Friday, September 1, 2017

Small changes, big impact

When I sewed new samples for my trunk show last month, Jelly Bean Stars was one of the quilts I needed to remake, because I had given away the original.  I played with a few little details. Here's the original.

Original Jelly Bean Stars quilt by Canuck Quilter Designs

I made fewer blocks for the new sample, partly to see how it looks in baby-size, partly because I was short on time, and partly because that's all the ISU fabric I had and I wasn't making another trip to the shop (see the part about time).

Cyclones baby size version of Jelly Bean Stars

I'm sure you can spot the design differences.

1. There is a more unified color scheme.
2. Small stars in the sashing match the color of the larger stars.
3. Star centers are simplified (more due to time constraints than design preference!)
4. Small star points extend into the border.

I love the way those small stars pop now!  My husband looked at both pictures and was convinced that I had changed the proportions of that small star somehow.  He thought the original quilt had an X at each cornerstone rather than a star.  I think the reason is that, against the white sashing, the colored cornerstones looked like extensions of the colors in the blocks. Also, the large stars are pretty strong.  Making the small ones the same color helps visually pull them forward a bit.


Extending the small star points helps with the pop too, and is just more visually interesting, I think, than cutting them off at the inner border.  It wasn't even very hard to do, so it was definitely worth the little bit of extra piecing.

I still love the original quilt.  How could I not, with all those beautiful bright colours?  I have leftover fabric from remaking Wandering Geese and had planned to make another Jelly Bean Stars with them, just as the original was made with leftovers from the original Wandering Geese.  Here are the two together.

Wandering Geese and Jelly Bean Stars by Canuck Quilter Designs
Now I am wondering if I can tweak this colorful version a bit.  I definitely want to extend the small star points into the border.  I think I would also like to make those small stars white, like in the Cyclone baby version, but then I'd have to choose a different color for the sashing and I'm stumped.  What would go well between any of the color combinations and still let the small stars pop?

I'll put this remake on hold for now and see if the solution comes to me while I'm not looking for it.  I have plenty of projects to choose from in the meantime:

  1. Quilt Cyclone baby quilt
  2. Quilt new Wandering Geese
  3. Add final border to and quilt new Starlight Wishes
  4. Quilt both mini Sparkling Trail quilts
  5. Make a new RSC butterfly or two
  6. Finish hand stitching binding on Samoyed baby quilt (yes, I have let that slide, but it is almost done now!)
  7. Start brand new Lemoyne Star quilt (or two - I have fabric options to work out!)
  8. Start Anne of Green Gable quilts (two of them, one for me, one for daughter)
  9. Start a snowflake quilt - I've been thinking of all 26, and maybe a few new ones, all together in a single quilt...
So many quilts, so little time!

11 comments:

  1. It does look like a whole different design. Interesting.
    That is quite a "to do" list! I want to make a snowflake quilt with your snowflakes. I saved all the patterns and even bought the fabric I want to use. Like you said, so many quilts...

    ReplyDelete
  2. How about a light or medium grey or black for the sashing. I think the grey would make the white stars pop.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I like the way a medium to dark grey makes colors pop. Might work for your sashing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. They are both pretty, but the small stats definitely pop more in the second quilt.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love the bright colors in the one quilt, but I do like the star points in the border in the other. I could easily live with either one with just one exception: that Iowa State fabric might not fare too well with my grandsons, one a Texas U fan, and the other a Texas Aggie fan! *giggle* ---"Love"

    ReplyDelete
  6. The revamped version is just as striking and I love how you incorporate stars into your projects (a nod perhaps to your DH?).

    ReplyDelete
  7. While I absolutely love the original version, I like the orange for the fact the little stars really really pop! If you did the orginal colors how about navy or black for the little stars?

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love the original Jelly Bean Star. I'm sure once the new blocks are made, just the right fabrics will come together for the star sashing.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Interesting to see how the tweaking alters it so much - serindipitous that you needed another version of your original! Oh what possibilities!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Adding the star points definitely is better. I wonder how a yellow sashing would look with the bright colors and white stars?

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting. I truly appreciate your comments and will try to reply to comments by email if your commenting staus is not set to "no-reply".

If you have a question, emailing me directly at joanne@canuckquilter.com will ensure I have your address to respond. I promise I will not share your email address and I will not use it for any purpose other than replying to your message.