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Monday, February 18, 2013

A Big, Big Finish

Goodness, it has been nearly a year ago since I first saw this:



It was a wall-hanging sized quilt in McCalls from last year's May/June issue.  I fell immediately in love and knew it would be our next bed quilt.  In the meantime I had to move from Hawaii to Virginia and boy that was a long process that wasn't really complete until August and in the midst of it all, we got a new, king-sized bed, so I had to refigure everything. 

I began making star blocks.  A few weeks ago I had this stack of 84 or so.  I needed 100.




I got them all done but it was NO FUN sewing all those star blocks to each others.  The seam allowances were all pressed the same way.  It was sewing over hills and valleys.  Luckily, when I complained about it here, many of you wrote to say I could do it!  And so I perservered.

Then I began on the borders.  Around the big block of 100 stars went a cream border (cut at 2" finishing at 1.5") then a navy border (also cut 2") a gold border (cut 1" finishing at .5") and then another red border (cut 2.")  I was about to start the red borders when I realized my math was wrong and that I "grew" the quilt by nearly 2 inches.  UGH!  I had to rip off all the borders down to the cream one and begin again.

I got the inner borders all on and began with the double-sawtooth borders.  When I make half-square triangles, I cut a bit larger and then trim them down to the correct measurement so that they fit perfectly.  There was a lot of trimming to do, but Harry Potter on the audiobooks helped pass the time.  I think I've listened to all all those books at least 10 times, if not more.  They entertain me, but if I miss part of it, no big deal.

Anyway, Saturday morning was the big day!  I finished!!!!!  Next up, photography.  Only it rained or snowed most of the day.  Sunday morning it was sunny, but still a bit slushy, so we waited.  Finally, in the afternoon it was a bit breezy, but otherwise okay to take photos.


TA DA!!!


It finishes at 108" square.  King-sized!  I was really liking it all blue and white, but once I added the first red border, it really started singing to me!

Here is a detail of those pesky inner borders which I had to remove and redo.
 
Cream, navy, gold, and red. 
 
I almost didn't use the gold border, but I think that it brings a lot to the party.  That little jolt of difference really packs a punch.
 
 

  I love the variety of blues in the stars.  If we look at the whole thing again, notice how the different blues shimmer across the quilt.


It was a bit windy, but my darling husband managed the quilt on a ladder, clamped to a length of bamboo.

The original quilt was designed by Lynn Lister.  I enlarged the stars to finish at 8" and my large sawtooth border consisted of 6" half-square triangles and the smaller one is made of 3" half-square triangles.  Changing the sizes of the units helped keep my much-larger project more in scale to hers, but also allowed me to make far less stars than I would have needed if they were smaller. 

I am so tickled that this project is finally done--except for the long-arm quilting.  I'll be sending it off soon.


Maybe it will actually make it onto the bed before winter is technically over!

I hope you all have a great day!
JoAnne

25 comments:

  1. Congratualtions on getting the top done! Like you say, the red really makes it special, and the different blue fabrics work really well together. I hope you get it done before summer.

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  2. JoAnne, this quilt is totally amazing!! I love star quilts and this one is right at the top of the list!! The blues do shimmer!! And the borders and red really set it off!! Well done!!

    Blessings

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  3. This is quite spooky. I was looking at that quilt in the same magazine and thought it would look fab on my bed.
    Yours looks amazing, well all your work does well done. Melanie xxx

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  4. WOW!!!! That's absolutely gorgeous! Congrats and enjoy using it on your bed.

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  5. Fantastic!!!! I love everything about this quilt! And it doesn't look like those points gave you any trouble at all......perfect! I really like that bit of gold in there, too! I think you need to send a pic to the magazine with your story!

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  6. It's a star spangled beauty, JoAnne! Congratulations on working through the bumps in the road and getting it finished.

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  7. beautiful job on this one! Truly a masterpiece--can't wait to see it quilted.

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  8. I love it. I love the scrappiness of it. It is just perfect. So much time spent on it but so worth it. Perfect for your new bed! Congrats on the wonderful finish.

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  9. Beautiful. As always. I love the borders.

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  10. Simply ... utterly ... undeniably ... BEAUTIFUL!!

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  11. Beautiful! Love all the stars, nice border too. Great accomplishment. How wonderful it will be to put it on your bed.

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  12. WOW, wow, wow!
    Beautiful! I love everything about it! The blue stars twinkle, the red pieced border makes it sing and I agree, the little touch of gold is perfect. Well done!

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  13. Well done on getting the quilt finished! It is gorgeous! I love it too. You will love snuggling under it. You're right the blues do sparkle across the quilt. The red gives it that zing too.

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  14. Perseverence pays off. That is truly lovely. Lane

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  15. Holy Smoke! What an amazing quilt!! It is lovely!

    chris

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  16. AMAZING!! LOVE IT :-D What a wonderful quilt!! I would have felt the same about the gold border, but I just don't think the quilt would look as good without it. You must be so pleased with this one :-) Please say Hello to your quilt holder helper for us :-)

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  17. Wow your quilt is gorgeous! Those stars really do shimmer! Thanks for the tips on what you did to enlarge the quilt. I too was in love with the quilt when I saw it and thought it would look great in a larger size.

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  18. JoAnne, that quilt turned out beautifully! I'm so glad you persevered. I know how frustrating it is to alter the quilt pattern, recalculating the size of each piece, then sew it all together and discover that something is not right. That is so frustrating!! I'm sure you will enjoy this lovely quilt for a very long time.

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  20. What an absolutely fantastic finish! It is BEAUTIFUL!

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  21. Your quilt is just gorgeous! Definitely worth your perseverance. So many borders. I'm very impressed. Also, I jut wanted to let you know that I've nominated you for a Liebster Award. No pressure, just have fun with it! http://www.mikeandgabby.com/2013/02/a-liebster-award.html

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  22. Gorgeous, lovely quilt! I have the same pattern on my to-do list, and it is actually one of my wedding quilt options for my friends who are getting married at the end of the summer.
    Greetings from Alaska!

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  23. I wish I had reread this post before I started my blocks. 6" blocks O my! Melanie. xxx

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