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Wednesday, December 7, 2022

Crayola Explosion--a Lone Star with Island Batik

The Lone Star is a classic quilt pattern.  This month, Island Batik challenged their ambassadors to make a Lone Star with one of the newest fabric collections.  I've made a Lone Star once before, back in 2004 (pre-blog) and I used QuiltSmart's fusible interfacing. Since I used QuiltSmart interfacing for my June challenge, I decided to look for an alternative.  I found a fabulous tutorial on YouTube from Jordan Fabrics.  This tutorial uses 2 1/2" strips AND is made without Y seams.  Sold!  (And I'm not the only ambassador who used this tutorial!)

 


Though I loved the Jordan Fabrics tutorial, I knew I didn't want my colors to be random. I was feeling low-tech, so I started with a printable Lone Star and got out my colored pencils.  I love this design, but would have to add a purple from the basics collection to the already bright and wonderful Chickadee.  I also wasn't sure this would allow for enough of the 20 fabrics in Chickadee.  So I then turned to EQ8 to plan my fabric placement.  I loved a lot of layouts, but really wanted to showcase as many of the bright fabrics in Chickadee as possible.  My final design includes 15 fabrics in the star itself and a 16th as the binding.  I used the always-available Coconut from the Foundations collection as the background.


I loved the Jordan fabrics tutorial!  I did not use the off-cut sections as she does, but I did save them and I have an idea on how to use them, it's just a matter of finding the time. I did mark and pin my intersections, which is time-consuming but worth it.  I am not normally a pinner but in this case it felt important, and I'm happy with my point intersections. One thing I did do that helped a lot is print out a copy of color placement from EQ.  Then I marked the sections of three that the pattern/tutorial create, so I would have an idea of how to piece it and how to lay it out.

 


The products featured in this post were given to me by Island Batik, Accuquilt, Schmetz, Hobbs, Prairie Spirit Alpacas, and Aurifil.




 

One of the best parts about this method is that it uses 2 1/2" strips.  I cut mine with my Accuquilt Go! cutter and their 2 1/2" strip die. I was able to cut all my strips fairly quickly and they are so accurate!  My pressing mat from Prairie Spirit Alpaca was great for helping to press seams as flat as possible. I quilted it with Aurifil Thread color 1135 Pale Yellow.  I used Hobbs 80/20 bleached batting, perfect for quilts with a light background.  All stitching was done with a Schmetz chrome needle.

 

cutting strips with AccuQuilt

 In addition to the larger Lone Star, which uses 20 2 1/2" strips, Jordan Fabrics has a tutorial for a wall hanging Lone Star as well.  I had a fun idea for a bonus Lone Star project. I used this second tutorial, but I knew that I needed it even smaller for what I had in mind.  So I cut my strips for my "baby Lone Star" 1 1/2" wide but otherwise followed the tutorial.  This one uses 5 different fabrics.  I used 3 that weren't in my full-sized Lone Star, plus 2 repeats, meaning I used 19 of the 20 fabrics in the Chickadee collection.  Here is my baby Lone Star--come back on Friday to see my bonus project!

 

Small Lone Star
 

Chickadee was designed by Kathy Engle for the Whimsical Workshop. This collection is full of bright colors and makes me think of the original Crayola marker packs I had to take to school as a kid, So I named this Crayola Explosion.


Want a chance to win some Chickadee fabric? I cut an extra 2 1/2 inch strip of each fabric except the binding fabric, so I have a set of 18 2 1/2" strips to give away. See the Rafflecopter below to enter.  Be aware that I likely won't ship the prize until the new year, as I don't love going to the post office close to Christmas.  Any blog comment will count, but if you need a prompt, tell me what classic quilt pattern is next on your to-make list.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Stop by and visit my friend and fellow ambassador Preeti Harris @  Sew Preeti Quilts and see what she made with the Chickadee collection.  And be sure to check out all the ambassadors throughout the month of December for their Lone Star quilts.  You can find the schedule here.


 

 

36 comments:

  1. Beautiful interpretation of your challenge. I love how the star just bursts out and settles into the blue.

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  2. I have never made a lone star, it might be next but there is a double wedding ring in my future too.

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  3. I will have to check that tutorial out! I've only made a small line star for a sampler quilt and would love to make a larger one. A classic block I want to make is a pineapple block.

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  4. So very bright and so very pretty! I have never made a lone star because I didn't want to do Y seams. I will have to check out that tutorial.

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  5. I love the color placement in your quilt. It works so well with this fabric collection. It's bright and beautiful. I'm intrigued to see your baby lone star project as well. Have a lovely day.

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  6. Emily, your quilt is stunning! I love it (although I agree - there should be a shot of purple in there somewhere!) Looking forward to seeing your baby version. I need to check out that tutorial!

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  7. Love your quilt Emily. These fabrics are gorgeous and they really pop in your quilt. Thank you for the chance at your giveaway. I like to make scrappy sampler blocks so there isn't any quilt I have on my list to make.

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  8. I love it, Emily!! Looking forward to seeing your bonus project! Yes, I think more than a few of us used this pattern from Donna!!

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  9. I hope to make a bear paw quilt in the coming year ( and finish a lot of UFOS)...cmberry@lsu.edu

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  10. Love your lone star. I have always wanted to make some version of mariners compass.

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  11. Beautiful finish. I loved the ability to create a design within the design.

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  12. I think the technique you used would make it easier. Beautiful quilt. I don't really have any classic patterns in mind for next time. Right now I'm designing a quilt for my granddaughter.

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  13. Your quilt is beautiful. I would really like to make a New York Beauty quilt

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  14. Bargello and Lucy Bostonatchwork of the Crosses are on my torso list.

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  15. The thought of Y-seams is what's kept me from making a Lonestar project, but now I'll have to look into that tutorial! I'm not sure a "plus" quilt is a classic, but it's one I've wanted to make for a while...and no Y-seams there either!

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  16. The Lone Star is on my bucket list and after seeing all of these so far and the great tutorials, I'm going to give it a go in 2023.

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  17. I just love log cabins or Irish chains. They work so well for putting blocks from swaps together. Happy Holidays!

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  18. I am interested in doing a Lone-star quilt; was happy to learn about the tutorial with no Y-seams!

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  19. Beautiful work! I need a simple project, so I’d like to make a square in a square quilt.

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  20. I love the colors in your quilt. I think it might be time for a Storm at Sea quilt or a New York Beauty.

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  21. I am loving this hop and adore your quilt! Love those happy colors! I would like to make a log cabin quilt as my daughter loves that block and I would love to gift a quilt to her! Thank you !

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  22. I love your color placement! I want to make a Storm at Sea next.
    cecilialyoung at gmail dot com

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  23. The lone star is on my list and a compass rose and a log cabin.

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  24. I plan to do a log cabin quilt. Due to this wonderful blog hop I'd love to make a lone star quilt! Yours is gorgeous!
    nikilsend(at)outlook(dot)com

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  25. Your Lone Star is gorgeous! My next quilt will be very simple - probably a Churn Dash!

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  26. I love the name Crayola Explosion, and love your beautiful quilt too. And thanks for the tip on the tutorial. I have a lone star on my bucket list! Thanks also for sharing your beautiful fabric!

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  27. Your quilt is beautiful! I will definitely check out that tutorial.

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  28. What a gorgeous quilt! You are at least the second ambassador that used that tutorial, so I marked it. This may be the next classic quilt I make - a lone star! I am thinking it would be perfect for my 29 yo son's bed! Great job and can't wait to see what you do with your mini!

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  29. I have never actually made a log cabin, so that should probably be the next classic block on my list!

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  30. Oops, my comment above was anonymous. Now it should work. Hopefully soon I can make a log cabin quilt!

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  31. Cindy Shelley
    cshelleyqbq (at) gmail (dot) com

    The next block /quilt I want to try is a One Block Wonder

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  32. The impact of your colors is amazing! I really love that. I'm planning on making some of my Busy Hands patterns in the new year, and would love the strips for one of those. Thank you so much for the giveaway. It's really nice.

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  33. Emily your quilt is just stupendous! What a bright and happy line it is. I am going to check out the tutorial, as I have a stack of fabrics I got many years ago for the express purpose of making a Lone Star, but there they sit... I also visited your jacket post and wow, great idea and execution! I bet the kids at school (the teachers as well!) will love it when you wear it.

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