Crazy star quilt update

I’ve been a bit quiet on my crazy star quilt. You hadn’t noticed? Phew. It’s not that progress hasn’t been made. It has, but then ground to a halt, as these things do. A quick update is due, I think. If only to inspire me to keep going.

All the stars are cut out and sewn together. By the end, I was choosing fabric, from my stash, to fit with my colour scheme, which was totally opposite to my original idea. After declaring this quilt a random, scrappy star quilt, it turns out that even scrappy doesn’t always equal random.

Rings of colour started to appear. By themselves. At first, they happened by accident, then I found myself busily aiding their creation. Searching out just the right colour from my stash.

The lime green circle started it. I’m thoroughly blaming the Camelot fabric which gathered nonchalantly near the middle to form the first ring. Almost like a round table. Very fitting. Who can forget King Arthur and his round table? I really couldn’t fight it after that lightbulb moment.

Next my orange bobbins fabric kept on cropping up, so I cut enough to make the next ring. Each star is different. In fact no two stars are the same for the whole quilt. Although with so many stars, two might well have slipped through. I’m still looking.

From the start, blue and red have dominated the quilt. They are my favourite colours. I guess it makes complete sense that I’d have an abundance of these in my collection of fabric. Standing back, it is the dark blue ring that jumps out the most. Next to appear was the light blue and finally, the red circle. The sides of the red ring disappear off the sides of the quilt. Not a problem, as there will be a red edging.

I spent so long rearranging the stars, to get just the right arrangement. It. took. days. I’d re-arrange, stand back, wander off. Come back. Rearrange again. Even my dreams at night were beginning to be affected by it. I went around and around with this one. I am happy now. I think…

In between each of the stars, I’m sewing red diamonds. I’ve a big pile cut out, but not enough yet.  I’ve not dared to work out how many I will need in total. Ignorance is bliss, in this case. It was also at this point, my wrist gave up. No more fabric cutting, it seemed to whimper. So I stopped.

I couldn’t quite leave it. I experimented by sewing the red around the stars, to make sure I had chosen the right colour. I think I have. I’m sure I have. Pinning the stars on the white background, had thrown me. I found I was starting to entertain the idea of changing to a lighter, more subtle colour. It was a close run race, but deep down I know I will enjoy the boldness and cheery tone of the red. So red it is.

My goodness. Creating a quilt is such a personal experience!

Update over. Hopefully next time I share, more stars will be sewn together. Like a crazy galaxy far, far away.

Linking up with Nicole over at Frontier Dreams for the Keep Calm, Craft On link up. What is everyone else making?