Every year as the days get shorter, a new star shows up to signal the arrival of fall. Fomalhaut, also known as the lonely star of Autumn, is so far away that the starlight we’ll enjoy this fall had to start its journey to Earth way back in 1991! Thank goodness that the Autumn Stars in today’s new quilt can be completed in just a few minutes!
Here’s what you need to make this stunning quilt!
We’re making MSQC history here! For the first time ever, you can buy a kit to make the exact quilt that Jenny makes in the tutorial (excluding backing fabric).
Click on the button below to watch the tutorial and get the supplies to make your own Autumn Stars Quilt!
On the first Monday of every month, we invite a guest quilter to come and join us on our blog to try out one of Jenny’s tried and true tutorials and of course, put their own little spin on it! Whether it’s the fabrics they use or a new tip, we’re always excited to see how it turns out! For June’s Tutorial Reboot, we welcome Heather Valentine of The Sewing Loft to join us! We hope you enjoy her take on the Double Slice Quilt! #tutorialreboot
Hello Missouri Star Quilt Peeps! I’m Heather from The Sewing Loft.
On the average day I’m in one of two places; I’m either behind my machine or behind my keyboard. When I’m not stitching up a storm, I’m sharing sewing tips and tricks on my blog. One of my latest passions is using up every last scrap. That’s right, I’m a scrapaholic.
I think that’s why I love Jenny’s Double Slice Layer Cake tutorial so much. With just a few quick passes of the rotary cutter you are well on your way to creating a random scrappy pattern.
Cuddle is a specialty fabric that is knit based and has a directional pile. Normally, I would pay close attention to the direction of the pile but since I knew each block would be turned in all different ways, I didn’t sweat it. Instead, I just jumped right in and decided it would be a fun textural factor on the final quilt.
After watching the video you can see that from start to finish this is going to be fun. Thank goodness the cutting went super fast because with each pass of my rotary cutter I began to get more and more excited.
The bursts of color were like a visual rush of sugary eye candy. Seriously, I could hardly wait to get stitching on this one. Just look at all those yummy colors stacked together.
When it comes to matching fabrics, this double slice technique really takes the pressure off! Just grab your favorite layer cake, rotary cutter and get set to slice and go. You can see that I layered the cuddle squares into my fabric stack. Then it was all about the chain piecing. With each stitch I could see this was gonna be good.
The quilt top really comes together in a flash and is the perfect weekend project.
I pretty much love everything about this quilt but the random placement of colors and patterns makes my scrapaholic heart sing.
Here are a few additional fav’s for me:
Super fast cutting (who wants to spend time cutting when we all just want to sew!)
NO pins!! This is big for me because I like to just put the pedal to the metal.
Scrappy outlook.
Touch-ablity factor! All I want to do now is veg out on the couch and pet it!!
P.S. Don’t forget to label your work! This is so much easier than you think.
A “dandy” is a man who is obsessively concerned with his “look.” Everything has to be in place. Dapper shoes, well cut jacket, expertly trimmed moustache; you know the type. And while modern men generally feel fanciest in an expensive suit, you may be surprised to learn that just a few hundred years ago, all the best dressed men were prancing around in cropped pants and high heels. Why? To show off their manly calves, of course! Personally, I’d take a dandy quilt over a man in high heels any day of the week, so I think I’ll stick with this week’s tutorial, the Dandy Stars Quilt!
If you’ve seen a Jenny tutorial before then you know that she doesn’t like waste! So, this is what you do when you have leftover HSTs! Isn’t it so cute for being so simple??
Click to watch the tutorial and learn how to make your own version of the Dandy Stars Quilt!
Quilts tend to bring out the nostalgia in folks. And it’s no wonder; there’s nothing quite as cozy as a well-loved quilt that is worn to a perfect softness, smells like heaven, and holds a lifetime of memories.
This week’s tutorial, The Wallflower Quilt, is a tribute to a very special quilt that belonged to Jenny’s daughter-in-law, Misty. Be sure to have a box of tissues close at hand! After all, quilts are love!
Here’s what you need to make this quilt. Click on the diagram to download a printable PDF.
Hello! I’m Heather Jones of Heather Jones Studio and author of the new book Quilt Local: Finding Inspiration in the Everyday (STC Craft | A Melanie Falick Book, 2015). I’m so excited to be guest blogging here at the Missouri Star Quilt Company Blog today. I’ve been a huge fan of Jenny’s for a long time and I especially love how accessible she makes quilting with all of her great free tutorials! I began quilting regularly about five years ago, although I have loved quilts my whole life. But, my great-great aunt Ollie is the only person in my family who quilted, so I didn’t grow up with quilts being made around me. So for many years I was kind of intimidated to start quilting, although I loved them so much. Lucky for us all, we have Jenny to teach us and virtually hold our hands throughout the process so can make just about anything with her help.
Today, I’m sharing a quilt I made using Jenny’s Irish Chain tutorial. If you’re familiar with my own work, it should be no surprise at all that I’m drawn to minimalist designs, and when paired down to two solids colors, the Irish Chain is a perfect project. I have always wanted to make one of these designs so this was the perfect opportunity for me to finally get started. It’s a simple pattern that uses a nine patch block and a square of background fabric, and when arranged in this manner, the nine patch blocks create chains throughout the design.
In Jenny’s tutorial she uses precut strips of fabric for her blocks, which is certainly a great choice for this project. I however, picked two colors of Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton, Sky for the background and Pickle for the chains, so I cut my strips from yardage.
I made a twin sized version using 3 ¾ yards of Sky, 1 ¾ yards of Pickle, and 4 1/8 yards of Kona Fog for the back. I also used an additional ½ yard of Sky for the binding.
As I mentioned, Jenny’s tutorial used a jelly roll precut, which is fabric cut in 2 ½” x WOF (width of fabric) strips.
So, I cut my yardage in those sizes, specifically cutting (19) 2 ½” x WOF strips of Sky and (23) 2 ½” x WOF strips of Pickle. I also cut (72) 6 ½” x 6 ½” squares of Sky for the background blocks out of my yardage.
The nine patch blocks are made out of strip sets, and for this size quilt, you need nine outside strips, made of two Pickle strips and one Sky, with the Pickle on the outside of the strip set, as shown above. You also need five inside strip sets, using one Pickle and two Sky, with the Pickle on the inside of the strip set.
Each nine patch is made out of two outside strip sets and one inside strip set.
One the strip sets are made, construction is so easy, and with a little chain piecing, these blocks come together very quickly. Jenny shares tips in her tutorial to make sure the seams nestle throughout the blocks that make all those little square line up so neatly!
And once the nine patch blocks are finished, it’s just a matter of alternating them with the background blocks to make the chains throughout the pattern.
Once the top and back were finished, I quilted it with my go-to allover freehand figure eight design. This has become my favorite quilting design because of its simplicity and I think it works well with so many quilt patterns. I used Aurifil 2600 (Dove) 40 weight for the quilting, which I think works really well with the colors in my quilt.
I used Sky for the binding and I love how it disappears into the background of the design.
And here’s a shot of the back, where you can see the Kona Fog that I used for the backing. It’s a bit darker blue that I think works really well with both the Sky and the Pickle.
Thanks so much for letting me share my project with you here at MSQC!
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