was thinking I'd make a queen-sized version of Elizabeth's Sparkle Punch quilt

That is.... until I realized I'd need to make over 250 wonky stars to make a quilt approximately 96" x 112" to fit our bed. Hmmm. Let's just say I'm continuing to make stars while mulling over layout options that aren't quite as star-intensive as the original Sparkle Punch, without losing that nested element that I really like. OR do I just make a lap-sized Sparkle Punch instead? So we'll see! Not quite sure where I'm headed now, but time will tell.