Bluebird Park Star - Beginning

I know several of my friends are in the 'we're thinking of trying for a baby' phase right now, so I'm trying to get a few quilts ahead. Even if I used my entire stash right now, I'd still fall short, and there are a few quilts I have stashed away that aren't going to work for any of the friends who have mentioned their thoughts and hopes to me. Trying to get ahead is part of why I allowed myself to give in and purchase some more charm packs recently - and I'm so glad I did, because it game me an excuse to work on this quilt. I'm attempting to follow the recipe for Storybook Star Quilt found at the Moda Bake Shop.

I couldn't get coordinating yardage in the prints or colors I wanted to use for this, so I am using a combination of fancy charm pack fabric and a little JoAnn's fabric. I think that's one of those rules serious quilters never break. Oh well. Sure, I would rather have had coordinating yardage, but I think it's going to turn out nicely my way too.

Since there was some repetition in the charm pack (at least two of every weave/solid and at least two of every floral on weave), I didn't want to choose four of my favorite prints for the center blocks and end up with repetition in the outer border. I did choose one of my favorites (the hedgehogs on aqua), then I went for color and print balance.

Not yet fully sewn together

I struggled a little with actually making the hourglass blocks, but I think in the end they looked alright. I do want to try this quilt again - or something similar - to see if I can get a little better at making those. That and it's so cute -- and so far, easy.

Okay, adding borders is another thing that doesn't always come easily to me - even when I pin. This time I ironed everything first, left some excess on the top and bottom, pinned everything, and went slowly. It was a bit of an annoyance, but I think the end result was worth it.

The rest of the charm squares need sewn together into strips, then added as the final border - but so far I'm very pleased with it. Even with all the ironing and pinning, I think deciding which blocks to feature or leave out has been the most challenging part. I'm hopeful to have time yet this week to finish up the borders and get the top completed. This has gone fairly quickly, especially considering I'm pausing to read instructions and doing the measure twice cut once rule, so I'm very pleased. I can't wait to see it all come together!