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| Ribbon Star Quilt by Tracie Riceford Streams |
Discovering the Charm of the Ribbon Stars Quilt
Quilters are always searching for patterns that span the generations and the joy of scrap busting. I recently fell in love with this Ribbon Stars 'n Keys design by Becky Tillman Petersen of Quilted Twins. This design is intended as a memory quilt, using buttons from her father's button down shirts and has a great blend of scrap friendly pieces and geometric elegance.
This project is a great way to utilize all of those shirtings, scrap strips, and coordinating prints you've been storing.
Pattern Background & Summary
A quick overview of the pattern before cutting into your favorite fabrics:
- Finished Quilt Size: Pieced & washed to about 53” x 65”.
- Block Count & Size: 12 primary blocks, each block is 12½” x 12½” (a total of 3 blocks wide and 4 blocks down).
- Fabric Requirements:
- The total amount of assorted shirting or scrap fabrics is 3½ yards (star units and piano key border).
- 2 yards and 1/8 yard of white or cream background material.
- ¼ yard of gray (or contrasting accent fabric) sashing cornerstones.
- ½ to ⅝ yard for binding.
What are the special features of the construction?
The beauty of the Ribbon Star block is the fact that it is built in quarters. The blocks are constructed using a series of quarter-units, each a match to the previous block, with progressive strip additions (like a modified Log Cabin technique).
- Constructing the Units: The small background square is started and units are created by using different lengths of 2½” colorful strips and background rectangles.
- Simple diagonal seams (the "snowball" method) are seamed around the outer corners of the colourful strips. If these four sections are twisted and connected to each other, they create an impressive ribbon-shaped star with a slight tulip shape.
- Sashing & Piano Keys: The blocks are set apart by 2½” x 12½” sashing strips and soothing cornerstones which allow every star to shine. To cap it all off, there's a thin 1½” inner border that creates the spacing for a playful 106 scrappy piano key border made from 1½” fabric strips.
Final Thought
The Ribbon Stars 'n Keys pattern is special because of the sentimental versatility. It's satisfying to piece for rhythm, either as a sweet memory quilt made from shirts you've scavenged for your loved one or a stash-buster made from your favorite cottons. It is easy enough for the aspiring quilter who knows how to quarter inch sew, and interesting enough to keep the more advanced quilters chain piecing away.
Full Pattern: Ribbon Star Quilt Free PDF Pattern 🎁
