Q & A on Header Photo

This quilt is in my blog header and I have been asked about it several times.  I finally have this quilt back so here are the details. It's called Derailed by the Stars.  This was one of the earliest quilts that I pieced.  My understanding of color was good, I knew the difference between red and blue but I had no concept of value.  This started as a Rail Fence. 

At the time of piecing this, I was living in Vancouver, BC and did not have a car.  It was about an hour to get out to the Cloth Shop via public transit and I was working full time.  I made 2 or 3 trips out to the shop to use their design wall and every time I stood back and looked at it, the Rail Fence just didn't make sense.  This was because my lack of understanding value.  The zigzag of the blue got lost with some of the lighter blues.

After spending so many hours trying to get this together, I threw all the blocks, 260 of them, back into a bag and went home, again, with no plan.  Then I had an idea, add some stars.  We all love stars, right? 

A few weeks later, I decided to pull the blocks out of the bag, and randomly sew them together.  My only parameter was that I didn't have two of the same fabrics together.  This is what I ended up with.

Details - Blocks were made with 2" sewn into strata's and cut into strips and blocks are 4 1/2" x 4 1/2"  There are 10 stars in the body of the quilt, and four more in the border, one for each corner.  The border plaid is 4 1/2" wide.  Total of 270 blocks and it finished out at  approx. 76 x 88.  The back is cream flannel, and this is the only quilt that I have had someone else quilt.  I purchased an Americana variegated thread of red, blue and cream and brought that to the quilter.  She quilted a pantograph of loops and stars all over.  The binding was made with scraps of blues.

This is one of my favorite quilts and I learned a lot from this piece. My struggles trying to put a round peg in a square hole made me start thinking outside the box. So what if what we start isn't what we finish?  As long as I learn something new, am challenged, and enjoy the process, then it will be a successful quilt.

I'm off to Vashon Island for a day trip with my fellow Running with Scissors guild members. We have an appointment here.  Yes, I have my guy's credit card, I'm ready for the day!

Enjoy  your weekend,
Sharon