Friday, June 12, 2009

Star of Bethlehem Quilt

I made this wall hanging back in 2003.  It hung in my office for a few years and then I gave it to my sister Jeanne.  She uses it on the foot of her bed.  Recently, I got her to take some photos of it and send them to me so I could share it.
The  pattern is called the “star of Bethlehem” or “lone star.”  I machine pieced the quilt which is 49 in square.  It is machine and hand quilted.
The machine quilting was done “in the ditch” around the diamonds and border.  I then hand quilted the open areas and the outline quilting of the diamonds.
My “corners” where the diamonds meet weren’t perfect, so to hide this I embroidered around the diamonds with gold metallic thread.
Here is a partial photo of the back to show the quilting.

11 comments:

K. said...

Gorgeous! Do you have a gallery of all your quilts? I'd like to check it out...

Ninja Pharmer said...

I am *so* incredibly jealous of your abilities with fabric, needles and thread. I can knit like nobody's business and I'm pretty handy with a pencil and pens, but quilting simply stumps me. I tried it once and it ended so badly that I haven't dared try it again!

rlbates said...

Thank you both. K, you can see many of them at my flickr and some others here.

Bardiac said...

Wow, that's just beautiful. You really do wonderful needlework!

rlbates said...

Thank you, Bardiac

Dreaming again said...

The quilts just get more beautiful with each one!

This, has to be, by far, my favorite!

Chrysalis said...

I always love to see your quilts. Each one is so beautiful. I'm glad you post them for all of us.

Chrysalis said...

Dreaming again - I've lost contact with you. I'd love to hear from you and see how you are doing. I see your site is restricted now. I think of you often, as you helped out that friend of mine. Hope you are well. Chrysalis

Unknown said...

Hi your quilt is absolutely beautiful, I can't quilt as good yet but I hope to someday. I had a ques...I know that basting is so important, do you have any tips for how you got all of your stitches so perfectly straight and even diagnally also?

rlbates said...

Rose, it's something I still struggle with on patterns like this one where there is so many pieces sewn on the bias of the fabric. If I want to be truly precise, then I often have to resort to hand sewing rather than machine so that I don't "distort" the fabric as much. Patience, practice, and willingness to either accept small flaws or redo them. Take care.

J said...

Have you read Tracy Chevalier's new novel, The Last Runaway? The protagonist quilted a Star of Bethlehem quilt of which she was very proud. I had to do a search and find a picture. Looking at your pictures, I can see why one would be proud of such detail. :)

It's a very good book...you might like it.