DIY: Meinhilde’s Starburst Quilt

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This was my first foray into quilting. I made this back in the winter of 2012/2013, when I was still living at home but planning on moving out on my own. I knew I needed a queen-sized bedcover, and thought, why not make it myself! Since this was my first quilting project, I opted for a large pieced design that would be rather simple to put together. I chose this starburst pattern (I can’t find the original name; it’s no longer on their site) from Keepsake Quilting, and collected various fabrics that would eventually turn into my quilt. The lovely thing about quilting is that you can use old scraps of fabric, if you have big enough pieces, and give the fabric a new life. I chose some fabrics with Arabic-style motifs in various colours from Fresh Modern Fabric, an Etsy store, as well as some white and black fabric from Ikea. For part of the backing on my quilt, I used large scraps including a pretty polka-dotted fabric that used to be my mom’s dress when she was a kid.

After piecing together the top and bottom designs, I sandwiched a queen-sized piece of quilting batting and started to hand-quilt the whole thing while keeping everything neat in a wooden quilt hoop. I followed the triangular and square designs of the pieced top when I quilted it all together. Actually quilting the quilt helps keep the batting from clumping and moving once you finally use the quilt as a blanket. It was great hand-quilting in the winter in Canada, as the quilt kept me warm while I worked through the whole thing. When I finally finished, I almost couldn’t believe it! It had taken me months!

Take a look at some other patterns, and you can also request a free catalogue from Keepsake Quilting. I have been receiving the catalogue since I was about 14 years old, ogling the beautiful fabrics and quilt patterns. They used to send it to me all the way in Saudi Arabia, and I dreamed of all the projects I could make. Even now, I am totally inspired by the fabrics, notions, and patterns.