Starfall - February Show & Tell

Autumn has kicked off here and today is grey and wet... don't be thinking that it means cooler weather as well, because it absolutly is not. Hot and humid, my two least favourite things. Needless to say that putting this blog update together is the highlight of my day. This month is shaping up to be mostly picture based, with everyone having similar thoughts around this project. We are all approaching it with "no expectations", this quilt along is very much a casual affair, what gets done, gets done. Sometimes thats one a day, sometimes just a few a week. The second thing that I am loving, SCRAPS. So many scraps and tiny ends are being used in these quilts. It makes my heart leap to see the creativity at play, and I do hope it is play. First up this month - Michelle @strawberriesandbobbins

Michelle's RSS Starfall Assortment

In my mind I call this quilt "the Ruby Star" for all the RSS prints used. I am low key obsessed with the Ten years of magic panel that she is using for the large hexie stars, it was just meant to be. Yes I am also stalking my fabric ladies (quilt store owners) to who may have stock of this left.

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Lee @quarteracreblock

Lees's February scrappy stars

Lee more than anyone is embracing the scrappy make, and the new stars that come out each month. Sometimes she does both at the same time like in the top image! There is something magical about using the ends up from your scrap stash, because they are fabrics / colours / prints that you like or have liked in the past, they tend to just magically work together - even when there are moments you may doubt it.

I am so pretty sure that Lee has decided on light scrappy joining diamonds for her quilt. Can't wait to see it start to come together.

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Nicole

Nicole's february stars - week 5 & 6

Nicole's february stars - week 7 & 8

Nicole is branching out and embracing the bonus stars each month as well. I can see the first two that have been released in her February makes, I am so super excited to see what she creates with the March bonus star (I love it, so much fun).

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Cass @cake.and.ale

February at a glance, Cass's block a day and block a week stars.

I did not lay my stars out in chronological order this month, it's bothering me greatly... aannnddd I have just spotted that I have a BOW up in the top right when it should be down the bottom with the others! Eeep * deep breath and embrace the wabi sabi *. So far I am managing to keep on track for both projects, hopefully I did not put the moz on myself by saying that. It took me by surprise how each quilt has different challenges despite being the same pattern. With the BOD version I stress out over colours and prints, massive anxiety most days. But the BOW zero stress. Once I made the decision about what direction I wanted to go in its all been smooth sailing, the biggest issue I have is the time it takes to fussy cut the dang things. Once a month I sit on the floor for about an hour and cut out all the stars in one hit, then sew them together one a week.

In other news I have finally ordered (again) joiner fabrics for my quilt. Lets hope that third time really is the charm. Yes, I have a lot of guilt about ordering yardage and not using it right away for a project. There were tears, yes tears, when my navy blue Riley Blake fabric arrived and it didnt gel (top right of the image below). The background colour was everything I hoped for, but the little white doodads were just too busy. Luckily it was 50% off and I love it a lot so it will be used at a later date, perhaps 2027's quilt? A fellow maker suggested Grunge by Moda, now on the whole I am not a fan of the grunge fabric range but I felt it had what I was looking for. The main criteria being texture. Last year I used chambray for my block a day quilt and it was beautiful, the twill weave added dimension and texture without detracting from the other fabrics. I did toy with the idea of using the same fabric again, but I am trying to push myself not to sit in safe places. So, back to the grunge. I purchased 25cm cuts of six shades of blue, the beautiful woman who runs the store kindly pinned all the colour names to the fabrics so I knew which one to order yardage of. In the end I went with Grunge in Navy, yardage has been ordered and I am hoping to God that it everything was labelled correctly and my dream fabric comes. You can see with the middle image on the right (and bottom left) grunge in navy on the top and the chambray on the bottom. Very close in colour, but the tonal variation in the grunge won me over.

Now I just need to resolve the question of borders in my brain... I am thinking blues in tones similar to the joiners. So now I have a swatch in my purse and every time I walk past a quilt shop I will be looking for the right blues to buy FQ pieces of. I hope you have enjoyed this months update and how everyones quilts are coming along! They are all looking so unique already and I am already eagerly anticipating next months update. Until then Possums, stay out of mischief! Cass xx