Stars in the Nest

I'm happy to report that things are better here in the Magpie's Nest. So much so that I've been able to turn that mess of Ohio Stars (previous post) into a flimsy!

The first step was to stack the 12" stars in three columns:

My thinking at this point was to then stack the 9" stars between these columns. I knew the lengths would differ but that's a small barrier to get over. Then it dawned on me that the 9" columns could function as outer borders instead, and likely be more effective that way.

After I'd sewn the blocks into their respective columns (some a lot of rearranging of the stars was required!) I could see that this would be a better approach.

It boiled down to finding something appropriate to use for the sashing.

Now I had an almost-square flimsy. I really prefer rectangular quilts for wrapping up in or napping under so the next question was, which dimension to make bigger, width or height?

I went with width. It was a simple decision really. Another vertical sash on each end and then border strips would do the job.

71" wide x 60" high

The print I used for the outer borders also appears in several of the blocks. It was necessary to do some piecing to get the length I needed for both sides. I was able to line up the stripe in the print on the right side but couldn't manage it on the left end. Out of the yardage I began with I have only two little patches of that print left. One is about 3.5" x 5" and the other is about three inches square!

Now the challenge will be to come up with a back for this future quilt. I think I've about used up the biggest pieces of yardage in my stash from this era. If a good sale comes up in the near future I may take the easy way out and just buy what's required in something neutral.

Now, what next? ;- )