Sawtooth Stars in the Night Sky

I am in between block pattern releases with the Little Miss Sawtooth Quilt-along hosted by Melanie Traylor of Southern Charm Quilts and Havel's Sewing.  I also have time on my hands with Thanksgiving break in full swing.  Add to that the fact that our school district released all schools two days early last week to combat the unfortunate spread of noro-virus throughout out our schools.  I had already been hit by the two day virus two weeks earlier and wasn't eager to experience another round, so I was quite okay with the early release.

 Anyhow...what to do.  I was inspired by a quilt I saw on Instagram that had jewel toned stars placed inside dark blue borders, and I suddenly remembered the sparkling star fabrics I picked up from Joanns Fabrics last summer.  I don't have any solids on hand, so I raided my batik stash.  Even better. The combos remind me of camping; sitting by the fire and looking up through dark branches at the bright stars above.  I decided not to go with completely contrasting fabrics.  Some of the stars pop, but some seem to blend with the borders, and I like the effect.

The four at a time flying geese method on Melanie's blog is such a wonderful fabric and time saving technique.  I chain-stitched like crazy all day Saturday.  

My original thought was to do a throw sized quilt and perhaps add a border.  But seeing the blocks laid out in all their jewel toned glory, I had to go big.

A second day of star block joy and voila...enough for a full sized quilt. Is anything more satisfying than a pile of completed blocks?

The pictures just don't do justice to the sparkly awesomeness of those star blocks and dark batiks.

 And...the outdoor photo.  A shot of color for an otherwise gray toned winter day.  The light from behind brightens the blocks a bit.

 The act of creating infuses the spirit...feeling a whole lot of joy and gratitude for the ability to pursue these crafty endeavors.