Monday, October 29, 2012

A Tale of two Quilt Tops

If you are looking for my Bloggers Quilt Festival post- it is here.

The last few weeks I haven't felt like I was making a big dent in my to-sew list. But, this weekend was VERY productive. I finished two quilt tops, one quilt back and am halfway done with a messenger bag. Kim and I crafted all day Saturday and Sunday. We may have annoyed my hubs a tad but he is a great sport. Plus we made him pumpkin scones.

Look at this plate. There's so much Fall in this picture its ridiculous. Be jealous.

Okay onto the quilt tops. Spinning stars {and geese} and a new quilt Sakura are both done. I will talk about each individually and then have a side by side comparison.

Sakura
Sakura

This quilt is called Sakura, which means cherry blossom in Japanese. I used a Matsuri fat quarter bundle and some coordinating solids from connecting threads. The Matsuri is a cotton lawn so it is super soft and silky like voile. I had the perfect solids in my stash for this quilt, how often does that happen! The pattern is cherry pie from Tula Pink. This pattern was showcased on Sew Sweetness's Tula Pink SAL. I wasn't going to do the SAL until I saw this post. Damn you/thank you for the distraction! I think I can get this finished before the SAL is over.

Sakura
Here's a close up of one of the blocks. Probably need to iron this a bit :)

Spinning Stars {and Geese}
Spinning stars (and geese)
This top is made from lots of different fabrics from my stash. The center triangles are made with some Tula, a habitat print, domestic bliss and an art gallery print. Probably something else in there too. The solid octagons are either Oakshott cottons (blue, purple, olive) and connecting threads solids and mirages. The stars are  domestic bliss, flea market fancy and two connecting thread prints (the honeycomb and blue dot fabs).

This is what I had to deal with when piecing the top. Yeah I need a design wall like woah.


close up of the blocks
This is a representative block. I love the way the olive Oakshott adds some sophistication to this quilt top.  The quilt is for my youngest sister (she is 7). I wanted it to not be too "kiddy" something she can use for years to come.

spinning geese
I love all the spinning star quilts in the flickr group but from the get go I wanted to do something a little different. I chose to switch out one of the blocks with a circle of geese block. I am really happy the way it turned out. It looks like it is floating on the background stars.

So in summary...

Sakura - Finished the entire thing in one day
Spinning stars - I averaged about one block a day and it took over a month

Sakura- No seams needed to match up!
Spinning stars- EVERY seam needed to meet up

Sakura- not much thought required
Spinning stars- every brain cell was used

I love them both and it was so satisfying to piece the Sakura after the spinning stars. Linking up with A quilt story Fabric Tuesdays and WIP Wednesdays with Lee at Freshly Pieced.


10 comments:

  1. I love that spinning stars quilt! And I would love to have a few of those scones. :)

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  2. Well, dang. Both of these are incredibly awesome, but that circle of geese addition is seriously the shiz.

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  3. Gosh, the Spinning Stars is really a stunner with that circle of geese. Nice job! My dog (and kid!) do the same thing when I'm laying out blocks.

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  4. Both these quilts are stunning! The Matsuri collection is so pretty. I got some feather fabric to make myself a skirt in the spring.

    Those flying geese really make that quilt special. I love it!

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  5. Oh my - I love both of your gorgeous quilts. Great job! Love your summary. I think I'm in the mood for Sakura.

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  6. That circle of geese block?! You nailed it. It's perfect in the Spinning Stars quilt. You were so smart to think of changing up the pattern!

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  7. I love the Sakura quilt - I cannot believe you made that in one day!! And you are second person this week who I have seen making pumpkin scones...I will have to look for a recipe.

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  8. Wow, the circle of geese in the spinning stars quilt is brilliant! I love it :)

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