Playing with Stars


I'm chugging along and playing where I can. Working through this slump, pulling out old projects and trying new things. Last week, on my birthday, I got in the mood for some precision piecing. Rather than create any old random block I decided to add to my star collection.

Sitting in a bin was a little collection of 8 stars. I started them 7 years ago. Yup, that's how long ago. They were a Block of the Month from Planet Patchwork called Celestial Migraine. At the time I started them I did plan on keeping up - don't we always plan that with BOMs?! Then, as now, most of my sewing was improv based so taking a mental break to precision piece was nice. I also chose these soft colours and that provided a respite from the saturated colours I was using all the time too.

Well, I never downloaded all the patterns and the final quilt layout. It disappeared from the site and I could no longer find it. But, I did remember that is was a sampler of star blocks, with loads of Friendship Stars scattered among them. So last week I picked a star pattern (Pat's Star) off of Quilters' Cache to add to my collection. It was a spot of fun sewing and complemented the existing stars quite well.



I must admit, I'm kind of excited about these now. I'm going to make a few Friendship Stars and float them in background fabric. The stars I have finish at 12'' square, so I'm going to finish my Friendship Stars at 6'' square. I'd like to have all my stars float on the background a bit more so I'm going to play with layout.

(Scroll through here to see a version of the original pattern.)

Who knows how long these will stay up on my wall and when I can play again? I am quite enjoying their sunny nature and it was exciting to shop my stash for fabric additions. Another step forward in reclaiming my creativity.