Nothing like the last minute (again)...

My plan this year is to participate each month in the Another Year of Schnibbles challenge hosted by Sinta of Pink Pincushion and Sherri of A Quilting Life.

The idea is that each month these ladies will pick a Schnibbles pattern.  You then have the entire month to make the quilt (or your version of it).  Fortunately, it doesn't have to be quilted.   To recap, last month's pattern was Full House and this was my version.  (Still halfway quilted by the way.)

La Maison - My version of Full House

This month's pattern is I.S.T.H.  Apparently that stands for "Insert Snappy Title Here".

Picture from FatQuarterShop.com

It took me a while to get started on mine.  I knew I wanted to use my Little Gatherings scraps to make it and I was going to change the pattern a bit.  I started with a couple of test blocks...

Star Blocks

Alternating Blocks

I made the star blocks exactly as the pattern details, but added these alternating blocks instead of the setting triangles and sashing.  I also knew I wanted to make my quilt larger and finally settled on 12 stars.  (Actually, I ended up making 16, but decided that was too big!)

Center of quilt before borders

You can see that all the blocks along the edges are a bit irregular.  I didn't want to deal with all the math and bias edges, so I made them bigger.  I then marked my quarter inch seam with painter's tape and added my border alongside the edge of the tape.  Only after the border was on did I cut the excess fabric off.

Adding the borders to the edges

I realize it's a convoluted way to do it, but I didn't want to have to figure out how to get the little brown triangles by the border to work out right.  Usually I love math, but I was in a hurry to get this done on time!

The Night's Sky Quilt Top

My top finishes at 44" x 36" and is the perfect size for above our bed.

Since I had made so many extra star blocks (and had a couple of extra hours), I went ahead and pieced the backing as well.  Initially this is what it looked like...

Take #1 on the backing

Looks weird, huh?  It bothered me so much, I took it apart and added some more sashing.  I think this is a slightly better version and the one I'm sticking with...

Take #2 on the backing

It was a great way to use the additional blocks and gives me some space for quilt information once it's quilted.  Of course, I now have such a stack needing to be quilted that I have no idea when I'll get around to it.

I'm eager to see what March's choice is and hope to find more time to sew next month.  I'm also looking forward to seeing everyone else's versions.  There are some very creative and skilled quilters out there and it's fun to see how different they all are.

Until later...

And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows. 

1 Thessalonians 3:12 (NLT)