Friday, February 22, 2019

Dancing Stars

Hi everyone!  Here we are at another Friday, three-fourths of the way through February.  Holy cow! I have mixed feelings about this.  On the one hand, the year is already going so fast and 2019 needs to slow it down a bit. On the other, every day brings spring a lot closer, and I'm so ready!  It snowed *and* rained this week, and for a little while, it was doing both at the same time.  It was a very gray week, then when I went to take quilt pictures, the sun came out and everything looked pretty cheerful again.

I'm no weather person, but I think the sun came out just for the fun, colorful finish I have to show today. Here she is:


I call this quilt top Dancing Stars, because the blocks are dancing all across it.  I love how they're dancing and floating at the same time.  The sashing is the dots fabric that I had originally chosen, then changed my mind about.  Then I changed my mind again because the dots were busy enough to blend together and make it seem that the blocks were floating.  If you look very carefully, you can see the seams, but they all seem to melt together unless you're really inspecting it.


I made these blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge last year, and all of the fabrics except the sashing are legitimately scraps.  The blocks finish at 12 inches and were fairly fun to make.  When I've seen other quilts made like this, the stars are usually white, but I decided to have multicolor stars instead. I'm not sure about it now, but it certainly did add a lot of color.


A twisted sashing is the key to making the stars dance.  First I added sashing all around the block, then trimmed the sashing on a diagonal, like so:


Okay, I enhanced that line a bit so that we can actually see it. To get the angle I wanted, I started with two-inch sashing all around, then trimmed, tapering from 1/2 inch to 1-3/4 inches.  You can control the degree of tilt by the angle that you cut, and I've seen pictures of some quilts with multiple twisted sashings.  I added a very narrow border all around the quilt, mainly so that I could add the binding after quilting without worrying about losing points.


This quilt is going to a friend, and I have a colorful backing all ready for it.  What I don't have is batting! Somehow I have run out of large pieces of batting, and I don't have enough smaller pieces to stitch together.  I guess I have some shopping to do.  Isn't that tragic?


Hope everyone has a lovely, colorful weekend.  I am banishing the gray and have very colorful plans for my own weekend.  There may be balloons, and I'm pretty sure there will be birthday cake.  We'll see!

Sharing at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Finished or Not Friday, Oh Scrap! and soscrappy for RSC19.

36 comments:

Cathy said...

That is such a great scrappy quilt and I love how you made them dance! Awesome quilt top!!

Frédérique - Quilting Patchwork Appliqué said...

Great setting, I love your dancing stars, and indeed they dance ;-) Beautiful colors, such a sweet quilt!

Kathy S. said...

I love the dancing blocks. What fun movement in the quilt. Beautiful quilt top finish!

Jo said...

So would it be a happy birthday to you. If so, have a great one. Love the quilt. Scraps are the best.

Laura said...

Colorful, uplifting and fun! Love!

Ramona said...

I love your quilt! The colors just pop and the stars do dance! Love it on the snowy background, too. Great design!

Alison V. said...

What a fun and happy quilt! I love how bright all of the colors are.

Sheila said...

I love your star quilt! Your friend will love it, too.

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

so bright and colorful against your snow!

Rose said...

I think the multi colored stars was a good choice.

Preeti said...

Oh the joy of the tipsy (I mean happy) stars is just what we need midst the snowy weather. On the other hand, the white-out conditions are a perfect backdrop for the stunning pictures, frostbitten fingers notwithstanding. And when it comes to batting, you know, I prefer a roll :-) a very big roll!!!

Home Sewn By Us said...

Hi Mari! What a fabulous finish for this Friday. I just LOVE how colorful and happy this quilt is. You can't help but smile as you admire it. And the colorful stars are shining brilliantly. Oh your friend is going to just ADORE this. How can she not?! Stitched with love, she'll feel every bit of it. And I love how you shared how you trimmed the sashing. I'm going to PIN that so I give it a try at some point. Sooner than later! ~smile~ Roseanne

Mindy Sebastian said...

How fantastic! So bright, so bold, so colorful. I need more cheery things like this as we settle in for MORE winter. Wonderful job!

piecefulwendy said...

I love the way the stars dance on this happy quilt. Perfect for these cold winter days as we (impatiently) wait for Spring! Your snow photos are very fun!

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

I love your Dancing Stars, Mari! I've always liked those blocks, but the dancing sashing just adds that much more fun to the whole thing! Your friend is going to love this quilt!

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

Shopping.... tragic - ha ha
THAT is a great way to set those blocks! they are so happy to begin with and that just adds more happy!! Great job!

Louise said...

This quilt is just like a happy promise of sunny skies, isn't it? Love it, Mari!

Kate said...

Love your quilt. You inspired me to make one similar but alas it is a long way from being finished. Time to get it done.

Bernie Kringel said...

Crazy how much the slant of those blocks changes the look of the quilt - much more interesting that way. Great job Mari! Have a fun weekend!!

PugMom said...

Wow!!! Looks great!!

grammajudyb said...

I watched as you made those stars for RSC. Now they are really dancing in the quilt. Oh, and Happy Birthday! Mine is this weekend too, tomorrow in fact! I'll put money on the fact that I am older than you, but not nearly as talented! Have a great weekend!

PaulaB quilts said...

Love the colorful stars. Thanks so much for the best directions for the tilted blocks. Others were too confusing.

MissPat said...

Yes, a very happy quilt. What, pray tell, will you do with all the slanted cutoffs? Can you use the pieces to sash another quilt?
Pat

Marly said...

Sweet!

Ellen said...

Such a happy, fun quilt!

Susie H said...

Gorgeous finish to last year's RSC! It is very inspiring to me to keep up with this year's.

JanineMarie said...

I've always liked these colorful blocks, and now with your fun sashing, they really sing (and dance). And in the snow! You are brave to go out there, but it was worth it. Have fun partying this weekend!

Karen's Korner said...

Such a fun quilt. Well done.

gayle said...

I love a quilt that is doing a happy dance! This is fabulous!

Kat said...

What a beautiful quilt! I love the colourful starts and the tilted setting! It is wonderful!

Kate said...

Congrats on finishing off a RSC quilt. Very colorful and fun. I'm with you, I'm so ready for spring. It was 60 yesterday right at noon, then the winds got going. Temps were 40, but with the wind chill it was closer to 30!

Cathy said...

Love how you made those stars dance!

I'm retired now so rarely know what month or day of the week it happens to be -- I just enjoy the time whether it moves fast or slow!

Cynthia Brunz Designs said...

The tilted sashing really does make those stars dance. I love the bright colors. Thanks so much for sharing with Oh Scrap!

Lisa in Port Hope said...

I love your happy rainbow quilt! I agree, having the coloured fabric in the stars makes them unique.

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

Cute quilt top. I've set blocks like that in the past (Santa blocks).

Anonymous said...

HI,Dancing Stars is such a Bright+Cheery Quilt! Love it and will surely make one similar for us! Love the colored stars! Thanks for sharing!