Hi friends! I am so excited to be sharing more about one of my newest quilt patterns today – Star Struck! I know it's been two-ish weeks since its official release, but I couldn't not share about the Star Struck quilt pattern on the blog – specially since the cover quilt uses my very first BATIKS collection!
About Star Struck
Star Struck has big blocks (18"!!!) meaning it's perfect for showcasing some of your favorite fabrics – nothing is getting cut too small and there's lots of big pieces. This quilt pattern is FQ friendly and since it has big pieces it is beginner friendly.
I will say it does require quilters to maintain a consistent 1/4" seam allowance because lots of points meet in places, but all of the subunits (HSTs and Flying Geese) are trimmed to size to help maintain accuracy.
The pattern includes three sizes: baby quilt, throw size, and bed (queen) size.
The Inspiration
Now it's time for a little confession – Star Struck is a pattern that has been sitting in my drafts for years. I originally designed it alongside my Starly pattern while working on my 3rd fabric collection, Moonchild – you'll notice they're very similar in structure (sawtooth star block with a secondary design). At the time, I felt Starly fit the Moonchild collection better so that pattern went with the collection and Star Struck sat in my drafts waiting... and waiting.
The perfect opportunity for its release came after I was approached by Riley Blake Designs about working on my first batiks collection, Stellar. Since I went with a space / stars / moon inspired theme for the collection, I knew I had to have a star inspired quilt pattern. I considered recoloring Starly, but it didn't feel right for the collection – don't get me wrong, Starly and Stellar go great together, but I wanted something more.
That's when I remembered about Starly's sibling pattern in my drafts. I opened it up in Illustrator and mocked it up in the Stellar collection and I immediately knew they were a perfect fit.
Choosing the FQs
One of the hardest parts of the sewing process was actually choosing which fabrics I'd use. Star Struck uses 16 fat quarters for the throw size and Stellar has 25 prints, so I had to cut 9 out from this sample. I tried to pick a selection that showcased the range in colors in the collection while using a good combination of the prints available. I'm really happy with my selection and I love how they look all together.
Moon Joy
This doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the pattern or fabrics themselves, but it's something I'll always remember about Star Struck.
I was sewing this sample for H+H Americas at the same time as Artemis II was on its way to the moon and did its lunar flyby – there was something so special about working with these space inspired fabrics while watching space history being made that I'll never ever forget – quilty moon joy, for sure!
Long Arm Quilting (and binding!)
While I absolutely adored working on this quilt, I was in a huge time crunch due to my H+H Americas deadline – I had to have it done and that was fine and dandy, but I also had to get piece more quilt, bind two other quilts, and two backpacks done before getting on the plane.
After a (minor) crash out, my friend Julie mentioned one of our favorite longarmers was going to be at the show and she was driving in (meaning, no limited space!) and she offers binding services. So, I reached out to Katie in what felt like a Hail Mary move to see if she could long-arm these two quilts for me and she said yes. So once they were both done, I packed them up and overnight them to Katie for quilting and binding.
For this quilt, I picked one of my favorite pantos – Celestial Sky, which as the name suggest has moons and stars as the motifs. Just the perfect fit!
As I mentioned above, Katie also offers binding services so she machine bound my quilt and I looooove how it looks. She seriously did an amazing job and I couldn't be more grateful to her for squeezing me in last minute!
Quilt Info
Quilt Pattern: Star Struck by Cotton and Joy
Fabric: Stellar Batiks by Fran Gulick for Riley Blake Designs, Confetti Cottons in White (Background)
Pieced on my Janome M8
Quilted and Binding by: Katie Hanson of Modern Textiles Quilting
Panto: Celestial Sky
Purchase the Pattern