Bloggers' Quilt Festival - Lone Star

Amy is sponsoring another Bloggers' Quilt Festival, so I'm taking advantage of the incentive to write the story of one of my quilts.
 

This quilt started because I needed and quick and easy quilt for the monthly colour challenge from Vicki and Judy.  I wasn't overly inspired by the palette this time around, but I wanted to keep up my record of making a quilt for every challenge.  So, I dug through my stash for some fabrics to match the palette, and then cast about for a pattern to use.


Because I was using stash, the amount of fabric I could use in the design was limited.  So I decided to make a small donation quilt.  And in my web surfing, I saw some long star quilts and latched onto that idea.  Perfect!  I made a lone star some time ago, but another one would be fun - and this time I'd make it simple - just the basic lone star center, without the fractured frame that my first had.

I did some quick calculations based on the fabric in my pile, and determined that I could cut 3" diamonds and would have plenty of each fabric colour for it.  What I neglected to do was to calculate the overall size of a lone star, made with 3" diamonds.  Apparently the answer is about 55" across.  So much for my "small donation quilt".

But I persevered, because it was coming together beautifully.  And despite the size, it was still just a lone star, with the same number of pieces it would have had if I'd made it smaller.  Plus, I was deciding that I loved the colours!  Amazing how a palette can change, once you start working with it.

Once the star was done, I realized that my stash searching had not turned up enough of any fabric for the background.  I headed off to the LQS with cream on my mind.  I thought that would be a nice safe background and set off the colours well.  Well, when I got there, I looked at the creams and realized my mistake very quickly.  They made the quilt look insipid.  Not the right choice at all.

So I looked to the ladies at the shop for inspiration and suggestions - and this is what we came up with.  A rich dark purple set off the fabrics beautifully.  And, bonus factor, it matches the missing colour in the colour palette!  And I hadn't even mentioned that when we started digging for fabrics - I guess Vicki really does know what she's talking about with these palettes :)

Of course, once the star was finished, I realized that I did not want a square quilt.  So I came up with top & bottom borders to turn it into a twin-size bed cover.

Back to the store - I was out of pink and yellow fabric, since I hadn't planned on this addition at the start.  Couldn't match the fabrics exactly, but I I like what I found.

And then the quilting.  I bought a long arm machine in July, and this quilt was for the July colour challenge - so it became one of the first full-size quilts I loaded up. 

The backing is a brightly coloured batik that I purchased several months earlier for a different quilt.  I decided I didn't like it there, but it seemed perfect for this one.

I stuck with a fairly simple quilting design - straight lines in the diamonds, and a simple leaf & flower pattern in the background.  The new machine performed beautifully, and the quilt was quickly unloaded and bound.


And here is it.  Complete and ready for use.  For now it resides on my son's bed part-time while he's away at school.  When he comes home, he has his own quilt and this one goes into storage.

Click the link to hop over to the quilt festival and have look at some of the spectacular quilts.