I have been doing a lot of wishing and hoping and thinking and praying, planning and dreaming upon Falling Stars. Yes, another My Best Friend’s wedding reference. LOL. Such a great song. You guys, I have been dreaming about getting into this magazine for years!! I am ecstatic to present a quilt, which is in this month’s edition (August – Issue 88) of Love Patchwork & Quilting magazine, called Falling Stars Quilt. Hopefully the name is obvious to you and you see the movement in the colors from light to dark emulating a star falling in the sky.

I have been bursting at the seams, wanting nothing more than to share this quilt with you. Originally it was supposed to come out in June. However, because of the pandemic, I had to keep quiet longer than expected. Totally putting a monkey wrench in my plans for the middle of the year. Being the worrywart that I am, I worried it wouldn’t come out at all. To my surprise, it is out and I can’t wait until I get my hands on it. All of my wishing, hoping, and dreaming have come true.

Issue 88 is available today/now! Visit the @lovequiltingmag bio and click the link to buy print and digital copies, or to subscribe.

Riley Blake Confetti Cottons

The fabrics used in this quilt are Riley Blake Confetti Cottons: Riley White, Fuzzy Duckling, Sunshine, Pumpkin, Jade, Song Bird and Vivid. I am obsessed with how they feel and look. They are so soft and they have a great weave to them, a bit thicker than a print. They are perfect. I used teals and yellows, a color palette that the magazine suggested and I love how it turned out. If you are interested in buying a kit when I have them available click here and send me your email address. Once I have all the details and fabrics I will let you know. I am thinking about putting together another kit in a different colorway, any color suggestions?

Hexagon Quilts

I am fascinated with hexagon quilts. Although I have never made the quilt that inspired my love for them (think outlined hexagons), I have made a few hexagon quilts that I have designed myself. And I plan to make even more of them in the future. Even though this quilt is made up of hexagons, there are not y-seams in it. I love y-seams and understand that they can be scary. That’s why I wanted to make sure the pattern was free of them. There are six different stars in the pattern’s design. The magazine provides you with templates you can make yourself. But if you are not a fan of templates, I’ve got you covered, instead use Diamond Ruler and Triangle Squared Ruler.

The Quilting the Falling Stars Quilt

I was in a panic out about the quilting. I wanted to do something special but I didn’t have enough time. After I finished the quilt, I only had two weeks before the deadline. I couldn’t send it off to be quilted. So I spent a lot of time analyzing how I could quilt the stars without getting bunching in the layers. I quilted matchstick lines on a hexagon quilt before (Yoya Quilt) and it was challenging to stay straight within the hexagon. In my Bat Quilt, I had large areas that had less quilting and found it challenging too. And on my Mod City Center quilt, I got some wonky quilting from changing direction often.

All of my experiences led me to this solution. Quilting the straight lines on a longarm and then quilting the stars on my domestic machine. Thinking that this would give me the perfect backdrop for the stars; stretching it out on the longarm would eliminate a lot of the bunching that I was worried about. It ended up working really well. I only had two areas where there was a little extra fabric between the sewing, but it isn’t obvious. What do you think about the quilting?? I would love to hear your input. Should I have quilted simple lines instead??

Why didn’t I quilt the whole thing on a longarm? I only have access to my sister’s longarm when I am visiting for work or holidays. Since it’s not my machine, I can’t leave the quilt on her machine in between visits. What if she needs it? Also I have only tried to free motion longarm one time. It was so much harder and more uncomfortable than I currently feel about domestic quilting. I used all the tools at my disposal and blended them.

I am so incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work with such a wonderful magazine. Thank you Love Patchwork and Quilting for making this dream come true. Now on to the next one!! My Falling Stars Quilt is in Issue 88 and is available today/now! Visit the @lovequiltingmag bio and click the link to buy print and digital copies, or to subscribe. I would love to see the quilt you make from my Falling Stars Quilt Pattern. Share your photos on Instagram using #FallingStarsQuilt, and Tag me @BrownBirdDesigns.

HAPPY QUILTING!!