Friday, May 19, 2017

Starlight Symphony ~ Ready to Quilt

I used to say that I haven't met a batik I didn't like. And for a long time, that was true. But then I got into machine-quilting, and realized that my love of batiks started to wane a bit. I'm not really sure why, but it might have to do with batiks being more difficult to quilt over. However, after I watched the Scrappy Stars Quilt of the Midnight Quilt Show, I just loved the beauty of the batiks Angela used, and just like that, my batik fever is back.

Fabric audition is one of my favorite parts of quilting, second only to machine quilting, but boy, do I find it a challenge. For this particular quilt, I decided to dig into my batik stash. Luckily, I have a huge one due to my batik fever last year. I came up with the the same groups of colors Angela used: dark blues / purples, light blues / greens, and yellows / reds.

This is a paper piecing project, which means loads of printing / pre-perforating. I know a lot of people don't pre-perforate, but I picked up that habit early on and just prefer it, even if it's slower, because it makes folding and tearing off the paper so easy. Plus, there's something really satisfying about pre-perforating!

After that, it's time to piece this. Even though paper piecing is slow, I actually quite enjoy it. The beautiful batiks keep me happy throughout the process, and the usual problem I run into with paper piecing, ultra-bulky seams to quilt over, isn't much of an issue with this pattern, as Angela specifically designed it for easy quilting later. This is my 3rd paper piecing project, and it's actually by far the easiest. The most common mistake I make during paper piecing is getting the sides mixed up and having to rip, but with batiks, there is no wrong side, so that's great!

Until now, I didn't know I could keep the paper in during assembly. In the past, I always tore it off after I'm done with a block, and the bias edges usually mean it can be a pain to assemble. But keeping the paper in means assembly is just a tad easier.

I really like this top, and now it's ready to quilt!

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4 comments:

  1. Wow, you're moving along quick on that quilt! I love Angela's show and quilting suggestions.

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  2. I also find fabric audition a challenge, but I suspect that's because I am so indecisive. Pre perforating is certainly worth the extra time I cannot imagine why people would not do it, also it doesn't require any thinking! This is a lovely quilt and the points....wow! Great job!

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  3. This is beautiful! I fell in love with this quilt when I watched the episode and seeing your quilt makes me want to drop everything and make it :) Do you think you will quilt it like she did?

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  4. I have never heard of pre-perforating the paper before paper-piecing. I always fold mine before sewing, but I'm going to have to try perforating first. I'm looking forward to seeing how you decide to quilt your top. It looks beautiful!

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