Summer Afternoon Lone Star Quilt top

While temperatures remain around 100 degrees here, summer is winding down.  Next week my children go back to school, and this morning we sent our son off to Mexico on a two year mission.  I feel so many emotions but I’m trying to jump on the joy train.  Life is good and we are blessed!  And today I’m sharing a new quilt top.  I’m calling it “Summer Afternoon Lone Star”.

This top began in a Lone Star tree skirt class I taught in 2022, which I sewed into an octagon and set aside.  I decided to finish the top by taking an approach similar to my Oxymoron quilt top, so I started auditioning fabrics for borders.

You see, I tend to pause a project and store it with the fabric pull I made for the entire quilt.  Tired of the pile, I wanted to finish it up.  Surprisingly, only one of the fabrics I’d set aside ended up in the quilt.  It’s that skinny 1 inch border in a lovely blue.  I had barely enough to make it work.

The second blue border is another Anna Maria Horner print, actually a smaller version of the large print I used for the scallop applique in Oxymoron.  It was an unplanned choice, and made the cut because I liked the blue.  It’s followed by a bright orange vintage print with amazing texture.  I bought it at a vintage market earlier in the year, and it’s almost neon orange – so much brighter than in the photos.

I love Nathalie Lete’s green print used on the last wide border.  Saved for something special, I finally took a deep breath and just cut it.  Better to use than to store, right?  Another thing I’m working on!

It’s been a while since I hung a quilt top from the cherry tree.  Our dear old tree has had a rough summer.  I’ll share more later, but it’s been hard on my heart.  I left the summer afternoon lone star hanging while I wandered around our vegetable garden to see what’s growing.  At one point I turned and noticed the quilt top from the back. Sweetly pastel, I snapped a photo.

Using that last large border makes my summer afternoon lone star a larger quilt than usual – a little over 80″ square.  Now to piece a backing!  I do love how colorful it is – a pretty summer palette.  No more fabric pile for this one!  I’m excited to get it quilted.