Constellations for my Valentine

I finished up this quilt just in time to gift it to Matt for Valentine's day! I've always been a fan of Lizzy House's designs, and I was especially excited for her Constellations line because it is her usual whimsical style with a definite "boy" feel to it.

I knew that I wanted to make Matt a quilt from this fabric as soon as I saw it. To really make the fabrics sparkle, I pieced some small quarter-square triangles as the focal point. Then I offset the quarter-square triangles with some solid in a soft blue-grey (Moda Bella solid....I don't remember what color!). Next I added a thin frame in the Twinkle Twinkle print from the constellations line (black colorway), and offset the piecing a bit more with the same blue-grey solid.
(Reality check: I initially tried to skew the center piecing. Yikes! That did not go well!)

 

I used a bamboo blend batting for this quilt, and it is SO soft and nice to work with! It seems a tiny bit thinner than the cotton batting that I typically use, but it really gives the quilt a soft, cozy finish. (I would perhaps suggest basting a bit closer together with this batting though. I used the same batting for another quilt which included a piece of an old bedsheet for the backing, and I had a bit of shifting - not something I was expecting!)

When it came time to quilt this piece, I couldn't resist quilting dense (1/2" apart), straight lines. It took several hours, but I love the look. I think it works really well with the simple piecing and the more masculine colorway. For binding, I used some Kaffe Fassett Aboriginal Dots in charcoal. The darker binding finished the quilt off just right, I think!

 

On the back I used some Kona solid in iron and the Twinkle Twinkle print in black.
(Finished size is 60" x 80".)

Matt seems quite pleased to have his own quilt (this is only the second quilt I've ever made just for him!), and I'm quite happy to keep this one around!

Now I'm off to finish up a bit of last minute packing. Tomorrow I'm traveling to Austin for QuiltCon! If you're attending, be sure to introduce yourself!