Penelope's Star Quilt

Well it is all done! I started with this stack of fabrics....



...and ended up with this awesomeness. My favorite pattern plus my favorite fabric line is a huge thing!


Quilt stats:
Queen 84"x 100"
Sent to a long arm quilter, Pattern is SPLAT by Anne Bright
Used Park Slope by Erin McMorris
Kona White

Tutorial for Interlocking Stars Pattern is here.



Here is the back which is a whole other quilt on it's own. I was just going to have it be the blue flower print but I didn't buy enough so I had to piece in some log cabins. Which of course I love now and I am glad that I didn't buy enough fabric for the back. I just think that the back doesn't really matter since it is going to be on a bed and not seen, but who cares right? She may want it on that side sometimes.



I bound it in the fuscia pebble print which I love! Well I love the whole line :)



I don't want this quilt to get used everyday so it is put away until Penelope gets moved into a twin bed, right now she is still in a crib. Then hopefully it will be on her bed for years to come :)

Penelope's Star Quilt - tutorial

I finished the top of my Interlocking Stars quilt today! Just in time so that I can count it as a 2011 finish. As you know I used my favorite fabric line Park Slope by Erin McMorris. I have loved this line for years and I am so happy that I finally choose a pattern for the fabrics and cut into it.



The quilt is 102"x 85". I made a rather large Twin size quilt since I wanted it to hang to the floor and not have to have a bed skirt. The quilt will go on Penelope's twin once we move her out of her crib.



Erin helped me to figure it all out on paper before I started.

Here is the breakdown:

6.5" blocks (they will be 6" finished)
14 Columns
17 Rows
47 Stars (47 prints for this quilt I doubled some of mine)
14 Fillers (fillers are just a square with 2 star points on them)
191 White squares

Cut out all your fabric first:

You need 47 prints for this quilt ( Park Slope is only 30 prints so I doubled 17 of the prints to get a total of 47 stars )

Cut out (5) 6.5" squares of each print. For a total of (235) 6.5" squares of your print fabric (there is 47 stars and each star is 5 squares)



Cut out (191) Kona White 6.5" squares

Then sew all the star points using this tutorial but don't sew the block together.

Trim all of the star points



Then lay the whole quilt out. This is what takes the longest as you need to piece it all together like a puzzle. Some stars do not have all 4 points on them. The points that are left over are your " Fillers" these are the ones you use to fill in the blank spots for the outside of the quilt. Just look at the quilt picture to see what I am talking about. They are points for the imaginary stars :)



After all of that was done I took a picture of it (just in case things got out of place) and started sewing it all together. I sewed it altogether in blocks and then sewed the blocks together in rows. Not all of your blocks are going to have the star in the center as shown in this picture. I just started sewing the blocks together starting in the top left corner of the quilt that was laid out on my floor and the first block just worked out to have the whole star.



If you have any questions just ask them in the comments. Hopefully this makes sense.

This quilt is just to large for me to quilt so I will be sending it out to the quilter I just need to find one first. I can't wait to get this one back and bound so that we can all enjoy it!

sewing the little things

I have a list. A long list. It is in my head (I really need to write it down I might sleep better). I am trying to mark off the smaller items before my parents get here which is in 5 days. I have made alot of progress.

Erin and I decided this year to do something different for each other for Christmas. We have never talked about what we are getting each other but this year decided to make mini quilts. I started making small squares in rainbow colors which are both of Erin's favorite.



I made her this mini but then after binding it I was not completely happy with it. It was to small and had things in it I knew Erin wouldn't like so I decided to start over and keep this one for myself. It looks great on my sewing wall.



I do love the straight line quilting that is Erin's favorite!



Then I started another one for her that I love and I am completely happy with but I will have to show you a picture of it after she receives it. Here is a small peek.



I signed up for a secret Santa swap among some of us on twitter. I am completely happy with my partner and knew exactly what I wanted to do. We did not have to make something we can buy something as our gift but I was in the mood to make my partner their gift. As you know I am obsessed with the Interlocking Stars pattern and I can't get enough of it. I thought it would be a perfect fit for my partner.



The mini quilt is along the larger side at 19.5" x 23.5" . I used Kona Ash since I thought my partner would like that instead of my signature white.



I usually don't do anything on the back of mini quilts since they get hung up on walls and you never see the back anyway but I had some extra squares so I though I might as well use them.



I have also been dying to make Jeni's awesome drawstring bags since she made one for Sewing Summit. Then she made a great tutorial. I finally got around to making both of my girls one. The only thing that is a pain is making the bias tape I hate making that it takes forever. I am so buying ribbon the next time I make one. Which probably won't happen since I make things last minute and won't want to run to the store LOL.



Gweniveve is a blue girl. Remember this quilt for her? So it was easy to make hers.



Penelope as you saw on my post yesterday, loves Minnie Mouse. I do not buy Disney fabric, to much for me, so I decided to do my own take on Minnie for hers. I raw edged appliqued on the Minnie which is totally not perfect but hey she is only 2.



The girls were in heaven. All day they carried around their bags and used the ties to carry them like backpacks and kept putting little fun things inside. This is why I sew. I love when people enjoy the things that I make.

Left on my list is some boxy zippy's for makeup and a pillow. Let's see if I have time in the next couple of days.......

It has begun.

I have bitten the big one. I have cut into my beloved Park Slope fabrics which is my favorite fabric line.



It has taken me along time to decide what pattern to use. It put alot of pressure on me since I didn't want to get it wrong. But I think I have got it right since I am in love with it already.



I am making a twin size and shooting for 85"x102" so that I have a good size overhang to cover the mattresses. I am so excited about this quilt. It has been awhile since I felt really inspired to make a quilt.



My parents are coming to stay with us for a couple of months and so I should be able to get alot of sewing done. I have 4 large quilts in the works so lets hope I can get them done! It is driving me crazy that I have that many WIPs.

Mini Quilt Challenge - Oh My Stars!

I wanted to join Amy's Mini Quilt Challenge since mini quilts can just be anything they can turn into a quilt, pouch, mug rug, or my favorite a pillow. So yesterday I worked long and hard on my mini.



I have been wanting to make the interlocking stars quilt for a long time now since I saw Faith's awesome one and then Amber made a pillow version that was scrappy and I was hooked!

I of course turned my mini into a pillow since pillows are my favorite things.



I already have my fabric for my quilt version of this pattern. I am finally going to cut into my beloved Park Slope prints and make a twin size version ASAP. I am that in love with this pattern.



If you want to see some more awesome mini's and what everyone has done with them go over to Amy's post and check out all the mini's that have been linked. Also you can still join and link up your mini quilt!



I have come back to add my quilt stats as I have seen alot of people doing that in their posts:

size: 18" x 18"
design: inspired by Faith's Interlocking Stars Mini
fabrics: Kona White & lots of my favorite fabrics
Block sizes: 2.5" squares 3 blocks by 3 blocks
Quilted: White Dual Duty thread straight line quilting on each side of the seams