Glowing Lone Star Quilt

Here's a quilt that's definitely "one to write home about", or in this case, ha-ha, one to write a blog post about.

This 1930s beauty was sent to me for repairs.  The ring of green diamonds was pretty much totally in shreds, and the ring of tan diamonds was not far behind.  In the end, the owner and I decided to have me replace all the greens and just the tans that were in the worst shape.

That decision hinged on finding fabrics that blended well with the originals.  I ordered swatches from my favorite on-line source, Reproduction Fabrics, and took photos to compare them and pick the best match.

Here is the green ring in-progress.  In the first photo, the diamonds are just appliquéd.  Adding the quilting does a great deal to help them blend in with the texture of the quilt.

Here, the green ring has been completed, some of the tan ring has been done, and I was seeing which of the remaining tan diamonds were most important to complete.

And here's the final effect.  Everything about this quilt is wonderful!  Both the color choices and color placement are important.  The quilter sometimes put complimentary colors and different values against each other to create sparkle and movemnt, and also sometimes put very similar fabrics together to create wider bands of color that give the star a stronger shape.  I especially love that great spark of a solid red at the star points.

And the quilting, well it is beyond gorgeous!  There are huge feather wreaths in the background spaces around the star, and a deep, deep cable in the borders.

This quilt is such a beauty, isn't it?