It’s finished! The quilt I made during the Starbright Stars Sew-Along has had her day in the sun at the beautiful Hoge Veluwe park, a nature preserve in The Netherlands. It’s a place that feels wild. The skies are wide and the forests are peaceful, the silence interrupted only by the calling of birds or the whirring of bicycles along the paths.
Read MoreThere is a point during the making of most of my quilts where I second-guess my design choices. With this quilt the wheaty-brown backgrounds felt like a quiet gamble. But now that it’s all sewn together it has exactly that autumn wheat field flavor for which I was aiming. Phew. And yay!
Read MoreWow, am I love-love-loving your Starbright Stars quilts! This week I am featuring some of YOUR quilts in progress on my blog. Thank you for sharing and spreading the happy patchwork inspiration far and wide!
Read MoreWeek 3 Sew-Along Goal: Sewing more Blocks. Are you in the sew-flow? I like that in this stage of a project everything is cut and chosen so that I can simply plop myself behind the sewing machine and whirr away my cares.
Read MoreWeek 2 Sew-Along Goal: Sewing Blocks. On the pattern cover is a smaller, more square-ish throw quilt. I received an enquiry about how to layout the rows to match that cover quilt, and figured there may be more who would like to hear about that. So, here we go!
Read MoreWeek 1 Sew-Along Goal: Cutting. I always start my Starbright Stars quilts by cutting the diamonds. They’re the most fun, of course, and when you arrange them as stars on a design wall it feels like a quilt is really happening! This post walks you through how to cut diamonds on directional fabrics to cool effect.
Read MoreNext week the Starbright Stars sew-along begins. I am excited about making another rendition of this quilt - my fifth! I had already decided that I would not sew from scraps. Instead, I plan to create a color scheme from my stash fabrics and make each star from a single print, like my Autumn Fading version from 2018/2019.
Read MoreSo, you have heard a bit about Angled class, but what is it actually? Glad you asked ;). This digital class is ideal for developing quilters who want to really master angled patchwork piecing skills. You will grow to understand the why’s behind what works and to be able to put those principles into practice in your own designs.
Read MoreOnce upon a time, ten whole years ago, I created my first Starbright Stars scrappy star quilt - - - And you have been asking for the pattern ever since. Because here is what’s special about this: the stars are completely machine pieced! This patchwork is sewn without any y-seams or fiddly techniques. All you need is angled patchwork sewing skills and - bam - stars are born!
Read MoreI started this quilt in December, when bright leaves were clinging bravely to the branches of our maple, sweet gum and pistache trees. Autumn faded so beautifully this year, as it does every year, but the knowledge that…
Read MoreEven though I have made a lot of progress, it’ll likely be slower going from here. But I’m pleased! There are stars on my table, and while I waited for the longarm to process just now, I snuck in a few more seams.
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