As promised, I’m continuing to show you other quilts created from our Bellingham Bay fabric collection from Island Batik. This week I want to show you a quilt I made based on our Pop Stars patten.
I used my original pattern as a starting point but just didn’t want to make another really large quilt at this time so, by using only one center star block and moving the bottom stars up I would have a much smaller square quilt. But it was still larger than I really wanted. So instead of creating a zig-zag effect with the Lemoynes as Triangles in the border, I decided to use a single row of them against the center of the quilt. All the stars and the setting triangles are the same size as the original pattern. I think this turned out to be a really striking design and using the Bellingham Bay fabrics certainly contributed to the overall beauty of this quilt. For this quilt I decided that one background with an added light accent (the light teal) would create a very pleasing effect. And those greens and purples are just so wonderful.
So how do our quilts get their names? Well for this quilt I had decided to make it using a Bali Pop collection, and there are Lemoyne Stars everywhere on the quilt so, this one was easy Pop for the 2½” strips and Stars for the elements. Many times, our patterns are named for something that the design reminds us of, for example Meteor Storm made everyone think about stars in the sky and as we rolled that around in our minds it transformed to a meteor shower in the sky which then became Meteor Storm.
Pop Stars has a piece of family history with it as well. As I was creating the original quilt, I kept laying it out on the floor as I worked with the overall design (this was before I had such great computer programs to work with). Several times throughout the process my daughter Haley would walk through the room and say, “Mom I really like this quilt”. I guess I just thought she was being supportive and didn’t think much about it. After the third or fourth time, she said to me, “Mom I REALLY like this quilt and I guess I should remind you that I am getting married in ten months. So, Pop Stars became my daughter’s wedding quilt.
I hope you’re as excited about Bellingham Bay as I am. I know it’s already arrived in some shops, so for those of you itching to pick up some of my first original Island Batik collection for yourself, you can check with your local quilt shop to see if they have Bellingham Bay (and the Aurifil thread collection!) coming in. We here at Studio 180 Design can’t wait to see what amazing projects you will create with my Bellingham Bay collection! Please don’t forget to share them on Instagram with the hashtags: #BellinghamBayFabric #Studio180Design. We’ll be watching!
What a great season 2024 was for our BlockBuster series! Can you believe that this is Season 9 of our popular free block library? From simple blocks that use some basic units, to intricate blocks that use star tools and new technique sheets, there is something for everyone in Season 9.
We all have favorite things in our sewing spaces that make life a little easier when we’re quilting. They can be notions that are made specifically for quilting, or they can be something else entirely! Those of us who work at Studio 180 Design are no exception. Here are the things in our sewing rooms that we love working with.
