Seeing Stars

A few years ago I took a triangle class at The City Quilter in NYC.  Each month we met up and worked with a different kind of triangle.  Then we would work on our own to create something to share with the group for the following class.  I made a child size quilt top when we worked with equilateral triangles that I just never quite liked.  Then it sat in my unfinished top pile because I didn’t want to put the time into hand quilting something I wasn’t crazy about.  A few months ago I decided I needed to learn how to machine quilt and that was the perfect place to start.  So I did.  And here’s what I ended up with…

Original Star Quilt, First Try

I tried all kinds of ideas, and just used it as a place to experiment.  I did some writing, I tried pebbles, I think I quilted a star or two, and lots of scribbles.  Even though it’s a mess, I really like it now.  I even like it enough to try the top again, only bigger, using different fabric.  I thought I’d try a different color scheme, maybe less color.  Here’s what that looked like…

Star Top, Second Try

I didn’t like it, at all, so I changed out the calmer colored stars for something with a little more energy, and I organized the background blues so they were less chaotic.  Here’s what I’ve got now…

Star Top, Third Try

The two top rows are missing a bunch of triangles because I ran out of the Rashida Coleman-Hale fabric that I was using as the predominant background fabric.  Now I have it and need to get it cut.

All four of my kids need new bed quilts. I’ve been spending a lot of time on quilts for my girls’ room, so I thought this would work well as an everyday quilt for my older son, especially since we are trying so hard to convince him that his bed is awesome!  I'd like to make one hand-quilted bed quilt for each of them, something that represents that child and can go with them through their lives.  And then an everyday quilt that’s more fun, something they don’t have to worry about destroying.  I don’t want anybody to end up with an anxiety disorder from trying to decide how to approach lounging in bed.

After I get this together, I still need to add some color to each side, probably a red on one side and an orange, or maybe a light blue on the other.  We’ll see.

Because of all the pieces, this will stay on the wall until I get it put together.  I'd like the wall space back, so I'm hoping to have it done within the next few days.  Then I'll give machine quilting another go!  Maybe tidier loops?

Linking up with Freshly Pieced Modern Quilts for WIP Wednesday.