hst quilt block | WOMBAT QUILTS

This week I managed to finish up another quilt… my Cross Stitch Sparkle quilt finally got quilted and bound….it only took 30 weeks and a friggin ton of half square triangles!

This quilt started last year when I agreed to test a quilt pattern for Sara at Knotty Gnome. I love to challenge myself and I had never done anything with half square triangles before so I jumped in feet first. Each block is 18 inches square and I thought I could make a little baby quilt. My original top finish was four blocks by four blocks.

But…in a moment of crazy a month or so ago… I thought I would make the quilt bigger and added an additional 5 blocks! I had just cut a whole pile of 4 inch solid squares so I thought why not use some of them.

Actually I love this size quilt…I think you really get a great sense of the pattern with the extra blocks added.

I used so many different warm and cool solids in this quilt. I know I have tons of Kona and Michael Miller Cotton Couture as well as Moda and a sprinkling of American Made in there. Basically any appropriate solids I had in my scrap bin went into this thing.

I quilted the top using straight lines on my home machine. For some reason I did not want to quilt it too densely and straight lines echoing the grey center square seemed to be the thing to do.

For the backing I used part of an IKEA duvet cover I had in my stash… it was the perfect back for this crazy colourful quilt.

Finally I hand bound the quilt using scraps of different greys. The grey was the perfect way to frame the quilt and contain the colour explosion.

Quilt Details

Pattern: X stitch Sparkle by Knotty Gnome
Fabric: Various solids
Quilt Size: 55 inch x 55 inches

Over the last couple of weeks I have been doing some pattern testing for the fabulous Sara at Knottygnome. The block I have been playing with is called Cross Stitch Sparkle…

It is a block made up of half square triangles, lots and lots of HST’s. When I got the pattern I was umming and ahhing about what colours to do and what scraps to use… you know my usual style. In the end I decided to do something completely different for me and go with solids.

I used just Kona for the white fabric but I really raided my solids stash for the rest – there is Kona and Couture Cotton and Bella Solids and who knows what else in this block.

With Sara’s pattern she gives directions on two different ways to make HST’s. I went with the version that makes 2 at a time because I wanted the colour variety and I was not making a huge quilt.

Sara’s other directions make 8 HST’s at a time and would be very handy if you were making a full quilt out of this pattern. Each block is 18 inches square so I made 4 blocks and called it good…

I now have a fabulous wall hanging or baby quilt…. I am not sure which one it is yet! Sara’s pattern goes live next week on her website if you are interested. The block is really easy and the resulting quilt top is striking.

I am linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday.