![quilted lines on batting](https://i0.wp.com/quiltsmith.world/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/40b-Flights-of-Friendship.jpg?resize=300%2C300&ssl=1)
I love this block design, and I don’t love how I quilted it. Definitely a live-and-learn moment.
The block features four happy little dancing stars. In the original pattern, the stars are colorful and the background is plain, but I saw another quilter’s variation (she is Rat Ferré from Barcelona, but I can’t find her blog or a photo of the block outside of Facebook) with a gradient-rainbow background and white stars. I loved it so I modeled mine after that colorway and I was really happy with the way it turned out.
Then I decided to quilt it with diagonal parallel lines, which seemed a good idea in theory. In practice, it broke up the dancing stars in a way that I don’t like. I try not to rip out quilting stitches unless there’s a visible bird’s nest or other technical problem, so I’m going to live with it, but in retrospect I wish I had chosen a pattern that emphasized the star shapes rather then cutting through them. Lesson learned!
![quilted block](https://i0.wp.com/quiltsmith.world/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/40a-Flights-of-Friendship.jpg?resize=300%2C300&ssl=1)
Flights of Friendship is block 40 of the Splendid Sampler and was designed by two sisters, Barb Groves and Mary Jacobson.