Sunday, April 2, 2017

cortellini star

Hmmm...what to make?  The new mama was a soccer star... Daddy's a musician... 
I went searching, through blogs and Pinterest, and suddenly - BAM!
When I spotted this post  I knew what I would make for this newest little Cortellini - a star!

Katie doesn't offer a pattern for this or mention what colors she used.  So I just used her quilt as a guide and chose from my stash.  I counted up the different combos of half square triangles and was able to get started cutting and sewing right away.  That's always fun!
 
My original plan was to copy Katie's quilting, too, but at the last minute I spun my thinking to a spiral.  I did a Google search on spiral quilting and found some great tips.  I'm always amazed by how much free information is available from this amazing community.

On Very Kerry Berry's blog I found this template to get started.  It creates a 1" spiral.  I wanted tighter quilting so I printed it at 37% to get a 3/8" seam and be able to use my walking foot as a guide beyond the template.  I carefully pinned my template to my quilt sandwich and carefully dropped my needle in the center of it all.

Then I took a deep breath and a patience pill and followed some great tips from Flourishing Palms.  I set my stitch length very small and used my hand-wheel to take one stitch at a time, picking up the presser foot and moving the quilt with each stitch.  Again and again.  Finally being able to take two stitches, then three, very slowly, till finally I was moving right along.  I lengthened my stitch as I moved further out, constantly turning the quilt.  It was a good right arm work-out for me.  Advil helped!

On the back I used the popular Newspaper print by Carrie Bloomston.  I had to add a little to the width and there are no worries on matching the print with this one.  Yay!

Quilt stats:
42" square
RJR and Kona solids
Quilter's Dream Cotton Request Loft batting
Aurifil Dove Gray (2600) 50wt for piecing & 40wt for quilting

Ready to roll, around and around...

We're enjoying early spring over here.  Did you notice the wild forsythia in the background?  It hasn't bloomed like this in years.  Love it!

I'll be linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts Let's Bee Social and Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday. 

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20 comments:

  1. FlourishingPalmsApril 3, 2017 at 7:21 AM

    Yay for you, Karen! I love this quilt! The oversized block is great. (It isn't difficult to do the calculations to figure out how to make a quilt, is it?) And I love your color choices. As for the quilting... it suits the design perfectly! Thanks for the shout-out about where you found a few extra tips :-) It tickles me to no end to hear that something I shared is a little bit helpful. You made the perfect baby gift, and I have no doubt it will be loved. Good on you!

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    1. Karen @runsewfunApril 6, 2017 at 5:40 PM

      Thanks so much Linda! I've found help on your blog several times now. I appreciate how thorough your instructions are and hope sharing here will help someone else.

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  2. UnknownApril 3, 2017 at 2:29 PM

    Wow! I haven't tried the spiral using a printout! Gonna have to give that a try. The colors, as usual, are great, Karen. Love your work.

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    1. Karen @runsewfunApril 6, 2017 at 5:42 PM

      Thanks Caroline. This was my first time using a template for quilting. I would try it again.

      Delete
  3. Lisa J.April 5, 2017 at 4:32 PM

    This is a gorgeous quilt. I love the colour combination.

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    1. Karen @runsewfunApril 6, 2017 at 5:43 PM

      Thanks so much Lisa. And thanks for stopping by.

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  4. PatApril 5, 2017 at 4:51 PM

    This is great. I would need a whole bottle of patience pills to do that quilting. Wow!

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    1. Karen @runsewfunApril 6, 2017 at 5:52 PM

      Thanks Pat. I'm looking at that sweet Wheaten in your photo and thinking you already know about patience pills! We shared our lives with one for 10 years. She left us suddenly and took a piece of my heart with her. Give your sweetie and extra hug from me today!

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  5. Linda @ kokaquiltsApril 5, 2017 at 10:47 PM

    A wonderful quilt, the perfect baby prezzie! And I love all your quilting!

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    1. Karen @runsewfunApril 6, 2017 at 5:54 PM

      Thanks Linda. The first two rounds were a fun challenge. The rest was just fun!

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  6. HeideApril 6, 2017 at 3:45 AM

    What a sweet baby gift! love the color combo and your spiral quilting.

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    1. Karen @runsewfunApril 6, 2017 at 5:59 PM

      Thanks so much Heide. I debated between the deep purple and a lime green. So glad I went with the purple. I think it really makes the blue bright and the start radiate.

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  7. MelanieApril 7, 2017 at 11:40 AM

    Wow, lovely quilt! Like the big star design and gorgeous quilting, too. Thanks for the hints/ tips, the quiltingdesign is on my todo/ bucket-list and I will take any help I can get :)

    PS: Lovely writing style as well!

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    1. Karen @runsewfunApril 8, 2017 at 6:42 AM

      Thanks Melanie. You're sweet! I always worry that someday my high school Composition teacher will read one of these posts!

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  8. KittyApril 7, 2017 at 2:04 PM

    Oh my goodness, I love this quilt and LOVE the tips you found! I've tried spiral before, but I used FMQ for the center and the walking foot once I got further out. I love the tip to just hand crank for a few patient moments. I bet the stitches are wayyyyy more uniform. What a great finish!

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    1. Karen @runsewfunApril 8, 2017 at 6:48 AM

      Thanks Kitty. I tried this once before for a wall hanging. I started with a circle the size of a quarter then worked it into a spiral. It was okay but I do like this better. Tiny stitches and lifting the presser foot to move the quilt were key for starting this spiral.

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  9. NancyApril 7, 2017 at 10:28 PM

    This pattern is so much more, when finished, than it appears when thinking of the triangles that were used to make it. Yours is a gorgeous quilt!

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  10. JennyApril 8, 2017 at 1:53 AM

    Your star quilt is wonderful, as is your lovely spiral quilting. I have used spiral quilting myself once on a wall hanging, and would happily try it again, it gives a lovely finish to a quilt, I think.

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    1. Karen @runsewfunApril 8, 2017 at 6:59 AM

      Thanks Jenny. Now that I know what I'm doing I'll definitely give this another go. I like when the spiral starts off center, too. Next time I'll pick a pattern that would work for that.

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