star light, star bright

It has been pretty quiet lately in terms of any posting here on the magical mouse studio blog. Truth be told since February it's been fairly quiet inside the studio too. However, that all is changing!

Thank goodness for babies and weddings - and thank goodness for the friendship star quilt block - it is a relatively quick quilt to piece and lends itself to a slew of options in terms of quilting the layers together - one can tie, hand-stitch, or, if one is skilled at machine quilting, machine quilt.

This weekend I finished a welcome to the world quilt for a new baby in my 'village' - when I asked his mom a couple months ago if she had any colors in mind for his room, she replied that she chose green, gold and burgundy. When she mentioned gold, the decision to go with a starry- themed quilt was a no brainer! The baby who received this quilt joined his family as a result of an adoption - he was a most wished for addition to the family. My friends who became his parents were wishing for a child for years and have been on an adoption list for a long time. But despite the waiting when the call came, there was no wait - when the baby that joined their family came he came with no long wait!

The quilt measures approximately 50" x 60" - typically the size for a lap quilt rather than a baby quilt; however I tend to prefer to make quilts that can grow with the child - which is also why I often bypass fabrics that are extremely juvenile. I am not skilled at machine quilting so this quilt is hand-stitched. Like most of my quilts this one includes words around the border - along with the child's name are the lines from a much loved nursery rhyme:

Star Light, Star bright,
The first star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight.