Shooting Stars

This was a quilt-in-the-making for years, almost 11 years to be exact. You see, I bought a quilt kit to make a simple quilt for a friend 11 years ago. It was one of my first quilts, and I was so happy with it. Being new to the quilting gig, I wasn't sure what to do with the scraps, so I set them aside and continued on my quilting journey to learn technique and skill.

Last year I really wanted to clean out some of my scraps. I saw these and just couldn't separate them to put into the general scrap piles, it felt like they needed to be on their own. I decided to try making stars with them.

I was able to make 8 1/2 - 6" stars but there was still some fabric left. I measured and decided to make 6 1/2 - 4" stars. At that point, I really only had a few squares left...just enough to make some floating orbs with a snowball pattern. On the smaller ones, the white corners on the snowballs are 3/4" squares... sewn, trimmed and pressed to make the mini block.

Now that I had all of the blocks completed, I had to figure out layout. I really liked the idea of making them look like a streak. In hindsight, this quilt would have looked really cool set on black. Oh well, maybe the next one.

The next step then is the quilting. Things really got held up here because I was so afraid of messing it up. I kept thinking and thinking about what to do. I finally came to the conclusion that my machine and I are at such an impasse that I need to just get it done.

Clearly I was reluctant for a reason. I was not happy with the turn out. It feels like there's too much open space that is void of quilting, and I don't know what I was thinking doing the circle-swirls. I have never felt good about that stitch.

I kept telling myself once the binding was on and it was all finished I'd feel better. Not so much. Part of me wishes I could go back and change it, the other half says to move on and let it go. That side seems to be winning...today.

I did finish the binding by hand, again I was hoping it would make me feel better. It helped; I love the hand-finished binding look.

The backing is a piece I bought years ago with visions of making an easter quilt. This is the 2nd or 3rd quilt I have put a backing on with it. I think I might have bought a little too much.

Overall, this quilt was a lot of fun from a piecework perspective. I really enjoyed figuring out the measurements to make the different stars and orbs. I wish the quilting had gone better. Someday I'll get my long arm machine and just tear things up in here.

I'm linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Crazy Mom Quilts. Let's go see what everyone else is finishing up!