Ribbon Star Quilt

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:

1. The total amount of assorted shirting or scrap fabrics is 3½ yards (star units and piano key border).
2. 2 yards and 1/8 yard of white or cream background material.
3. ¼ yard of gray (or contrasting accent fabric) sashing cornerstones.
4. 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 🎁

Star Quilt Block

Star Quilt Block

There's no quilt motif quite as timeless or dramatic as the classic star block. From creating your first lap quilt to the scrap-busting sampler project, stars provide a unique way to work with color value, point alignment, and geometric movement.

Let's get started today on the Star Quilt Block from Sarah Murray of Anyone Can Quilt. Sarah Murray's patterns are renowned for their easy-to-follow and beginner-friendly tutorials and clean pattern layouts, and this design is no exception.

Pattern Overview & Key Features

Anyone Can Quilt is a simple guide to creating a well-rounded, clean star block. Sarah Murray simplifies the sometimes daunting geometry by translating it into basic patch units, making it accessible to even the more novice students without frustration.

The key features of the Pattern.

• Designer & Source: Sarah Murray / Anyone Can Quilt

• The combination of central square patches, point patches (Half-Square Triangles or Flying Geese) and background corner squares is used in precision piecing with these foundational patchwork units.

• Skill Level: Confident Beginner to Intermediate.

• Fabric Choice Flexibility: Great for scrap bin raiding, fat quarter palettes or two-color high-contrast designs.

Anatomy of the Block & Construction Notes 

Sarah Murray's Star Quilt Block is so satisfying to quilt because of its simple and symmetrical pattern, which is a grid. The block uses three basic components in conjunction to analyze the PDF pattern layout:

• The Center Focal Square: This is the visual focal point of the block. A medium to dark print or a motif with a lot of interest here will immediately point the viewer towards the center of the star.

• The Star Points: Pieced (usually Half-Square Triangle (HST) or Flying Geese). This is a very critical stage in which exact measurements are crucial to maintain $1/4^{\prime \prime}$ seam allowances and ensure a sharp point after the points are joined.

• Corner Background Squares: Background squares are simple square pieces that frame the star, making the points appear off the top of the quilt.

Tips for Success

If you are working with the pattern from Sarah Murray, here are some basic tips that will take your block from "good" to "show-stopper":

• Fabric Finish or Light Spray Starch – Starch before cutting, this will help to keep the bias ends of your quilting cotton from stretching when working with small star-point triangles.

• Keep an accurate seam of 1/4" Star points are unforgiving of seams that drift! Use a test swatch to check seam guide with your machine before you piece your final block units.

• For flatness Press Seams Open or to the darker fabric background as shown on the pattern diagram when seams have to be pressed where several are meeting in the block grid to reduce bulk.

• High Contrast Matters: To make sure that your star points don't merge in with the background, opt for fabrics that have a contrast to them (e.g., a crisp light colored background with dark jewel tones for the star points).

Final Thought

Anyone Can Quilt: Star Quilt Block by Sarah Murray is a classic quilt pattern book for anyone, even those who don't know how to sew. It's a reminder that quilting design can be really stunning without too many fancy stitches or tricky techniques; only thoughtful proportions, clean piecing, and love for playing with fabric. Make a mini quilt with one of the blocks or use them to create a beautiful quilt for your bed!

Full Pattern: Star Quilt Block Free PDF Pattern 🎁