Category: Quilting and Sewing

Christmas seemed a lovely theme for a Mod Lone Star quilt .  I’ve been fond of stars all my life, and especially love them during the holidays, as they remind me of the sign of the Savior’s birth.  “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?  For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him…. and, lo, the star… went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.  When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.”  (Matthew 2: 2, 9-10) I’m pleased to have completed this quilt top before Christmas.  I enjoyed selecting prints from my fabric stash to make it, using a variety of greens and reds and adding some black for fun.  I was curious how the light round of diamonds would look in the center part of the star and I love the effect it creates.  A sheet music print seemed appropriate for the background as a subtle reminder of the many Christmas hymns I love.  When quilted, this will be a welcome addition to our pile of quilts used daily during the holidays.


What a beautiful time of year it is.  I love this Christmas season, but find it’s not as simple as I’d like it to be.  There is so much more to do than I usually manage to accomplish, and if I’m not careful I can get discouraged about falling short of my expectations.  Yet the holiday will come and it will all be great – especially if I choose to accept what does get done and let go of what doesn’t.  In the remaining days I hope to really center my heart on what I’m celebrating, to look for the light, to be present in my interactions, and feel reverence for all I’ve been blessed with.


Relevant links:

Mod Lone Star Pattern Lone Star tutorial page I hope your holiday season is full of memorable moments and that the end of your to-do list is near. Merry Christmas!
Love, Jennifer

Years ago, before I learned to sew, I enjoyed embroidery.  One year I spent many hours working on a large embroidery project called Santa’s Garden.  In spite of my lack of sewing skills I finished it and used it as a wall-hanging in our home.  When we moved, I no longer had a good place to hang it and by then I didn’t want to hang it because it was finished so poorly.  Soooo, it’s been sitting in a box for about 12 years.  Last year I unpacked it and removed the backing and ugly borders (I never even quilted it because I didn’t know how) and decided that I still like the large embroidery.


This year I’m slowly working to turn it into a functional quilt, large enough to be enjoyed by my family.  My inspiration is the State Flowerscape quilt I made earlier this year.  So far I’ve added two simple borders.  They are narrow on the sides of the panel and wider at top and bottom.  The first red border is the last of an older, more traditional Christmas floral that I bought when I first started quilting.  The second is the awesome, very modern stripe by Victoria Findlay Wolfe that I can’t get enough of.  I’m excited to use a variety of fabrics in this project.


Santa, his wagon and the trees are unfinished.  I used something like Heat & Bond to fuse them with an iron years ago, so when I quilt this there will need to be some special attention given to these pieces.  I’ve never done something like that before.  I do love the embroidery though, the silly reindeer and the “north bean pole.”


The mistletoe and poinsettia patches are probably my favorite part of the entire piece.  I hope that I can use lots of color to liven up this rather neutral piece as I add more borders, and make it feel fresh and new even though it’s an old project I couldn’t bring myself to discard.

Have you ever done something like this?  Styles and crafting come and go, and we get rid of a lot over the years.  But something I love about Christmas is that when I unpack the decorations, sweet memories come pouring out along with these pieces I’ve had for years.

The books , the nativities, the ornaments, most of it has been in my home for years and I like the feeling of greeting old friends when we decorate for the holiday.  I like the fondness my children have for various pieces.  For me, it adds to the feeling of Christmas.  So I hope I’ll succeed in making this embroidery project a happy part of our traditional decor.


The question is, what to add next?  I’m thinking a couple of rows of trees might be fun.  I guess I’ll see where the creative process takes me!

I hope, in the craziness of this holiday season, you’re able to work on something that brings you joy, if only for a few minutes.

Jennifer

Meet my Indigo Lone Star Quilt!  This version of my Mod Lone Star Quilt is made using the Handcrafted Indigo batik collection by Alison Glass.  I love blue, so these fabrics really grabbed my attention and it was fun to put them all together to make a gorgeous star!  This quilt is dear to me, and I’ve photographed it more than once, but never loved the pictures – they didn’t do justice to the quilt.  I finally found the perfect brick wall, on a perfect morning, with lovely light and a willing son to hold it for me in an alley.  It was worth the wait.


This is a smaller quilt.  Rather than add borders, I decided to leave the finished lone star block as the complete quilt, so this one measures 62″ square rather than 70″ x 90″ (as seen in the original Mod Lone Star Quilt ).  It also made it reasonable to splurge on custom quilting.



Melissa of Sew Shabby Quilting did the most beautiful custom graffiti quilting on this lone star, using a gorgeous emerald green thread.  I can’t get enough of it; it’s so lovely and just perfect for these fabrics.


For the center star she used a gold thread, and then blended it out into the star with the emerald thread.


I think everyone should have at least one quilt with graffiti quilting on it!  There is so much to look at as your eye travels with the quilting design, and it looks great on the star, the background, and the backing too.  I am so grateful for the beauty it added to my project!


I love the way the lone star quilt block looks so different, depending on fabric placement and color.  This one was especially enjoyable to make and is a lot of fun to look at.  The pattern is available in my Etsy store.  It also includes a coloring page for you to plan your own.


I feel like I’m looking into a phenomenal night sky when I stare at this quilt, and it makes me feel like anything is possible.


Lone stars are a lot of fun to make.  Start one today!  For more information on Lone Star blocks and quilts, visit my Lone Star page .

Happy sewing, Jennifer