Category: Quilting and Sewing

Meet my Indigo Star quilt!  I completed this quilt top in the spring, just after we returned from our trip to the San Francisco Bay area.  It makes me smile to see these photos of the quilt swaying in the breeze with cherry blossoms all over our tree.


Inspired by the gorgeous colors and prints in the Handcrafted Indigo collection by Alison Glass, this quilt top came together even more beautifully than I pictured.


All these shades of blue together – I can’t get enough of them.  Blue has been my favorite color for most of my life, and I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it.

The quilt top was pieced using the strip piecing method in my lone star tutorial , except that I added more diamonds (strips) to the star.  This star measures about 62″ square.


The lovely script fabric from Quilting Treasures was the perfect background for this star.  I love that it gives some interest to all the negative space.


I must say how beautiful these prints are.  I have loved working with all of the Handcrafted collections.  (You may remember my Modern Maples quilt made with the first two releases.)  They are a beautiful interpretation of the traditional batik and have helped me stretch creatively.


This quilt is also back from being quilted in a fabulous, modern style that I can’t stop staring at.  I’m excited to take some photos and share more.  You’re going to love it!  *Note:

See the finished quilt here, with gorgeous quilting and pattern information.  For more lone star quilts, including links to tutorials and patterns, visit my Lone Star Page .

Happy sewing, Jennifer

We had rain today.  At least two dozen times I’ve heard someone say, “It’s so cold!” as they ran inside for another layer of clothing.  Fall has arrived, and I’ve been saving this quilt for months so I could pull it out and share it now.


The fabric range is Bungalow by Joel Dewberry, a collection rich in color and lovely in print.  Not necessarily an autumn collection, but to me autumn isn’t a time of just red, orange, brown, and yellow.  I feel like everything deepens in color in fall, with a wider range of color than we assume.  Somehow this collection feels like fall to me.


My favorite part of the quilt, however, is probably the background fabric.  It’s a thick, yummy vintage linen sheet that I finally had the nerve to cut into, and it totally makes the quilt.  I had it quilted by the talented Kaylene Parry (@quilterlove66 on Instagram).  The quilting looks lovely on it and the texture is fantastic.  I’m so happy with it!


I finished the quilt with a rich teal woodgrain printed flannel backing, which makes this a fairly thick and cozy quilt.  A coral print from the Bungalow collection finishes things off nicely.  I’m so excited to have this one out and in use as we welcome the cooler weather.

The pattern is Surfside, by Thimbleblossoms.  It’s a layer cake friendly pattern and comes together quickly.  Sometimes it’s nice to have quick projects to use up your stash!


This quilt is begging to be used – time for a cup of hot chocolate, a warm fire, and a good book!

Jennifer

I haven’t been so excited about a quilt top in a very long time!  Meet my Lone Star Party quilt, a lone star quilt with eight different sizes of lone star blocks.  I love this traditional quilt block, but really wanted to find a way to break it out of a traditional setting, and also to demonstrate how adaptable it is.  I feel like this improv setting of so many sizes is modern and refreshing.


One of the things I love about the lone star block is that once you learn how to make it (and it’s really quite simple) you can change one measurement and have all kinds of sizes.  The process is one that has become really enjoyable and rewarding for me, especially since the finished star has so much impact.


Making these stars was a lot of work, but totally worth the time and effort!  I decided to use a mash-up of Cotton + Steel fabrics with just a few other prints thrown in.


You can find my tutorial for making your own lone star block here .  It’s a detailed, step-by-step, full of photos tutorial that also includes a PDF that highlights the basic steps for making a lone star block.  The PDF contains a table for adjusting the size of a lone star block by changing the width of your strips. All of the sizes in the table except for one are represented in this quilt top.  Please visit my Lone Star Tutorials page for more links to my lone star projects and tips!


For my background I chose the Firefly print in Whisper by Bonnie Christine for Art Gallery Fabrics.  It’s from her Hello, Bear collection.  I selected it because I wanted a print that would help hide all the seams in the quilt top, and also because it continues the illusion of a star-filled sky.


This project has been in my head for years, and I’m so glad I finally made the time to bring it to life.  I keep feeling like I should choose a favorite star, but I love all of them.  I love the way the fabrics look together, and how all these stars show off and yet compliment one another too.


I am so excited and happy about this quilt!  It makes me smile.  Can’t wait to show you more!