First Light Designs

Of the 14 blocks in my Reach for the Stars sampler quilt, Block 12 was by far the easiest to make — just five squares and four four-patches — yet I spent an inordinate amount of time fussing over it.

I spun my wheels initially just trying to decide which fabrics to use. I’m using several blacks, greens, and aquas and two different focus fabrics (from the same line), trying to spread them evenly throughout the quilt. Eons later (or so it seemed), I had my motif isolated from the focus fabric of choice and had settled on the white-on-black dot and the pale aqua batik.

Going with the original block layout, my block 12 looked like this:

I knew I was going to change this layout. Because Block 14 is sashed in black, I was pretty sure that black in the corners would prove overpowering. I tried switching the position of the four-patch units:

Better, maybe . . . but still too much black with the sashing to come.

I auditioned a green square in the center in place of the black:

Nope. Too light.

What about a square of black in the center of the green?

Ah, that’s better. I can live with that.

Here is the block all sewn together. . .

. . . and here it is sashed and positioned on point, as it will be in the finished quilt:

Still too much black? Maybe. When I added the block to my design wall, it looked . . . I don’t know . . . heavy compared to the other blocks. What do you think?

I also auditioned it in the center spot:

It actually looks pretty good there. Maybe my Block 12 just became Block 13!

Today I have the pleasure of sharing photos of three blocks made by Sherri Crisp of Knoxville, Tennessee. These blocks are part of Reach for the Stars, a queen-size sampler quilt that is also being made by several others. It’s almost like a Block of the Month (BOM) project, except that those of us making the quilt are getting instructions every other month from Quilter’s Newsletter magazine. We started last fall and, if everyone stays on track, we  should have our quilts pieced by the end of the year.

The April/May issue of Quilter’s Newsletter contained instructions for Blocks 7, 8, and 9. Here is Sherri’s Block 7:

Look how dramatic this block is set on point, as the directions call for:

Block 8:

Notice how the star shape changes when the block is set on point:

Sherri is paper-piecing most of her blocks, and I must say it shows. Look at those perfect star points!

Block 9:

Block 9 on point:

Now just imagine these blocks added to the ones Sherri made earlier:

Keep those blocks coming, Sherri — that is going to be one gorgeous quilt!

Jennifer Varney of Hudson, New Hampshire — one of several quilters I have become friends with over the last few months through our shared desire to make a sampler quilt called Reach for the Stars — revised her center medallion recently.

You may recall from an earlier post that Jennifer plans to arrange her center medallion and blocks in a straight set, rather than on point as called for in the original quilt. Jennifer’s fabric choices include some elegant border prints and metallics in a palette of pewter, soft blue, gold, and black. Before I show you the revision, take a look at her original medallion block  (and take note of the four corner squares):

Nothing wrong with that medallion at all! In fact, it’s beautiful. Now take a look at the revised block:

It’s better, isn’t it? Jennifer used the same fabric in the outer blocks that she used in the first version but fussy-cut the squares to highlight a different motif in the fabric. I agree with her that the change brings more light and balance to her medallion.

Directions for Reach for the Stars are coming in serialized fashion from Quilter’s Newsletter magazine. Thus far the magazine has provided directions for 12 blocks (plus the medallion). Jennifer fell a wee bit behind on the blocks but for a very good reason: she was getting another quilt ready for her local guild’s spring show — and it won a second place ribbon!

Allow me to present Lady Guinevere’s Quilt, designed and made by Jennifer Varney:

Jennifer fussy-cut border prints and pieced them into Night and Day blocks, which she then set on point. The outer edges of the quilt feature a gilded tapestry-look border print.  Lorri Wurtzler of Seventh Heaven Quilting in Nashua, New Hampshire custom quilted Jennifer’s quilt. Here’s a close-up of Lorri’s beautiful quilting:

The finished quilt measures 53″ square.

Congratulations, Jennifer! Now: back to work on Reach for the Stars?

Eleven blocks down, three to go. I’m heading into the home stretch on my Reach for the Stars sampler quilt! Before I reveal my new blocks, let me refresh your memory with a photo of the original Reach for the Stars quilt designed by Terri Krysan of Lakeville, Minnesota:

Copyright Quilter’s Newsletter. Used with permission. Photo by Melissa Karlin Mahoney.

So striking! Quilter’s Newsletter magazine is presenting instructions for this quilt in seven consecutive issues. The current issue is the fifth, with directions for Blocks 10-12.

Here is my Block 10:

My Block 10 bears no resemblance whatsoever to Block 10 in Terri Krysan’s quilt. I departed from her design because I found a block I liked better on — of all places — a coffee cup I’ve had for over 20 years:

See the block just above the capital N of Nebraska? That’s my Block 10!

Here’s that block on point, as it will be in my finished quilt:

It’s neighbor, Block 11, is also a renegade:

I dreamed this one up myself, though it’s probably been done before. The black squares in the corner blocks were an afterthought. I think the block is much more interesting with the addition of those 1″ squares, don’t you?

Here’s the block on point:

Here are the blocks together. Did you notice that they both have fussy-cut centers?

I challenged myself to incorporate a fussy-cut element into each of my blocks without repeating any of the images.  It’s a good thing I have only three blocks left!

Oh, my. What a difference sashing makes on my Reach for the Stars quilt-in-the-making! (Reach for the Stars is a queen-size sampler quilt designed by Terry Krysan of Lakeville, Minnesota, with directions coming via Quilter’s Newsletter magazine over the course of seven issues. The current issue (June/July 2014) contains directions for Blocks 10, 11, and 12.)

I had nine of the 14 blocks  pieced except for the sashing strips. I decided to add the strips before proceeding with the next blocks. Let’s have a look at my center medallion (with one of its two sashing strips) and my nine blocks without the sashing . . .

. . . and now with the sashing:

Quite a difference, eh? It makes me eager to get started on the next blocks, even though I’m not wild about Blocks 10 and 11. I’ve already made changes to four of the blocks so far, and it looks like I will be doing the same with at least a couple more.

I was pondering what I might do about those blocks when my eyes fell on my coffee cup:

You just never know when and where inspiration will strike. I brought this cup home from a trip to Nebraska about 20 years ago. See how the quilt blocks are in the shape of the state of Nebraska? I’ve occasionally thought about making a similar quilt in the shape of my home state of Oregon. It never occurred to me that this cup might solve a design dilemma on a completely different project.

Check out those two blocks on the upper right, just to the right of the big heart block. They just might be making an appearance in my version of Reach for the Stars!