My first summer finish!

I finally can say that I have a finish this summer. I usually expect to have more time to quilt during the summer months as I am out of school but this year we have been BUSY with vacation and FAMILY! All good things!

I first started cutting out and sewing my medallion quilt in January 2019.

In February, I had the top finished and in June, I finally got it sandwiched before we left for the PNW. So now it is July and I got the quilt DONE! 

Here's is a peek at the planning that this quilt required. After drawing out the pattern on graph paper, I numbered each row. I then counted (and recounted) the number of HST of each color combination needed in each row. 

There are 276 HST in the quilt!

I started quilting in the ditch around each star with gray thread. After they were done, I continued the pattern around the ball of stars in white thread, 1" apart. 

When I finished straight line quilting, I wanted to add some FMQ in the stars. I drew up this pattern using a piece of glass and a dry erase marker. 

I didn't add the inner circles.

The backing is pieced from the Kona pink and gray used in the medallion and a pink and gray floral.  

 I'm calling this quilt 'Great Ball of Stars'. 

It finishes at 60.5" square.

 I'm linking up to Finished or Not Friday, Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop?, Friday Foto Fun and Favorite Finish Monthly Link Up.