Thursday, December 8, 2022

Lone Star Blog Hop with Island Batik

Hello!  Welcome to my day on the Island Batik Ambassador Lone Star Blog Hop.  This is my quilt.

Disclaimer:  The products used to make this project were given to me by Island Batik and industry partners.

For this challenge, we were to make a Lone Star style quilt, using the surprise fabric we received in our second 2022 Ambassador box, lap size or larger.  I have never made a Lone Star quilt before, and I was a little nervous about it.  I usually do my own patterns, but for this challenge I consulted a book in my sewing library, All-Star Quilts by Helen Frost and Blanche Young.

The fabric collection I received is Chicken Coop.  It's all black and white with a barnyard theme.  I do love it, but I was a little worried at first.  One of the characteristics I associate with Lone Star quilts is a bright burst of color.  I did ask to be challenged when I was asked what colors I would like to work with this year.  This collection for a Lone Star quilt certainly met that request!  

Here's another look at the collection.  You can see the chicken wire, fence posts, chickens, and more.  It's really cute!  

At first, I thought about adding a punch of solid color to give it more life, but I ended up dividing the fabrics by their value, mixing the designs up within the value groups, and going from there.  The pattern I chose from the book is called Broken Star.  Instead of making eight pieced diamonds, it required 32, enough to make four large lone stars.  My Prairie Spirit Alpaca pressing mat really helped to keep all those diamonds in shape.


As I pieced the diamonds, I played around with them on my design wall to see how they looked together.  This is not my final star.  The one I went with used all the same fabric for the center part of the star. I used Island Batik solid gray for the background of my quilt and gave it a floating look by sewing a gray border, and then a black border.  It came out bigger than I expected, 76" x 76".  That's what happens when you add borders nilly willy without doing the math!  The backing I prepared for this quilt was originally 72" long.  I'm glad I measured the top before I started quilting.

I took the photos yesterday, and it was rainy outside.  I found out it is approximately 76" between the columns on my front porch.  It just barely fits!  

Lone Star

Quilt Stats:
Fabric:  Chicken Coop by Island Batik
Thread:  6724 by Aurifil
Batting:  Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 Black
Pattern:  Broken Star by Helen Frost & Blanche Young
Needles:  Schmetz

Giveaway!  Island Batik is having a giveaway this week for two new fabric collections, Chickadee, and Bamboo Blooms.  Click here to visit the Island Batik blog and enter the giveaway.

Be sure to visit all the Island Batik Ambassadors during the hop to see the new fabric collections and the glorious variety of Lone Star quilts we have all created.  I hope you will be inspired to make your own Lone Star quilt.  Here's the list for the blog hop:

December 5

Maryellen McAuliffe, Mary Mack Made Mine

Gail Sheppard, Quilting Gail

December 6

Megan Best, Bestquilter

Brenda Alburl, Songbird Designs

December 7

Preeti Harris, Sew Preeti Quilts

Emily Leachman, The Darling Dogwood

December 8

Jennifer Thomas, Curlicue Creations

December 9

Blog Hop Round-Up Week 1 and Giveaway

WEEK 2

December 12

Reed Johnson, Blue Bear Quilts

Suzy Webster, Websterquilt

December 13

Gail Renna, Quilt Haven Threads

Jennifer Fulton, Inquiring Quilter

December 14

Denise Looney, For the Love of Geese

Claudia Porter, Create with Claudia

December 15

Leah Malasky, Quilted Delights

Andi Stanfield, True Blue Quilts

December 16

Blog Hop Round-Up Week 2 and Giveaway

WEEK 3

December 19

Mania Hatziioannidi, Mania for Quilts

Michelle Roberts, Creative Blonde Gifts

December 20

Pamela Boatright, Pamela Quilts

Connie Kauffman, Kauffman Designs

Sandra Starley, Textile Time Travels

December 21

Jane Hauprich, Stitch by Stitch Custom Quilting

Lisa Pickering, Lisa’s Quilting Passion

December 22

Brianna Roberts, Sew Cute and Quirky

Anorina Morris, Samelia’s Mum

Elizabeth DeCroos, Epida Studio

******************************************************************************

Be Creative ~ Sew Something Beautiful Today,

Jennifer Thomas

Curlicue Creations


Click here to visit the Curlicue Creations shop.

Connect with me:


Subscribe to the Curlicue Creations Newsletter

* indicates required
Shop ElectricQuilt.com
Note:  This is an affiliate link.  Clicking this link will not affect the purchase price.  However, if you do make a purchase, I may receive a commission.  Thank you.

24 comments:

  1. What I love is that you have both the absence of color in white and the sum of all colors in black. You did effectively create a burst of color. It is absolutely stunning. kathrie@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much! It was definitely outside of my usual style.

      Delete
  2. This was a hard fabric collection to work with. I am in awe of what you created within the limitations of the challenge. Kudos to you!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jennifer, your quilt is absolutely stunning. I haven't seen a Lone Star quite like this one before. Some how the fabrics really worked with it. Great job!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Joyce. The pattern is called Broken Star.

      Delete
  4. Beautiful finish. The quilting adds so much to the design.

    ReplyDelete
  5. what fun fabrics. your quilt is gorgeous. it will be warm and wonderful to snuggle under. thanks for sharing and inspiring.

    ReplyDelete
  6. That's awesome. You did a great job with the limited colors. The added round looks great.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much! This was a very challenging project for me.

      Delete
  7. Your use of grey for the background and adding the black border just makes it seem like it's floating in air. Love it!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Cyndy. I was originally going to use black for the background, but it made my star fade too much into the background. I'm glad you like the floating look. It was fun to make.

      Delete
  8. Jennifer, this is absolutely stunning. The black and white plays well with the beautiful gray! I love the borders! I wish I had made mine larger, but I was pushing for time on this one! This was certainly a challenge for me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Brenda. It was quite a challenge for me as well. I followed a pattern for the star, but added the borders willy nilly. It came out larger than I anticipated, but I was able to sleep under it last night, so that was nice.

      Delete
  9. Hi Jennifer, your use of the fabrics is really effective. Wow! Congrats on a gorgeous quilt.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Andree. I divided the black and white fabrics up by value and went from there.

      Delete
  10. That is one gorgeous quilt! I am sure you were worried about it, but boy did it work out! Great job, Jennifer!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Kathleen. It was quite a challenge for me. Have a nice day!

      Delete
  11. Oh, wow, do I ever love your quilt! I've been on a b/w kick the last few weeks, and this feeds that!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Susan. Black and White is not my norm, but I do love the way it came out.

      Delete
  12. Having trouble commenting with my name/ Google account.

    Cindy Shelley
    cshelleyqbq (at) gmail (dot) com

    I love your quilt. It is so striking. Thanks for participating and sharing how you did this.

    ReplyDelete