I have never had so many thank you emails, comments, and direct messages as when I released my first FREE pattern last week - the Offset Star Quilt. With COVID-19, I know everyone is struggling with figuring out what to do next. How to survive, how to stay healthy, how to stay sane, how to pay the bills, how to feed the family, how how how how. And I felt that my "how" in a lot of moments when things are out of control is to MAKE. And to make something fun, simple, easy. Take the work out of it, use simple math and just MAKE. So, anyway, I am grateful that people have been excited to work on Offset Star and I hope it brings you some peace, calm and joy!
Now, onto my inspiration for this pattern! In the fall of 2018, I was SWAMPED with projects. I was working on making my class with Bluprint happen. I was working in secret on my Kona bundle and all the quilts that went along with it. I was writing and editing a pattern in secret - Run Wild. I just had a lot a lot a lot going on with so many deadlines (and no Alysson at the time) that I thought I may have a breakdown. So of course, I decided I needed something just for fun. Something that had no deadline, no one was needing it and it was purely for my enjoyment. In-steps - a star quilt.
It was early December when I made this pull from my stash. I wanted to do a rich palette - deep pinks and reds, royal blues, some mossy greens and then lots of texture and neutrals. I used mostly "non Christmas" fabrics but had a couple thrown in with trees on them. I also wanted a more scrappy feel so I used mostly white and off-white prints as the background of the blocks.
I really just did whatever felt good - I only had my simple math of what a single block would need and just cut a chunk out to begin. I was using different amounts of scraps - some FQs, some yardage, some random pieces - so I wasn't really thinking about how to "evenly" spread the fabrics yet.
I think I started with the idea of making two stars from each dark fabric but it evolved as I went through my fabric. Some I could get more from and some fabrics I had less of.
I don't know about you but to me, there is nothing more satisfying that a star block. They are just SO GOOD.
Between December 2018 - February 2019 I made about 2/3 of the blocks I needed for the quit. Then, I just put this project away as other things were taking priority in my work. I didn't get these stars back out until September of 2019. That is when I finished up what was left for the blocks needed.
Then again, once I had my blocks made and cut, I laid them out, finalized their positions and promptly put the whole project away. haha. Does anyone else do this?
Finally, right before Christmas 2019, a year later, I sewed up the whole top and got some pictures of it in my house with my tree up!
I really love how it turned out. The stars are bold and some are softer. I love the kinda scrappy background. It's not too hard to match the points if you make sure your blocks are square and you use pins.
Again, I put the quilt away. I didn't really have a need for it beyond the creative project. In February 2020, Alysson and I were cleaning out my fabric cabinets and I found 7 quilt tops that needed quilting. This was one of them. I decided to just send them all out and get them finished.
I sent this quilt and many others to Kaitlyn for quilting. I knew I wanted a fun textured quilting design and choose Swivel Curves which is AMAZING. Oh, I also decided to bind in a fun gingham/plaid print I had some left of and a lot of different strips.
I mean, how AMAZING is this quilting?! The quilt feels modern and cozy and I am so happy I made it. After I finished this quilt a couple weeks ago, I had that gnawing feeling that I should write up a free pattern for it. I didn't know how much "work" to put into it because I wasn't charging for it. There are A LOT of Sawtooth Star tutorials and patterns out there already. But, I felt like now is the time to just make my version of a Sawtooth Star quilt happen. It is so nice to have a pattern done for you - not just a block pattern. So I decided to just write it like I would any other pattern. I include material requirements, cutting instructions, sewing instructions, how to assemble the quilt and a free coloring page - everything I would include in a regular pattern I charge people for.
So there we have it! Another finished quilt I have no need for haha Story of my Life! Happy Sewing!
