It did rain yesterday, again, but eventually it stopped and the sun made an appearance. Just enough to get that parking lot dry enough for a shot of all the stars.
The final was indeed a quick and lazy one and got terribly orange, overwhelmingly orange in the center, so I added a little appliqued flower that I cut out of that really lovely fabric I once was gifted by my friend Karin (hi Karin, still reading? Dein Skype startklar?). As far as I remember she told me it was a Japanese fabric, so with this last block for the first time went against my policy of using only fabrics from different countries in one block. I am really enjoying mixing fabrics from various places and makers and think the result is just more vivid and interesting than using fabric from one company or even part of a single line by one designer. Too homogeneous, (oh, hello Liberty Leaves...!), but this time it just happened to be all Japanese.
Anyway.
So, these are all Japanese fabrics, the dark purple one is actually a tenugui, but I think they do have all a different spirit and don't make this block look boring.
Now that the last star has been stitched I have to think of the design for the top. Initially I started sewing these stars following templates that were monthly blocks in the Oshare Kobo magazine (2005-2006), designed by Washizawa Reiko (鷲沢玲子), but added three more stars to end up with a big enough quilt for my bed. The original design was meant to be a tapestry, but as long not each and every bed in this house isn't covered by a snuggly quilt I don't see much sense in bestowing any of our walls a quilt.
I must think about what to do with these now, but will take my time and work on the Liberty Leaves meanwhile. I seem to cannot make up my mind if the design should stay on the traditional path or take a more modern, surprising direction. But I am doing bold with the leaves already, so I could stay on the traditional track here, having two different natured works in progress and the possibility to switch whenever I get bored...
Have you been reading Kirsten's posting on technically brilliant quilts vs. 'quilts from the heart'?
I have been following the discussion over the last days but found it difficult to articulate an opinion.
I love them all. One day these, one day the others more. Both kinds of quilts can be boring as well. And for me quilts do not disqualify themselves by accurate techniques or complex designs. Or by an amazing amount of time one dedicated person must have been spending on making them. I think sometimes we just see too many quilts to be open enough to hear what every single one has to say. I remember very well my experience from this year's quilt show in Tokyo when I had a hard time finding something that grabbed me.
If you happen to have a striking idea how to finish the star quilt, please tell me. I once thought of a border of Flying Geese, small stars on the crossings between the large blocks, maybe...???
More photos here.
Have a great day!