Do you want to see how I finished the Our Star Quilt for my daughter?
I love, love, love how you can customize a quilt by your choice of quilting pattern, thread colors and binding! It can change the look significantly!
For this quilt, I chose to big-stitch hand quilt the whole thing. I think it ads a special vintage flare and home-spun look, that I really like. If you would like to see a detailed tutorial on this process, check out Hand-Quilted Velvet Blanket.
I realize that it is not for everyone and I could have totally machine quilted using a similar pattern.
For the quilting pattern, I mimicked the giant star shape with white perle cotton thread on the star itself, radiating away from the center of the quilt.
I use Frixion Gel Pens to mark the quilting lines on my quilt tops. The lines disappear with a quick press of the iron and REALLY help keep your pattern organized and crisp.
For the white background areas, I used 3 colors (green, purple & pink) of perle cotton in a repeating order to quilt a straight line pattern radiating away from the star.
As you can see in the picture to the left, I started out with green and completed that color before moving on to the next.
After the quilting was complete, it was time to make and attach the binding.
We created a scrappy binding using 2 1/2 inch strips of the scrap fabric left over from the quilt top and back.
I used a super sweet new tool to create this binding and it saved me SOOOO much time and spared my fingers from those nasty iron burns. You know what I'm talking about.... Check out the product review here.
Time to attach that binding to the quilt sandwhich.
Check out How to Attaching Binding Option #2, for a review of this method of attachment.
Beautiful faux-mitered corners are possible....with patience and practice!
After the scrappy binding was attached, it was time to decide how to finish attachment.
I decided to try a new techinique, using big-stitches to attach binding. The stitches look like the ones used to quilt, so was a natural choice.
Not only does it look cool, it was WAAAYYY faster and easier than the traditional method of handsewing binding. See How to Attach Binding Option #1 for a review.
And here she is in all her glory!
Man, I love this quilt so much! I think it may be my favorite of all time AND I haven't even washed it yet!
I hope this has inspired you to create the perfect quilt for someone you love...or yourself ; )
Stay safe & be well,
Jen J