Petals and Stars Quilt


Here's another quilt!! This is one that had been on the back burner for over a year so I am happy that it is finally done!!


I made this one for my little sister Juli. She was up next for a new quilt...I told her I would make her one she could take with her when she went off to be a missionary in Montana. So I asked her what colors she liked, mocked up a couple quilts and had her pick the one she liked best. This was the one she picked. She left in August and I didn't have time to make it before she left, so I told her I would try to get it done by the time winter started in Montana. I bought a bunch of fabric and started cutting it out...and then I got pregnant. Eerrrrrrrk! (That is the sound of all quilting activities coming to a screeching halt for 4 months). Yeah. I don't know what it is about early pregnancy that makes me not want to even look at fabric--it is super weird. But luckily it goes away eventually. Unfortunately, by the time I felt like quilting again, it was January. Winter in Montana was almost over (right?) and I had a bunch of other quilts I was all excited about. Ok, ok...and the thought of piecing a bunch of curves revived my nausea. Soooo...onto the back burner!


In September I realized that I needed to get cracking on this quilt...Juli had been gone a whole year and it was almost winter again in Montana. I wanted her to be able to enjoy her quilt for at least a couple of months before she came home from her mission. But I was still not looking forward to piecing curves! I was worried that the points wouldn't line up and it would look goofy. So I put it off for a little while longer. Then one day I decided that rather than piecing a gazillion curves, it would be so much easier if I just sewed squares together and appliqued the curvy petal pieces over the top of the seams. Yes! Much easier!! So that's what I did! And it was easy. I just centered the petals over the seams and pinned them on one row at a time. Then I sewed them down with a blanket stitch in matching thread. The best part was that I was able to do a whole row without breaking thread! When it was done I flipped it over and cut away the extra fabric on the back. Why didn't I think of doing this before??


The fabric is a little bit of everything...anything gray, aqua or chartreuse that I could get my hands on. Originally I was trying to get all the grays to match perfectly...but in the end I was just using whatever I had! There is even some of the leftover gray from the Simply Rectangles quilt. 


There were lots of cool ways I wanted to quilt this but due to time constraints I decided to just do a quick panto. I wanted something loopy and fancy but easy. So I found one called "Modern Tatting" that was really pretty, but it had a bunch of tiny loops that I knew I didn't have patience for...so I simplified it and I am very happy with how it turned out. I backed it in light gray Minky and bound it in the matching charcoal. Then I sent it to cute Juli for Christmas. :) 


And she will be home in 3 days! Yay! Welcome home Juli!! 
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