First of all, I read everyone’s comments on my last post – the overwhelming majority voted for using the gold print. And looking at the pictures, I agree but oh, how I love the richness of that black! However, I made the decision to use the gold and added the frame to one block. See the corners are still missing a piece? That’s because I’m still looking for the perfect fabric to fussy cut so I can get a fabulous effect where four blocks join. I think it’s going to be some fabric totally unexpected that I happen upon that just works. But right now, nothing I’ve pulled to look at has worked. I can’t use the same print I’m using for the centre star as some of the frames may end up being black or red – that’s still up in the air.

So I made a nice little stack of the centre stars and there that project sits.

Then I started making more and more of the little black and white stars made with the Inklingo .75″ 60-degree diamonds. They’re easy as can be to make – and are quite addictive. Make one, start the next. Over and over and over again. And there are still lots to make. But there that project sits.

Then? Then I had to make these little stars made with the new Inklingo .875″ 60-degree diamonds. I couldn’t resist using the same fabric to fussy cut/print as I had used for this …

… the little Garden Stars, which is still waiting for its border.  Are you sensing a theme here?

I had the thought that I’d get them set into a top before I blogged about the little 6-pointed stars, and was and am still thinking about setting them with a deep pink for background, but — well, I think you can guess — that project sits.

Why is everything just sitting? Well, mostly because I haven’t been wildly excited about what I was working on or didn’t have what I needed to take the project further.

But things were about to change. The Valse Brillante quilt in Willyne Hammerstein’s Millefiori Quilts captured my interest as soon as I saw it. So when the Inklingo Valse Brillante collection came out, I had to make one block just to see if I was going to be as excited about making it as I thought.

And I definitely am. So now I’m off to the races.

It presses like a dream.

At one point yesterday afternoon, the couch was covered in pieces of fabric as I pulled favourite shabby chic fabrics to use as well as batiks. And wonder of wonders, Baxter didn’t come to help – steal any fabric! My plan for this is all in my mind, and it’s only going to start to show up as the blocks get made and joined.

To get to that point, I have to print everything ahead of time as the fabric placement is going to get decided block by block and will depend on each block beside/below/above it. And there will be ribbons of batiks flowing across the top – and the placement of each will depend again on what’s above/beside/below it.

I haven’t been this excited about making a quilt since I made Chintz Circles. That was another quilt that didn’t show the effect I was going for until a number of blocks were put together. My version of Valse Brillante will have some of the same shabby chic fabrics I used in Chintz Circles, including the very last piece of one print that I absolutely love. Thanks to my experience making Chintz Circles, I know just how to organize all the pieces for Valse Brillante and work from there. My printer is going to be incredibly busy over the next week or so getting everything printed for this quilt.

It’s really, really difficult to not just print enough to make one more block just because it’s so much fun to make! The precision corners of the templates printed on the fabric make it so easy that I don’t even have to think about how the block goes together – it just does so that the little hexagon centre is on a tilt. No muss, no fuss. Just loads of fun stitching to be had.

Now I’ve got something I’m really excited to be making and, as I’ll be joining blocks and rows as they’re made, it’s going to grow as I make blocks and I’ll get the satisfaction of seeing the ribbons of batiks starting to show up. It’s much more fun for me to make a quilt that way than to make all the blocks and then start joining the blocks and rows. When I finish making the last block, the top will be mostly done. And that definitely works for me.

I’m hoping that this project will get me back to blogging more regularly too as I’ll be wanting to share the progress as it starts coming together.

“Birth of A Quilt Project – Part 1.”

“Birth of A Quilt Project – Part 2.”

We have had a glorious summer so far this year.  Not too hot and definitely not too cool.  Just perfect.  The roof garden is lovely and green and there’s lots of activity for Jake and Baxter to watch.

We often see them like this, having an afternoon snooze on a lazy summer afternoon.