Classic & Vintage ~ Hunter Star Quilt Along with the Fat Quarter Shop

Today I’m joining up with the Fat Quarter Shop & other quilty bloggers to tell you about the Hunter Star Quilt Along. I know, I know – I’m supposed to be on a QAL diet of sorts, but this one is so easy & fun! Plus I am using up some of my fabric collection that’s been hanging around for longer than I care to admit!  The blocks for this quilt along sews ups quickly & it’s nice and large.  That means a shorter time to a finished quilt – yay!

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Fabric Choices & Piecing Tips

When I first saw this quilt pattern, I thought I’d be able to use scraps. The pattern pieces are much larger than I expected, so I decided to dig into some of my orange & yellows that don’t get used very much.

I pulled a solid yellow & a yellow with orange & red polka dots.  For the background I decided to use the wide back newsprint fabric I got from Needle & Foot.  The yellow really pops against the black & white!

There are only four pieces to cut for each block & it’s just squares & rectangles. That makes this super simple to batch cut!  I decided to make up one block to see how it worked out before making more.

You cut the smaller square in half diagonally and sew the shorter rectangle to one side.  Then sew the longer one to the other side.  A quick trim across the diagonal & you have a corner piece!

Two corners with opposite fabric makes the center square of the block.

The final step is to add a large square to each side & stitch across the diagonal.  I used chain stitching to make things quicker!

After stitching it down, I trimmed off the corners & took it straight to the ironing board.  Then I can do “chain-ironing”!  : D

You need four of the blocks to make the star, so I made 2 polka dot blocks…

And two plain blocks.

Here are all the blocks in the star formation.  Since these blocks are 9 1/2″ x 9 1/2″, the star block is 18 1/2″ x 18 1/2″.  That’s a big block!

This block is ready for quilting!

Quilting the Block

Once I saw how big this block was, I thought I would quilt it & make a wall hanging for my mantle.  It’s just so cheery, I really want to make more!

I decided to leave the backing off & just quilt it to the batting.  Then it’s more of a quilt-as-you-go & if I decide to make more, it’s easy to add on.  I’m using Aurifil 50 wt #2315 to quilt these blocks.  It blends really well with the newsprint fabric.

I’m only quilting on the newsprint fabric & I started with the diamond shapes in the center.  I stitched from point to point & marked two places about 1/2″ from the side points.  Then I connected the dots on each side.

In the triangle portions, I marked every half inch & stitched from the corner to the mark & back to the opposite corner.  I also stitched in the ditch around each newsprint shape.

It’s hard to see the stitching because it blends so well!  Maybe you can see it a little better from the back…

Not stitching on the yellow portions makes them puff out a little.  I may go back in and do a simple outline around the yellow, but I’m not sure yet.  Here’s the block hanging on a mirror on my shelf mantle.

It just brightens up the room!  I think it would look wonderful in a robin’s egg blue frame.

It’s so hard to decide!  Should I keep it a decorative piece or make a whole quilt?

It does look good folded & I can just imagine a wonderful lap quilt laying at the end of the bed, like a ray of sunshine!

Guess I’m going to have to think on that for a minute!  If you want to join in the fun, just visit the Jolly Jabber, the Fat Quarter Shop blog, for more details.  You can also see 20+ more versions of this blog from other quilty bloggers!  There are quilt kits available for a 64.5″ x 82.5″ size & you can get the pattern for the quilt right here.  The pattern includes sizes for a tablerunner, lap, twin, or queen quilt, so you can make it whatever size you like!

Hope y’all have a happy weekend sewing!

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