The Everett Star Quilt Pattern is available now! And I am thrilled to be sharing the Cover Quilt with you today! Buckle up, we have LOTS of photos because this quilt was gorgeous to photograph and we took it to Canada!
I shared the Everett Star Baby Quilt and in that blogpost I mention how this pattern had to be completely redesigned partway through writing it. The Cover Quilt is the reason we redesigned the pattern. I really wanted the pattern to be Fat Quarter friendly and have a vintage quality to it which the first design did not allow. I have always loved finding vintage quilts that highlights pairing two fabrics together while it also looking as though they used whatever fabrics they had on hand. So my goal with the FQ Frenzy Design Style is to do just that - pair 2 fabrics together and they make a block. And I wanted it to be something that looked effortless with still being intentional. To achieve this look, we have the consistency of the Everett Star Block Styles - Diamond and Cross while being able to pair any two FQs together and it look thoughtful. Okay, with that background info, let's dive in!
I knew I wanted a color palette that played with warm tones in my favorite colors - yellows, peaches, pinks. And I wanted to showcase using FQs for every single requirement in the pattern - the blocks and the HST Border. Here is my mock up:
And here is the fabric bundle that I curated for this quilt and that you can purchase here:
I LOVE IT SO MUCH! We made the Throw Size Quilt for the cover which finishes at 60" x 60" and it requires 18 FQs for the Everett Star Blocks and then 3 FQs for each HST Border Color Set so a total of 24 FQs. Here is the bundle broken down first into it's Block FQs and HST FQs and then further down into the individual block pairings.
So after you've made your pairings, then you decide which pairs make the Diamond Blocks and which make the Cross Blocks and then you cut cut cut!
For the FQ Frenzy Design Style, you keep your paired FQ cuts together as they get sewn into the same block. So this way it's really fun and see to now sew block by block. But for the purposes of my process and confirming my math, numbers etc, I did not complete a full block until ALL my individual block components were ready. This made for some super fun photos and see all the pieces separate before together.
Each block is made up of multiple flying geese - large and small, a pieced middle center star and some HSTs. They are tedious blocks but so satisfying to make and sew all together.
Here are my pretty pretty pieced center stars in their block piles and all their other individual block components are under them. These center pieced stars are tiny and adorable and definitely the smallest piecing I've ever designed into a pattern. And they are my favorite thing to sew of the entire quilt.
Okay, now imagine I did a 52-card pick up stunt (where as a kid you hold an entire deck of cards and shout FIFTY TWO CARD PICK UP and then shoot the cards everywhere as a joke) with these block piles and they someone landed in a gorgeous array of flying geese and stars.
Now that all of our individual components were ready, we whipped up these blocks so quick!
Here is a quick shot of the two different blocks - the Diamond Block and the Cross Block. The Diamond Block has the larger flying geese oriented to create a diamond shape around the center star. The Cross Block has the flying geese oriented to create a cross radiating out of the center star. These small changes are what create some amazing movement in the final design and especially in the other two design styles - the FQ + Yardage and the Yardage + Gradient Star.
Once all the Everett Star Blocks are finished, we moved onto making the HSTs needed for the HST Borders. Because a HST is made from two different fabrics, we have given options to create the Borders with 2 yardage cuts OR you can make it more scrappy and use FQs to create the two fabric "families". We went the scrappy route. So one family is made from 3 yellow FQs and the other is made from 3 peach/pink FQs.
These are like sherbet ribbons of goodness. I believe the HST Borders are the cherry on top of the sundae of a quilt!
I knew right away I wanted to use one of my backing fabrics for backing - Carolina Gingham in Black and White! I've used it multiple times and it also adds a bold look while still feeling classic and vintage. And I also knew immediately I wanted to use the Arches Pantograph for the quilting. Emily of So Sunny Quilts thought it was a great pantograph to use too - the texture is AMAZING.
I used another classic print - a black and white strip - to bind the entire quilt. I wanted something that wasn't a solid like the front and didn't draw your eye too quickly to "frame" it and I feel like the strip does it perfectly.
I believe the thread color we used is a soft peachy pink. I really fell in love with this quilt and it solidified my reason for basically redesigning and rewriting the Everett Star Quilt to make it possible.
The texture of the pantograph and the movement it gives with the arches changing directions is the perfect compliment to the movement of the Everett Star Blocks as well as the contrast to all the harsh lines in the piecing.
We have quilt kits for this exact quilt! I adore these fabrics so much and we used all Bella Solids for Moda Fabrics. Even if you made something else with this bundle, it will turn out stunning.
Okay before I sign off on this blogpost, I have to show you some of the most GORGEOUS scenery we captured with this quilt sample from my birthday trip to Banff, Canada. Yes, I did fly this quilt to Canada and we carried it on the plane like a little baby all swaddled in love.
We went to Banff the second to last week of September and it was PEAK leaf changing season. I have never been so completely surrounded by nature and beauty ever single place you turn. I cannot wait to go back again some time. We spent an afternoon driving around the town of Banff and also heading just outside of the town to a lake.
These first photos are of Lake Minnewanka.
I cannot believe this kind of beauty exists. It was also incredibly windy so made photos difficult but boy oh boy was it stunning!
We drove around multiple areas in Banff but my favorite spot was this gorgeous valley view where the leaves were BRIGHT GOLD and the grass of golden as well. It was just smack dab in the middle of some kind of school football field and a horse barn, right next to Banff Recreation Grounds.
I have other 300 photos of this quilt in Canada but I gotta stop at some point!
