Ribbon Star

It all started a few weeks ago,

when this picture showed up in my IG feed.

I thought, 

"Oh that is gorgeous! I need some!"

(Y'all know how I love Art Gallery fabrics...)

Then I remembered

that I am not the sort of person 

who purchases impulsively,

so I did not rush to Etsy 

and buy some.

But I thought about that fabric

almost every day

for over a week,

and when I decided it was no longer an impulse purchase

and looked for it,

I found a shop that was having a 25% off sale,

and I didn't want to lose money on it,

so I stuck 4 yards in my cart,

because wouldn't it make a fantastic backing?!

And then,

thinking I might need a bit more 

for pattern matching such a large print,

I added another 1/2 yard.

While I was waiting for my fabric to arrive,

I saw this picture

and after oohing and ahhing over the gorgeous baby

in the matching sweater

I thought,

"Oh. 

that would look really nice in some of that fusion fabric...."

But I argued with myself,

"no ~ you bought that to be a quilt back..."

But then I remembered that 

I bought an extra 1/2 yard!

(I'll worry about the pattern matching business later)

and started scheming,

and drew up a pattern.

When my fabric arrived

and I set about finding my fabrics to go with it,

I realized that my typical stash building with fat quarters

was not going to work for this quilt.

And it seemed foolish to buy more fabric,

when I already have quite a lot,

just to make this one quilt

that I really  have no use for.

So I decided that I would save all of the fabric 

for a backing

and not make that sweet star quilt.

And I was going to follow through on that plan.

Really I was.

Except that,

I had already decided how I was going to quilt it.

And when you already know how you are going to quilt something,
and you smack are in the middle of
Operation Up My Quilting Game,

it sort of seems like you should make it,

don't you think??

So.

On Tuesday,

a little before lunch time,

I ran to Fort Smith real quick

and found a Grunge fabric that matched almost perfectly

and got to work.

By late afternoon,

I had a quilt top.

And by late Friday morning,

she was ready to go in the wash.

I'm so tickled with how Ribbon Star turned out;

it's just as I pictured.

I still need to perfect my feather technique

(tips appreciated!)

but they are plenty passable.

And my swirls,

though not perfect,

look pretty great.

After I quilted the first ribbon section,

I giddily told Tyler,

"I am actually getting good at this!"

Which feels really nice.

I'm not sure yet

 if I'm going to list this one in my shop

or save it to donate somewhere else.

But I sure am glad I 

dropped everything

and made it.

Linking up with MMM's DREAMi
and Amanda Jean.