Guest post: Making A Big Step

The above is one of the fruits of a very busy summer and fall (so far) of making things. Now that it's in the hands of its new owners, Allen and Laura, I can tell you about it! To date I've undertaken pretty manageable quilting projects. Nothing too crazy. Forgiving patterns of squares or log cabins (basically: squares). While these are great, and there is a lot to learn about doing them well, I always wanted to try some of the more ambitious-looking shapes, such as the above! There are lots of names for this, including the Lone Star quilt, or just the plain, descriptive eight-pointed star.

Planning this quilt was fun, but I wasn't sure it was going to work until I had done a lot of work. The colours in the centre and the middle of the diamond are most dominant once they are laid out, and I haven't had much/any practice visualising such a specific effect.

I was taken down hard pretty quickly once I got past the planning stage. This quilt pattern/form pretty much demands precision at every turn, and I was unprepared for the things that I needed to learn to pull it off. I can't say that I've mastered them all, but I am really happy with how it turned out.

This quilt is built using 4 different strips, cut at a 45 degree angle, and then sewn together in a particular order to form a diamond with a pattern that you want. You do this eight times, and all of a sudden, you have an eight-pointed star on your hands! As things come together, you can really tell how well every cut and seam were done. Luckily, I like this sort of demanding business!

The pieced parts are all hand-quilted, with a few ties for the white pieces to keep everything together. Hand quilting is the best. I love it!

This quilt was a really fun challenge, and I am feeling bolder for my next big project! Phew/Hurray!