Find the Sparkle Punch Quilt-Along main page here.
Read about Mo’s Sparkle Punch quilt here.
Today’s post is all about the materials you’ll need to make your very own Sparkle Punch Quilt.
These fabric requirements are for a 60” x 72” quilt (generous lap quilt size) but don’t hesitate to make your own calculations/revisions to make the quilt in a different size.
This quilt design, with nestled stars that appear to continue off the quilt top, uses both whole and partial stars.
Clockwise from top-left: whole star, three-quarter star, quarter star, half star
All of the stars are made with sets of 3½” x 3½” squares. For the stars (just the stars - not the negative space behind them) you will need:
- 80 sets of 5 squares to make whole stars for the quilt top
- 4 sets of 5 squares to make whole stars for the quilt back
- 14 sets of 4 squares to make three-quarter stars for the quilt top
- 2 sets of 3 squares to make half stars for the quilt top
- 18 single squares to make quarter stars for the quilt top
If you prefer, you can make your composition include fewer stars, arranged in an asymmetrical arrangement kind of like this. If you do that, you’ll end up needing fewer sets of squares to make stars and more fabric for your negative space. (I’ll talk more about this kind of composition in the Making The Quit Top post.)
The color scheme for my quilt was inspired by this gorgeous Echino print so, for my stars, I raided my scraps to select monochromatic print and solid fabrics in pinks, purples, sea greens, grays, browns, beiges, and black. I also fussy-cut some squares from the Echino print.
You can use as many or few different fabrics for your stars as you want, but here are a couple of suggestions:
- Small to medium monochromatic prints and solids will show off the sharp edges of the stars more readily than larger, busier, and multicolored prints.
- Making your stars using fabrics with a range of value (light vs. dark), intensity (bright vs. neutral), and/or texture (print vs. solid) will add visual interest and movement. It will make your quilt sparkle!
- The partial stars will all end up around the edges of the quilt, so make sure they’re not all the same color or fabric.
Most of my sets of squares are cut from the same fabric, but I did include a few sets with 4 identical squares for the points and 1 fussy-cut square for the center.
Quilt back from Mo’s Sparkle Punch Quilt
In addition to the star fabrics, you’ll need:
- 3½ yards neutral solid fabric for negative space (the star backgrounds)
- 64” x 76” batting
- 1¼ yards each of 4 different solid fabrics for the quilt back
- ½ yard fabric for binding
Note: These requirements contemplate fabric at least 42” wide.
I’m using Yarn-Dyed Essex Cotton-Linen in Flax for my negative space. For my quilt back, I’m using Kona solids in Stone, Jade Green, Pomegranate, and Charcoal. Because I just can’t get enough faux bois, I’m using a brown woodgrain print from Joel Dewberry’s Aviary 2 collection for the binding.
What colors/fabrics are you using for your Sparkle Punch quilt?
***
The next quilt-along post, Making the Stars, will be on January 11.
