A few weeks ago I was working on a large quilt for my mother’s bed. The quilting needed to be completed in the next couple of days, and I didn’t know quite what to do. She was looking for something to celebrate her birthday. I have never quilted for her, so I didn’t know if she’d like it or not. I didn’t want to send it until I had it done. I thought about making a quilt for myself, something I could have and wear and enjoy, but not something I’d make for someone else. The only quilt I had completed in a while was for myself, and I felt like I had better things to do than to finish a quilt for me when I was having difficulty making quilts for others. So I had to go back to basics and start a new quilt.

I decided to use a simple pattern. I wanted something simple, but not so easy to do. I went with a simple grid of stars with a simple border. I really didn’t know what it would turn out like, but I knew I could just keep going until it looked right.

I found a design I wanted to use for the back and began to lay it out. As I laid it out I realized that this quilt is going to be a challenge.

I used the leftovers to make the binding for the front of the quilt. The star center motif is the binding.

I can only do so much with binding before I run out of scraps. I know I’ll need more if I want to keep doing this pattern.

I’ve been working on this design for months and months now. I made the background with this free pattern from Quiltmaker Magazine, and have been following along with her blog. I finally had time to finish the quilt and I’m so happy with how it turned out.

The top looks like one big cloud. The blocks are made by laying out the fabric in a pattern and sewing it down, so there is always a bit of movement in the quilting, making it look a little different each time you look at it.

I have so many more ideas in my head about quilting this pattern. I think I need to put down some of my ideas in writing.