I finished my Scrappy Lone Star Quilt this week!
I made it for the North Bay Modern Quilt Guild Challenge. We were asked to make a quilt that demonstrates what modern means to us and also to try something we have never done.
I have always wanted to make a Lone Star and I was actually inspired by this photo:
Lone Star Quilt by goneaussiequilting on Flickr.
It’s actually a detail photo of a larger Lone Star, but I liked the way it was cropped.
I decided I would use as little white as possible, because I almost always use white backgrounds and sashing. I love white, but I am seriously stuck in a rut.
I was scared to use the green, but I am really loving it. It’s Kona Lime and all the other fabrics are from my stash. I bought the Robert Kaufman backing at M&L Fabrics just before I moved away from Los Angles. It was a perfect match and oh so soft.
The binding was also a great find and I love how it adds a pop of color to the front. I try to choose bindings that contrast just a bit and add a little flair.
The quilting was inspired by a quilt by Angela Walters. It’s a free-motion flower pattern and so fun to do once you get the hang of it.
“What makes this quilt modern?”, you ask? “Modern” is such a broad term and everyone is going to have a different definition. I’m not even sure I am truly a modern quilter. Maybe contemporary/trendy, with some traditional thrown in. Overall, though, I think it’s the fabrics and techniques that make most quilts and quilters modern. Most modern quilters shy away from batiks and civil war repros in favor of clean graphic prints, solids and bold colors. We also tend to throw rules out the door when piecing our quilts (though I do feel it is important and enriching to know how to do the traditional blocks.)
I feel this particular quilt is modern because of the bold color scheme, the negative space and the placement of the Lone Star (sliced off and not centered).
Do you think of yourself as a modern quilter?
Be on the lookout for a tutorial next week! You can make your own Scrappy Lone Star and there are no evil “Y” seams to sew in this version. It’s super easy, I promise!
You can find Part 1 of the tutorial here.
I’m Linking up to TGIFF today over at Mama Love Quilts. Stop by and check out everyone’s finishes for the week!
I love this quilt! I’m looking forward to the tutorial. (It’s also funny you mention M&L, I’m going there myself tomorrow)
Your quilt is lovely! I think the green is really cheerful and I love the binding you chose.
I love the placement of the star on the quilt and the green background, it all works perfectly together.
it’s so awesome, and so me! my favorite color is green, polka dots are a passion of mine, and i’m currently in a star phase – so i literally love everything about this quilt! the backing and binding are perfect accents, too. i think i fit in more with your definition of modern. when i think of truly modern quilts, i think of designs by people like yoshiko jinzenji – and that’s totally not what i do (although i love it). but again, the definition is broad, i believe, and using a traditional pattern in a modern way, like you’ve done here, fits into the broad definition.
GORGEOUS!!! I love the off-centeredness…
OH! I inherited a huge Lone Star from my grandmother, and it doesn’t fit together. It’s got fabrics from my grandfather’s shirts, Grandma’s dresses, my aunts and father’s clothes…maybe I can figure out how to set it like this and actually USE it, rather than let it sit in the sewing basket for another 60 years and never do anything with it!
(thanks, Janice, for inspiring me and giving me ANOTHER WiP!)
I’m gonna go take it out now! 🙂
(and by “fit together”, I mean there are 7 points together, and the fabric for the 8th, but it’s just not possible to make it a full 8-point star without ripping it all out!)
Ooh, can’t wait for the tute! It’s a beaut! 🙂
Beautiful!! I love the colours and the quilting is gorgeous 🙂
Fantastic. The off-centre is a bold move and it works so well.
It’s fantastic – I love the cropped look. Very modern!
Im seriously hoping you enter this for quilt con!
This is fanfreakingtastic! I loooove the green as a “neutral”, and the off-the-side placement of the Lone Star is brilliant. Thanks for sharing!
I love this quilt! I cannot wait for the tutorial. I am already thinking about what fabrics I can use from my stash to make one of these for myself! Great job!
I’ve been wanting to do a Lone Star and this is perfect! I was thinking of strip piecing mine and will be curious to see your technique.
now i wish i had not seen this…the random placement is perfect….
no…brilliant…i would not normally go for such vibrance…..you executed this superbly!
The green is wonderful! I love the entire quilt and am anxious to see the tutorial. Thank you in advance!
This is to die for! You did a fabulous job, and I’m looking forward to the tutorial!
this is gorgeous, and so modern. looking forward to trying it! 😉 thanks for joining up with TGIFF. 🙂
Wow! Beautiful star! Can’t wait to learn how you do this without Y seams!
Thanks for linking up to TGIFF!
This is gorgeous! I wandered over from Flickr and I am so excited to find you are generously posting a tutorial. Thank you!
This is amazing. Amazing! LOVE the use of negative space; everything about this is stunning.
I just came across this via Pinterest and love everything about it. The colors are perfect, especially the green. The quilting is great. Most of all I love how you put the star off center! It makes it so unique and striking. Great work!!
How can I save these tutorials? I’m afraid that they won’t be available online later.