Thursday, September 7, 2017

"Starlight" - A Mini Quilt

This little quilt was a long time coming. So long, in fact, that it's been almost a year since the recipient was promised one - not for lack of making, but for lack of the perfect idea! My dear longtime blogging/quilting friend Yvonne of Quilting Jetgirl, somehow, became the random winner of my 6th Blogiversary Giveaway last year (look for a post about my 7th in the next couple of weeks!), and I promised her a custom mini quilt.

"Look at the stars, look how they shine for you" - from the song "Yellow" by Coldplay.

After she shared her likes (rainbow, approximate sizing, heavy quilting), the quilt sat on my mind for months. It's one thing to make someone a mini quilt and another thing entirely to make one for someone so special. It finally hit me a couple of months ago (Yvonne was very gracious as I took my time): I would make a quilt using lyrics from one of our shared favorite bands, Coldplay.


Once I decided on the lyrics (which took awhile - Coldplay rocks! - but I wanted something uplifting), the rest was a no-brainer. I enjoyed fussy-cutting the centers of several wonky stars and piecing them together even smaller than I'm used to (I love see it done, but don't  really enjoy small piecing myself). I used this tutorial from Jane's Fabric and Quilts to make 3" finished stars. For their final placement, I was heavily inspired by Renee's Ombre Stars quilt.


It always takes time to figure out how to quilt the words (and which fonts to use). Just like with the "Today I Feel" quilt, I marked lines with a hera marker and just went for it. I could certainly trace the letters and quilt over them, but what's life without a little risk? :) Quilting words with free motion is definitely one of my favorite things to do these days.

Then, I used Aurifil 2600 (Dove Gray) to quilt the stars, emphasizing their movement down the diagonal of the quilt. I quilted around the words in the same thread, but in straight lines (again to emphasize the middle), and at the last second decided to add some hand quilting. This ended up being my favorite part of the quilt.

I used some of my 12 weight Aurifil threads to quilt big stitches, purposefully leaving the tail ends for some flair (5022 Mustard, 2155 Cinnamon, 1125 Medium Teal, and 4662 Spotted variegated green). Thanks to Aurifil for letting me try these out (and I used them in a project for next week, too).


Yvonne says she loves the mini, and that's what I hoped for! This quilt wanted to stay here, but it's best in its new home. :) Plus... maybe more song quilts, sometime? Which lyrics would (or have you) made into a quilt?


15 comments:

  1. I would have had a hard time giving that quilt away too. Beautiful colors, quilting, quote, and all that specialness of the combination.

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  2. Oh, I love this! What an amazing quilt!

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  3. That lyric is one of favorite lyrics of all-time! What a beautiful mini- I just adore those cascading stars and the contrast in quilting textures & fonts. It's fabulous!

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  4. Beautiful mini! I love the placement of the stars and your quilting.

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  5. Love this!!! Awesome song too (which I'm sure you suspected, given the title. :D) I desperately want to make a wholecloth king size quilt with all the words from i carry your heart with me by emily dickinson. It was part of our marriage vows, and one of my favorites. Hubby isn't sold on the whole "words on quilts" thing - YET! I'll get him there. :D

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  6. I love it and I'm sure Yvonne does too! You are so good an quilting words...it looks like so much fun! There are so many great songs, poems and quotes out there! It would be difficult to pick one!

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  7. You really could not have picked a better lyric for me. Thank you sooooo much! In the location it is hanging in my space (I owe you a photo of that soonish!), I can really see the change in quilting areound the stars and lyrics and it is son,ovelybto get to see it and think of you each day. Hugs and love and many thanks!!

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  8. I agree that it can be harder to decide what to make someone special, but this turned out so beautifully it was certainly worth the wait. I love the quilting and those small stars are perfect.

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  9. I love the combination of machine and hand quilting!

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  10. Love the details in this piece! And yes, love that song! Next one, you could do, Imagine by John Lennon. Perfect lyrics for you. :) https://www.lyrics007.com/John%20Lennon%20Lyrics/Imagine%20Lyrics.html

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  11. I think Yvonne will be glad she waited. This is a very special quilt gift/giveaway.

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  12. Such a beautiful quilt. I missed the size of the quilt. The horizontal lines remind me of sheet music with the words included. Just missing a few notes. You are such a talented lady and I think anyone would be happy to have a quilt by you.

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  13. Such a beautiful gesture. That song has been playing in my head since I saw this yesterday!

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  14. Aw I'm glad I got to be some small part of this quilt! When you first posted it on IG I was like jeez that looks like the quilt I made for Afton, but I also realized that there's tons of diagonal star quilts. :-) I love the quilting and star colors you chose! Definitely something I would think Yvonne would like (which she clearly does!).

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