Asterisk quilt

My Do. Good Stitches Asterisk quilt is done! This quilt is a little different—a bit more improvisational—than what I usually do, but I totally love how it turned out.

Back in November, I asked the ladies of the Love Circle of Do. Good Stitches to make asterisk blocks based on this tutorial. I left the design entirely up to them—the asterisks could be any size within the block, they could be wonky or straight, the strips could be any width they wanted, etc. I asked for a color palette inspired by a winter sunset—warm oranges and pinks, and cool grays and whites.

I wanted a lot of design variety in the finished quilt, and I definitely got it! Some of these blocks are kind of genuius twists on the asterisk theme, don't you think? And Kate of Needle and Spatula was even kind enough to write this post about how to adjust the width of the asterisk strips and still keep the strips lined up. Thank you, Kate! Very handy.

I made four of these blocks myself. Of the four, this one is definitely my favorite. Too bad I miscalculated when I was making it, and the block ended up 1/2" too small! Darn that quilty math. So I added that weird strip of Kona Coal around two sides. It works with the improvisational feel of the quilt, but I still would have liked it much better without it! Oh well.

So this one is off to Wrap Them In Love. Thank you, Love Circle, for all of these fun blocks. I really enjoyed putting this quilt together. And this quilt concludes my participation in Do. Good Stitches for the time being—I'm taking a little break from that bee while I concentrate on other commitments. But I hope to rejoin it again soon!

Quilt Stats

Design: Based on this asterisk block tutorial

Fabric: Various scraps contributed by members of the Do. Good Stitches Love Circle

Back:Flower Garden in Jelly, from Momo's Just Wing It

Binding:Michael Miller Ta Dot Tangerine

Size: 48" x 60"

Quilting: Free-motion stippling done by me on my home machine

Completed: March 2012

P.S. I did something a little different with my quilt pictures this time—these were all taken before I washed and crinkled the quilt. While I love love love a snuggly crinkly quilt, I'm not sure they photograph as well—the crinkles tend to obscure the details, especially in pictures. So what do you think? Do you prefer to see quilt pictures like the ones above, pre-crinkled? Or would you rather see the quilt as it will actually look when it's in use? (Since I definitely plan to continue washing and crinkling my quilts—it's just a matter of when in the process I should take the pictures.) I would love to hear your thoughts on this!