Hidden Star – July Island Batik Ambassador Challenge

Island Batik fabric

Paisley Dot Earth Tones by Island BatikJuly’s Island Batik Ambassador Challenge is Secondary Patterns. I knew I wanted to use the 10″ stack precuts of Paisley Dot in Earth Tones along with the orange and black matching yardage that I received in my first Ambassador fabric box earlier this year.

Seeing Stars

I decided that you can’t go wrong with a Hunter’s Star design and redrafted a pattern I taught several years ago on a quilting cruise, which I call Hidden Stars, this is just one of the layouts that I teach as part of my Double Occupancy workshop. My original design used the Rapid Fire Hunters Star – Large ruler by Studio 180 Design to make a 10″ finished block.

Hidden Stars (c) 2015
Part of the Double Occupancy workshop by Karen Overton, The Quilt Rambler

This quilt was made back in 2015 using a 10″ stack and a 2.5″ strip precut fabrics also from Island Batik plus background yardage. It finished at 60″ x 60″. I didn’t have that much fabric this time but knew I could make it work if I downsized the pattern to use the Rapid Fire Hunters Star – Petite ruler making a 6″ finished block.

Here’s how I got creative and cut the trapezoids and half square triangles out of my 10″ squares.

Making it work from a 10″ square – my triangles and trapezoids are cut with a little scrap fabric left for future projects.

A Star is Born

I love the Hunter Star construction method as taught by Deb Tucker of Studio 180 Design. I have made several layout variations with this humble block and can almost make them in my sleep, as it’s sorta an assembly line method of construction.

Aurifil thread sent the perfect match for my fabric bundle

 

Chain piece trapezoids to the “star” strip, press

 

Trim according to ruler instructions then sew the other side of the trapezoid to another “star” strip and proceed as directed.

Once the trapezoids have their diamond “stars” on each side then trim again with the tool following the instructions included with the ruler. At this point, you can now add the oversized half square triangle then began your layout. It’s always best to layout the half blocks before assembling and trimming into complete blocks as sometimes there are “design changes”.

Laying out the design using half blocks to verify placement

Once I verified my “hidden star” in the center I began sewing the half blocks together to form the blocks, then they needed to be trimmed. Part of the method of Deb Tucker techniques is to oversize the units then trim with her tool – this allows for the points to match instead of leaving it to chance or precision piecing.

I like to press my seams open and use a stiletto to assure that my points match

 

Let the assembly begin, I like to join two rows together at one time. I decided to break up the assembly line and trim the blocks as I got to their row instead of doing them all at once and running the risk of misplacement

 

Almost done, deciding upon the border – do I have enough yardage left from my ambassador box?

Hidden Stars in The Wild

I had to make a little design change when it came to the border – a tad narrower than I had drafted in EQ8, but that’s the amount of fabric I had to work with and the finished quilt at 37″ x 37″ fell into the challenge guidelines of 36″ or above. Yep, all is well.

I enjoyed taking a few outdoor shots between the rain storms.

Hidden Stars By Karen Overton, The Quilt Rambler
Hidden Stars hanging outside the RV

 

Hidden Stars by Karen Overton
I’m a happy camper, love how this variation of Hidden Stars turned out using the earth tones of Paisley Dot

 

Hidden Stars by Karen Overton
Hidden Stars in the wild

Scrappy or Planned – You Can’t Go Wrong With Hunter’s Star

There are so many variations that can be applied to the Hunter’s Star block, and even within my layout of Hidden Stars! I loved my original throw in Christmas scrappy prints and I am going to enjoy this version in the earth tones of Paisley Dot during the fall as a wallhanging or table topper. And by the way, I did not use all the 42 squares in my 10″ stack of Paisley Dot – I plan on piecing these together to make a scrappy backing and using some of that yummy batting from Hobbs in the recent ambassador box  – I can’t wait to get back in my studio to be reacquainted with my longarm – I’m stacking up quilt tops with our monthly challenges!

In the meantime, I am teaching at a local quilt shop and traveling to teach. Coming soon is a Hunter’s Star class locally and I do offer this as part of a workshop called Double Occupancy which makes the larger version shown above.

For fun, I drafted out another colorway using Island Batik’s Blue Moon, which I have purchased yardage for – hope to make this one soon. Blue Moon collection and Paisley Dot collection are in stores now, be sure and check with your local quilt shop and ask for them by name!

Hidden Stars, Blue Moon collection from Island Batik, designed by The Quilt Rambler

*disclaimer: The fabrics used to construct my Hidden Stars with Paisley Dot was provided to me by Island Batik as part of the Ambassador program. Other Island Batik fabrics or likenesses in this blog post are from my personal collection of Island Batik fabrics. The Aurifil thread used to piece this project was provided as part of the Ambassador program. Thank you Island Batik and Aurifil!

Be sure and check in with the other Island Batik Ambassadors throughout the month to see their interpretations of this month’s challenge. Link to the ambassadors here or visit the Island Batik facebook page.

This is Karen Overton, The Quilt Rambler, dreaming of the next Island Batik Challenge …

Don’t forget to leave a comment and to follow across Social Media! Stay tuned! There’s always something going on in The Quilt Rambler studio!

Island Batik Fabric
Coming Soon – August Island Batik Challenge uses the Ocean Odyssey collection and I can’t wait to be a part of the Blog Hop! Stay tuned!

 

 

14 thoughts on “Hidden Star – July Island Batik Ambassador Challenge

    • TheQuiltRambler says:

      Thanks Sarah, I really enjoyed making that one. Ocean Odyssey has all the bright colors that make my heart sing. I’m working on that project now and can’t wait to share it. Looking forward to your creations as well as the other ambassadors – it’s sew much fun to see how others interpret the challenges!

  1. Cherie says:

    That’s a great hunter’s star pattern. I think both colorways are great. It’s been raining everyday here in Louisiana for about 2 weeks now. My grass is out of control.

    • TheQuiltRambler says:

      The grass has been a little out of control here too. At least we aren’t experiencing a drought! And thankfully all the rain isn’t coming at once or we’d be flooding. I do think I want to make the Blue Moon colorway as I bought a boatload of that fabric – you know how that goes, sometimes fabric just jumps out at you and says “buy me, love me, take me home!” Here’s to sunny days and green grass! And time to mow AND time to sew!

  2. Brenda says:

    I love this hidden star pattern – and of course, those beautiful batiks!! Can’t wait to see how you quilt them up in your new studio!!

    • TheQuiltRambler says:

      Thanks Brenda – I haven’t even thought about the quilting yet, but will probably use the beautiful Hobbs Wool batting from the most recent Island Batik Ambassador box. I am stacking up the quilts in waiting that’s for sure! Can’t wait for show and tell!

Comments are closed.

This site uses cookies to offer you a better browsing experience. By browsing this website, you agree to our use of cookies.