Starlight Garden

2015 Project Quilting Challenge 5:  
My Favorite fabric

title:  Starlight Garden

pattern:  Starlight by Gina Fornecker

made, tied, and quilted by:  Colleen C. Yarnell

size:  56" x 64"

location: Lewisville, NC

inspiration and process: 

When I heard favorite fabric I first went to my Denyse Schmidt shelves.  Yes I said shelves-I'm a little obsessed.  But nothing was inspiring me.  I already decided on the pattern which had been sitting on my cutting table since Gina gave it to me.  It had large stars and squares to showcase larger prints.  So I looked at my other favorites. And pulled out a Melody Miller Cotton & Steele print.  

Aqua with gold dots and flowers along the edge.  

I wanted to use the sparkly part as two of the stars. 

 Then I looked for another favorite to showcase in the larger star and found a fav Amy Butler Soul Blossoms print.  Last I knew what to use in those background squares-my bundle of Anna Marie Horner Pretty Potent!  

I redrafted the pattern so it would use my 8.5" and 16.5" square rulers.  It also brought it down to a nice lap quilt size.

Sofia helped with the cutting of course,

and supervised while I sewed.

I figured out the layout and worked hard to have the directional prints go the same way.  

I then looked for a backing fabric and found another favorite Amy Butler Soul Blossoms fabric.  Im really trying to sew with my stash this year.  I'm always buying favorite fabrics and need to use them!  I have enough of the bak print left to mach a mathing pillowcase.

I decided to tie it as a legacy to the quilts my Grandmother Myers made for me.  

Plus my tied Amy Butler charm square quilt is one of my favorites, so a smaller throw will be nice to cuddle.  

Sofia helped me pin the quilt layers to the floor,

and tie it with a variegated wool yarn.  

A little friend liked the Anna Marie Horner flowers too.

I also quilted an outline inside each of the stars.  

It makes it a little more secure without taking away the puffiness of a tied quilt.

I found another favorite Amy Butler print, one of her Martini Dots which I love to use as binding.  Some have such overly bright unusual colors and they set off the bold prints perfectly!

and of course I bound it with a little help from my friend.

I have already snuggled under it as I couldnt resist sleeping under it last night!

keep dreaming...Colleen

Sofia checking out the stack of fabric and projects at the end of the cutting table.

Project Quilting 2015 challenge 2: Sunrise Sunset

title:  Sun Colors

pattern:  Original created and sewn by Colleen Yarnell

quilted:  by me with Aurifil 40wt in yellow on my Babylock Sofia, design freehand drawn with chalk pencil

fabrics: hand dyed from stash, background is woven

binding:   hand dyed scraps

inspiration:  pulled all sunrise/ sunset hand dyed from stash.  Thinking about doing strips that became hst.  thinking of how the sky looks when kayaking in Canada.  

Hand dyes from the 1990s, some made my me some purhased from Sherry Wood

I subcut the strip sets but then decided to turn them into hst

Sofia helped with the layout of the HST

Using the yellow 40wt Aurfil made the quilting really stand out.  I am please enough to put it into the living room quilt display lineup.

keep dreaming...Colleen

Its tiring for Sofiasewing and quilting all day.