Pretty Stars

I am slow posting some of last month's quilts because it has been quite hectic around here.  MQX is 3 weeks out - just around the corner.  I am teaching 4 sold out classes, and I have been furiously getting all class materials worked out.  This quilt is by the same client that sent me this quilt in January.  It is made from, not surprisingly, many of the same taupes.  I like how she combines colors and fabrics - this has a very pretty look. 

It's (going om memory) about 75" square, has wool batting and Glide threads.  The piecing has nice movement.

Quilting this challenged my need (or maybe it is just a desire) to be perfect.  The client specifically wanted it custom quilted.  BUT like some quilts, it has some most obvious challenges like the fact that many "circles" were not really pieced to yield a neat circle, and the squares on point were, well, point-less much of the time.  I gave up the notion of ditching the squares, because this accentuates that they are not actually squares.  The meandering feather (I think) draws the eye away from the piecing.  Not every quilter shares my anal need to have points in tact, but they all need to have a good way to be quilted.

 Imperfect piecing sometimes yields quilting that is also imperfect, as I have below.  The circles aren't perfectly round, but I think it still has a nice movement, and I tried to draw your eye from the flaws and to the diamond at the center of each star.

 The back is the gem.  You don't have the piecing as a reference to the quilting.  It is just pure and sweet texture.  I love this.

 And the border...

This will go home to it's owner in a few days, and I think that she will like the finished look.

Now, with 2-1/2 weeks until I leave for MQX, I am just dealing with the daily things...taxes (yes, the dreaded taxes after a very successful year at the shows are in a word, frightening!), I am marking a new whole cloth, also marking some class pieces my students will quilt.  I have one small sample to whip up on scalloped binding, and a couple of articles to try to get a jump on.  Nothing big, there!...And then the usual duties of my son's birthday, another stupid holiday (not a fan of Easter), and all the homework and kid running around that 3 kids require.  I wish I could say MQX will be like a vacation, but not quite :-)

My whole cloth won another 1st place at AQS Lancaster last week.  It, along with 2 other quilts, will be at MQX.  This will be their first "real" outting where they are judged with an emphasis on machine quilting.  This is the first show that truly matters to me as a quilter.  The others are great, and the wins are fantastic, but this one will give me the feedback about my quilting that I so love.