Helen Frost - All-Star Quilts: 10 Strip-Pieced Lone Star Sparklers

Text copyright 2010 by Helen Frost and Blanche Young

Artwork copyright 2010 by C&T Publishing, Inc.

Publisher: Amy Marson

Creative Director: Gailen Runge

Acquisitions Editor: Susanne Woods

Editor: Liz Aneloski

Technical Editors: Ellen Pahl and Janice Wray

Copyeditor/Proofreader: Wordfirm Inc.

Cover Designer: Kerry Graham

Book Designer: Rose Sheifer-Wright

Production Coordinator: Jenny Leicester

Production Editor: Julia Cianci

Illustrator: Mary Flynn

Photography by Christina Carty-Francis and Diane Pedersen of C&T Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted

Published by C&T Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 1456, Lafayette, CA 94549

All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be used in any form or reproduced by any meansgraphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval systemswithout written permission from the publisher. The copyrights on individual artworks are retained by the artists as noted in All-Star Quilts. These designs may be used to make items only for personal use or donation to nonprofit groups for sale. Each piece of finished merchandise for sale must carry a conspicuous label with the following information: Designs copyright 2010 by Helen Frost and Blanche Young from the book All-Star Quilts from C&T Publishing, Inc.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Frost, Helen Young.

All-star quilts: 10 strip-pieced lone star sparklers / Helen Frost and Blanche Young.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-1-57120-958-0

1. PatchworkPatterns. 2. Strip quilting. 3. Stars in art. I. Young, Blanche. II. Title.

TT835.F764 2010

746.46dc22 2010007249

Printed in China

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

We thank our wonderful team at
C&T, particularly our talented editors,
Liz Aneloski, Ellen Pahl, and Julia Cianci.

We are so grateful to our quilters, especially
Myrna Ficken, Kris Neifeld, and Julie Stauffer,
for the beautiful work they did for us.

We thank Lynette Young Bingham
for transporting the quilts, and
Rachel Frost for photographing them.

We also thank the many hundreds of quilters
who, over the years, made stars from our books
and classes, creating a legacy of Lone Star quilts.

Lone Star, Star of Bethlehem, Blazing Starby any name, this glorious quilt pattern has captivated quilters for generations. The basis for this design is the eight-pointed LeMoyne Star, one of a handful of quilt patterns that seem to be as old as piecing itself. Barbara Brackman, in researching old patterns, discovered that the eight-pointed star appears to have been the most popular design in early quilts, with the Star of Bethlehem perhaps the first fad quilt.

We have been exploring this design for more than 35 years, never tiring of it because each quilt turns out so differently. We have played with various configurations of star points, making other designs and discovering some new ones. Weve also tested new sizes of diamonds and found that tiny diamonds are easier to make than big ones!

In the 30 years since our first Lone Star book debuted (complete with cardboard templates), the tools and materials have improved and so have the quilts. We realized that it was once again time to put pen to paperor fingertips to keyboardto present new quilts and variations for quilters to make. We hope the gallery quilts will serve as a retrospective of sortsnot of all our stars, but of our more recent outputas well as inspiration for your own starry wonders. We hope that you, too, will be captivated by these dazzling designs.

If you only pay attention to it you will see that certain stars are lemon-yellow, others pink or a green, blue and forget-me-not brilliance it is obvious that putting little white dots on the blue-black is not enough to paint a starry sky.

Vincent Van Gogh, 1888

Quilters have been entranced by stars for as long as they have been putting needle to fabric. This geometric design, filled with movement, showcases a quilters skill as well as her fabric collection. Tiny diamonds of blazing color, any color, can create radiance unlike any other patchwork patterns.

Star Fabrics

To choose fabrics for a reproduction-style star, look at the myriad examples made by quilters of past generations. Those quilters usually contrasted the colors to form strong rings of color. They also introduced light fabrics, sometimes the same color as the background, to break the star points.

To make a more contemporary-looking star, however, try choosing fabrics that gradually blend from lighter to darker or from color to color. This blending of colors creates the illusion of depth and layers.

Here are some guidelines for fabric selection, whether you want a traditional look or something more contemporary.

Always look at the fabrics from a distance of a few feet. What may be an enchanting print up close could be a mishmash from a little farther away. Place the various fabrics next to each other to see the effect they have on each other and how they look together from a distance.

Starting with lighter colors at the center of the star and gradating to y darker colors at the widest part of the point is more pleasing than the opposite. Using dark fabrics for the center of the star creates the optical illusion of the center sinking inward.

If you use a contrasting color, place it in an important spotat the tip of the star, or the center, or at the hub, the widest part of the point. Placing a strong color anywhere else breaks up the point visually, center and tip

Contrasting color at center and tip

Contrasting color at hub

Avoid alternating the same two colors. Because of the diamond configuration, alternating colors results in the dreaded Argyle sock syndrome.