A little over six weeks from the first test block I made, back on July 18, and I have a finish! Holiday Star is done, and the pattern should be ready within a few weeks.
It's pretty dramatic!
Although Dayna did not intend it, I like to think of this as a Canadiana Star quilt as well, especially with the recent escalation in the trade war that "we did not provoke." (Joël Lightbound, Minister of Transportation, Public Works and Procurement.
It's my design, inspired heavily by a home décor photo Dayna sent me with no credit for the 'blanket' draped over the couch. It has a LOT of HSTs, and quite a few flying geese units too. There is also a lot of negative space, which I was twitching about not custom quilting, but Dayna wanted straight lines similar to the one in the photo.
I loaded it sideways, though there is no real right side up to the front. However, with the Minky, the nap needed to go down, the long seam to make the backing wide enough needed to go horizontal, and loading sideways on a longarm means I can quilt continuous straight lines horizontally. Not all were continuous as you see below!
As you can see, I couldn't leave some of that fabulous negative space alone. I got prior approval from Dayna😉 for this. I was worried about the ivory polyester thread showing too much against the red, but between hitting the ditch everywhere possible, and the poofy polyester batting, it has sunk in quite nicely.
She had specified a white Minky, and because my LQS did not have any, I called Stitch Happens, a store in Windsor that had some on their website. They were closed that Friday, BUT their sister store in Chatham was open, so off we went. Chatham is only about 15 km further than Windsor, it's not that big of a deal. I've wanted to check this store out twice now when we've been downtown there for lunch, and it is dangerous... However, knowing my mantra of using up my stash, I kept blinders on, got the Minky, then succumbed to a wee gander, and discovered they have some great prices on solids. So, since I had used up almost all the three yards of Kona Snow that I'd bought last summer at Mad About Patchwork in Dayna's quilt, I now have a source should I need some in future. For now, I still have a good stack of white/off-white yardage, though they are all two or less yard pieces. All right, here is the back!
Full disclosure on the Minky back: Minky is only 58" wide, and this quilt is 64.5" square, so I had to piece extra down one side. Because of the nap, I cut four sections of the yardage I'd cut off from making it long enough (68") for the length. Yes I could've bought two 68" lengths, but that is too much left over, and I am trying not to create constant leftovers. I was a bit concerned the seams might show as I did not line up the raised dots, but the quilted straight lines do wonders to blend both the vertical and horizontal seams. Also, when I loaded it, I discovered that although I had cut the top and bottom with my straight rulers, it was still a bit wonky, and wouldn't be long enough at one end. I'm not sure what happened; maybe it slid a bit when the wrong sides were together? It hasn't happened in the past with all the Minky I've done. So I had to take it off the longarm after pinning it all on 😭😫, add a couple of inches to the bottom, and then reload it onto Avril.
Better lighting in a patch of rising sun:
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| The straight lines are 2" apart. |
Dayna asked for white binding, which I think is the right call, though I had floated the idea of a solid red or a red/pink/black/celery stripe I have. Here is one with the back showing:
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| Much better, truer colours on the grass too. |
I plan to get an 'in the wild' shot at a fantastic field of sunflowers near us which I hope to use on the pattern cover, but between football and baseball, that little trip will have to wait, as I will need my quilt assistant husband! The instructions are all done for this size, but I have a baby quilt size with some cool colourways in mind, and maybe I will include a one-block cushion cover. I already have some fabric pulled for this idea!
Quilt Stats:
Size: 64" square
Fabric: Kona Snow by Robert Kaufman, red is designed by Beth Ann Bruske for David Textiles
Batting: Loops and Threads 100% polyester
Backing: Minky
Quilted: on Avril, 33 437 stitches
Threads: pieced on my Bernina with Aurifil cotton #2600; quilted with Exquisite 100% polyester; Bottom Line by Superior Threads in the bobbin.
Now that this rather intense quilt request is complete, where am I headed next? To make a quilt for MOI! I bought the Bookish fat quarter stack of 16 from Mad About Patchwork in 2022! I plan to make it in the Meadowland pattern by Then Came June. This is another USO (Un-Started Object) on the long list.
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| One quilt complete, another begins. All pressed and ready to cut up! |
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