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And now to Part C of my posts on Kokomo (Stars Upon Stars)

C. Assembly

This is Part B of a series of posts explaining how I make my version of Stars Upon Stars.  

B. Planning the colours

 1. External stars in the blocks. 

A key design feature of the original Stars Upon Stars quilt is that each block is unique.  I decided replicate that idea by using different fabrics and colours for the external stars of each block. I opted for tone on tone fabrics in most cases, and tried to use every colour within my limited colour range - blue, aqua, green, pink, orange and yellow.  If I repeated a colour I used a ...

Thank you for all the lovely comments on my Kokomo quilt.  As promised I'm going to explain more about how I made it - both for anyone thinking about making one themselves, and for my personal record, because after all, that's what blogs are for.

A. Fabric selection

Where do I even begin to describe my happiness with how this quilt has turned out?

I'm thrilled with it and I'm not going to let it out of my sight.  I've even considered sewing an Apple AirTag into it so if it goes missing I can track it down! I've spent so many hours making this quilt but I've enjoyed them all. 

I started this quilt back in January 2020.  I've spent four years working on it in the background.  I haven't once put it on social media or even shown my ...

I finished my Trip Around the World quilt just in time to enter it into Capital Quilters recent exhibition.  

I've called it Last Christmas because I've always loved Wham, and each December I pump this song out  regularly.

Do you remember my Licorice Allsorts block of the month designed by Wendy Williams?

I barely remember it myself because it's been so long since I worked on it.

But last Saturday I made a quick trip to Auckland to support my mum for a few days.  As I was throwing a few things in a suitcase I suddenly remembered that she had asked for my help with some of the trickier blocks in this quilt. 

When I first saw this block of the month advertised at Material Obsession in 2021 I knew that we would both enjoy making ...

At Easter I went to Tekapo in the middle of the South Island of New Zealand.  The mountains and lakes are amazing there and the weather was beautiful.  The place we stayed at had great views and a big deck off the lounge.  

I took some quilting along because our Capital Quilters exhibtion is fast approaching and I'm not ready!! I still have two quilts in progress and this is one of them.  It's the Trip Around the World that I started in January.  You can read more about it here.  

It's quite a bit colder in ...

It may be Thanksgiving where you live, but I've just finished my Halloween quilt!  I've called it "Spooky Darlings" after the fabric range that I used.  

I only had a fat eighth bundle to play with so I made the biggest triangles that I could and combined them in alternating dark and light rows ...

Well, I finally feel that I'm making some progress with my quilting.

Don't Leaf Me - pattern by Wendy Williams

I finished the applique on the second panel of Don't Leaf Me and joined it all up.  It was great to open the box and have the centre panel already pieced and waiting for me. I took it in to Busy Bee Quilt Shop to be basted on the long arm so I can hand quilt it during January and February.  

While I was there I picked up a quilt that I've had custom quilted by Sue ...

Well, it's that time of the year again.  Halloween is still viewed as an American tradition in this part of the world, but more and more people are getting in to trick or treating each year.  

My Spooky Darlings quilt won't be finished for this Halloween, but it is progressing well.

I live on a street that is well known for Halloween because it's wide and straight and a safe place for kids to trick or treat.  It's Spring in the southern hemisphere and it doesn't get dark here until after 8pm at the moment ...

 I'm on my way back to New Zealand today but here's one more blog post prepared in advance.  this is my Shuttles quilt that I made to showcase some of my beautiful Kaffe Fassett fabrics.  You can read all about it here. 

And I hand quilted it with bright yellow Aurifil 12 wt.  

Now it’s time for the Peacock Party.  Feel free to link up a recent blog ...

I won't be able to attend the QuiltNSW Quilt Show this year, but I have very happy memories of the three years in a row that I did attend - 2017, 2018 and 2019.

My Carnival quilt won Best Traditional Quilt Award (Amateur) in 2019 and I was thrilled.  You can read all about it here. 

Now it’s time for the Peacock Party.  Feel free to link up a recent blog post below. 

You are invited ...

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook you'll know that our river cruise on the Rhine will be coming to an end shortly. I've taken a little bit of hand piecing with me, but I'm not sure if I'll get any of it done while I'm away.

In the mean time, I'll show you my Lady Wigram quilt that I made for my mother in law.  I hand pieced it using the Bella Ruby templates from Treehouse Textiles in Australia.  You can read all about it here.  

Can you believe this is my most viewed blog post ever? Click here to read about my Scrappy Bear Paw quilt.  

Yes, people just love my Scrappy Bear Paw quilt.  I suspect it's because of the bright colours that I chose, and the simple hand quilting with Perle 8. 

Maybe I shouldn't have allowed my son to take it to his university hostel.  Actually, I don't mind.  I can always make another one when our guild turns 50 years old which is now only 12 years away.  

The display at Capital Quilters when the guild turned 30 ...

Yes, it's true - I've escaped New Zealand and like many other Kiwis and Aussies I'm travelling in Europe right now.  In fact by the time you read this I think I'll be in Amsterdam.  You can follow my travels on Instagram - @wendysquiltsandmore  or Facebook - Wendy Welsh - if you're interested.  

But I know a lot of you look forward to reading a blog post from me each week, and linking up to or following the Peacock Party links, so I've prepared five weeks of blog posts to keep you covered while I'm away.  Each ...

 Today we've had a public holiday to celebrate Matariki.

Matariki is the Māori name for the cluster of stars also known as the Pleiades. It rises in midwinter and for many Māori, it heralds the start of a new year. From Te Ara, the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.  

Back in 2018 I made a quilt called Matariki +/- 1.  I entered it into the QuiltNSW Sydney Quilt Show and I won a Judges Commendation for it.  

I don't have this quilt any more because a very kind grandma bought it to go on her grandson's bed when he ...

It's been a long time coming, but I'm very pleased to advise that my Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt from 2018 is finally finished.  It's called Good Fortune. 

I like it, but I wouldn't say that I'm in love with it.  I did learn some useful lessons along the way though; 

- beware of mystery quilts.  This isn't the first time I've said this, but I think I started this quilt before I really learnt my lesson on Jen Kingwell's Marshal mystery quilt. 

- if you're going to change the colours or layout, be ...

My Hand Quilted Sampler quilt has a long and chequered past, but it's finally finished.  

I started this quilt in a class with Kaffe Fassett in Wellington, New Zealand in January 2018.  Yes, five long years ago!!

January 2018 in Wellington

I don't give up on things easily, so I set ...

Last week I told you about Cyclone Gabrielle that has devastated parts of Hawke's Bay in New Zealand.  

I'm working on quite a few mystery projects this year that I just can't share on my blog.  I know a lot of you come here each week for inspiration, so from time to time I'm going to share some of my earlier quilts that you might have missed.  

This is my sashiko quilt that I made 10 years ago when my son went to Japan on a school exchange trip.  

I started with a pattern from Nancy's Stitch Studio, but then I used library books and the internet to research sashiko patterns. I found lots ...