And now to Part D of my posts on Kokomo (Stars Upon Stars)

D. Hand Quilting

And now to Part C of my posts on Kokomo (Stars Upon Stars)

C. Assembly

This is Part B of a series of posts explaining how I make my version of Stars Upon Stars.  

B. Planning the colours

 1. External stars in the blocks. 

A key design feature of the original Stars Upon Stars quilt is that each block is unique.  I decided replicate that idea by using different fabrics and colours for the external stars of each block. I opted for tone on tone fabrics in most cases, and tried to use every colour within my limited colour range - blue, aqua, green, pink, orange and yellow.  If I repeated a colour I used a ...

Thank you for all the lovely comments on my Kokomo quilt.  As promised I'm going to explain more about how I made it - both for anyone thinking about making one themselves, and for my personal record, because after all, that's what blogs are for.

A. Fabric selection

Where do I even begin to describe my happiness with how this quilt has turned out?

I'm thrilled with it and I'm not going to let it out of my sight.  I've even considered sewing an Apple AirTag into it so if it goes missing I can track it down! I've spent so many hours making this quilt but I've enjoyed them all. 

I started this quilt back in January 2020.  I've spent four years working on it in the background.  I haven't once put it on social media or even shown my ...

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook you'll know that our river cruise on the Rhine will be coming to an end shortly. I've taken a little bit of hand piecing with me, but I'm not sure if I'll get any of it done while I'm away.

In the mean time, I'll show you my Lady Wigram quilt that I made for my mother in law.  I hand pieced it using the Bella Ruby templates from Treehouse Textiles in Australia.  You can read all about it here.  

Can you believe that Willyne Hammerstein has produced enough Millefiori Quilts to fill 5 different books now?

Yes, volume 5 of Millefiori Quilts has just been released by QuiltMania and I'm lucky enough to have my own copy here in front of me.

I've already bookmarked some favourites and I'm tossing up ...

According to Wikipedia, a Dear John letter is a letter written to a man by his wife or romantic partner to inform him that their relationship is over.  

I've called this quilt Dear John because my relationship with the Dear Jen pattern is over.  Although the fully finished quilt looks beautiful, (see below) I just don't have the energy or dedication to make all the templates required and then hand piece all the blocks.    

link to the pattern at Amitie Textiles

So I've turned my blocks into a cute wall hanging, table mat, sampler quilt.  

Next weekend ...

I began piecing this apple core quilt top

in Jackson, Wyoming in 2009... 

On Sunday I went digging in my quilting cupboard to find a WIP I wanted to work on.  But before I could find that WIP, I came across my Dear Jen blocks from the quilt along in 2019.  

Jen Kingwell ran the Dear Jen programme and she issued patterns for 6" hand pieced or hand appliqued blocks each week or month.  The blocks were very intricate and making my own templates for every block added to time each block took too.  

In a sign of how my thinking has changed, I went from, "I'll make some more of those ...

I chose to use some gorgeous fabrics called "Neptune and the Mermaid" by Tokyo Milk for Free Spirit Fabrics.  And some Tula Pink too as required.  

I finished the ...

My Ruby Star quilt is finished! 

I used the Raindrops are Falling on My Head pattern by Willyne Hammerstein from Millefiori Quilts 4. 

I've called it Ruby Star because the fabrics are all from Ruby Star Society.  I had a lot of fun fussy cutting ice creams, rainbows and birds.

I chose to hand piece my quilt, but there are English Paper Piecing papers available. 

Last year I used the same Raindrops pattern to make my Bollywood quilt. 

I had a bundle of Ruby Star Society fabrics that I wanted to fussy cut, so I decided to make the ...

I brought my vintage Yo Yo top to the retreat

for Show 'n Tell:

I'm pleased to present "Bollywood" - another finished quilt from Millefiori Quilts 4 by Willyne Hammerstein. 

I love the vibrant colours in this quilt.  I started with a piece of the Legendary fabric by Pat Bravo as my inspiration fabric, and chose the other fabrics from that.  The hot pinks, the rich golds, and the sparkling teals.  I love them all together in this fabric.  

Bollywood is made from the Raindrops Are Falling on my Head pattern that is in Millefiori Quilts 4 by Willyne Hammerstein.  I chose to hand piece my quilt, but it can also be paper pieced ...

My Ruby Star quilt is coming along nicely.  I like hand piecing because it's very portable.  I keep a few of the joining star pieces in a little bag and I take them with me when I know I'm going to be sitting still for an hour or so.  

This pattern is Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head by Willyne Hammerstein from Millefiori Quilts 4.  I almost wish some raindrops were falling on my head right now - it's been so hot in Wellington and Auckland this summer.  

Here's one of my favourite blocks in this quilt ...

How much FUN are these ?

 I'm so close to finishing the main body of this quilt.

Pattern = Raindrops are Falling on my Head from Millefiori Quilts 4 by Willyne Hammerstein.

There's just two long seams to hand stitch now, but they will be slow going because there's a lot of places where the points meeting along these seams. 

Once the body of the quilt is done, I can think about the borders.  I want to use more of the feature fabric in the borders, but I'm not sure how I'll do it yet.  

And then I need to think about ...

About six years ago my mum started to make a Nearly Insane quilt.

I told her at the time that she had to finish it before she died, because I didn't want to have to finish it for her! That seems a bit harsh now, but back then she was only 75 and she was still doing a lot of quilting.  

Recently mum pulled all her blocks out again, and decided to add some sashing and be done with it.  Don't worry, I get it, and I wouldn't have pieced all those blocks either. 

Of course when ...

Yes, it's winter here, and the raindrops certainly are falling on my head.  

Strangely enough though, my quilt is full of hot colours, so I might have to think of a new name for it before I finish it.  

I'm hand piecing this quilt.  I used to do a lot of English Paper Piecing, but I found it ...

Here's my latest finish, Trans-Tasman Bubbles.  

This quilt is all hand pieced and hand quilted by me.  The pattern is by Willyne Hammerstein from her book Millefiori Quilts 4.  In the book it's called "Dancing Cheek to Cheek", but I called my quilt trans-Tasman Bubbles, because the circles keep disappearing and re-emerging as you look at it.  

The trans-Tasman bubble is an agreement between the New Zealand and Australian governments that lets citizens of those countries travel between the two countries without having to stay 14 days in managed isolation/hotel quarantine on arrival.  

However, as soon as ...