Broken Star

1,414 pieces and counting . . .

I started a king-sized Broken Star quilt for our daughter and her husband in April of 2008.  I am almost to the quilting stage today!

In the beginning...

I had NEVER attempted anything like this! It needed to be a 105"x 107." OK.....so how do I figure out how much fabric I need of each color? Oh, by the way, I didn't have a pattern.

I did find a great book by Jan Krentz that helped me get started. She had lots of tips and lessons that really made my journey easier. All of her patterns are smaller quilts, but the centers all start out the same. I just had to figure out how to expand a 60" square Lonestar quilt pattern into a king sized Broken Star design.

After creating a mock-up of the chosen colors, I took a photo and copied that photo several times to make a paste-up of what the finished product will look like.  I gained the final aproval of the color placement and started cutting. 

After cutting all the fabric strips and sewing them together in the proper orders, I started cutting fabric in 45⁰strips. When all the diagonal strips were cut and placed in the proper order, I started piecing them together.

um......did I tell you I had never attempted anything like this before and that I did not have a pattern? Garment sewing and quilt piecing are two very different processes.

The book suggested I make a blocking template for my ironing table so each diamond would be the exact size without distortion.

Yes, each one had to be pinned, starched, and pressed into shape. It was amazing how well it worked.

Finally, I had enough finished diamonds to start sewing the star! Here is the center of the quilt, done and hanging up on my design wall. June 2008.

Blocking, starching and pressing do make perfect seams. I am so happy with this!