Improv Stars in Love Patchwork & Quilting
Most of the time when I have a design published, it’s because I pitched it to a magazine and they accepted it. But last year, a magazine in the UK came to me, which was very exciting. I have often purchased Love Patchwork & Quilting because quilters in other parts of the world sometimes have a different aesthetic, or at least a different viewpoint, and it’s a good way to expose yourself to their ideas.
Love Patchwork & Quilting Issue 85. Get a digital issue today! My quilt is inside. 😊
They had seen my Instagram and wondered if I would design a scrap quilt for an upcoming issue. They didn’t have to ask twice.
Scrappy Stars by Diane Harris for Love Patchwork & Quilting Issue 85. Quilting by Julie Lechner @beenquiltin.
But let me tell you the full story of how this quilt came to be, because it took a circuitous route to completion.
Years back when I was with Quiltmaker, we had an idea for small blocks that we’d present online at no charge. I designed and wrote some of the block patterns along with my colleagues, and we named them QM Bitty Blocks. We had so much fun coming up with them, testing the instructions and making huge sets of the blocks for ourselves.
Eventually I put mine into a row quilt, and coincidentally I just heard from my longarm magician Julie Lechner that she has finished the quilting. I can hardly wait to get it once life settles down.
Apparently I got carried away making scrappy stars because I had a lot left over. I made a video of the leftover stars and posted it on Instagram.
I wonder if this is what the magazine editors saw when they contacted me. I was in the process of trying to figure out a design in which I could use all these 4″ stars. I thought maybe some contrast in the form of wonky little stars would do the trick.
I started with a few and made them a little bigger than my others. I tried a checkerboard look.
I made a few more and thought about putting them in rows, keeping the same kind together.
It never felt quite right so I added a larger improv star and went back to the checkerboard idea.
I made more stars and tried putting them in diagonal rows. See how the red ones travel diagonally across the quilt, above? Still not convinced.
Eventually I had made so many stars and tried so many configurations that I didn’t know if I was coming or going. At times like this you wonder why you wanted to be a quilt designer.
It was around this time that Love Patchwork & Quilting came calling. I agreed to create a quilt for them under a deadline, which meant that I had to get cracking and figure it out. They also wanted a cushion (Americans call it a pillow) and step-by-step photos with instructions for everything. Yowza. But I complied. 😊
Issue 85 was to have arrived on newsstands in the UK March 18, but with the pandemic I am not sure what happened. And I’m not sure when paper copies will arrive in the US, but you can always get a digital edition! I wasn’t sure how I’d like digital magazines and books, but I am a fan. This would be the perfect time for you to try it. Order a hard copy if you prefer. Or wait for the pandemic to pass and then visit the newsstand at Joann or Barnes & Noble.
The pillow was actually fun to make. It has an envelope back so that you just pop in the pillow form of your choice, and it can be removed for laundering.
If you find it on the newsstand when life returns to normal (it will do that, won’t it?), there’s a bonus gift inside, a booklet on making a modern medallion!
I couldn’t be happier with the process, the project and the experience of working with the Love Patchwork & Quilting staff.
Just one problem.
I still have these stars.
Scrappy Stars will go into my trunk show, “Make Extraordinary Scrap Quilts.” I’d love to bring it to your city, so get in touch, and Let’s Talk Quilts!Â
Tags: improv patchwork, improv piecing, love patchwork & quilting, make extraordinary scrap quilts, quilt design, Quiltmaker, scrap quilts, stash sewing, trunk shows
Beverly
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Diane, you must live in Hooterville, because your blog is such a HOOT! I am star crazy too, but not the 4″ variety…thank you for eliminating all the wrong possibilities and researching the fabulous results.
And from my research on this Virus Pandemic: “Anti-fragility – things gain from disorder!!! YOU will grow in unmeasurable ways, our schools will get stronger and better, our society will change for the better.” Jon Gering, President of Bethel College in North Newton, KS (proudly my alma mater).
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Susan
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Hello, Beverly! Writing from Roeland Park, KS in NE Johnson County. The positive comments you made and the quote from Jon, brightened my day! May everyone be safe, healthy, and at peace! Have a good sewing day, and I’m eager to see how many stars can come from my stash…thank you, Diane!
Jennifer Grist
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I loved making the Bitty Blocks! I have a box full of them amongst my UFO’s and the stars continue to be produced as my friends keep passing me the scraps which they consider to be too small!
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Diane Paul
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I made a bunch of the itty bitty blocks and just used 4 of the bow ties to finish a top a friend had made that just needed 4 blocks in the corners. I appliqued them in place. They were perfect.
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Sandi Griepenstroh
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Diane, you have such interesting stories and have led a very fun quilt life! I always enjoy when you share your shenanigans and activities! This story proved the old adage, “You learn good judgment by exercising bad judgment.” or in this case, maybe we could change it to, “You create good design by occasionally making bad design.” Lol!
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Maureen
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Is the book that your pattern is in the one picture above that says on the side Color it In? I want to order it but want to make sure I’m getting the right one. I love to make stars and I love anything wonky and asymmetrical. Guess that’s the way my brain works.
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Diane Harris
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Yes, Maureen! That’s the one! This was such an enjoyable quilt to make. Can’t wait to see your own wonky stars!