Paper Piecing Stars and Stripes

I’m not sure why stars are so popular with me, and everyone else, but I sure make a lot of them! Last year, I was prepping for a workshop on paper piecing and trying to get it all done before bed the night before. I came across this odd palette that I had pulled together for an unknown reason and thought it looked pretty. I tossed it in my workshop case and went to bed.

The next morning I got to the workshop, pulled my fabrics, and realized I might have a problem. STRIPES! The colors are beautiful, but what was I thinking? An ombre stripe in an orange and a dusty blue colorway. A hot pink wavy stripe. And a strip of hot pink, orange, white and maroon. This was going to be a doozy! But wait! It all worked out so I’m sharing with you.

First, I laid out the pattern and then decided on my first fabric. I cut pieces so the stripes would all lie the same direction and pinned them to the paper foundation.

See where it’s going? It looked groovy to me so I kept laying out each color with the strips facing different directions until I had something that looked pleasing to me. There were two stars with slightly different angles in their shapes so it gave me an opportunity to choose different striped layouts. Since the pieces were pretty big and not too complicated, I was able to have all the sections pieced before I left for the day and finish them up when I got home. Here are the pieced blocks.

What to do with them? I have some pillows that aren’t really our style any more, so I added large enough borders to make pillow covers. I think they’re bright and funky, and I really like how the ombre stripes give an extra dimension.

I also created a quick video of installing the KAMsnaps on the backs of the envelope style. It was my first time using KAMsnaps and won’t be my last. I bought these from Amazon but have since found their actual website, and the service and selection are fantastic.

So, these cushions were here looking fun for several months, but it always bothered me a bit that they were floppy around the edges. Last week, I resolved that problem by pulling them apart and then quilting the tops. Since continuous curve quilting is my new favorite thing, I had a special bit of fun figuring out how to quilt the first star with no stops.

Now they’re a tight fit with no more floppy corners. I hope you like them.