Carpenter Star 2!

  I had so much fun putting together a Carpenter Star quilt, that I couldn't resist doing a second one! I needed a quilt for my sister in law. She was giving me a mirror so I said I would make her a quilt in exchange. 

  She requested soft pretty colors, so off to Quiltessentials in St. Albert I went. I knew they had a good selection of Moda floral prints which was exactly what I envisioned for this project. A beautiful white floral tone on tone was perfect for the background. I bought extra background fabric because I had a feeling this quilt would require a white border so that the star would have a "floating" effect.

  Quilting was more work than piecing. I premarked a scalloped border, and spines for the feathers to curve around the scallops. Marking the lines on the inner background blocks made quilting straight lines easier than using seams as a straight line guide. 

  Quilting on the floral prints did not turn out very good at first. My choice of design was thready and I was not happy with how it looked. So part way through I changed to a simple stipple. That suited the fabric and looked much better. I finished the rest of the quilt , then took it off the frame and brought it home. Picking out stitches is just more pleasant when one is sitting by a fire.

  With our Leader Grip system of loading quilts, it's easy to load and unload a partly finished quilt. Once I had it back on the frame it only took about 10 minutes to redo the parts of the star where I picked out stitches.

  It was hard to photograph the stitching since the background fabric really showed off its print! Another quick trip to Quiltessentials for the binding fabric. The ladies were so helpful! 

  I was very happy with the finished quilt. It's a nice refreshing, light and feminine quilt. Since my sister in law has only men in her house, I think she will enjoy this pretty quilt! I know I will enjoy my new mirror!