Mighty Stars - Red, White, and Blue Quilt
Back in 2022, Modern Service Quilts reached out to me asking if I'd want to be a Design Partner. Being the wife of a retired Army veteran, I was honored to be asked and immediately said yes.
After talking for a bit on what pattern would best fit their mission to bridge the gap between modern quilts and the quilts typically made to honor those who have served the United States, we went with the Mighty Stars quilt pattern. I was super excited about this choice because I had always wanted to see a red, white, and blue Mighty Stars.
And I was blown away with their take on the pattern! Instead of making the stars different shades of blue and red and keeping the white around the stars, they reversed it. They made the stars white, and changed the background to look as if blue and red ribbons were going around the stars.
I stared and stared at it and wondered why it never occurred to me to make this version of this pattern!
Since then, I've received more than a few messages asking me how to make this version of the pattern, so it's well overdue for me to share how to make this ribbons version of Mighty Stars.
Red, White, and Blue Fabric
I knew I could do the math for this extension, but I wanted to double and triple check that it was right before sharing it extension with the world. This meant making my own red, white, and blue quilt sample, so my first step was getting some red, white, and blue fabric.
After some searching, I decided to go with Riley Blake's Dapple Dot basic for this quilt. This basic has just the right amount of texture to elevate the quilt, while still reading like a solid from afar and not detract from the overall design.
Once I had the math done and the fabric on hand, I got to sewing my HSTs and then my blocks. As soon as I had the first block, I knew this would be perfect.
I wish I had a picture of the quilt top before quilting but I needed to get this to Alexis of Stitched by Alexis asap for quilting and photographing so I don't.
Long Arm Quilting
As I just mentioned, I sent this quilt to Alexis of Stitched by Alexis for quilting. Once she had it in her hands we talked about what I wanted for the quilting. I didn't have a specific panto in mind, but I knew I wanted some organic lines, almost like waves to invoke the feeling of a flag waving in the breeze.
Alexis sent me a few options and we picked Driftwood to add the right amount of movement and texture to this quilt.
For the backing and binding, I kept it simple. I really wanted to keep the focus on the quilt pattern design, so I went with Shades in Navy for the backing and Dapple Dot in Silver for the binding.
Making Your Own
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, since this version of Mighty Stars is so popular, I'm adding here an extension for the main pattern.
This extension includes the fabric requirements and instructions to make what I'm calling the Ribbons version of Mighty Stars. In this case, it's red, white, and blue, but you could easy change it up red and blue for other colors to create a stunning version of this quilt! (Maybe red and green for Christmas? Or wedding colors for a wedding or anniversary gift!)
Please note you will still need to purchase the Might Stars quilt pattern
for the full cutting and sewing instructions.
I hope you love this variation of Mighty Stars as much as I do! And many, many thanks to the folk at Modern Service Quilts for creating this beautiful version of this pattern to begin with!
Last, but not least, I adore the work Alexis did on this quilt for the quilting and binding, as well as the photographing she did before sending it back. I love every single one of these photos. They're better than I could've imagined, so scroll on and admire Alexis' work!
Quilt Information
Quilt Pattern: Mighty Stars (Ribbons Extension) by Cotton and Joy
Quilt Top Fabric: Dapple Dot in Barn Red, Navy, and Silver, and Confetti Cottons Solids in White [Purchase quilt kit here!]
Backing: Riley Blake Designs' Shades in Navy
Binding: Dapple Dot in Silver
Pieced on my Janome M7
Quilted and Photographed by: Stitched by Alexis
Panto: Driftwood