Sparkle Punch Quilt-Along: Making the Stars

Find the Sparkle Punch Quilt-Along main page here.

Read about Mo’s Sparkle Punch quilt here. 

Today's post is about how to make the stars. I say make the stars instead of make the blocks because the way this quilt top comes together is a little different than other star quilts you might have seen. 

Conventional star blocks are usually made with 9 components, like the block shown above. In a conventional star quilt, blocks would be finished and then sewn into a quilt top.

For this quilt, we're eliminating the four corner units so the stars can be nestled together. This creates a plus-sign shape that could be difficult to sew together in the conventional way. Instead, we're going to make sets of block components and wait until we're planning the quilt top layout to sew them together.

Cut Your Negative Space Fabric

Last week's post detailed how many 3-1/2" squares are needed to make the stars. You'll also need to cut squares from your 3-1/2 yards of negative space fabric. (This will be the background behind the stars.)

To do this, cut the negative space fabric into 35 strips 3-1/2" by width of fabric. Subcut the strips into 384 squares 3-1/2" x 3-1/2".

Note: If you're planning an asymmetrical composition with more negative space (i.e. not entirely filled in with stars) you'll need more squares cut from your negative space fabric. However you won't necessarily know exactly how many until we get to the Making the Quilt Top stage next week. 

Make the Stars

1. Each star will be made from 5 star fabric squares and 4 squares of your negative space fabric. Reserve 1 of the star fabric squares for the center of the star and cut the other 4 in half diagonally, creating 8 right triangles. These triangles will become the points of the star.

2. Place 1 of the triangles, face down, over the lower right corner of 1 of the negative space squares, tilting it at a slightly wonky angle. Sew in place, keeping your seam within 1/4" of the edge of the triangle.

3. Use a ruler and rotary cutter to trim away the excess negative space fabric, creating a 1/4" seam allowance.

4. Press the seam open, creating a wonky star point where the negative space fabric used to be.

5. Repeat the same process to sew a second triangle to the lower left corner of the same square of negative space fabric.

6. Trim away the excess fabric, creating a 1/4" seam allowance and press the seam open.

7. Square up the finished points unit to 3-1/2" x 3-1/2".

8. Repeat Steps 2 - 7 to make 3 more points units (for a total of 4). Stack the finished points units together with their matching center square.

Important Note: The triangles need to be placed so that, after being sewn down and pressed, they cover the entire area that was formerly occupied by the negative space fabric. This will ensure that your finished block components measure a perfect 3-1/2" x 3-1/2", which is essential to having your quilt top come together smoothly.

Using larger triangles (or other scraps) can make this step easier, but it can also produce a tremendous amount of waste, which is why I recommend using the triangles cut from 3-1/2" squares. With a little practice, it won't be so difficult to make those points work!

I mention this whenever I post about wonky piecing, but I'll say it again here: A little wonkiness goes a long way. The crazier your angles, the more trouble you're likely to have covering the corners of your block components. If you've never done piecing like this before, it may help to practice on some scraps before moving on to your "good" fabric.   

Repeat these steps to make the following sets of star components for the front of the quilt:

80 Whole Stars: Follow directions, as written.

14 Three-Quarter Stars: Follow directions, cutting only 3 star fabric squares in half (to make 6 triangles) and making 3 points units.

2 Half Stars: Follow directions, cutting only 2 star fabric squares in half (to make 4 triangles) and making 2 points units.

18 Quarter Stars: Follow directions, cutting the star fabric square in half (to make 2 triangles) and making 1 points unit.

Note: If you're planning to make an asymmetrical composition with lots of negative space, there isn't a specific number of stars that you need to make. Just make however many you want to have in your composition. You can always add more later if you find you need them.

Helpful Tools

A 3-1/2" x 3-1/2" ruler can make it easy to square up the individual block components.

If you want to get really fancy, use a rotating cutting mat to square up sets of block components without moving them.

***

The next quilt-along post, Making the Quilt Top, will be on January 19.

Comments

[Laura]

Adoro le stelle!!! Grazie :-)

[Mandy]

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful quilt. Not ready to follow yet, but fully intend to do so in the future.

[NancyinSTL]

Loving the Sparkle quilt! Thanks so much!

I'm currently laying out the squares for a Plus quilt, which is similar to the way you lay out your Sparkle quilt--almost finished, just need to cut a few more squares to finish out the edges. I'm very tempted to make mine a Sparkle quilt instead, but I need to get this quilt done ASAP in time for the upcoming baby shower.

[Suzanne]

While I'm not making the sparkle quilt right now, I am truly appreciative of the time and detail you have put into your steps. Thanks, Elizabeth!

[Mary Claire]

I just finished cutting my star fabrics last night and am excited to start assembling them! Thank you!

[Janet Rochleau]

I'm thrilled to see your post. I've been working on my quilt already. I cut my squares for the points 1/4 inch larger which makes it easier for me. I also lay out 8 negative spaces with the triangles in place and sew them in a chain. It goes so fast! I'm having a blast as this is only my 3rd quilt! Thanks for the idea!

[Megan]

Thanks Elizabeth! I'm still working on the 'wonky'. When I was trying to figure this out before you posted a tutorial I cut my 'star points' at 4" and split them in half. If makes it easier to cover the background and be wonky! I have 20 stars made. I LOVE this quilt!

[Laura]

I made the paintbox quilt from your blog, but did it long after the quilt-along so it took me ages...I'm determined to keep up with this one! Thanks for sharing your know-how online, its so kind of you :) ps love your book too, looking forward to the next one....

[sukie]

great tutorial! thanks woman!

[Meagan]

This is awesome! And my first QAL, but as usual, I am having a hard time figuring out how much of each fabric I need to make the stars. Unless a pattern tells me I need x yards, or fat quarters, etc i have a hard time figuring it out on my own. But I'm determined to do this (any advice here would be welcomed though ;)

[Elizabeth]

Meagan,
I understand what you're asking, but it's not really that kind of project. This is a scrap quilt, which means that everyone isn't necessarily using the same number of fabrics or making the same number of stars from each fabric. Instead, you can cut your 3-1/2" squares for the stars from whatever (and however many different) fabrics you want. Hopefully, this will give us all a chance to dig into our scraps and use more different fabrics in more different ways than we might with a more conventional "everyone use the same number of fat quarters" kind of pattern.

If you're looking to calculate how many stars you can get from new yardage, start with how many 3-1/2" squares can be cut from a 3-1/2" x width of fabric strip. For most fabrics, you should be able to get at least 10 squares (2 whole stars) from such a strip. If you want to calculate how much new yardage to buy, start with that and multiply the number of strips you'll need x 3.5 to end up with how long each cut of fabric will need to be.

For example, if I want to make 10 stars from a particular fabric, I would need 5 strips 3-1/2" x width of fabric. So, 5 strips x 3.5" = 17.5", which rounds up to 18". 18 divided by 36 (the length of one yard) is .5 or half a yard, which I may or may not want to round up to 5/8 yard to provide a little leeway for any cutting mishaps.

Good luck!

[Michelle]

I've had my pile cut out since the weekend...will start cutting out my neutral fabric when I get off of work! :) Am very glad I get next Monday off while my husband goes to work ~ will give me quality time with my sewing machine!

[Meagan]

Elizabeth- thank you!! That helps. I don't have scraps or a stash and I buy as I go and math has never been my strong point. So thank you, this will help so much!

[Tsigeyusv]

This is such a fun quilt. When I first saw Mo's quilt I was trying to figure out how to replicate the design. Now I won't have you as you will do it for us. I'm so grateful. I have a different quilt lined up for next piecing, as its a quilt my son has chosen for his "go away college quilt" and that's happening this fall. Perhaps I'll get lucky and make another quilt this year? Who knows, but I sure want to make this one!

[Greta]

Thank you for this tutorial. Can hardly wait to see how you put it all together!

[kitblu]

I love that your stars are not symmetrical and neither is their placement. Great work! Great idea! After all, in nature nothing is symmetrical.

[Sarah Holcomb]

Thanks for the info about flat fabric measurement. I am primarily a garment sewist, and my quilt cotton stash didn't fit any of the palettes I wanted to work from for this quilt.
Just about to cut squares today!

[Karina]

Well, I can't participate this time around, but I have to say that I LOVE your 'yes,' 'no,' picture! :) I laughed out loud.

[Rachelle]

Hi Elizabeth,
I hope you don' mind but I wanted to share with you a trick that I came up with to help with the placement of my triangles prior to sewing so that I end up with neat 3 1/2 inch squares after cutting and pressing the triangles each time.
I thought it was best described with pictures, so I created a little set on my flickr account
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36740453@N04/sets/72157628848899569/detail/
Cheers
Rachelle

[Kalle]

Would it be an okay idea to go with 4 1/2" squares, in order to not have to do quite so many stars to get the same size finished quilt? It seems like it would work, but i've not done one before so i'm hoping you'll help me see if i'm missing something here...thanks!

[Elizabeth Hartman]

Thanks for sharing that, Rachelle!

Kalle, you can make whatever stars you want. You'll just need to plan a different layout and determine how many of the larger stars you'll need. Gridded paper can be a big help for that. Good luck!

[Sarah Holcomb]

Hey, I'm back!
I bought four different fabrics (half a meter each) and those added up to 57 sets of 5 squares. So, for the record, approximately two meters gets you approximately 285 3.5 x 3.5 squares.

Luckily, those fabrics were on sale and I had three other fabrics that worked nicely with the purchased fabric, so now I have plenty: 99 sets of 5 squares.

I'm also using a solid purple sheet for the negative space and (hopefully) the back. I guess I should cut out the back first, then I can cut the remnants for the star negative space.

[Mary Ashby]

I'm going smaller! I cut the squares 3" and plan to do only 60 full stars for a wall hanging. I've sewn 20 sets so far and it seems to be working!!! Thanks, this is my first QAL and I love it. It's also my first "wonky" attempt.

[Martha Campbell]

This quilt looks like great fun and a good way to use all those fabrics in my stash. Thank you - I will get started tomorrow!

[Robyn]

I really love this quilt and are strongly tempted to join in in, but I am in the middle of making a quilt based on your foundation pieced spiderweb tutorial. However I will save it for my next project and keep up with the posts and do some practice stars along the way. Thanks for the tutorials - they're great!