Completed Star Quilt

After many hours my star quilt is now completed! I love the way it turned out.
For the machine quilting I stepped away from Stippling and tried my hand at Free Form quilting.
Free Form quilting really brought out the beauty of the quilt. I am so glad I decided to try this type of machine quilting; it wasn't as hard as I had expected it to be.
Each star block has its own style.
The outer white border has stars outlining the entire quilt.
Each time I handle the quilt it makes me want to stop and snuggle under it.

Star Quilt Progress

Today I began the machine quilting on my Star Quilt.
Each star block has detailed quilting and the setting blocks have stars within each square.
Some areas have wavy lines to represent a waving flag.
It's hard to see all the quilting but so far it is really turning out nice.

Preparing a Quilt Top for Quilting

Since my Star Quilt is so large I decided to use the living room floor as my work table. The first step, after rolling up the rug and sweeping and moping and dusting the floor, was to lay my backing down and secure it in place using packing tape. Step two was basting two pieces of batting together and fitting it to my backing fabric. I also secured the corners to the floor with tape.
Step three was to position my quilt top and begin smoothing it out.
Step four was to start the pinning. I like to begin at one end and work my way down smoothing along the way.
The final step is to trim the excess fabric and batting, leaving about 2" too much all around.
I normally use my bed to sandwich a quilt. Using the floor had some pretty good benefits but it was very hard on my legs and back. I am not sure if I want to use the floor again, I'll decide after my aches and pains go away!

Quilt Along Update

Well, the quilt top is finished! I am so pleased with how it has turned out.After I machine quilt it I am planning on using red for the binding.
I am very glad I participated in the quilt along. Knowing I needed to keep up with everyone else helped me stay focused and not find an excuse to put it away for a later time. I already have too many projects sitting around waiting to be finished.

Quilt Along Block 13

Finally, my last block is complete and I can now add the final row to the quilt top.Once the top is complete then the borders are next!

Quilt Along Progress

On Monday I will be putting together the 13th and final block for the Star Quilt-a-long. Since I have little patience I decided to begin sewing my finished blocks together while I am waiting for Monday to arrive. I have all but one row attached. Once the final row has be added then all I will lack are the borders.I am getting so excited about finishing up my new quilt; it is so pretty I'm not sure where to put it.

Quilt Along Block 12

OK, I am now on track; this is block 12 and I only have one more block to go and it will be time to put all the squares together.Boy, it feels so good to be nearing the end!

Oops!

I guess I was getting ahead of myself with the quilt along. I assumed the quilt consisted of 12 star blocks to go along with my 12 setting blocks I had made earlier. After reading earlier today at crazy mom quilts' blog I realized I would be needing 13 star blocks. So, even though I am very near to the end of my quilt along blocks I still have two blocks to go instead of one block I had previously written about.

Quilt Along Block 11

Here is my 11th block; only one more to go.I sure am excited about finally being able to start piecing the blocks together.

Quilt Along Block 10

Here is block 10 in the quilt along.Only 2 more to go and I can begin putting all the blocks together!!!!

Quilt Along Block 9

We have been without Internet since Monday evening so I am just now posting quilt block number 9.It is so hard to be without Internet since I depend on it for so much.

Quilt Along Block 8

I now have quilt block number 8 completed. My stack of completed blocks is really growing.
Only 4 blocks left to go before I can begin sewing them all together!

Quilt Along Block 7

I have completed block 7 in the quilt along. I think this may turn out to be one of my favorite quilts!

Quilt Along Progress

I have just about completed the setting blocks and couldn’t resist arranging some of them with the star blocks to see how it was going to look.What wonderful colors the red, white and blue are together! It gets better and better with each additional block!

Quilt Along Block 6

Here is block 6 in the quilt along; I have now completed half of the star block. Over the weekend I cut out and began piecing together the remainder of the red and white setting blocks.
I really love how the red stands out in the quilt.

Quilt Along Block 5

Here is block 5 from the quilt along; it turned out to be a challenge with so many small pieces to stitch together.

Quilt Along Block 4

Here is block number 4 in the quilt along. Sometimes it is hard being patient as I am anxious to see my completed quilt!

Quilt Along Block 3

Here is block number 3 in the quilt along.

Quilt Along Setting Block

For the Star quilt I am working on for the quilt along at crazymomquilts I used a red calico fabric for the setting blocks. The quilt will have a total of 12 setting blocks.

I really like how the red stands out and I think it works very well with the blue stars I have already completed.

I am so very pleased at how the quilt is coming along.

Quilt Along Block 2

Here is block number 2 for the quilt along. This time I needed a second blue to complete the block so I searched my stash of scraps and found a cute medium blue with pink hearts.