Part One - Done!

This month I finished up the main section of the Star Flower quilt!  I love how it looks so far!  I was on a roll and ready to add the borders, but when I went to buy some more of the black fabric at Joann's I discovered that it was out of stock!  Augh!  I bought it in the calico section - you know, the section where they stock the same fabrics for years and years? - so I assumed there would be more when I needed it.  The not-so-helpful salesperson said that they might get it back in stock but that it can sometimes take a month or more.  I checked out the other two Joann's in the area and they didn't have any either.

Who knows, maybe as I audition different fabrics for the border I will find something I like better anyways.  This might be the push I need to try something out of my comfort zone.  Or maybe my black fabric back in stock next month.  I'll let you know!  :)

How Hard Can It Be?

Remember these lovelies?  Last time I checked in I was trying to decide what color of spacer hexagons to use between them.  I didn't think it would be so hard to decide, but I have been thinking about fabric choices for a good month.

I started my fabric journey by going to JoAnn's and picking out any fabric that I thought might look good.  These are the short listers.  My cart was Full!

I stacked all of the pattern books on one side of the pattern table and spread out.  Thankfully no one needed to find a pattern that evening.  :)  I took each fabric, unrolled it, laid the hexagons on top, stood back, took pictures, asked the opinions roving employees and still couldn't figure out which one was best.

There were some definite No Ways in the bunch.  Black and whites that made me loopy when I looked at them and solids that were just a bit too boring.  Here are some that made the very short list.

This was the best aqua in the bunch - it actually looks way better in the  picture than it did in the store.

Big black and white dot.  It made my eyes water a bit, but interesting.

A cross hatched print.  It looks ok in the picture, but I wasn't sold on the quality of the fabric or the print.  The hashes are kind of weird when you see them up close.

This black with mini white dots is what I ended up buying.  Then I got home and didn't like it.  Sigh.

More help was needed.  So I took the hexies to the Des Moines Modern Quilt Guild's July meeting which happened to be on color selection.  Perfect!  When Eva Marie asked if there was anyone who had a piece of fabric that they didn't know what color to use with, my hand shot up and we spent some time discussing fabric options.  One side of the room leaned more towards aquas and another towards blacks.

After another week of thinking about it, this is what I chose.  A black with an open circle in gray.  I still don't know if it was the perfect choice or not, but it was my husband's favorite fabric of the bunch, so when in doubt humor the husband.  :)

Here it is so far.  The black is a strong contrast, but I think some bright chunky quilting in perle cottons will soften the black areas.  Now I just need to make more star hexagons so I can make it twice as long and even out the sides.

More Star Flowers

This week I discovered that if I put my feet up and iced them regularly throughout the day they didn't get nearly as swollen as usual.  Oh, the joys of pregnancy!  On the bright side, this gave me a chance to make quite a few new Star Flowers - I think that is what I am going to call them (unless they have a real name?).

My spacer Flea Market Fancy fabric also came in the mail and I got to work joining them together.  I am not so sure about it.

Here are some more flower stars laid over the fabric.  It just looks like a mushy mess to me.  (And I have no idea why my camera refuses to take crisp pictures of these blocks!  Grrr.)  Or am I just not daring?  Both my husband and daughter suggested white fabric instead of the floral.

So here is a roughly edited picture with white spacer hexagons.

 Solid or dotted turquoise?

 

 Gray?

 Or black?  I think a black and white dot might be the best choice.   What do you think?

Thanks for all of your input on the star flowers and the fair block.  I really, really, really truly appreciate it even if I a total rubbish at responding to comments.  I decided to make the Belted Star block for the fair and it is perfect -- except for one fatal flaw.  I'll unpick it and tell you the whole story soon.  :)