Movie fest was a great success – it kept me motivated to keep sewing, and I got the top complete ---
I had bought several pieces of fabric in many different colors up with me in the hopes that one of them will work for the sashing, and the others would work for borders.
I LIKE busy quilts. I don’t do a lot of quilts with plain empty open spaces – NEGATIVE SPACE!? What IS that?!
The purple sashing was just perfect – it contrasted even with the purples that were in the blocks, where the light blue or the yellow or the green that I had brought made elements of the blocks disappear.
The cornerstones were already on hand – straight from the 2-1/2” scrap squares box!
I've been using them to build my Split 9-patch blocks…and wooot! We are over 100 blocks done now! I’m shooting for a 12 X 14 set ((My quilts cover PEOPLE, and there are BIG people in my family!)) so I have another 60 or so to go for a total of 168 blocks. No worry, no hurry – that’s what leader & ender projects are for. They aren't a race ---they just are there to end seams, and before you know it, a quilt is born!
But I digress ---I LOVE having boxes of squares on hand in all their variety ---can you imagine having to cut squares off of 2-1/2” strips, or worse..from fat quarters or yardage if I wanted this kind of variety in my cornerstones? Nope. They were already there waiting for me, and it was as easy as dealing out a deck of cards.
The next question was….What to border with?
The quilt is fairly dark and color-saturated already – not a lot of light showing through, so I added a black on white inner border to bring some of that daylight to the outer edge to float the quilt center before adding the final border:
Hard to see on the carpet --
I measure my borders through the center of the quilt for borders that lay extremely flat. Check my border hints page HERE.
But when it came to outer border color…what to do – what to do??
Choice #1 Green check?
Choice #2 Dark purple Stripe?
I raised a poll on our QuiltvilleFriends page on Facebook to see what people thought ---at first the consensus was to go with the purple, but I had one more choice to upload as an option:
Yellow Feathers!!
I honestly wasn't thinking the yellow would work….but it just brightened up everything so much – it let the WHITE shine through ---it made the lavender radiate.
Yellow it is!
Bad lighting at 11pm!
Close up of one corner.
It’s been really fun to remake this quilt. What a super fun and easy pattern! You’ll find the pattern for Boxy Stars under the free patterns tab at the top of the blog HERE. I’ll be adding photos of THIS quilt to that pattern page as soon as I get it quilted and get the binding on.
And as for binding:
I think that dark purple stripe is going to finish it off just fine!
Favorite block….The Wicked Witch and the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz!
It was fun going through the 2-1/2” strips with reckless abandon making the combos as weird as possible. Batiks with florals, novelties with civil war prints…just playing with color on color on color and not worrying about the print of the fabric. There are fabrics in here from the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and into the 2010s PLUS!
My life in fabric ---loving the memories – and the scraps from other friends I have added to the mix--((Allison, I see your card guys in this block too!))
I’m headed down the mountain this morning. I am on a mission.
I told the family what I want for Christmas ---they needed HELP!
There are 47 knobs in the kitchen – brass balls. PEELING brass balls. They were probably installed when the cabin was built. I want 47 NEW knobs in aged bronze or something more rustic looking, and I want them INSTALLED while I watch. LOL! Three men to replace 47 knobs should make it a fairly easy job.
Okay, more like I can be baking cookies while they can be switching out the knobs.
Finding 47 identical knobs may be a bit more rough….so my plan is to hit every Lowes store between Wilkesboro and Winston Salem – and I will include High Point and Kernersville if I have to.
Then every time I lay my hand on one of those knobs to open or close a cabinet door or drawer – I’ll feel the love of family and our first Christmas at Quilt Villa.
Things on the to do list before coming back up here tomorrow:
- Load the quilt top in the machine and quickly quilt it with something “that will do”
- Write the post for our Mystery Monday Link-Up #4 that goes live tomorrow morning at 7am ((Are you ready to share your progress?!))
- Write FRIDAY’s clue #5 and get it ready to post ahead since we’ll still be up at the cabin on Friday and it needs to be ready to go.
- Write the NEXT Clue #6 because we leave for Dallas on the 29th and I’ll be away from home when it posts!
- If possible, get the binding sewn on the Boxy Stars quilt so I can hand stitch it during family time over Christmas ---
Can I get it done? I’m going to try!
Have a great Sunday, Everyone!
32 comments:
Bonnie, your boxy stars quilt is beautiful! I love your choice of colors for the sashing, border and binding. I'll be leaving for FL the day after Christmas and have my sewing stuff packed so I think I'm going to start cutting up scraps using your system. Thank you so much for the valuable info and patterns that you post. You've helped me tremendously with quilting.
You are going to be very busy. Love the Wizard of Oz fabric. I have a bin of that fabric gifted to me by a generous friend. It could be fun to do the whole quilt with it! Happy Holidays to you and your family. Mary in Boston......
I have 100% confidence in you. Love the boxy stars. I would have voted yellow if I did Facebook. Thanks for the easy peasy clue 4. I'm all caught up. phew....just in time for Christmas cooking baking with twin sister today. Merry Christmas!
Well, if you are like me, you will! Friends can never figure out how I get so much done. I have only one bump in the road this week- the oven died (It was not pretty) ordered a new on but I bet it won't come in until After the first. I have a grill outdoors DH can cook on, a microwave, the stove top and a George Foreman grill, . Let's just see what I can come up with......
Of course you will get it done. I have every faith in you. You're my hero!!
Good luck Mary Ann. I trust you live in the south if your grill is "outdoors".
Linda in the UK
Love the boxy star with yellow border. Hope you find your 47 knots. You really make your men work :)
love your quilt drive safe. Hope you find all your knobs.
Paula in La.
Yesterday I was wishing I had a long arm machine. My daughter's quilt is HARD to do on the Brother 1500! You manage to get so much done in a short time! I'm jealous! ;)
You are a dynamo... happy hunting for your knobs and Merry Christmas to you and yours.
You can do it! Merry Christmas!
Have a great day, Love your Boxy Stars, all that colour just works so well. Hope you find all 47 door/draw knobs you need. Good luck with getting all your list complete, you probably don't need it as you have such great time management skills and will probably sail through it. Have a really great family Christmas, I am sure your sons will enjoy their cookies and you will enjoy baking for them. Julie
Your quilt came out beautifully!!! The one I started was pushed aside for finishing Christmas gifts. On the subject of knobs, try Target. They have oiled bronze knobs and they're not expensive at all. The selection is smallish but, I found great choices. Good luck! Merry! Merry! Toni Anne
Today was suppose to be our family Christmas event but snow here in Iowa put the ka-bosh on that. I'm a little but I'm hoping to be quilting will cheer me up. Boxy stars looks great!
Bonnie, I love your quilt! The yellow in the body of the quilt really makes everything pop. I see one of these in my future. Thanks for all your lessons. Merry Christmas!
Your quilt is "da bomb"! Bright and beautiful. I hope you find all the knobs you need and that you get everything done that you've set out to do today...and that some of your energy will rub off on me!
Myrna in KY
Absolutely gorgeous! If anyone can get the items on your list done, it is you! Merry Christmas!
What a great idea for a gift. I am just picturing you baking and three men in the kitchen with you installing knobs...haha!! My birthday is in January , the big 50 and I have asked for my kitchen to be redone! So we are on similar wave lengths!!
Have a great holiday! You deserve that and so much more. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! You are like the energizer bunny, you keep going and going and finishing and finishing. I wish you could transport some of that energy my way. Be careful and have a safe journey!
Go Bonnie Go! I know you can get it done! I love, love, love the color riot in this quilt!! It is just beautiful.
Last night I stayed up until 2 A.M. getting the pieces cut for Step 1 in the CS Mystery. I am going to get caught up over Christmas Break. Thanks for all you do.
Julie in Alabama
Yellow is perfect! Beautiful.
The only way I get it done is with list. Such a feeling of accomplishment when you can mark something off. You will get it done and be free to enjoy a fabulous Christmas at Quilt Villa. Merry Christmas to all in Quilt land.
Such ambition!! Good luck with finding that many knobs all alike. I had a heck of a time finding matching hardware for my kitchen and didn't need nearly that many. I wasn't real sure about that quilt at first....but the yellow outer border did the trick!! Quilts just tell you what they need don't they?
LOVE the yellow!! It frames it perfectly. Adding yet another of your quilts, this one, to my to do list.
Love it, Bonnie! The quilt just sings and that yellow brightens it all. I have to make this on in the New Year! I will add it to my list. Thanks for all you do. Enjoy!!!
Purple and Yellow/Gold were school colors for most of my Children. Go Coyotes! This one is a fun one to see all kinds of your Stash fabrics. I have some Strip cutting to do with my scraps the week between Christmas and New Years. Enjoy you new knobs!
Love the yellow feathers border! What a wonderful, colorful quilt. Very inspiring.
I abso-freakin' LOVE this quilt!! Love the sashing, love the corner stones, love the yellow border! Wow! Outstanding job, Bonnie! Wishing you and yours a VERY Merry Christmas!
Love the quilt. The yellow is the perfect choice.
Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas or the Greetings of the Season and may the year 2014 be filled with health and happiness for all.
I think I need to lay down just after reading your to-do list!! Wonder woman you are for sure! Love the quilt. I just finished a wonky stars quilt 104" square with the exact same content. The weirder the better when it came to putting the fabrics together. I just love throwing all the colours in the mix and watching the amazing result. Never will I ever use less than 50 different fabrics in my quilts again! Merry Christmas Bonnie!!
Your quilt top is looking fabulous Bonnie! Good luck getting it quilted and sewing on the binding. I have my parts 1-3 finished for your Celtic Solstice Mystery. It has been a lot of fun, thank you! I should finish step 4 by Friday! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas with your family!
I have no doubt you can get all the things on your list done and more! I love how Boxy Stars turned out and that yellow was perfect! Hope to one day see it in person! I am FINALLY signed up for a workshop (or two) with you in Tuscon in February! Can't wait!
Great fun quilt!
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