Sister's Choice Quilts

My interests are quilting, reading, cooking, family, decorating, and matters of style. I post regular quilting tutorials and book reviews of current fiction.

Stars and Baskets, A Finish

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This quilt turned out just as pretty as I had hoped it would.  The fabrics are Mill Book Circa 1892 from Collections for a Cause by Moda.    They are reproduction fabrics taken from an actual French fabric mill design book.  The quality of these fabrics was so exceptional; they seemed extra silky and the colors were so rich.  The main colors are ruby red, a deep purple, and a sage green.

Moda's owner and founder Howard Marcus Dunn produces these Collections for a Cause fabric lines and donates the proceeds from the sales to various charitable causes he supports.  I believe the Texas Quilt Museum may have benefited from this collection of fabric.    At any rate, the inspiration for the Stars and Baskets quilt above was an actual quilt from 1890 called Baskets and Stars.  Moda is based in Texas, as many of you are aware, and Mr. Dunn changed up the design of the original quilt's seven pointed star to a Texas Lone Star for this modern version of the quilt.

The quilt was not difficult to make, and, when broken into smaller steps, actually went together fairly quickly without much fuss.  My new Bernina made short work of the appliqué, with very good results.  I used a lightweight double sided fusible called Heat and Bond, which I liked very much.  If you are interested in how to do machine appliqué with this product, Kimberley Jolly of Fatquartershop.com has a wonderful YouTube tutorial with Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts.  I watched it several times and got so much information  out of it.

My appliqué stitch was  number 1329 on my Bernina 740.  I used invisible thread for my stitching.  I watched another YouTube video by Heirloom Creations on how to do this stitch with the Bernina.  If you have a 700 Series Bernina, you can learn so much from these videos.  They were ever so much more instructional than the lame class I took from the dealer.

The final size of the quilt is 70 x 70 inches.  I took loads of notes from the instructional videos I watched, so if I have more appliqué in my future (which I hope I will!) I will be up to the challenge and not have to reinvent the wheel.  I tell you, if you want to get up to speed with a new technique such as machine appliqué,  the simple easy shapes required of this quilt are the way to go.  After making Stars and Baskets, I feel as if "I've got this".

Hope you have a great weekend!  I will be starting out a new project for my son.  Can't wait to share my progress with you. 

63 responses to “Stars and Baskets, A Finish”

  4. Gorgeous, gorgeous quilt, Nicole! I need to go watch the Edyta video today before I appliqué my penny block and probably change my negative attitude before I start!! We are close to starting putting seed in the ground up here, hopefully on the weekend. Take care!

  5. Gorgeous, gorgeous quilt, Nicole! I need to go watch the Edyta video today before I appliqué my penny block and probably change my negative attitude before I start!! We are close to starting putting seed in the ground up here, hopefully on the weekend. Take care!

  6. Gorgeous, gorgeous quilt, Nicole! I need to go watch the Edyta video today before I appliqué my penny block and probably change my negative attitude before I start!! We are close to starting putting seed in the ground up here, hopefully on the weekend. Take care!

  16. Love how your quilt turned out! And it’s so great that you have fun with your new sewing machine:-)
    Have a wonderful weekend!

  17. Love how your quilt turned out! And it’s so great that you have fun with your new sewing machine:-)
    Have a wonderful weekend!

  18. Love how your quilt turned out! And it’s so great that you have fun with your new sewing machine:-)
    Have a wonderful weekend!

  19. Beautiful! So glad you found a groove for the appliqué. I haven’t done much of it, so have to re-learn the steps every time!

  20. Beautiful! So glad you found a groove for the appliqué. I haven’t done much of it, so have to re-learn the steps every time!

  21. Beautiful! So glad you found a groove for the appliqué. I haven’t done much of it, so have to re-learn the steps every time!

  28. I love your quilt Nicole and am sorry I let that fabric slip by. Thanks for the tip on the you tube video. Are you doing your Moda Blockhead with all one line of fabric or a variety?

  29. I love your quilt Nicole and am sorry I let that fabric slip by. Thanks for the tip on the you tube video. Are you doing your Moda Blockhead with all one line of fabric or a variety?

  30. I love your quilt Nicole and am sorry I let that fabric slip by. Thanks for the tip on the you tube video. Are you doing your Moda Blockhead with all one line of fabric or a variety?

  31. Gorgeous! And thanks for the links to the YouTube videos. I “liked” them so they are saved for future reference.

  32. Gorgeous! And thanks for the links to the YouTube videos. I “liked” them so they are saved for future reference.

  33. Gorgeous! And thanks for the links to the YouTube videos. I “liked” them so they are saved for future reference.

  34. Well done!! This is a delightful quilt and I appreciate the good information and links you’ve included in your post.
    Hope you’re happy dancing a bit to celebrate this finish!!
    Hugs!

  35. Well done!! This is a delightful quilt and I appreciate the good information and links you’ve included in your post.
    Hope you’re happy dancing a bit to celebrate this finish!!
    Hugs!

  36. Well done!! This is a delightful quilt and I appreciate the good information and links you’ve included in your post.
    Hope you’re happy dancing a bit to celebrate this finish!!
    Hugs!

  37. Your quilt turned out beautifully! Yes, your new Bernina had good results, but it’s YOUR skill guiding the blocks through the machine that made the difference!

  38. Your quilt turned out beautifully! Yes, your new Bernina had good results, but it’s YOUR skill guiding the blocks through the machine that made the difference!

  39. Your quilt turned out beautifully! Yes, your new Bernina had good results, but it’s YOUR skill guiding the blocks through the machine that made the difference!

  49. This quilt is very appealing – nice job.
    I too watched the Edyta Sitar video on machine applique when I did my first machine applique quilt (it was Edyta’s pattern “Dancing Umbrella”). I watched the video several times before I started and several more times as I worked on it. It was so helpful. I also used invisible thread but still feel like I need more experience to be comfortable with machine applique. But it’s so much faster than by hand!

  50. This quilt is very appealing – nice job.
    I too watched the Edyta Sitar video on machine applique when I did my first machine applique quilt (it was Edyta’s pattern “Dancing Umbrella”). I watched the video several times before I started and several more times as I worked on it. It was so helpful. I also used invisible thread but still feel like I need more experience to be comfortable with machine applique. But it’s so much faster than by hand!

  51. This quilt is very appealing – nice job.
    I too watched the Edyta Sitar video on machine applique when I did my first machine applique quilt (it was Edyta’s pattern “Dancing Umbrella”). I watched the video several times before I started and several more times as I worked on it. It was so helpful. I also used invisible thread but still feel like I need more experience to be comfortable with machine applique. But it’s so much faster than by hand!

  55. What a wonderful job you did! Your quilt is gorgeous! Looking forward to seeing your other applique projects 😀

  56. What a wonderful job you did! Your quilt is gorgeous! Looking forward to seeing your other applique projects 😀

  57. What a wonderful job you did! Your quilt is gorgeous! Looking forward to seeing your other applique projects 😀

  58. Lovely quilt! I’m kind of partial to baskets, altho I have not done one yet. The combination of the baskets with stars is a refreshing design. And the colors are great.

  59. Lovely quilt! I’m kind of partial to baskets, altho I have not done one yet. The combination of the baskets with stars is a refreshing design. And the colors are great.

  60. Lovely quilt! I’m kind of partial to baskets, altho I have not done one yet. The combination of the baskets with stars is a refreshing design. And the colors are great.