{stars for asher}

Stars for Asher

I made a baby quilt for Asher using this great pattern.  

I just loved the graphic nature of the quilt.

I love using stripes on the bias for bindings.

Before the quilting and binding

Well, Asher is all grown up (4 years old!) and needs a big boy 'Grandma' quilt to snuggle under.

(I don't think his mother ever let him 'use' his baby quilt ;)

I wanted to do something that referenced back to his baby quilt but was 'age appropriate' for him now.  I found the great spaceship fabric at Joann's and decided to make a 'scrappy' looking quilt with the spaceships as the star fabric.

I cut strips the width of the fabric in various widths (1 1/2" - 4") pulling the bright colors from the spaceship fabric.  I sub cut those strips in to 10" lengths.  I even had a few of the fabrics that I had used in his baby quilt.  I used the spaceship fabric in every block.

Recognize any of these fabrics in the new quilt?

I sewed a variety of strips together to give me an approximately 10" square.  I pressed all of the seams open and squared the block off to 9 1/2".  Believe it or not, it is very hard for me to be 'random'!  I have to really concentrate to achieve a scrappy look.

Details of the stars & suns quilting

Once I laid out the quilt blocks out, I decided it needed a little more 'zip', something to add a visual pause in the busyness of the blocks.  Before I could add the red/white polka dot corners, I had to finalize my layout because I was only placing the white dot fabric on the 'inner' blocks and only on opposite corners.  I cut 3" squares out of the white with red polka dot.  I drew a diagonal line on the wrong side of the square, laid two on each 'inner' block, sewed down the line, trimmed off the excess corner, folded back the dot and pressed.

from Moda's Bakeshop

For some reason, they remind me of the starfighters in Star Wars.

I backed it with a fun plaid flannel, bound it with the spaceship fabric and filled it with lots of love.

I think he likes it!

{along came a spider . . . }

{along came a spider . . . }

The back is a black print from Hobby Lobby & leftover orange wedges  

I love quilts!  I've always wanted a cupboard full of them.  Large, small, pieced, quilted, it didn't matter.  I started collecting patterns and fabrics, gizmos and gadgets but my fear of the end result not being 'good enough' kept me from cutting in to my growing fabric collection. 

Quite simply, I was frozen by fear.

One day, as I was admiring a quilt that Mr. W's grandmother had made, I realized that all of her seams didn't match perfectly and that she had actually run out of one fabric and finished with another.  I didn't love her or her quilt any less because it wasn't perfect.  Truth be told, I loved her and her quilt even more because she had not let perfection rob her of using her God given talents to bless her family and express her creativity.  Why was I holding myself back?  

I thought "For Pete's sake Nancy, it's fabric not heart surgery!"  Go for it and enjoy the process!

Can't go wrong with a stripey binding!

And you know what . . . not one person that I have gifted a quilt to has refused it because it wasn't perfect.  That love, that imperfection, that ME that is in each of my quilts is what sets them apart from 'store bought'.

Inspiration for the quilt's name

I am enjoying the process and along the way I am 

making a dent in my goal of a cupboard full of quilts.

In honor of all things Halloween, I present my

'along came a spider . . . ' quilt!

I used this as my inspiration.  

I didn't want a H A L L O W E E N quilt with novelty prints.  Instead, I opted for more graphic blacks, whites and oranges.  I cut 12 inch wide strips and then sub cut them into wedges.

(Unfortunately, I made this before the chevron craze because I think a little chevron would add a lot of zip! - 
I guess I'll just have to make another one :)

I still have the quilt label to make 

but in the meantime, enjoy!