Sunday, December 9, 2012

Finished spinning!

I finished my spinning stars quilt last weekend and finally got around to taking some pictures. Katy at I'm a ginger monkey started a spinning stars QAL. I decided on a whim that this would be the perfect quilt to give to my 8 year old sister for Christmas.

Spinning Stars {and Geese} 

Do you ever listen to the NPR radio program "Says You"? It's a word game show and recently one of the questions was: What is the difference between easy and simple. Well this pattern is simple but NOT easy. There are a lot of bias cuts to deal with and seams meeting up all over the place. I also decided to make it even more complicated by making my stars all different colors. This meant that I had to make the quilt block by block. It is not chain piecing compatible.

Spinning Stars {and Geese} 

Quilt deets:
Name- Spinning Stars {and Geese}
Pattern - Spinning stars from Anna Maria Horner
Size - 60" x 60"
fabrics -  various prints from The center triangles are made with some Tula, a habitat print, domestic bliss and an art gallery print. Probably something else in there too. The solid octagons are either Oakshott cottons (blue, purple, olive) and connecting threads solids and mirages. The stars are  domestic bliss, flea market fancy and two connecting thread prints (the honeycomb and blue dot fabs).
Piecing - paper pieced each block using a foundation paper piecing template I designed. (final block size is 15" instead of 18")
quilting - free motion with Aurifil Vareigated thread from the eat your fruits and veggies pack
Binding - Parisville eyedrops machine bound. 

Spinning Stars {and Geese}
Here's a close up of the quilting. I love the way the vareigated thread blends in or stands out depending on the color of the ring. I left the centers bare so they would pop out.

Spinning Stars {and Geese}
The back was pieced with mostly Kona Gray to show off the quilting. I added in some leftover prints because I ran out of gray didn't want the back to be boring. But seriously, I like pieced backs best.

Spinning Stars {and Geese}
Quilted loops
Spinning Stars {and Geese}
And quilted stars. You can really appreciate the quilting on the back.

Spinning Stars {and Geese}
I echo quilted the geese and made a spiral in the center. It looks like the geese are circling the sun (aka a star). This is, like, sooooo meta.

Spinning Stars {and Geese}

Spinning Stars {and Geese} 

This quilt took a long time (for me) to finish. Look back at the progress here:

Introduction, template test, fabrics selection
First block
Top finished
Quilting

In the end it was all worth it. It is one of my favorite finishes and I believe the worthy recipient will enjoy it for years to come. I tried not to make it too childish so she could grow into it. Now comes the hardest part - mustering up the energy to get it to the post office.

The scraps from this quilt (over 13 ozs of scraps people) were given away as my Sew Mama Sew giveaway. Linking up with Plum and June.

Plum and June


14 comments:

  1. This looks terrific, i did the QAL and decided a pillow/cushion was a better idea for me as i was short on time, but i wished i'd made a quilt top as the effect of the stars inbetween is great. Well done!! : )

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  2. Ooooh that came out lovely!! You forgot to mention that you ALSO made it harder by putting in a circle of geese in there! Or was that part of the original pattern?
    Beautiful work, as always!

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  3. This is so pretty! I think all of your detailed piecing really paid off. I can see how tricky it would be to get the blocks all laid out right. Beautiful quilt!

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  4. This is a beautiful quilt! I am a fan of variegated thread, too. I love the touch with with flying geese block.

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  5. I adore this quilt!! i love all the fabrics togther and great quilting!

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  6. Fantastic from start to finish! Your sis is going to love it.

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  7. I love the quilting! This is beautiful. I am so envious of your sister, this is a great pattern and you chose great fabrics.

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  8. The quilting is really wonderfiul. I love the coloured thread on the grey.
    E

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  9. I agree that I also found this quilt "simple" but not "easy." I hope your sister loves this quilt. I am so impressed by how it turned out and still can't get over your addition of the flying geese block. Congratulations! A big finish.

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  10. It sure looks like a lot of work! But it turned out so well :) I hope you like it as much as I do!

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  11. I love this quilt. Nice work.

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