Friday, October 26, 2012

Christmas Stars - Finished!

Christmas Stars is bound and labeled at last!

I started this quilt in July, 2011, as part of my Christmas in July project, but did not get it quilted and bound until this fall. 

 
Hard to see but the binding is the same red tone-on-tone fabric used for the sashing.  The finished quilt is 66" by 78"; it is being held up by a couple of my helpers here but even then, I had trouble getting a good photo of the entire quilt. 
 
I used a variation of the Ohio Star block for this quilt.  It is not as complicated as it looks.  My tutorial for this block is one of my most popular posts and you can find it here.  I used a variety of red and green fabrics in the star blocks  with a consistent creamy white background and a red tone-on-tone for the sashing and binding. 
 

 
Christmas Stars was quilted by Linda Hrcka of The Quilted Pineapple.  The quilting is absolutely fabulous and makes the quilt very special.  You can see more photos and read about the quilting techniques on Linda's blog post

 
I agonized over which fabric to use for the border.  I had originally planned to use a print and auditioned several before deciding that the background fabric repeated in the border would set the star blocks off best.  I'm glad I made that decision because I'm so happy with the way this quilt turned out.  
 
Here is a photo of the border quilted, before I applied the binding.  The quilting has a lot of dimension because Linda used two layers of batting, which made the quilting look almost like trapunto.  As a result, the quilt is heavier than most but that's all for the good because it will be used in the winter.  
 
 
 
I chose Christmas Stars to be my entry in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival.  Go visit Amy then travel on to all the participants.  BQF is always loads of fun and inspiration.
 
 
 
I think Christmas Stars fits best in the Favorite Bed Quilt and Favorite Professionally Quilted Quilt categories.
 
 

24 comments:

  1. Love the modified-Ohio Star and the quilt layout! And the quilting really, really finishes it off nicely. A great winter quilt!

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  2. Very pretty quilt. The quilting just enhances your work.

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  3. The quilt is absolutely gorgeous, as is the quilting. I know you'll enjoy it for years to come.

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  4. Just beautiful & the quilting is, too!

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  5. This is so pretty! I am loving seeing all of the Christmas quilts in the festival!

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  6. I am in love with your quilt. I "read" the photos first then words. I saw the tutorial - marked it for reference ..thought your piecing and color choice was wonderful. Then I scrolled down to the quilting. I wanted to call my friend Linda and tell her about this quilting...until I read. ..SHE DID THE QUILTING.!!! It is a beautiful quilt. Congratulations, lucky you.

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  7. This is a lovely quilt. I do have a soft spot for stars. Great layout and colour choice. Beautiful quilting.

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  8. This is absolutely beautiful. The piecing is lovely and the quilting really ties it all together. Nice work!

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  9. A gorgeous quilt with spectacular quilting!

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  10. Just gorgeous! The quilting, the sashing, the plain border, everything. It is an elegant timeless quilt.

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  11. Everything about this quilt is beautiful Cathy!

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  12. Beautiful!!!! I love traditional Christmas colors
    ann

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  13. Its lovely - i love the quilting. Thanks for sharing. #263

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  14. Beautiful quilt. I love Christmas quilts.

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  15. Between your design and Linda's quilting you have an absolutely stunning Christmas quilt. I plan to make my own version for next year because your tutorial makes it seem very doable. Thank you for sharing your instructions. Your quilts are always wonderful, but this one is my favorite - so far.

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  16. What a great Christmas quilt and the quilting is amazing.

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  17. Such a beautiful Christmas quilt, and many others on your blog! Thank you for sharing!

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  18. Just found your blog and I absolutely love this quilt. You did a beautiful job on it and the quilting is stunning! I'm glad you made out okay in Sandy. I'm in South Jersey and we came out okay. I love PQW, it's just over an hour from me and I get there a few times a year, but always right around my birthday! It was nice to find you...

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  19. Where can I find the pattern for your Christmas Stars quilt? It is beautiful but I saw no clue about the pattern. Please respond!

    Thank you,
    Marcia
    Eagan, MN

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  20. Several readers have asked about the pattern for this quilt. I don't have a pattern but my tutorial for the Ohio Star variation block can be found in a previous post (July 2011) here: http://quiltingonmainstreet.blogspot.com/2011/07/ohio-star-variation-quilt-block.html

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