Stunning Stars #5 - "Ring Around The Roses"!

Hi, all!

Welcome to the fifth week, and the fifth quilt, of the Stunning Stars Quilt-Along!  It's been a wild ride so far, and it's so exciting to hear so many of you talking about making your own star quilt - music to my ears!!  This week's quilt is one I made a while ago to debut a new fabric line for Free Spirit Fabrics, but I promised a tutorial for it then, so here it is!

I named this quilt "Ring Around The Roses" - I love the way the friendship stars nestle into each other!  

This block has been on my bucket list for a long time, but I didn't want to make it more than once, so I super-sized it for this quilt.

Wanting to showcase more of the Free Spirit fabrics in the quilt top, I used a print to make the final border on this version.  The tutorial below calls for a border made of the background print instead.

I did a brightly colored charm square patchwork back for this one to contrast with the relatively calm front.  I love all those pretty roses and pastel colors paired with the Kona Honeydew!

So here's the tutorial for this quilt - as a one-block quilt, it's really pretty easy, provided you are careful in putting your pieces together correctly as you sew them up.  Enjoy!

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“Ring Around The Roses”

A Stunning Stars Quilt

Finished size:  approximately 66” square

MATERIALS:

8 Prints - fat quarters or 1/4 yards

3 1/4 yards background fabric

CUTTING INSTRUCTIONS:

From each of your prints, you will cut two 7” squares to make the HSTs for the star points.  You can also choose to make your centers in the same print; in that case, you will also cut one 6.5” square.

From your background fabric, cut:

A - Eight 6.5” squares (unless you chose to make your star centers with the print.)  

B - One 18.5” square (center)

C - Four 12.5” squares (outer corners)

D - Eight 6.5” x 12.5” rectangles (top, bottom and sides)

You will also need sixteen 7” background squares for the HSTs that make up the star points.

E - Two 6.5” x 54.5” strips (side borders, can be pieced)

F - Two 6.5” x 66” strips (top and bottom borders, can be pieced)

NOTE:  You may want to wait to finalize the length of the borders until the center unit is completed, to be sure they fit properly on your quilt.

ASSEMBLY:

Pair up each 7” print square with a 7” background square.  Draw a diagonal line on the back of the background piece. Using the traditional method, make the HSTs for the star points.   Trim all of the HSTs to 6.5” square.  Don’t skip this step - you’ll be happier with the finished quilt if you take a few minutes to do it!

Please ignore my measurement notes in the bottom border!

Place the center square on your design wall and, using your HSTs and center 6.5” squares (either background or print, depending on your choice), arrange the stars as shown on the diagram.  Place the C and D background pieces as shown.

This diagram may make it easier to see how the stars relate to each other...
Don't use it for background placements, though.  Mine is assembled differently!

Now take the three blocks that touch the right side of the center square and sew them together, being careful to keep them in the right positions.  Repeat for the left side blocks.  Sew both strips to the center square.  Replace on the design wall.

Now take the five blocks that touch the top of the center unit you just created and sew them together, being careful to keep them in the right positions.  Repeat for the blocks that touch the bottom of the center unit.  Sew both strips to the center square.  Replace on the design wall.  

The next parts to assemble are the right and left sides, two columns of blocks that fit between the 12.5” corner squares.  Assemble those units and attach them to the center unit.

Now you will assemble the top and bottom sections.  Assemble the block units that fit between the two corner units, then attach the corner units to them.  Attach them to the center unit.

Now measure your quilt across the center vertically.  Make your right and left borders that length, pinning them to the sides of the quilt top and easing as necessary to make them fit.

Repeat for the top and bottom borders, measuring your quilt across the center horizontally.

Congratulations!  You’ve finished your quilt top!!

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I hope you enjoy this quilt as much as I did!  It's fun and easy and would make a great gift for a friend - remember, it's a friendship star!

And if this is the first week you've caught of the quilt-along, here's the quilts we've already seen...

"Scrappy Stars"

"Exploding Stars"

"Speak To Me Of Love"

"Supernova"

There's only one more Stunning Stars quilt to go!  I'll share it next Sunday, and then we start the Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge 2017 the following week!  Are you excited yet?

Hugs!

Sarah