rubix star quilt, a finish, and some snow

rubix star, my third stella grande quilt that i gave to my children for christmas 2017 is now complete, as of christmas holidays 2018. it's funny how it took me waaaay longer to quilt and bind them all than it took me to make the tops and assemble the quilt sandwiches in time for christmas gifting. there was just too much going on this year for it to be otherwise. only four more to go.

this quilt goes to my older son, second child, a new adult (18!) and college freshman/junior in biochemical engineering this year. (yes, you can be freshman and a junior all at once if you go to community college for 64 credits as a homeschooler and have to count it as concurrent enrollment at the university.)

this kid of mine has always been brainy in math and science, which is why i picked the two text prints that back this quilt. the black and white carolina gingham was to keep with the black and white theme on the back and because it's cubes. (you can see the fabrics closer in subsequent photos.)

my son is one of those brilliant people who can solve a rubix cube in a matter of minutes, therefore the quilt top is an allusion to the rubix cube in my stella grande giant sawtooth star format. it's supposed to look like the rubix puzzle is in process of being unscrambled. having only one orange hst in the star was an accident on my part, but i think it goes with the concept of the mixed-up rubix quite well.

for the border on this stella grande variation, i chose 6" squares to, of course, resemble the cubes of the rubix puzzle. color placement is random, with a few spots where two of the same color cubes meet up, as if the puzzle is being solved.

i got the quilt binding machine-attached to the quilt body just in time to take it with us to our mountain cabin for the winter break. we got dumped on with snow just enough to look amazing yet not be too dangerous, and to make it perfect to sit inside under a quilt.

usually, i sit in the sun room in a gliding rocker to do my stitching, but this time i sat in the main space by the fireplace with the windows to my left looking over the beautiful landscape. it was a bit too cold to sit in the sun room in such snowy conditions.

i did venture outside a time or two to track down children and to take some photos. it was simply breathtaking out there! i know people live in snow all the time, to the point of being sick of it. we get to enjoy it for a week or two each year, just long enough to relish it and then leave.

have you ever seen snow look like glitter when it comes down? one morning the conditions were just right and it looked like a glitter shower was going on in the meadow across from our cabin. all those white flakes you can see were sparkling, shiny and shimmery, but the photos don't capture the glitter effect.

they did, however, capture the huge snowflakes that were already in place that morning. i've never seen them so large that you can actually discern the individual crystals with the naked eye!

but back to the quilt.

i finished off the binding late on the last evening of our trip, cozied up in front of our unique hanging fireplace. it's on the list of things to update in the cabin, but that won't be for quite a while. in the meantime, it's certainly warm and cheery even if it's funky looking.

i had big plans for a photo shoot in all the fresh powder everywhere on the morning before we left, but since it was hovering just above 0*f, that did not happen. it was going to look so good with the red railings on the cabin porches. didn't happen. i did get one questionable photo with red doors and roof of the shed in the background before my son was ready to hold the quilt and we had to move on.

my son and i managed a couple of snaps before we and the quilt froze into ice cubes and then got on our way home.

i guess you could have called us a couple of rubix ice cubes.

on top

i need another design wall. again! s1's quilt has taken priority but i'm not taking down what's already on the boards so i guess we'll just work right over the top of this triangle one.

get ready for another blue-and-orange invasion of this space because i simply can not let this oldest son's quilt go any longer without a finish. it must be done. i'm going in kicking and screaming, dragging my feet yet i've prioritized this quilt above all else. it's the most important project in the que, ranking even higher than the "dreaming easy" quilt, which only needs binding, and the "penny patch 2.0" that is ready to sandwich and quilt. they're just going to have to wait. s1 needs his mama-made!

this project has been on the backburner for so long not because i don't love my son but because i do not love piecing these wonky stacked coin blocks. and i was burnt out on working with these colors after completing s2's "bandwidth," which shares the same color scheme and several fabrics. there were too many other exciting and satisfying projects going on to make myself do something i wasn't enjoying. my original quilt plan called for 36 blocks, 9 of which i've completed, and the mere thought of churning out 27 more was akin to having dental work done.

so i revamped the project. i'd going to do a row of 7 of the stacked coins at the top and bottom of the quilt, which means i only need 5 more blocks. that's not a pleasant idea, but it's doable. i'm adding rows of wonky log cabin blocks beneath and above the stacked coin rows. in the middle i plan to piece "awesome," using the letters from denyse schmidt's proverbial quilt pattern. this reworking has enlivened my interest somewhat. we'll see how that goes.

regardless of how i feel about the actual construction of the quilt, i really do like the design and it absolutely needs to be finished. i can't count the number of times my son casually but rather wistfully said, "oh, are you working on something else?," or, "you're starting something new?," without any further comment. there was always a new baby on the way or something i was burning to make or a last minute quilt for someone that "needed" to be done. so i put his less exciting quilt off. it was painful but not painful enough to make me stop.

 but after a summer off of quilting and some serious consideration of why i quilt and what i want to produce with my limited sewing time, i know this just needs to be done. i've actually had nightmares or small panic moments when i think, "what if something happens to me and i never finish his quilt? i don't want to die without having given him this quilt!" that may seem a little extreme, but it's that important to me. if i knew i had a month left to live, right now finishing this quilt would be at the top of my "to do" list. so i better just go ahead and do it already!

not only am i feeling pressured because it's been 2 years since i started this project and i'd really like to get it done before he's out of high school (which he just started) but i have this crazy idea of using our quilts as props for our family photos this fall. the family photos that are scheduled for november 21st. yikes! everyone else has their quilt, but not this fella. so mama better get sewing!

linking up with lee's wip wednesday at freshly pieced.

bandwidth - a simple yet large finish

you will have to use your imagination a little here and turn the quilt upright in your head

 i have reached the end of a series of finishes. the way i work, i usually start several things in succession and then they get finished close to each other, too. the beginning of this year i completed a couple of quilts that had been going for at least a year. this one - "bandwidth" - is the last of that group. i was supposed to take my younger son, s2, out for lunch and a photo shoot, but that just hasn't happened. i felt the need to get this post done since "bandwidth" was completed in january, so today i grabbed the only two children available in the last of the afternoon's light and we snapped some shots in the backyard. apparently our grass is growing in abundance. d3 and d4 had to stand on chairs to hold up this behemoth quilt as even on it's side it's too tall for them. their little arms just couldn't get it straight enough but that's okay - the wonkiness of the photo rather reflects the accuracy of the quilt stitching. if i remember correctly, "bandwidth" measures approximately 98" x 70", making this the largest quilt i've made to date; almost double the size of what i usually do. if i cut it in half i could have two throw quilts. i didn't exactly aim for this size. i simply cut up the blue i was using for the panels to what looked like a balanced size to the strip sections and this is what i ended up with.

the front of the quilt is composed of three sections of jelly strips pieced together in rows running horizontally across the quilt, and four panels of solid blue (kona's windsor). my color scheme came from a jelly roll of riley blake's "superstar" fabrics i purchased for the strip sections. by the time i got around to making the quilt, i thought it would be better to use only some of the strips and incorporate coordinating colored prints. (the leftovers went into a baby quilt, "way out weston," for a new little cousin.)

technically, this is my own design, but it's hardly worth calling it a pattern. i sewed strips together and inserted panels. end of story! still, it makes for an effective, straightforward, modern design aesthetic that i am rather fond of.

i quilted in a randomly spaced straighline stitch, also on the horizontal, in a light blue aurufil 50 wt thread. i was going to use three thread colors, but decided that was too much work with all the thread changing. in the end, it was easier to just keep going in the same color. i don't know what possessed me to use such a light, high-contrast color on those dark blue panels because i had trouble with my straight lines being straight. they look fine from a distance and i think when i wash the quilt, the effect will be corrected even more.

 the back was pieced together from large cuts of two prints from the "superstar" collection and some leftover strip pieces.

 the binding gave me pause to consider the possibilities, but i finally decided to go with another coordinating print from "superstar" with one fun little accent piece of an orange "monsterz" print. i machine bound this one because it was going to need extra durability since it's for one of my boys.

this "monsterz" print is probably my favorite from the whole quilt. i am also using it in s1's wonky coins quilt. i decided to add this bit in as i was attaching the binding. as soon as i put it in, i realized i should have sewn it on straight rather than on the bias, but it was already done. not a deal breaker, though.

now my little man can stop asking me when his quilt is going to be done! he's been snuggling and reading under it since the moment i finished it.

and using it as a superhero cape, too.

he obviously likes it and makes use of it daily, which makes this mama quite happy. now i just have one more mama-made to go and each child has one.

linking up with amanda jean's friday finishes at "crazy mom quilts."