Shine Bright Star Quilt

Today I'm excited to share with you a quilt I made for a sweet friend of mine using a new line of fabric called Shine Bright.  It's designed by Simple Simon and Co. for Riley Blake Designs, and today is my stop on the Shine Bright blog tour! 

I love the sentiment that went into this fabric line.  Liz and Elizabeth (a.k.a. Simple Simon and Co.) wanted to honor the strong and beautiful women in their lives and encourage them to "shine bright." 

I had a particular friend in mind when I created this quilt.  This friend definitely shines bright- although I don't think she realizes it.  In the past several years she has struggled with anxiety, depression, and an eating disorder among other things.  Despite her own troubles, she takes the time to stop by and visit when she's in my neighborhood, remembers my birthday, and always has a smile to share.  But the one thing I'm most impressed with, is her courage.  Recently she recognized she needed help with her anxiety and depression and had the courage to ask for that help.  I'm proud of her for that - I'm not always very good at recognizing when I need help, and then asking for it.  

For most of the stars I did some fussy cutting of one of the main prints and used it as the center of the stars.  I love that it makes it look like I pieced little nine patches - it's like cheating!  

My favorite print of this line is a word search type print and I used that one to fill an entire star.  In this word search print are the words "you are" in gold, and then hidden in the print are words that describe how the two designers feel about their daughters - words like "smart," "strong," and "brave."

I wanted to emphasize those words as a reminder to my friend, so I did some simple hand embroidery to outline a few of those words as one would when doing a word search.  I used a single strand of DMC Pearl Cotton and an embroidery backstitch and was able to get it done while watching a little tv one night.   

I love how it looks in the finished quilt!  To give the quilt added texture, I used the black and white lattice print from the line for every other block.   

I love using flannel on my quilt backs this time of year, and I found this lovely pink Riley Blake flannel at my local quilt shop.  It makes the quilt perfectly snuggly.  The binding I used is a black and white Swiss Dot print from Riley Blake Designs, and the quilting is a design from Urban Elementz called Diagonal Plaid.  

The finished quilt is 60" x 72" - a nice throw size.  And for those that want to make your own Shine Bright star quilt, I'll be back in a few days with a tutorial.

You can see more of the Shine Bright fabrics here, and they're now available in stores.  

By the way, Simple Simon is giving away a FQ bundle of Shine Bright over on their blog here.  Check it out!