Saturday, November 30, 2013

November NewFO - A Starburst

Thanksgiving has come and gone.  It's hard to believe that it's the last day of November.  Which means that December starts tomorrow and there are only 24 shopping days till Christmas.  Really?  Since that thought is really too scary to contemplate, I'm ready to put it away in favor of something much more fun, the November NewFO linky party over at Cat Patches.  



The NewFO Challenge gives you permission to start something new so you can build up a pile of UFOs for all those other "finish it up challenges".   I've done really well this year, I'm 11 for 11 in 2013.  My UFO pile has grown to just 8, so that's not so bad.  

The November NewFO started off as an experiment for one of my other posts.  I needed to make a mood board and had been eyeing the quilt along over at Little Bunny Quilts


I've always wanted to make a quilt of brights coupled with a black background.  Even better, this project would use up some left overs from a previous quilt.  Plus, I already had several border fabrics that would work.   So Starburst became the November NewFO.  Four blocks had been released by the time I got to this point.  I played a bit with fabric placement just to be sure the color schemes would work.  

Starburst
pattern by Alison of Little Bunny Quilts
(links to pattern found here)

I had to dust off my paper piecing skills, which to be honest are just about nonexistent.  But that's the other advantage to making this quilt, hopefully practice will lead to perfection (or at least some measure of proficiency).  Background fabric had to be ordered as there was not any tone-on-tone black in my stash big enough for this project.  By the time that got here, there was just enough time to make one block before activities associated with the Thanksgiving holiday took me out of the sewing room.



All the points look so nice and sharp.  I only had to unstitch a couple of seams because the pieces weren't big enough.  It always feels like you are working backwards when paper piecing. Hopefully by the time all the blocks are done, I'll feel a lot more comfortable with process.  

Check out all the other NewFO's over at Cat Patches.  There's always some amazing new projects to check out.    

14 comments:

Tiffany said...

Very very pretty block. Love the orange, yellow and green with the black. Striking, really. :D

Barbara said...

This is going to be beautiful. Blacks and brights will make a stunning quilt!

Kevin the Quilter said...

This is going to be a great paper piecing project for you. I have a feeling you may start on this one and not be able to stop? LOL

Kate said...

Ooh, I love brights on black! Such a crisp looking star!

Kaelyn Angelfoot said...

Looks great!

Julie in GA said...

Your first star looks beautiful!
I am still considering joining this quilt-along. Your brights on black mockup make it very tempting.

Shay said...

Your first block is perfect!I think you have this paper piecing thing nailed Kate!

Anonymous said...

Yep, there are some angles (and of course I never remember which ones) that I tend to end up with not enough fabric for. Looks like you have a good project for practicing. (I'm not no-reply, just Wordpress, and Blogger doesn't talk to Wordpress. My email is on my blog.)

BillieBee (billiemick) said...

Nothing new started by me and I hope it stays that way! I started the Star Burst on Oct 30 and am already behind....grin....always. I love your brights!!!

Ray and Jeanne said...

I love your bright colors on the back are gorgeous. Love the paper-pieced blocks! ~Jeanne

Elizabeth said...

What a gorgeous quilt that will be! Love the first block--those points look perfect to me! You'll have this technique down long before you finish all your blocks. I'm stopping in through the NewFO linky party.

Tami C said...

I think that a quilt of brights coupled with a black background can be really stunning.

Sandy Panagos said...

You are right about the nice sharp points, one of the advantages of paper-piecing. Maybe the only one! lol That is going to be a really gorgeous quilt!!

Junebug613 said...

That looks really sharp! Pun intended! Your points are fantastic and I love the colors. Very nice for a change with the black background.