More Stars fell on Texas

An internet client sent me this last month. She loves to make quilts with stars (I've done several of them!). I'm not sure what this line is but I'm pretty sure it's a Moda. There's a couple of fabrics that look like paint-brushings that I really like so I plan to find out. When it arrived, the plan was an all-over around the stars, which were to be SID. I quickly realized that the stars needed quilting too or they'd be floppy compared to the rest of the quilt. This plan was getting very labor intensive with the 16 stars, 16 sets of rogue star points and much stop & start to quilt within the stars. Not that it is not completely doable, mind you, I didn't think that this was the plan of the owner's budget so I approached her with an alternative. I needed a plan that could be quilted in less than 6 hours so that I might make profit too :-) Afterall, this is only a 71" quilt!
SID is not my favorite thing to do by a longshot. It takes a goodly amount of time. My target was to design a pattern that could accentuate the stars, and be quilted continuously with the rest of the quilt. What I drafted up has wreaths in the 4-patches, flowers in the diamond-shaped blocks that connect the stars, and something different in the stars. AND, it can be stitched continuously in rows. It did take a fair bit of marking of the circles, but that part is fast and easy. There is connecting stitching to get to the wreaths, but I do it along a seamline, and since many of the fabrics are close to the thread color, it does not really show unless you look closely on the back.

The backing is a soft flannel - one large piece w/o seams. Yea! The way to go, I tell you. Why quilters love to overpiece backings is a mystery to me!! But then, I fall guilty to that now and then too.

I selected a thread color that is a good match to the cream of the stars fabric. I thought that this would let the stars be "star of the show". In hindsight, I kind of wish I'd chosen a soft tan instead (although I hate to second guess decisions). The fabrics in the background are of all tones, and the beige thread is darker than I really prefer on the darkest of these. I tan mighted have tempered the quilting a bit, and made it stand out somewhat on the stars. Initially I didn't think that this is what I wanted, but in the end, I think I changed my mind.

I had done half of the border in the beige when I decided to rip it out and use a soft tan instead. It's not that I love my ripper (HA!...another hour certainly does not help that hourly wage one bit), but the deeper tone is better on the dark tan border. Or I think so anyhow.

I hope the owner likes it. The entire time I was sewing I was cursing the thread color, and cursing myself because I knew it was taking a long time, despite no SID. It took as long as I estimated the original plan to take! Once I removed it and cleaned off the chalk, is when it hit me. I love it. That is the point when the quilts come to life. And this one, once bound, will be fantastic. I know it will be loved by it's owner.

Enjoy Sandy!