wonky stars

quilt blocks are out... Moses' homing beacon. 

I swear he hears me laying the fabric on the ground.

only ever more comfortable after the blocks are pieced.

Months ago, I began experimenting with quilting wonky stars.  I have a significant number of vintage sheet scraps and an even larger collection of vintage sheets from which to cut.  I've seen several wonky star blocks on pinterest and started with a few blocks just to try something new.  Well, I ended up liking the blocks more than I anticipated.  Instead of using my blocks as hot pads or saving them for a larger project (no more bed quilts, please!), before I knew it I had half of a baby quilt.

all pieced and sandwiched and ready to (finish) quilt(ing).

Each year, the staff where I work host an enormous garage-type sale.  We collect donations for a few days, then the staff volunteer to price and arrange everything the day before the sale.  Usually, the prices are really low.  We also host a corresponding bake sale and silent auction.  The auction is a combination of promised items and the higher end donations we receive.  All proceeds benefit the students via student book scholarships.

After getting the hang of the wonky stars, I committed to a baby quilt for the auction.  I finished the blocks and the quilt top relatively quickly... and then set way too high expectations for the quilting!

all done, with a beautiful drape.

I decided to do a dense free motion quilting pattern I hadn't really done or tried in years.  I had just gotten the hang of this on a much larger quilt (that is still unfinished) waaay back in 2006.  Of course I haven't touched it since then.  And I have a different machine than I did back then, too.  So it was more than a little new.

folds nice and square, too.

It took me hours, but I am so. pleased. with the way the quilt turned out.  It was great FMQ practice, I got a confidence boost in actually finishing a project, and the quilt went for $70.00 in the silent auction.

finished front.

finished back.

Probably needless to say, Moses loved the finish product, too.

sorry, Moses.  not for you.

no, really Moses.  we can't keep it.

There's probably a limit on how many photos I should post of my dog, quilts that I make and combinations of those two.  However, it always feels like a finished project doesn't happen all that often, so indulge me.  These are some of my favorite blocks.  I realized after I was done that the best looking blocks were those that had high contrast stars to background.

love that blue hatch sheet.

bought this vintage sheet FQ from elegantitus months ago. so hard to find purples.

so, technically the green fabric wasn't a vintage sheet.  but it was a repurposed sheet from the thrift store. :)

When I was making the blocks, I started with a patterned background and a white star.  Then, with each new block, I utilized the background fabric to form the new star, creating kind of a chain of matching/coordinating blocks.  Then on my last block, I used a white background with a pattern star.  You can totally move from block to block and see the order I finished them.

the coordinating blue star to match the blue background block above.

FMQ close-up

Although it was a lot of work and I don't have my next FMQ project lined up, I am looking forward to trying it again.  I can't wait to give other patterns a try.

Moses, ever hopeful. He even brought a ball!