Blocks 15 and 16: Stars!

What quilt sampler would be complete without some star block? These are 2 classic stars. These stars can be found in samplers, alternated with a different block and used as the sole block in a quilt.

Both the blocks will be 9 inches square.

The first is my very favorite star: Ohio Star.

Look! I got all the stripes going in the same direction. You may recognize the points of the star. One of earlier blocks is a larger version. This block is so popular that tutorials abound and here is a good one - it even has the cutting directions for the 9 inch block.

Usually when I make the 2nd block I use really bright, wild fabrics. Here the fabric is wild but the block is low contrast and doesn't jump out at you. I don't think it hurts to have a few blocks like that in a quilt.

The next block is easily my second favorite star: Sawtooth Star.

This is another really popular star and the points are made with Flying Geese units. Again, there are lots of tutorials and here is a good one. It also has the cutting directions for the 9 inch block.

You can see I'm back to make bright blocks.

The quilt I'm making has a lot of blocks. As you can see I'm up to 15 and 16 and there still a bunch of them to go. They are also getting more complicated. Instead of easily making a bunch in one weekend, I'm lucky if I get one block done. However, I still have a few saved up so be watching next weekend for some more blocks.

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It's about time - the big reveal

My bright quilt was finished in June but I wanted to wait until both were done before sharing the pictures. Quilting the blue quilt didn't take long but finishing the binding sure did. I did procrastinate a bit as it was too warm to have a huge quilt on my lap for most of the summer. After this, I'll probably do all the binding on my sewing machine (and stick to smaller quilts). Notice the cut-out corners? That was a challenge. I found instructions here and it looked easy enough but I wished I had practiced some. After a lot of finessing I finally got good miters but I could have done much better. The cut-out corners allow the quilt to hang nicely over the edges of the mattress and it's a perfect match for a full sized mattress. But, the top edge isn't even close to the pillows. I wonder how the quilt fit on the bed it was made for. Here, at last, is the original quilt that I was copying. I just noticed - all of the baskets are

Basted

A few weeks ago I was at the Local Quilt store basting my bright sampler. It's been ready to go for a while. I've been working on a baby quilt and it's now done. It's been a while since I've quilted so I'm glad I had a quilt to warm up on. Next I need to pull a folding table out of the garage and re-arrange my quilting space. This quilt will have a lot more drag than the baby quilt. I've also been looking at pictures of similar quilts looking for quilting pattern inspiration. I'm thinking of taking the easy way out and u se wavy lines like this quilt . I should start quilting next weekend!

The last 2 blocks and the tops are done!

I needed 2 more blocks to finish the gray version of the quilt. I ended up making simple 9 patch/half square triangle blocks. One is the yellow block in the lower left. Here it is closer up. When I made the half square triangles I had the red fabric going the wrong way so you are seeing the backside of the fabric. So the red in the triangles is a little lighter than the red in the center. It wasn't worth redoing. The other corner has a blue block and I managed to get the front of all the fabrics showing. So, here's what it looks like almost complete. And here's the blue version of the quilt. I've got the backing and the batting for the gray quilt (the backing is in the washer now) and I'm working on the thread to use for quilting and how to quilt it. They are too big for me to free-motion quilt. I don't have the space. As it is, quilting with the walking foot will be a challenge. These tops deserve so

Erica's Stitches

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