I have been slow to write about past finished quilts but I am hoping to catch up this spring! First up is my Nova Star Quilt I made during the 2020 Nova Star QAL.
I released the Nova Star quilt pattern in April of 2020 and then I hosted the QAL for it in the fall of 2020. Between when I released it and the QAL, I took a deep dive into buying fabric from manufacturers and curating my own custom fabric bundles. It was a wild ride and one that although, fun, burned me out really fast. My business, work schedule and home space is not structured to be a mini fabric store. After a few months of non stop curating, ordering, cutting, photographing, listing, selling, shipping custom TCJ bundles, I decided it's not the right time. Maybe in the future I can do more small scale bundles but in this season, it is not working.
One of the bundles I did make was this Rose All Day FQ bundle. It uses all Moda fabrics - a mix Ruby Star Society and Bella Solids. I really love how bright and punchy this bundle is.
The Nova Star Quilt is a versatile modern star quilt pattern. I give instructions for mix and match fabric use in this block based pattern. It is FQ, 1/4 yard or half yard friendly. Also, you can use yardage and create a beautiful cohesive star quilt.
I love how this bundle has a range of depth in each color family - peaches, pinks, corals with a pop of black and some white subtle prints.
I love stacking my cut fabrics in neat piles and snapping photos. Happy little fabric piles.
Then, I mix and match them! And now they are little chaotic looking happy fabric piles.
The mixing and matching part is one of my favorites because I can start to see the variety in each quilt block. I love making some subtle blocks where most of the fabric is tonal to each other with maybe one pop of contrasting color. But then I also love to make just in your face, contrast on contrast. That is the best part of mix and match patterns - you can do it all and it ends up looking so fun and sparkly at the end!
Each block can look so different from the one before or after it that you sew together. Then, it was fun taking photos of each new set of blocks I made week by week.
These blocks are a bit more time consuming from some of my other ones - Meadowland, Flower Tile, Blakely - but they are incredibly satisfying to make and finish. Laying them all out on the floor to figure out my favorite layout usually takes me about 10-15 minutes. I am pretty decisive person and with mix and match specifically, I think that is the beauty of it. A lot of times a mix and match pattern will balance itself out naturally because you get so much depth and variety in each block.
It is fun to see the secondary design that blocks up too when the corner HSTs start to meet at block points. Sashing and cornerstones do get added but the design still is there. It's like a mini pinwheel.
I love gingham and I love using it as the cornerstones would be the perfect way to marry the pop of block in the blocks to the rest of the quilt. And it's not solid block, so your eye still dances over it.
Last fall we were able to sneak in the final exterior paint project from a local company to get our house repainted. I finished this quilt top the same week they finished their paint job. It was fun to hang this top from the flower basket hooks and capture the them together!
I gave this quilt top to my local longarm quilter, Michelle of Mariposa Quilting and we decided on these organic little arches. They kinda remind me of clouds or little rainbows and I love that it's a fun soft nod to the star quilt. I also decided to bind the quilt in the same gingham print I used in the cornerstones.
This photoshoot in January was the first time Alysson and I were back working together in person (masked of course)! And it was just so nice to have her to help me with this photoshoot.
We had missed each other and really wanted to hug but we kept out distance! And we are both half vaccinated right now so soon we will be able to more freely spend time together!!
No matter how many times I lint roll a quilt or look over it to get rid of loose threads, there will always be more!
I really do love this quilting and all the fun texture it adds. This quilt block has a good amount of seams so it can add bulk but I think this quilting on it helps add positive texture and can be more forgiving if some seams are bulky.
Everett really wanted to get into the quilt throwing trade like his mama.
I think Everett did an awesome job! He had such a blast doing this and was laughing the whole time.
I backed the Nova Star in a brushed metallic print by Ruby Star Society.
The Nova Star Quilt pattern is available in my shop now! It's such a fun one to make and be sure to tag me on social media with #novastarquilt and #thencamejunepatterns. I want to see what you make!
