Until I made Quilter’s Scrapbook (my other BQF entry) I always bought fabric for specific projects and didn’t feel I had enough left of anything that went together to make anything else. I certainly didn’t consider the leftovers a stash. With the success of Quilter’s Scrapbook I was inspired to use up my strings for Sparkling Strings. That went well, so I was encouraged to head to the bins of leftovers instead of the quilt shop when I needed to make a baby quilt last spring. Surprise! I had enough brights and novelty prints to pull this quilt together AND there was fabric left over. I guess I do have a stash after all! It’s just in mostly smaller pieces.
This quilt just went together effortlessly. Besides the fabric jumping out of my bins and saving me a trip to the shop, the quilting cooperated beautifully. As I wrote in April, a cardboard circle saved from some packaging was exactly the right size to fit evenly along both the width and length of the border and wrap around the corners with absolutely no fudging required! How often does that happen? I used my walking foot to quilt straight lines in the steps and to quilt the half-circles in the borders. The swirls in the star are free-motion quilted.
I made this as a baby quilt (generously sized for tummy time and big enough for when the baby grows into a toddler) and I love how it turned out. My blogging friend Sandra recently tested the pattern I wrote for this quilt, using “all grown up” fabrics. You can see her version here. It got me thinking about alternate colorways and I decided to rename the pattern Star Steps, since it obviously works as a more grown-up quilt too.
Since it was so quick and easy to piece, I’m tempted to make it again in a totally different style. I’m plotting…if I can get the list of other things to do down to a manageable size, can I try one of these versions? Which one would tempt you, or would you choose another colorway entirely?
Looks so good. I have always loved your border on this one. Out of the suggestions, I love the Christmas one, but I love Christmas quilts. ;)
ReplyDeleteGreat entry! I'm sure it will be a hit. I plan to vote for it - hope I remember. We're on a trip, so my schedule is way off. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteWhile all of them are fabulous, I love the Christmas version ... the green stripe in the middle of the red really caught my eye! Normally I'm a fan of CW fabrics, but the star is lost in the CW version ... maybe if you stitched the star out of the lighter neutral, it would pop?
ReplyDeleteI like the Christmas one, closely followed by the jewel tones.
ReplyDeleteJoanne, this is so cheerful and pretty! I love your Star Steps and Sandra's too! That is a great pattern!
ReplyDeleteWhat a bright and cheerful quilt!!!
ReplyDeleteThe Christmas one, for sure, but then I love love Christmas quilts. I also really like the 2-colour gradation idea too! Thanks for the shout-out, it was a super-easy and super-fun task to test your pattern, and I'm up for another. ;-)
ReplyDeleteOh this is a lovely quilt. Great choice for your second entry. I like the CW repro but, like Kathy said, the star is lost. I love the two tone but I might go with blue and beige instead of green. It would look like ocean waves on the beach. Just saying. Lovely quilts all together.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely perfect for a baby!
ReplyDeleteI love the bright colors in Baby Steps, but you would know I love the Christmas colors too! ---"Love"
ReplyDeleteWhat fun! My stash is also tiny pieces. But hey, lots of quilts are made up of tiny pieces. :) I'd choose the Americana colorway for the next run. Or batiks.
ReplyDeleteJewel Tones has captured my heart! -- soparkaveataoldotcom
ReplyDeleteStop! Now I want to make this one... must not, must not..... I love the jewel tone and the reproduction one. Would be great for my RSC challenge =).
ReplyDeleteI'm planning a snowflake a week starting in January ranging from grey to light blue to dark blue for a quilt using your pp patterns! Had that pop into my head on the way home from errands this morning. Good idea or am I nuts?
Love the Stair Steps quilt! (by the way, I voted for it). You actually quilted those curves with your walking foot?!
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