Saturday, November 19, 2011

19 Stars for the 19th - Art Every Day Month - Day 19

For the 19th day of Art Every Day Month, I did a quilt square for the Minnesota state quilt that I've been working on this month.

This square features 19 stars that represent Minnesota being the 19th state admitted to the Union after the original 13 states.


The stars are cut from a variety of yellow cotton fabric - both solid colors and patterned. On the back side of the fabric is an adhesive that I ironed onto it. After placing the stars where I want them, I iron over the fabric one more time and the stars are affixed to the white fabric.


Rather than using the blanket-stitch or backstitch that I've used for all the other quilt squares up to this point, I attached the squares by using uneven running stitches. 

Given when Minnesota was admitted as a state to the Union, quilting was done by hand versus sewing machines. Although the quilts probably looked much more "put together" and perhaps not as primitive looking as the stars on this quilt square, I was hoping to achieve an old-fashioned look by doing this type of stitching.