A sky full of stars 🌟
Today is release day for The Brilliant Stars Quilt by Julia of @apieceoflovequilting! It started as a magazine pattern for Make Modern Magazine, and today's release adds three sizes and a brand new layout. And £1 from every sale will go to STAR - Student Action for Refugees 💛
The original has twenty big four-pointed stars made with Half Rectangle Triangles, squares and strips. The new layout is an alternative version packed with ninety-six smaller stars, using just squares and HRTs, a chain piecing dream.
I colored both, six each, and tried to make every one completely different: tone on tone, monochromatic, rainbow, low volume, complementary, triadic, black and cream... Half in solids, half in prints, on light, medium and dark backgrounds, each one named after a star or a constellation.
On QuiltInk both layouts come merged, so all the stars change color together. If you unmerge them, every star becomes its own piece, and that's how I made the scrappy ones ✨ One thing to know: the fabric requirements are written for stars in one color, so once you unmerge, QuiltInk won't list fabric requirements for your version. The good news is that Julia is planning a fat quarter friendly version, so changing the colors will be even easier.
Which sky is yours? Tell me on Instagram!
Capella, the classic: one fabric for the stars and one for the background. Curry on Oyster, both Kona Cotton by Robert Kaufman. Warm, calm and very easy to love.
The Pleiades on the 96-star layout, and this one is monochromatic: twenty blues, aquas and violets in Pure Solids by Art Gallery Fabrics, flowing from pale aqua to violet across the quilt, on Porcelain.
Cassiopeia is the rainbow 🌈 Twenty metallic colors of Speckled by Ruby Star Society for Moda Fabrics, one per star, going from pink and red through gold and green to blue, on White Gold.
Cygnus is all low volume: twenty soft, pale prints from several Cotton + Steel collections, scattered over the 96 stars, on a gray Twin Hills background. Quiet, but so much to look at up close.
Mira is red and cream, nothing else. Pollinator Patch stars on Berry Blossom, both from Summer Homestead by Sewcial Bee Collective for Art Gallery Fabrics. A little bit folk, a little bit holiday.
Andromeda is the scrappy jewel box: twenty Spectrastatic fabrics by Giucy Giuce for Andover Fabrics, raspberry, plum, teal and green mixed all over, on Dusty Blue.
Arcturus is about complementary colors: Amelia Apricot stars on Pond, in Bella Solids by Moda Fabrics. Orange and teal sit on opposite sides of the color wheel, and that's why they glow together.
Only four Century Solids by Andover Fabrics in this Milky Way, Pink Lemonade, Peach, Mango and Almond, in diagonal bands across the ninety-six stars, over Aubergine. Proof that unmerged doesn't have to mean dozens of fabrics.
Orion is the pastel one: twenty very pale Confetti Cotton solids by Riley Blake Designs on a dark Thunder gray, so even the softest blush and mint stand out.
Draco is a triad: Citrus, Raging Ruby and Schooner, three colors from far apart on the color wheel, scattered over a deep Spruce green. Cotton Supremes by RJR Fabrics. Bold, and I love it.
Vega is black and cream: Southern Stars from Road to Round Top on Specktacular Black from Duality Fusion, both by Art Gallery Fabrics. The simplest palette, and the stars really jump out.
Ursa Major closes the night with greens and aquas: seven Cotton + Steel prints, from lime to mint to seaside blue, on Freckles Midnight Dream.
Twelve skies, one pattern. Which is yours? 💫 The Brilliant Stars Quilt is out today, so go say hi to Julia at @apieceoflovequilting and pick your favorite layout.