Starbright Star progress
I enjoy green in all its incarnations. I love mint, lime, teal, grass, olive. I adore emerald and find soft sea foam green so restful and clean. Green is a color of growth, health and nature. This summer, green especially speaks to me, hence this monochromatic Starbright Stars quilt. It feels therapeutic to immerse myself in GREEN.
I no time at all (really, it was faster than I expected) my wall was full of these sparkly green stars. This is the whole quilt layout, as far as the stars are concerned. Low volume background pieces belongs in all those gaps. Time to start sewing!
This part goes slower. I transfer three-diamond groupings to my sewing table and fill in the gaps with background triangles. Once sewn, the triangle-blocks go back to my design wall to keep everything in order.
That’s because my stars are not random. I have grouped the greens roughly by color, creating yellow-green stars, mint stars, olive stars, teal stars, etc. If you scroll back up to the stars on the design wall, you can see how this creates areas of darker value and areas of lighter values. Such value depth teases the eye to keep exploring.
I still have lots of piecing to do, but this is the end goal! I’ve completed two rows and joined them together for a little pre-emptive patchwork joy. Hello, pretty pointy stars. More soon!
Remember, my Starbright Stars pattern releases August 21st as a stand-alone pattern for the first time ever! It has until now only been available as part of my Angled course (which also encores this fall). Won’t you join us in September for a sparkly fun sew-along? Sign up to stay in the know!
There 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!
Wow, 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!
Week 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.
Week 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!
Week 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.
Next 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.
Will you be sewing along in September? Or are you’re still considering it? Help spread the word about the Starbright Stars quilt-along, and you might win If you win access to my Angled class for you and a friend! Psst - today is the final day for the discounted rate.
Do I hear your scraps calling? Or is it that fabric stack you’ve been saving forever that is begging to become a Starbright Stars quilt? Stars always makes us smile, don’t they? Come join the fun online this September! Supplies - Options - Prizes - Schedule - it’s all here in the master post. I hope you’ll sew along with us!
Here comes some sparkly patchwork fun! It’s pattern release day for Starbright Stars! Once 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! Can’t wait to see your constelation!
Guess what is coming to a screen near you on Monday, August 21st???? The Starbright Stars quilt pattern! This quilt came along with us to France where it had its big day in the sun in the charming village of Renaison. I am in love with mossy green, minty green, teal green, emerald green, grassy green, sage green, all the greenest green greens!
Green is a color of growth, health and nature. This summer, green especially speaks to me, hence this monochromatic Starbright Stars quilt. It feels therapeutic to immerse myself in GREEN. I’ve completed two rows and joined them together for a little pre-emptive patchwork joy. Hello, pretty pointy stars. More soon!
So, 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.
Woah, how did this happen so fast? Thank you Mr. Design Wall, Spotify and the energy of green sparkly stars. I’m pretty darn excited with how this is looking. But then, I think that Starbright Stars would rock in any monochromatic color scheme! I wonder, what color stars would you choose?
Once 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!
I 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…
Even 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.
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.