When I signed up to test the Stargazers Quilt from Frannie B Quilt Co, I was only going to test the block and make a few blocks and put them aside to make a throw later on. It took me a very long time to pick fabrics for this pattern test. I love large scale prints and I worried that they wouldn't translate well to a sawtooth star block. I also had a mental block on what I'd use for a background. The pattern calls for variety of low volume prints totaling the appropriate yardage for the background.
Well, I'm not much of a low volume print person. I thought, maybe I can use a bunch of different solid colors. Then thought that might be too busy and just look garish. I have accumulated a lot of fabric (especially smaller cuts) from other quilters and have been sorting the fabric by color. I grabbed my white/cream bin and pulled some tone on tone prints that I liked together. They didn't quite come to a yard, so I grabbed a cream fabric with teal polka dots, a solid tan, and a cream fabric with pastel rainbows. I finally had my background.
I then needed fabric for my stars. As I looked at my background fabric, I felt they had a very vintage feel. So I went with that vibe and pulled an assortment of vintage ditsy florals from my inherited scrap stash. I had so many to choose from and decided to go with the brighter colors. Some pieces were literally scraps and just big enough for the center square or enough for the points for one star block. If you look close you will find there is one lone purple centered star.
I cut all my fabrics and then picked enough to make two blocks. After making the two blocks, I thought to myself, I know someone that would probably love this quilt - my mother in law. I should probably make this for her and give it to her for her birthday/Christmas. Her birthday is in December - so might as well cover both. I told my husband my idea and he agreed.
The hardest part of the Stargazers Quilt is making all the flying geese needed to make the sawtooth star blocks. Flying geese can be so tedious to make, but they look so good when done right. These were made one at a time versus the 4 at a time method. The 4 at a time method would be quicker, but I would not have been able to utilize all my scraps this way. Many of my pieces for the points came from skinny strips of fabric that were barely over 2 inches wide.
Once all the stars were made, the rest went fairly quick. It did take me some time and thought to try to plan out the pieces to try to keep too many of the same background pieces from touching. I also tried to keep similar stars away from each other. I thought I did good until I saw the photo below. Do you see the two twin stars in close proximity? I'm probably the only one that notices it.
Below can you spot the lone purple star?
I took my Stargazers Quilt to get quilted by the local longarm quilter that I use. I backed the quilt with a super plush double sided minky and the minky fibers got pulled to the front when it was quilted. So the stitching really stands out right now. I think a lot of that will wash out when I send it for a wash and dry cycle before I gift it.
Here's a look at the plush back. It's soft and fuzzy like a velour. It feels so good on the skin.
Now I have the arduous task of binding this quilt. I made the throw size and it is on the smaller size for a throw at 48 inches wide by 63 inches long. I think it will be perfect for my mother in law as she likes a blanket to cover her legs when she rests in her recliner in the cooler months.
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