Block 16: Spring Star and New Fabric (Small Wonders and Elephants)

When my sister and I chose to make this block about this time, we thought it would be seasonally appropriate. Little did we know that we would still be getting snow and freezing temperatures! But sitting cosy beside my woodstove making this block was very enjoyable, so I won't be complaining.

The block is made up of four of these units:

I think that would make a perfect little tulip on its own. Hmmm...maybe that's why the designer called this a spring star!

Here is the back:

Lots of decisions about how to press. I alternated the seams from the "flippy corners" that form the green and blue points so that they wouldn't overlap in the seam. I find it curious that the centre point where I furled the seam is twisting. Obviously I got something a little off there. But it looks ok from the front, so besides trying to hit it an extra time with the iron, I did not worry about it.

Here are all the blocks together:

I spent some time recently cutting fabric for more upcoming blocks. A couple of 12" blocks are coming so I am looking forward to them just for the variety.

I also ordered some fabric that I still plan to incorporate into this quilt. Mary Fons designed a fabric line called Small Wonders focusing on small scale prints. I thought that would be perfect for this quilt. And better yet, she organized the line around various countries/regions in the world, including the Netherlands (my "motherland") and India (elephants!).

I looked for it at quilt shops but couldn't find it. I finally broke down and did a web search and ended up getting it at fabricdepot.com. It really is adorable but the one thing I think she dropped the ball on was not using wooden shoes for the Netherlands. That would be the perfect small-scale fabric motif.

The fabrics I got were: (top row) the llamas (South America), elephants and elephants with man (India); (bottom row) windmill and man, tulips and windmills, and windmills (all from the Netherlands collection--see? she really could have used some wooden shoes instead of all windmills. And bikes.) You can see the entire collection here if you're interested.

And then another piece of fabric I got "while I was at it" was this slice of elephant wonder:

I don't expect to use it in this quilt, but isn't that gorgeous!? It was on clearance and they only had one yard left. I was too busy feeling lucky to get one to feel bad about not getting more. Who knows what I'll do with it but I will love it for sure.
_______________________
Here is Kim's Spring Star block:

I love the punch of red and blue. Her son thought it looked like an American flag, but I reminded her that the Dutch flag is made up of red, white and blue stripes so she could claim that if she wanted. In any case, we all agreed it will be a nice punch of colour in her quilt!