Stars Hollow Quilt – Pattern by Suzy Quilts

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Today I’m excited to share a quilt that I started about a year ago. I’ve made a few quilts before but this is the first quilt that I’ve made using a pattern. The pattern is the Stars Hollow Quilt by Suzy Quilts. I love the fun and graphic nature of her designs. For this quilt, I was able to use fabric from my stash. Woohoo! I believe most of the solid colors actually came from my grandma. My color selections were very influenced by the colors that Suzy used in the pattern. 

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If you’ve been following me for a while then you know that I mostly sew clothing but occasionally dabble in other crafts. I’ve always been interested in quilt making and I took a beginning quilting class about 12 years ago where I learned the basics. Since then, I’ve done just a bit of quilting here and there. The quilts that I’ve enjoyed making the most are actually improvisational quilts using  fabric scraps (check them out here and here). When I saw this design, I really loved the twist on a classic design and I was curious to try out a quilt pattern and see how they work. The pattern was very easy to follow and I think I managed to piece the quilt top over just a few weeks.

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For this quilt, I hired someone to do the actually quilting for me (you can check out her website here). I find the quilting tedious and my back gets sore so I thought I’d try outsourcing that part of the job. I had her to do an allover circle pattern which I thought would be a nice contrast to the angles in the design. I’m really pleased with the quilting. It’s much more professional looking and clean than what I would have been able to do myself. 

I haven't washed this quilt yet and I am nervous about the colors running. I plan to use a color catcher when I do wash it which will hopefully catch any color that does run. I like to use my quilts and love seeing how they wear over time. 

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If you are a fan of the tv show Gilmore Girls then I’m sure you recognize that the name of this pattern is that of the town in the show. This pattern was released when the new episodes of the show were released. I’ve been a huge fan of GG since it was first on tv so I was SUPER excited for the new episodes. It’s one of those shows that I watch over and over because it’s familiar and comforting. Do you have a show like that?

UPDATE 2021: If you are looking to learn how to sew a quilt, my e-course Improvisational Quilting for Garment Sewists is now live and available for purchase in the shop. This is a self paced and comprehensive course that teaches you everything you need to know to learn how to turn your fabric scraps into useful and unique improvisational quilts. You can learn more about it here.

Pink Squares Quilt

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Just a quick little post today to share a quilt I finished a few months ago. I started this quilt more than ten years ago before I moved California. Talk about a UFO! Around the time I started this quilt, I took a beginner quilting class at a local quilt store. It was really helpful for learning the basics of cutting and piecing and they are skills that I'm able to apply to garment construction as well. 

UPDATE 2021: If you’re interested in learning how to make a quilt, my e-course Improvisational Quilting for Garment Sewists is now live and available for purchase in the shop. This is a self paced and comprehensive course that teaches you everything you need to know to learn how to turn your fabric scraps into useful and unique improvisational quilts. You can learn more about it here.

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As I recall, my original vision for this quilt involved circular appliques on top of the squares. I considered adding something more like an applique or embroidery. But I opted to just get it done. Over the years, I slowly pieced this thing together and all that was left was to make a backing, quilt it and bind it. No small feat really. I referred to the book Sunday Morning Quilts for advice on quilting and binding which is not hard once you start doing it. I really love the designs in that book and maybe one day I'll get around to making one of them. For now, I'll just pull it off the shelf every once and a while and ogle the pretty photos.

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I actually like the back a lot more than I like the front. It's so simple with all that beautiful negative space. Plus you can see the quilting lines really well. I stitched lines on either side of the seam line of each square and then did a few at 45 degree angles. I like that the angled lines are not perfectly symmetrical because it gives a little more interest to an otherwise pretty boring quilt. I have a big bin in the closet full of scraps of fabric ready for other quilt ideas. There are just so many things that I'd like to make and not enough hours in the day. What's your oldest UFO? Have you transitioned from garment sewing to quilting or vice versa?

UPDATE 2021: If you’re interested in learning how to make a quilt, my e-course Improvisational Quilting for Garment Sewists is now live and available for purchase in the shop. This is a self paced and comprehensive course that teaches you everything you need to know to learn how to turn your fabric scraps into useful and unique improvisational quilts. You can learn more about it here.