Happy Mistakes – Quilt Reveal – Scrapping Stars Quilt

You remember me mentioning this.  Well, I found in a basket these little four patches.  I’m certain I was planning to make stars, but that is where my certainty ends.  I had lots of little pieces cut up besides the little 4-patches.  I do remember where my inspiration for this block comes from.

The cut rectangles that you see to the right, fit the 4-patches perfectly, AND there was the perfect amount for all of them.  And then, I sewed them altogether to make my block.

My issue came with the layout.  There was not enough blocks to make a symmetrical design and there was not even enough blocks for my usual quilt sizes (which I practice RELIGIOUSLY, without sway), so I’m not sure if I was just playing with scraps or if I just missed the original design completely.

HOWEVER, I put all my blocks on my design wall, and that I LOVED this quilt from the very depths of my heart.  I worried what everyone else would think.

I did some weird things.  Like those half stars.  That was spontaneous when I was sewing 4-patch low volume blocks.  I didn’t realize that it might knock my symmetry out of balance, but I find it to be a happy mistake.

So I stitched all my blocks together and the quilt was still too small by 12″ both width and height, so a border was in order.

I wanted something dark, but I was told to use a low volume by everyone around me.  Then, I remembered a quilt I made last year that had a low volume center and a black border and I really disliked that look, so I agreed.

In all honesty, I put this border on the quilt, spread it out and immediately hated it.  I even got a little huffy and miffed and started fussing at myself about how I just ruined a gorgeous one of a kind quilt that I was in love with only hours ago.

Do you do this?

Why are we so mean to ourselves?

I let this sit there and I worked around it on other quilts.  Peach, the cat decided it was there for him so he muddled about it.

And then, I started thinking those roses (Tanya Whelan roses here), a fabric I LOVE, really brought out the coral from my stars.  Maybe it was okay.

It was.

I am officially back in love with this quilt.  I think it might be the most favorite quilt I’ve ever made (wishy washy woman).

Now I’m going to be real here, I’ve got my quilt, you know I’ve been doing much hand stitching of late.  I’m drinking cinnamon tea, while my pretty floral tea pots sits warmly by.  I’m feeling that all I really need right now is a long flowy floral dress, my hair to be in a sweet little up-do with curling tendrils blowing in the wind and a dashing love interest on the horizon and I could BE a heroine from a Victorian novel.

I’m looking at you Jane Elliot (with of course the moral compass of Jane Eyre).

And obviously, I need something a little more comfy and fluffy than that old rocking chair.

On to more pictures….

I quilted with my standard twirling meander that you can see very well in this picture.

For the binding, I used the fabric I originally wanted to border this quilt with.  It’s Amy Butler’s Natural Beauty from her Bright Heart collection.  I am always in love with Amy Butler fabrics, particularly that print.

Everything inside the floral border is all scraps.  And this quilt used A LOT of scraps.  Doesn’t it feel good to use them?  And look at how pretty they all look together.

I find it amazing that you can mix almost anything and get something amazing from that.

This is also a good picture of what my low volume scrap basket looked like last year.  I see a few in there that I still wish I had.

And the back.  Of course it would be saturated after all that paleness on the front.

I went with Amy Butler prints here too.

This quilt is available as a ready to ship item in my shop.

 

Quilt Details

Measures 60×72″

Features (20) 12.5″ blocks

8 star blocks, 4 half star blocks and 8 4-patch low volume blocks

border is 6″ finished all the way around

Tomorrow I am doing a tutorial on how to make the scrapping star block.

Helpful Links

Purchase this quilt

Purchase this quilt in a different color palette

How I store my scraps

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