A Mexican Star

Hello there and welcome to Stitch'n Steve's

I have started this blog to share some of the creative work that  I am compelled to craft.

Most of the Quilting that I do is machine sewn. Though from time to time you might see some applique or hand stitched items on display.

In this post I'd like to show you my attempt at a Mexican Star Block Quilt.

The finished quilt measures

85inch x 97 inch or 215cm x 245cm

I really love the challenge that quilting provides for me.

I'm not into the fancy stitchery of  Long arm machine quilting and so tend to finish my quilts ustilising geometric shapes or follow the patterns made by the blocks and quilt by using the " Stitch in the Ditch" method.

This is one of my quilts that I adore, I just love the bright colours and impact of the design.

Picking out the colours for this quilt was great fun.

I wanted the bright impact of yellow along with the subtle calming pinks into the deeper burgundy and maroons. The contrasting colours sound hideous but I like to think that...

With some thought about variation in tonal strengths, fabric colours and the combination of pattered fabrics when put together I think is worth taking the risk...

When I work on projects like this I tend ot hold a picture of the finished product in my head througout the process.

It is a great feeling when the end product matches the vision...

The quilt top consists of 42 Mexican Square Blocks

Each block differs from the next through the placement of coloured pieces being differing in tone or shade or pattern or by reversing the colour combinations for individual Blocks.

I find that this approach adds a little something that poses much more of a delightful challenge when choosing fabrics.. and in the final placement of the finished blocks.

I do like using only three or four colours/prints in a design from time to time but,  I find the repetition of the same patterns and colours becomes a little boring after a while and I can lose interest in a project quite rapidly.

When choosing a backing I am not a traditionalist and tend to use backing fabric that either contrasts or compiments the quilt top.

And when quilted the piece then becomes reversable.

As you can see here the backing fabric continues to carry the yellow/pink theme from the quilt top
But also compliments it with the addition of the mauve and orange tones of the larger backing print.
The stitching then becomes a feature on the reverse side.
I hope that you have enjoyed seeing this project and if you have will pop back over to check out the next one.

Even if you haven't liked what you see... I'd still appreciate your comments and feed back.

Till next we meet

Stitch'n Steve...