Crystallized Glacier ~ Unselfishly

Last Sunday I was hanging out with myself wondering what ever should I do?  You might think hanging out with myself sounds sad and pitiful, and it may very well be!  I don't mind having alone time, I really don't!!  

I decided I would take Sunday and do some selfish sewing that actually turned into unselfish sewing.  Is that a thing?!  Selfishly unselfish?!  I mean, I wanted to sew (selfish), but I wanted to sew something for someone else (unselfish)!  

With time on my hands, I pulled out my 'go to' paper pieced star templates, grabbed my scrap bin and decided on a color.  Rainbow is the logical choice, but instead I went with blues, more specifically teal to turquoise.  It's all about the scraps!

CRYSTALLIZED GLACIER
13 1/2" X 13 1/2"

I saw a color and knew right a way I was going with it...add white...win, win!  Of course, I wouldn't me if I had a plan from the very beginning...what fun is that?!  The star would be the jumping off point, it would tell me what to do and where to go.  (I normally do not hear voices)

The star pieces came together quickly.  I am so in love with paper piecing!  I would love to make an entire quilt...oh wait...I have one on the back burner...I maybe should get back to that!  This little star has been nothing but good to me.  But this one deserved to be the star...literally!

The transition from one color to the next had me swooning!  

4 1/2" Unfinished

From this point I had to figure out step two.  I found a sheet of tiny diamonds I printed off for some other project and thought I could work with it, or try to make it work.  I picked a pretty teal and made a total of eight.  

1 1/2" x 2" Unfinished

Super long story short, I played with the diamonds changing them around in every which way until I settled on the final design.  Border around the star, diamonds strategically placed with the correct pieces added here and there, another round of border in white...STOP! I couldn't end with white.  I grabbed a couple colors from the star and made a 3/8" border in two coordinating colors.

But first, I love these shots and had to share!  I love the stained glass effect, the seemingly perfect seams, the light shining through the colors!

I was hoping the borders and the binding would transition together.  I wonder if I should have added an extra 1/4" to the outside border.  



The star is free motion quilted and the rest of the quilt was basic straight line geometric lines. Simple and effective.

I picked a light aqua Alison Glass 'Ink' for the backing.  Another stash buster!

Stepping out of my comfort zone, and that hurts so much...I did not wash this mini quilt.  I wanted to, I want to...I probably will!  I love the crispness of the finish unwashed, but I have always loved the crinkle after a wash even more.  Do you wash a mini wall hanging or not? I know many people don't, why is that?  Because it's small and washing may distort the shape?  Just curious. I'm having a hard time sharing a photo of an unwashed piece...what the heck is wrong with me?!

The person I have in mind for this mini will (hopefully) be surprised!  They have been extremely kind and generous with me, very deserving of a surprise gift.  

When I started making this with the idea of selfish/unselfish it felt really good.  It's easy for me to get caught up in a project with the thought of getting it done and moving on to the next newest and greatest.  Taking the time to do what I love, not for me, not for my shop, not for anything other than hopefully...surprising and making someones day a little brighter.  

I kind of want to do this more often!

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