Sunday, October 12, 2008

Starry Starry Night



Its a starry night outside; a crisp and cool evening that is part of autumn in Alberta. I finally managed to download some of the photos of the last wedding quilt that I made this summer for friends of my husband. Like Bruce, they are amateur astronomers who enjoy the beauty and wonders of the celestial universe. This quilt is a coin quilt that has 50 different star fabrics in it. It is a simple design as I wanted to showcase the beautiful fabrics- it worked pretty well don't you think? I had been collecting star fabrics for awhile but,I also was the benefactor of some generous friends, who shared some other star fabrics with me so that there could be lots of variety in the strips. The strips are separated by rows of bars that have a faint star boxy braid down them. I chose to make it faint so it did not distract from the bands of stars. It is a large couch quilt meant for the happy couple to wrap around themselves and enjoy the night sky. The back fabric of the quilt looks like a big star field that you would see in a telescope or binoculars.

Like most of my other quilts, it has a handwritten label on it.It has the names of the recipients as well as the reason it was given to them. I usually name my quilts- this one I called STARRY STARRY NIGHT because of all the star fabrics, and because I love Vincent Van Gogh. It seemed to be the perfect name for a quilt given to a couple of starry eyed lovers.

Do you put labels on your quilts? The only ones of mine that don't have labels are the ones that I keep for our house- someday I will put labels on them too. The labels are handwritten that identify me as the maker and include the year that I made the quilt. I also have a journal of photographs that record my quilting journey but I am falling far behind in recording the information about the more recent quilts.

I am now beginning to look at other star patterns - perhaps I will make a new star quilt. There are so many star patterns to choose from that it will be hard to pick only one. I have made two lonestar quilts to share but that is for another post...

I hope that you are enjoying a starry night with loved ones.
Happy quilting,
Anna

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I love this quilt and recognize the pattern from a book that has lots of quilts from other countries (I can't remember the title). I have the book and am planning on making that same quilt with fabrics that my husband brought back from Africa for me. I just love it!! By the way, my brother in law is also an amateur star gazer as well and belongs to a club that meets to look to the heavens above.

Quilter Going Bananas said...

Love the wedding quilt and I love stars, what a combo! Looking forward to seeing more of your photos of your quilts......

Myra said...

What a great wedding gift! Love this Stars quilt! Great pattern! Lovely work! 8-)
Happy stitchings!

Micki said...

The quilt is gorgeous Anna! I always put labels on my quilts...I use the embroidery machine to create really pretty ones..It sort of finishes it off with a bang.
I hope you spent a lovely Thanksgiving. As you know, there is no Thanksgiving in Ireland.
Hugs,
Micki

Nancy said...

I love this quilt and your. It is just beautiful.

Nancy said...

I left out a word. I meant to say that I love your quilt and your cat - oops