A Quilt of Many Names

This is a quilt of many names. Lone Star. Morning Star. Radiant Star. Star of Bethlehem. Texas or Texan Star. Other than the fabric, my version is not a particularly modern take on the pattern, but I feel like a good modern name would be Big Star.

I have long felt equal parts love and intimidation toward this pattern, which I will call Lone Star going forward for the sake of simplicity. My obsession with this quilt finally helped me swallow my fear and figure out how to make a Lone Star. I'm really glad I did. It was not without a zillion bias-edged challenges, but I did not end up with a big bubble in the middle or a diamond section too wonky to salvage as I had feared. It's certainly not perfect, but I learned a ton (Y seams!!) and it looks good enough to me from a distance. 

I worked on this quilt on and off for the better part of a year. I strip-pieced, cut, and sewed together the diamonds, and then I deliberated on whether the center should be green or red. 

I was having a really hard time deciding, and asked family and friends to weigh in. The votes were about 50/50, so that was no help. Finally I decided to just go with the red center and I have not regretted it.

The star is made entirely from Heather Ross's Briar Rose collection. I like how the pink, white and purple sections seem a little sparkly. The gray solid is Kona Silver. I auditioned white fabric behind the star as well, but the colors popped better against the gray. I used my leftover strips to make the border. The quilt is backed and bound in April Rhodes' Triangle Tokens in Agave from the Arizona collection. 

Luckily, both cats seem to approve of the quilt. I was pretty worried. 

I already have my next two Lone Star quilts planned out in my mind, and some thoughts on a comprehensive tutorial, but I need to finish about eight other projects first. Until then, I'm just happy that I finished this very summery quilt just in time to take it outdoors and enjoy it in the fleeting Northwest sunshine!