Visitors entering our home will now be greeted by a bright and colorful quilt (of course we will also greet any visitors in person… but, you know what I mean!). I’ve finished the Twirling Star mini quilt I was testing for Leanne at Devoted Quilter, and I’m loving it in its new home.
It was really fun to make Leanne’s pattern with a modern aesthetic. Here’s Leanne’s version:
I love how different choices of fabric and colors can completely change the look of a quilt. The mini quilt finishes at 19 1/2″ x 19 1/2″ and features both traditional piecing (the hourglass blocks) and paper piecing (the pinwheel blocks). The pattern also includes a coloring page, where you can test out different color arrangements before starting. I tried out a lot of different color possibilities before deciding on this one, and the coloring page is KEY (and so much fun). Leanne’s pattern is now available in her Etsy and Payhip shops, so if this looks like a mini you’d like hanging in your home, too, head on over and buy the pattern!
I decided to quilt this mini with one big radiating spiral, and I’m quite happy with how it turned out. I followed the tutorial on Crazy Mom Quilts and began the spiral with free motion quilting (FMQ) in the center and then switched to my walking foot for the outer spirals. Since I have yet to find an actual pen/chalk/pencil that I trust for writing ON my quilts, so I decided to just wing it and do it by eye. I’m quite happy with how it turned out, and it was a lot easier than I anticipated.
Once I quilted past the center, I switched to my walking foot, which proved to be a lot more difficult than I anticipated. Keeping a steady curve with the walking foot was tough, although I can see that I did improve as I moved outward, either the result of more practice or the less severe angle. As with any quilting, I found that I was more consistent with spacing and more accurate with the curve when I went slowly.
There were quite a few “jumps” where I had stopped sewing to reposition the quilt under my machine and must have restarted sewing with too much torque on the quilt. Either that, or perhaps I tried to turn the curve while my machine was stopped. (You can see one of the “jumps” in the bottom of the blue triangle. Just a little wiggle.) If I were planning to submit this quilt to shows or give it to someone who would noticed the imperfections (are there such gift-quilt recipients?), I might have ripped out the quilting and tried again. But for this, a quilt meant to hang in our own entryway, I opted to just let them be. When you step back and view the quilt as a whole, the imperfections are lost.
I didn’t keep track of the time I spent making this quilt, but here are the other quilt finish stats:
Twirling Star Mini Quilt
Completed April 2015
Pattern: Twirling Star Mini Quilt pattern by Leanne at Devoted Quilter
Size: 19.5″x19.5″
Fabric: Pinwheels are pieced using rainbow fabric from Alison Glass’s 2015 Sun Prints, Mercury and Grove (Andover Fabrics), with a background of Modern Floral in Charcoal from the Botanics fabric line by Carolyn Friedlander (Robert Kaufman Fabrics).
Hourglass blocks are pieced using Scribble Notes in Black from the Architextures fabric line by Carolyn Friedlander (Robert Kaufman Fabrics) and Make and Pin fabric from the Makers fabric line (Art Gallery Fabrics).
Border is Ink in Charcoal from Alison Glass’s 2015 Sun Prints (Andover Fabrics).
Binding is Black Kona cotton (Robert Kaufman Fabrics).
Quilting: Spiral quilting using free motion quilting in the center and a walking foot for the outer spirals
Thread: Aurifil 50wt 2600 – Dove for piecing and quilting
Related blog posts: Embrace the Rainbow, Twirling Star Flimsy Finish
I’m linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday.
Night Quilter 
Hmm…. imperfections. When I worked a our local crystal factory (yes, we have one), we used to refer to those little imperfections as features. They show that it’s a handmade product. Anyone who would point them out should really get to workin’ on their own perfect quilt. 🙂 I had never seen Alison Glass Mercury fabric before and now I’ve seen it twice in one day… ack. Love it!
P.S. You could just let the quilt greet people… you might be a little busy in the coming months!
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This looks so pretty in your home. Love the bright colors and the spiral quilting. Definitely don’t need to re-do the quilting. 😉
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The quilting really suits it! And no one but you will ever see those ‘imperfections’. I’m not crazy about marking on my quilts either…I’ve used chalk before, and that washes out, but it doesn’t last very long so I can only mark right where I’m about to sew. Thanks again for pattern testing for me!!
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Your version is really lovely! I loved all the pics during the making process 🙂 Well done!
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I too have difficulty with starts and stops when trying to do concentric circles. I love them though, so will slog on and keep trying. It looks good on your quilt.
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Very well done, a nice finish!
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I love how different your version and Leanne’s version looks. They’re both beautiful! Kitty, I would know this quilt was made by you even if it was in a blind quilt line-up. (Hey that might be a fun party game next time we’re all together!) This mini has your name written all over it, which explains why I love it so much.
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I love your rainbow version of this! I have had the same problem when spiral quilting, and usually end up with a wobble (or several ). I have learned to be gentle when repositioning the quilt, which helps a lot. Luckily, I don’t think most people would really notice much 🙂
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I adore this quilt – the colours, the fun design and the rainbow. Iconic Kitty. I think that is a beautiful way to greet people. And if they are critiquing it – let them loose on the sewing machine.
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I love this quilt – it’s so cool. Fascinating to see it against the same quilt made in a more traditional vein. They are both lovely and it’s so fun to see how the fabric selection gives the same pieces an absolutely completely different look.
As for your “features,” as Jenn mentioned above – yes they are just proof that this is a handmade work of beauty!!
Thanks for sharing your quilt.
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Your quilt is super cool! I love the rainbow colours and good on you for trying out a spiral. It looks great on your wall, well done!
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I love your rainbow quilt! I found that if I’m in doubt about marking a quilt I just use that “sliver” of soap left in the show as I know it will wash out every time. Of course I never buy green soap of any kind…at least any more.
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sorry shower not show…
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Just recently found you….love all your colorful projects. More than a lot. ***smiles***
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