Star Light Quilt

The very first time I made this star block was for the Community Sampler Cactus block and knew then and there I wanted to eventually make a quilt using just this block.

When sewing for my new Art Gallery Fabrics collection called Signature I designed projects around themed rooms and one of the rooms was to be a baby room which would be the perfect look for the Star Light quilt born from the Cactus block!

This gender-neutral design is perfect for any baby and is a generous 50'' square finished size. I consider this an intermediate project but with my tutorial on piecing the star block and other tutorials of Quarter-Square Triangle Units and working with directional prints, I feel even a beginner could make this quilt with a little extra attention paid to accurate seam allowances and cutting and a care with the trickier aspects of this design.

For my nature-loving baby I selected Signature prints and Pure Elements solids in a green, teal, and golden yellow palette that made me think of being outdoors on a summer's evening, chasing fireflies and looking at the stars.

This week Art Gallery Fabrics will be virtually publishing the Signature fabrics Look Book and it will be packed full of beautiful projects made with my Signature collection. To celebrate the Look Book and collection I've added this Star Light baby quilt pattern to my Free Patterns page.

Download the free PDF pattern for full instructions and illustrations for piecing this large baby quilt. I've also included a Quilting Diagram for how I machine quilting my quilt. This is a nice size for quilting on a domestic machine.

I used Hobb's Tuscany Silk Batting to fill my quilt and I love the lightweight, sumptuous drape it gives a quilt. Silk batting handles and launders just like cotton with very little shrinkage.

Tip for machine quilting like I've done is to stitch all the stitch-in-the-ditch diagonal, vertical, and horizontal lines first then go back in and stitch the oval leaf shapes last.

Be watching later this week for the Art Gallery Fabrics release of the Signature Look Book! If you're sewing with Signature and posting to Instagram, be sure to tag me @sharonhollanddesigns and use the hashtags #artgalleryfabrics #Signaturefabrics and #agfsignature so I don't miss any of your makes!

Today I'm so excited to share some BIG news! Whether you're a first-time quilter, a beginner, or a quilter extraordinaire my friend and fellow AGF design sister Maureen Cracknell and I are thrilled to announce and welcome ALL to join our very first co-hosted community event, the Sewcial Bee Sampler Sew-Along!

Sewcial Bee Sampler

Beginning this Wednesday, February 1st and continuing through July, Maureen and I will be releasing a new PDF block pattern on our blogs every Wednesday (Block of the Week). We'll share pictures of our own finished block along with inspiration and tips and tricks to make piecing more enjoyable. The Sewcial Bee Sampler introduction PDF, available on Wednesday, includes a coloring sheet to help you plan out your fabrics plus a fabric supply list. The twenty-five fully tested PDF patterns have step-by-step illustrations for each week’s block plus detailed assembly instructions for a beautiful finish! You'll be getting the first block pattern on Wednesday!

I'm planning to use prints from my upcoming Art Gallery Fabrics fabric collection--Bountiful (available this March) together with Pure Element solids for the block framing and sashing. Maureen will be making her sampler quilt using prints from all of her Art Gallery Fabrics fabric collections and combining them with linen and denim for the frames and sashes. Feel free to use fabrics from your stash or maybe it's time for a little trip to your local fabric shop for some new inspiration! A sampler quilt is a great opportunity to use many different fabrics. Here's a virtual look at the blocks and sampler quilt so you can get started thinking about the look of your quilt.

The Sewcial Bee Sampler is made up of twenty-five 12" blocks with added sashing to create a finished quilt measuring 72" x 72". Once all of the block patterns are released at the end of July, we'll share the assembly instructions, followed by a big quilt top reveal day the first Wednesday in August!

To add to the fun, we've joined forces with wonderful sponsors to offer new, amazing giveaway prizes each Friday both on our blogs and on our Instagrams throughout the sew-along! More information about the giveaways in future posts.

Sharon Holland

Needle in a Fabric Stash

Color Girl Quilts

Omnigrid

Knotted Thread

Join Us

Half the fun of a sew-along is getting to connect with other makers. We invite you to join in as much as you are able to! Each week you're welcome to share links to our Sewcial Bee Sampler blog posts within the comments so we can visit each other.

On Instagram you can find me at Sharon Holland Designs and Maureen at Maureen Cracknell where we'll be using the hashtag #SewcialBeeSampler to create a community, stay connected, entry giveaways, and share our progress. Of course Maureen and I love it when you tag us so we don't miss a single thing!

So what do you say, will you join us in making a Sewcial Bee Sampler? We hope you will! You don't need to do anything official to join, just let us know in the comments that you plan to! We also created this cute badge for you to share on Instagram, if you'd like!