A Star is Born
Red Giant started the same way - a challenge. And so, when the Modern Quilt Guild announced the 2026 QuiltCon challenges, there was one I was most drawn to: Diamonds Quilting Challenge.
My work is currently inspired by the cosmos, so I knew this was going to have to be the base. However, how on earth (pun intended) was I going to tie diamonds into this?
The original idea was planetary. It’s said out solar system’s two outer gas giants, Neptune and Uranus, experience “diamond rain”. Many of my sketches and sources of inspiration went that direction for much of the early days of the challenge. However, there was one thought of resistance to the concept: it was not unique enough for my taste.
I needed uniqueness, something specific to the object or source I wanted to emulate in my design. Having two planets in scope, both possibly with diamond rain didn’t do it for me. So, the lens widened. I looked beyond our solar system, exploring the theme of condensing and pressure. After all, diamonds are created by minerals under immense pressure and heat. The same is said for something else in the universe: the formation of a star.
Stars are born from condensing gases by gravity along with dust and particles. It made me think of diamonds. Shortly after the diamond challenge was announced, I saw a photo of a star system called HH 30, a protoplanetary disk system in which it is believed to be how a star is created. The specific image was from the James Webb Space Telescope.
Webb/Infrared photograph of HH 30. ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, ESA/Hubble, ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)
The colors that stood out immediately were arrays of browns and blues (my favorite palettes), but then I saw fuscia, some red, and a touch of a very bright green.
The image of the system almost appeared mirrored with jets and disks erupting outward from the dust-disk hiding the infant star. It became clear—this was headed toward a medallion-like layout.
My first sketch of A Star is Born on ProCreate. I posted a timelapse on my Instagram of the sketch coming together.
I focused next on outlining some of my favorite features of the top half of the disk, whether it was the shape or the color. Then, I looked inward at how the color value shifted and designed a few diamond-like structures to help with gradients and fades of the jets to build depth and movement. Once I had the top half figured out, I copied this on the bottom and merged the two halves with a shared wedge of a very deep dark midnight blue.
That’s when the horror set in… this was going to be a y-seam nightmare. Confession, I don’t like y-seams. They are frustrating and I get very impatient with them.
The top half of A Star Is Born laid out on my design wall prior to stitching. I digitally planned how I would piece each together.
It was not too bad, at first. Constructing the larger pieces was a breeze. The smaller bits were most difficult. The points needed to meet precisely to show the connecting, or the center, of where the star was potentially forming from behind the veil of dust, but this point was not having it! There are at least eight layers of fabric coming together on each the top and bottom of the center point.
My finished quilt top of A Star is Born, measuring approx. 38” x 58”.
After fighting all those y-seams, I got to a point of satisfaction. It was beautiful and ready for longarm quilting. Once again, I went to my celestial partner, Lacie Messerly of Messy Quilts, to quilt. She and I consulted on using a diamond motif to support the challenge and give it a bit of a retro-flare (my favorite). We opted for a more open density to avoid popping of any seams in the tiny pieces.
Close up of A Star is Born being quilted with a diamond motif by Lacie Messerly of Messy Quilts.
The finished quilt is beautiful. Impactful. Inspired. It doesn’t look anywhere near to the inspired photo, and that’s totally okay. I wanted it to feel fresh and new, something not literal to the photo.
Of the three quilts I submitted in Fall 2025 to QuiltCon for the 2026 show, this was the one I really wanted to get accepted.
It was rejected. All three were. For a few days, I felt sour. And then I softened. I still ask the question if I designed this quilt for my showcase of work or for QuiltCon. I’m still not sure if I know, but I do know one thing: I love A Star is Born and it’s a fine example of what this universe of quilts I’m making is about.