Star of Bethlehem

This quilt was 10 years in the making and my first large Star of Bethlehem. My star points were not all the same size when I finished sewing them together so they sat for a year.

Then I took a sampler quilt class and showed my problem to the teacher who happened to be my high school Home Ec teacher so you know I was in high school a long time ago because it was called Home Ec. Anyway she suggested I float the star so I set the star into the triangles and squares and added a inch and a half strip of the background fabric all the way around. Looking close up you will see that some of the star points touch the seam and some do not but none are cut off.  Most of us quilters like pointy points on diamonds and triangles.

 Full steam ahead on sewing the borders. I had to dig through my scrap box and piece the pieces in the corner blocks because I used the fabrics for other projects. I finally got to the hand quilting. I used a gold metallic thread. Not a wise choice but after getting one large diamond quilted I couldn't turn back, I knew I would damage the fabric if I tried to remove the stitching.

I persevered!!!! I would quilt on it from mid October through Thanksgiving then hang it on the wall basting threads and all. I pulled the backing fabric to the front and basted it down, it looked better than the raw edges and batting hanging out but not much. The outside borders were uneven, the corners were not square, there were threads all over, there was a needle in it. It wasn't nagging me to finish before Christmas, I could relax and enjoy the season.

I finally finished it in the fall of 1998, I washed the quilt markings out and hung it on the line to dry it looked so pretty flapping in the wind and the sun shining on it and then a bird crapped on it. Fortunately it hit the tan because it actually took some color out of the fabric. I can find the spot from about 18 inches away if I really look. I washed it again and covered it with a sheet to dry.

Enjoy the Christmas Season,
Ann