It's the dead of Winter and I'm obsessing over my Summer Star Quilt...because it's finally finished! It's been in the works for over a year - possibly two, who can remember?!? What started as one pattern became two because making the same thing over and over is just not my bag babeeee. (I asked the bag-boy at the store how he was and he said, "I'm hating the rain, it's just not my bag babeeeee!" I might have added an extra eee or threeeee but he dragged out the baby part just a tad too long...and it struck me as funny, because he's like 12 and I'm not, and then it got stuck in my head, so there you go!)
In quilting, points are supposed to match. I don't know who made up that rule but I dislike them and the rule. My points never match - so why would I ever make a quilt that required them to?!? I don't have an answer to that - except to say I just like the "star" block in this quilt...which was a buggar to make! Rounded pieces that had to be pinned 50 times - I was possessed!
After making several star blocks I knew I would never live long enough to make enough for an entire quilt - so I added a circle block - which I machine appliqued onto the fabric...don't judge, it saved what was left of my sanity!
My friend Lori went to a great fabric sale several months ago and sent me a text asking me if I wanted fabric for backing at 50% off...duh! I asked her to get me four different fabrics of 4 yards each of cream colored backing - neutrals if possible. She picked out some beauties for me - three were just what I hoped for but one was a bit different and when I saw it my first thought was, "What was she thinking?!?!" I didn't know what I would do with it...but apparently Lori did! It worked perfectly with this quilt - turquoise, light gray and a citron yellow - could not have been a better choice! So thank you Lori for seeing the possibilities!! You are an expert at that!
This is a happy quilt - it's bright and colorful and a great lap size. It doesn't match any room in my house but that's what I love about it - wherever it is - it stands out and demands to be seen! So glad it is finished!
Go ahead and look at those points - they make me smile! Some line up perfectly and others, well, they have an independent spirit about them!
You know, there are two kinds of quilters - those who are left brained - they measure and line things up and follow patterns and do math. God bless them! Then there are those, like me, who are all right brained...we just like to create and don't much care about precision - it's not about perfection for us, it's about having fun with the process! Maybe there are some quilters out there who use both their left and right brain equally when they quilt...if so, I've yet to meet them!
One more quilt to show you...Rachel is my neighbor's daughter and I helped her with her senior project a few years back; she made a quilt. Rachel is all left brained...she's a CPA so that should tell you something, she likes things to add up, including quilt blocks! When Rachel's grandmother asked Rachel if she could do anything with some blocks that her mother had made, Rachel wasn't sure at first. She came over and we looked at them - they were all hand stitched and very stretched out. Each block, by itself, was nothing much to look at - they were probably stitched together from clothing and nothing really matched or even looked that great together. Rachel and I went round and round over what to do with them - and in the end Rachel decided she would finish what her great-grandmother started - she would hand stitch the blocks together and then make new blocks to finish the top...talk about a labor of love! And she did all this while studying to take her CPA exams!
When the top was pieced it was pretty wonky - wouldn't lay flat and I had my doubts about quilting it - it is FULL of bubbles and puckers - but I think that just adds to the charm of this quilt. (This picture was taken before the binding was hand-sewn down.)
Someone told Rachel that since the blocks were hand-pieced it needed to be hand-quilted...I disagreed 100%. Old fabric that is stitched by hand is not durable - and Rachel wanted this quilt to be gently used - so machine quilting added the strength it needed. This isn't a museum-quality quilt - and hand-quilting, while nice, wouldn't have added anything except hours and hours of time - and then it would still have been a quilt that wouldn't have been able to take any use or abuse! This picture makes it look rather small but it's a great lap size and I think it turned out so cute - it was definitely worth finishing! Rachel gave it to her grandmother over Thanksgiving and her Grandma cried - she was so happy to see her mother's work finished and able to be used! It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but to Rachel, her mom Linda and her grandmother - it's a work of art!
