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Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Star Crossed Quilt from Don't Call Me Betsy

Elizabeth from Don't Call Me Betsy is no stranger to us...and probably not to you either...her work is fabulous! We're constantly checking out her cute stuff for inspiration! :)  One of my favorite things Elizabeth has done is her Kaleidoscope QAL...so cute!!!  Make sure to stop by Don't Call Me Betsy and her pattern shop, love this one!!

I am so excited to share the finished quilt with you!  This is definitely one of my favorite finishes in a while, thanks to the fun I had quilting this one and the great texture the quilting created.  I love densely quilted quilts like this one, so I'm quite sure it's going to be one of my favorites for a while to come.

Star Crossed Stitch quilt - unwashed full shot
before washing

Star Crossed Stitch quilt - washed full shot
after washing
A while back, I fell in love with a block I saw in a copy of Jinny Beyer's The Quilter's Album of Patchwork Patterns, on loan from the library, and sketched it out in my sketchbook.  Many months later, back in January, when the fabulously talented Betz White sent me some of her fantastic organic line of fabric for Robert Kaufman, I revisited the sketch and decided to finally make the block.  I called it a Star Crossed block, as it felt like a fab combination of a star and cross block, and I slowly started working on this quilt bit by bit, in between what feels like a zillion other obligations that I can't share yet.

I was super excited to finish this quilt...until I realized that I didn't have a clue how I wanted to quilt it.  Usually, I don't make that decision until after I see the finished quilt top.  When I looked at this quilt top, I just couldn't seem to decide.  I wanted to do something other than my usual smooth stipple, and I thought a pointy stipple would be fun, but rather than mocking it up to see how it would look, I just went for it.  Whoops.  I hated it.  Intensely.  So much so that I ripped it all out.  Note to self: always mock up the quilting.  Always.  (ETA: All I do to mock up my quilts is print out a photo and draw out my FMQ design on it with a highlighter.  It's uber-low-tech and fast.)

IMG_8059
before washing

Somehow or another, I got baptist fans on the brain, and just couldn't let go.  So I did them.  And they were really fun to do!  The way I stitched these fans is indeed in a continuous line, with one start at the beginning of each row of fans and one stop at the end.  I'm putting the finishing touches on a tutorial of how I did this quilting to share with you all tomorrow, so stay tuned for that. 

IMG_8056
before washing
I'm so happy I went with my gut and ripped out the pointy stipple quilting stitches I started with.  I'm also really glad I tried a new style of quilting, even though I really thought it was going to be either too difficult or too tedious.  Trying something new can be so much fun!

Star Crossed Stitch quilt - washed detail #1
after washing
Thanks again, Betz, for sharing some of your lovely fabrics for this project!

Quilt Stats
Name: Star Crossed Stitch quilt
Block PatternStar Crossed block
Size: 34" x 44"
Fabrics: Betz White's Stitch Organic collection for Robert Kaufman along with some coordinating fabrics from Just Dandy, Katie Jump Rope, and So Sophie
Backing: Remants from Betz White's Stitch Organic collection
Quilting: All-over baptist fan free motion quilting (tutorial coming tomrrow!) by yours truly
Binding: Scrappy binding, using remants from Betz White's Stitch Organic collection, hand finished
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14 comments:

dream quilt create said...

It's really gorgeous! The fabric and the blocks...

Emily said...

Beautiful as always! Great work Elizabeth!

Rachel said...

Lovely quilt!! The babtist fans look awesome and were well worth all that *shudder* ripping out!! :) :)

Cheers!
Rachel
Scrapendipity Designs

Debbie said...

Very nice! Love hearing about the process.

Sarah said...

The quilt is just beautiful! Thank you so much (in advance!) for a baptist fans tutorial!! I'm making a massive king sized quilt that I think baptist fans will be perfect on, but having never done it before, a tutorial would be AWESOME! :)

Needled Mom said...

That is really gorgeous and I love the quilting.

Cherie said...

It looks gorgeous! The quilting pattern is great! Love the effect washing the quilt gives =D

Also I've added some new fabrics into my swap shop. If you're interested feel free to check it out =D
http://ibescheraldine.blogspot.co.uk/p/cheraldines-swap-shop.html

QuiltNut Creations said...

Love it love it love it!! Perfect quilting for the quilt.

CathyK said...

Love this quilt!

Josie McRazie said...

Can I tell you I LOVE how a quilt smushes and becomes comfy once it is washed! Oh, is there anything like it?? I think not! :)

Lori said...

this is really pretty. i like your border, really finishes it off well

A Colorful World said...

Gorgeous quilt! I really love the colors and the pattern! You did a wonderful job!

JoAnne in southern California said...

Your colors snazzy! Elizabeth, your quilting is really nice.

Lynne said...

Lovely quilt, gorgeous quilting,