I really enjoyed making Sailing School and wanted to make more strip-pieced waves, but I didn't need two sailboat quilts. I played with different block option to replace the boat, and of course I defaulted to stars. There's just something about stars! In this case, they bring to mind light sparkling on waves crests, so I named this quilt Bright Seas.
The star design may seem familiar. I used it most recently in Stellar Stacks.
I really like this particular star design for two reasons. First, the proportions are a little bit different than those of a traditional sawtooth star block. I like that they are a bit less square, yet not as complex as a Lemoyne star. Second, the block construction is very forgiving. There there are no seams crossing the points or valleys in the star, and while you can match seams to line up the points on the center, it won't be obvious if you're off a little bit. There are also no triangles to cut and no bias edges to sew.
Aren't these fabrics beautiful? These batiks are from the Calm Lagoon collection, Sherry Shish of Powered by Quilting's newest signature collection from Island Batik. As always, Island Batik fabrics were lovely to work with. They're crisp to work with but drape beautifully in the finished quilt. Starting on December 1st, Sherry is hosting a blog tour to highlight this collection. I'm not participating this time, but I encourage you to go take a peek. There will certainly be lovely eye candy.
As in Sailing School, these waves were strip-pieced, so they were quick to make. The fabrics are distributed in the strips and two different blocks to appear well-distributed without having to shuffle pieces around on the design wall. That also contributed to making this quilt a quick finish.
While my version is definitely beach and ocean themed, I think this design would lend itself to any color scheme. At this time of year, my thoughts are turning to red, green, silver and gold. I may need to go play with that idea. There's always room for a new Christmas quilt, right?
I'll leave you with a question. What's your favourite star block and why?
You can pick up a PDF version of the Bright Seas pattern in my Etsy shop, or ask for a print version at your favourite quilt shop.
So pretty! I love the colors and the waves remind me of the beach! You created another great pattern!
ReplyDeleteThe stars are a great addition. I love star blocks.
ReplyDeleteI've just had a lovely back read of your most recent posts. Your work is lovely and designs inspiring! I have a sudden urge to make some placemats as gifts but will see how my other December sewing goes first!
ReplyDeleteI really like this and if you made it with non-watery colors it would be great too. Actually sawtooth stars are my favorite, but I have been making stars like yours lately - at least I think they are the same. The block has 9 squares with the center one for the star and then you sew 2 smaller squares to 4 of the blocks cutting off the excess and ironing - on 2 corners, one at a time. The points don't go all the way down, so there is no problem with them being cut off. I made several Christmas table runners this way plus at least one lap quilt for craft shows and they all sold. Of course making them the regular way is good when you want the tips to meet with other stars.
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