Lone Star--post one

Fabrics for the Lone Star project

The final Saturday workshop last January was a Lone Star class. I've made two lone star quilts. The first one I made in a class through a local quilt shop around 1990. I might have been taking classes through that shop for about a year. I chose some of the fabrics; but, the staff helped me pick fabrics that would net a pleasing result. It was so long ago that I remember little about the actual process.

One possible layout

A few years ago, I made a mini lone star quilt. I used leftover fabrics for that project. I paper pieced that mini lone star.

Regarding this class, I wasn't interested in starting a new project; but, I had taken all the other classes. I had enjoyed each one so I registered.

A lot of prep work involved when making a Lone Star quilt. Choosing the fabrics is the most daunting one for me. Since I am continuing on my quest for using my stash to reduce the volume of it, I spent time in my stash grouping fabrics together. 

The directions were to choose six fabrics with a couple fabrics to be the WOW as the person teaching the course described. She also said that she would be happy to review fabric choices.

I did prewash my fabrics. The teacher's directions were not to prewash; but, I'm using red on a possible cream background which to me is an invitation for bleeding if I didn't prewash. I'm glad I prewashed. That red print with the gold flowers bled a lot! After the prewash, I heavily starched the fabrics. Crisp fabrics will be easier to work with. Because there are bias edges, the less handling of the fabrics the less opportunity for the fabrics to distort.

These fabrics have been in my stash for more than a decade. Most of of these I purchased at a quilter's garage sale when she was downsizing her stash! I'm glad to be using these fabrics before they have spent another decade waiting for the "right" project!

The chosen layout

I e-mailed the teacher a photo of my fabrics and she suggested that I move the stripe to a different position and to switch it up with the green. Later, she e-mailed me a You Tube link of Lone Star design tips. During the video, the presenter made a mock up of the design to determine the layout. I had done this when I made my mini Lone Star.

I cut a one inch strip of fabric which I then cut pieces on the 45 degree angle. I drew a Lone Star layout and laid the diamond pieces on the chart. I used a hinged mirror to view the layout. Sadly, the striped fabric that I thought would be my "wow" fabric didn't wow me. The cream fabric at the end of the star points would be lost against the cream background. So, I had some playing to do.

Once I determined the layout, I glued the pieces to my mock up chart. I determined the number of strips that I needed to cut. I listed the order that the strips would be sewn. I did manage to slip in that striped fabric in the project.

The mock up chart has proved to be a valuable reference. I listed the number of strips I needed to cut of the fabrics as well as labeled each row. This organization helped me sew my strips in the correct order and to not create an alternate design! I was prepared for my Saturday workshop!

In class, I had a heck of a time matching seam lines. Consequently, I did not progress to the point of setting in the background squares and triangles. I didn't even get one star leg together! I put the project in time out. It has been looking at me as I've quilted the flannel quilts. Perhaps in June, I'll get the project out of time out. Perhaps, I'll do better at matching the seam lines, although I'm not overly optimistic!