Double Struck Star Quilt

Posted on March 18, 2020 by thequiltedcat

Hi everyone,

I finished this fun modern quilt earlier this year called Double Struck Star by Krista Moser of The Quilted Life.

This quilt has an off-set, partial star shape, with each of its three star points featuring colorful fabrics. I selected some small-scale modern prints and solids to create my star points in greens, oranges, and turquoises.

The background triangles are from five different low-volume fabrics and one darker gray fabric. I used the same gray fabric for the inner star shadow border and the binding fabric.

Here’s a look at my fabric selections:

Fabric Selections for Double Struck Star

I cut and pieced all my colorful triangles first and then added them to my design wall, tweaking a few here and there. I made a few fabric substitutions because some of the prints had the wrong scale or wrong shade in my initial fabric pull.

I did follow the pattern recommendation to have more of the lighter triangles towards the middle of the star with the darker triangles radiating out towards the star points.

Double Struck Star points on design wall

Once I was satisfied with the colorful triangles, I pieced the neutral triangles. The triangles with the gray star shadow were a little tricky, but I used my pins liberally to ensure the seams matched.

For quilting, I used Glide in Cool Grey 3 with free-motion swirls in the colorful triangles. I used the same thread color in the neutral triangles, but I experimented using different free-motion designs and ruler work in each of the triangles.

Quilting the Double Struck Star Quilt

For the binding, I used the dark gray fabric and added a very small color-pop section using left over pieces from the colorful triangles.

I recruited my hubby to hold the quilt while I took pictures of it at a local park earlier this year.

Completed Double Struck Star Quilt

Close-Up of Completed Double Struck Star Quilt

Isn’t this a cheerful quilt? It reminds me of all the beautiful spring flowers emerging after a cold, rainy winter!

Happy quilting!

~Jen

Triangle QAL Finish!

Posted on May 1, 2014 by thequiltedcat

Hi everyone,

I’ve been following along with Paula’s Triangle QAL over on her blog, The Sassy Quilter, for the past few weeks.

Our last assignment was to finish up those quilts! We had 2 weeks to finish up the quilting and binding for the final photo link-up.

My beer themed Triangle quilt is for my husband. Here in Oregon, we are surrounded by many great brew pubs, and I thought this quilt was the perfect choice for a “manly” quilt! You can read about the fabrics in this quilt here.

I decided to use straight-line quilting on my domestic machine by using my 1/4-inch foot and echoing the outside and inside edges of the triangles to create a large lattice effect. I used Aurifil 50 wt thread in a beautiful gold brown color (#2372) that perfectly complements the fabric.

In this photo, you can see the lattice/diamond quilting:

Up-Close Look at the Quilting

Here’s my hubby holding up his completed quilt. He picked the name, “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” after our 8-year-old suggested it.

Triangle QAL Completed!

Triangle Quilt, Blowing in the Wind

For the backing, I used up most of my left-over Brewsky fabric:

Back of Triangle Quilt

I’m really happy with how this quilt turned out, and really enjoyed following along with Paula and many other talented quilters during this quilt-along.

Cheers!
~Jennifer

Triangle QAL + Hollyhill Quilt Shoppe Win!

Posted on April 2, 2014 by thequiltedcat

Greetings quilty friends!

The assignment this week for the Triangle QAL hosted by Paula over at Sassy Quilter is to cut out all our triangle shapes!

I’m using 7 fabrics from Clothworks Brewsky line along with 3 Kona cotton solids. I think this line is now out-of-print, but you may still be able to find a few pieces if you search for it. This will be a fun beer-themed quilt project for my hubby!

Here are the pieces stacked together, looking rather like a slice of fabric pie!

Triangle QAL Fabric Pie

And here are all 204 triangles!

204 Triangles

Next Friday, we’ll begin piecing all these wonderful 60 degree triangles together.

Last week while at my sister’s house, I learned that I had won an April Showers by Moda charm pack from one of my favorite local quilt shops, Hollyhill Quilt Shoppe. I highly recommend a visit to this quilt store if you visit the Portland area. Hollyhill has a sister store across the street called Boughs of Holly, featuring wonderful Christmas and holiday themed fabrics year-round!

Here’s a picture of me in Hollyhill with the charm pack. I should have taken off my brown winter coat!

April Showers Charm Pack at Hollyhill Quilt Shoppe

This is the first time that I’ve won something at a quilt shop so I’m very happy and thank the wonderful folks at Hollyhill.

Until next time, happy quilting!
~Jennifer

Triangle QAL Fabrics!

Posted on March 21, 2014 by thequiltedcat

The sun is shining here this afternoon, just in time for me to take a picture of the fabrics that I have selected to use in a new quilt-along. Yes, I just finished up my Star Light Star Bright QAL top, and I’ve decided to jump aboard Paula’s fun triangle QAL over on her blog, Sassy Quilter.

I’m really excited to do this QAL since this will be my first, all triangle quilt top!

There are so many luscious fabric lines on the market today to choose from that I really couldn’t decide. Instead, I decided to go with something a little strange, a little hip, and a whole lot Portland! This one is for my hubby who loves beer and really enjoys sampling all the local micro brews.

The patterned fabrics are from Clothworks Brewsky line, which I think may now be out of print. I actually picked up most of these fabrics last year while doing a quilt shop hop, but didn’t have a specific project in mind. I’m throwing in a few coordinating Kona cotton solids to round out my selections.

Here are the fabrics, all bundled up in this little basket:

Brewsky Fabric

And since my cat inspectors are too sophisticated to have their photos taken next to beer fabric, my dog stepped up to the plate. And really, doesn’t the dog and beer kinda tie for the role of “man’s best friend??”

Yep, Ma, It’s Beer Fabric! Woof!

I hope you’ll mosey on over to Paula’s blog and join us for this QAL. Next Friday, she’ll post the cutting directions.

Have a great weekend!
~Jennifer

New BOM – Toes in the Sand!

Posted on April 23, 2013 by thequiltedcat

I had the great pleasure of taking a class from Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts at the Block Party hosted by Quiltmaker here in Portland recently. In the class, one of the ladies mentioned Julie’s new BOM. I was intrigued!

I decided to sign up for this BOM through the Fat Quarter Shop. I think the BOM program is now full, but you can buy the full pattern set and pick up your own fabrics to make this great quilt.

Each month, the participants receive the materials to make 2 blocks. April is the first month so we also received the Toes in the Sand pattern book. This book is well laid out and easy to read so the blocks come together quickly and easily.

This BOM also uses Julie’s Hex N More ruler which is a very versatile tool for creating shapes in all kinds of sizes – hexagons, triangles, half-hexies, and jewels. Really, the possibilities are limitless!

I made my two “Baker Beach” blocks last night in about an hour while the hubs cooked a wonderful dinner. I had the opportunity this afternoon to take a photo in the Oregon sunshine with my dedicated cat helper and one of my official inspectors for all things quilt related.

My Cow cat has decided to rename this quilt — “Cat Toes in the Grass” BOM!