July is just around the corner. Time to celebrate the stars and stripes here in America. So I thought it would be fun to do a stars and strip post featuring quilts with these elements. So sit back and enjoy some inspiration. I hope it gets your creative juices flowing. And gets you excited to head to your sewing room to create.
Sawtooth Stars
Let’s start with a few star quilts. First up, Scrap Busting Star. Like the name says it is a real scrap buster. If you use this time saving trick, those scrappy centers go together quick and easy. To mix things up try changing up where the lights and darks are located. Be sure to get your FREE pattern. So you can whip up your own.
Do you star gaze? Then Shooting Stars is a quilt you may enjoy making. It features a sawtooth star (click for tutorial) with trailing star dust. I made mine with scrappy bright fabrics on a navy background. What fun possibilities will you come up with? Twinkle uses the same star and places it in an economy block. Then frames it with a wide strip sashing. While Desert Rose circles that same star with a colorful patchwork ring. Braveheart combines this star with strip making a fun patriotic picnic quilt or table runner.
My most popular sawtooth star pattern is Sunshine on a Cloudy Day. The quilt is one big sawtooth star with rays of light emulating from it. The pattern comes in sizes from baby to bed. This quilt is made completely from half square triangles.
More Stars
I recently taught Seven Sisters. It is based on the constellation of the same name. Combining strip sets and a 60* ruler the stars are full of movement and color.
The friendship star is a fun one to include in a quilt. I used it in Union that I made for my boys. Each star is framed in a two toned box set on point. The wonky star is also a favorite of mine. I’ve used it in many quilts, Sparkle and Night Sky found in my book are a couple that come to mine.
Strips
If you’re like me your strip bin is always full. So I like to create a lot of strip quilts. One of my most popular strip quilts is Gradation. It uses that same time saving trick mentioned earlier. This modern play on the rail fence block is a striking quilt that lends it’s self well to strips of all sizes. Pasta Please is another quilt that works with strips of all sizes.
Did you know I also have a FREE PDF with 12 different strip quilt tutorials? It includes tutorials for string blocks, log cabin blocks, and spiderweb blocks. Just to name a few. Be sure to get your copy. It’s a great resource for finding homes for all your scrappy strips.
There you have it a festive parade of stars and strip quilts. Have fun creating a few of your own.
