Super Sized Evening Star :: Improv

Usually I make a quilt and then for the fun of it I'll make a mini.  This time the mini came before the quilt!

I was asked if I could make a quilt like the Evening Star Mini I made last year.   For the mini, I made the center block and increased the size with borders of improv piecing for a finished quilt that was 18 1/2" square.  Easily done.  I needed to increase everything to a lap quilt size, approximately 50" x 65".  Could I do it?!
   

I thought about it for a day or so and decided it was something that could be done.  The hardest part would be super sizing the star.  It's easy to reduce the size of a pattern, but increasing a pattern to the size I needed would be a bit more complicated!

My star was going to be 32" square!  Huge compared to the original block!  I knew trying to increase the original from the pattern would be nearly impossible and probably take a tank of ink and a ream of paper, not to mention an enormous amount of time.  I decided the best option was draw the star in EQ8.  That way I could easily increase the size for printing.

The star has eight sections.  Four of one block and four of another.  My plan was to print one of each section, tape it together and then trace it onto a large sheet of freezer paper.  Mission accomplished!  When paper piecing with freezer paper you don't actually stitch on the lines on the front, you fold the paper back and stitch very closely to the fold.  After which you fold the paper back and iron the freezer paper so that it sticks to your fabric.  One bonus of using freezer paper is you can reuse the templates.  That was the main reason I decided to use it for this project.

This method worked better than I could have imagined!  I was easily able to manage the large pieces, reuse templates and sew the sections together for the perfect star!

If you aren't familiar with freezer paper piecing Google is your friend!  There are a lot of very good tutorials online.  Bryan House Quilts has a tutorial that walks you through the process.

With the star in the bag, it was time to tackle the improv portion of the quilt.  I divided up the quilt so I knew how many inches of improv was needed for the sides, top and bottom.  And then I got in the zone and made improv blocks of all shapes and sizes.  I kept plugging away over the course of a few days until I thought I had enough of the plain pieces.  

Then I tackled the colored triangles that would border the center star.  There needed to be enough to go around the quilt and look cohesive, but didn't need to be perfectly spaced.  Another mission accomplished.  There was a bit of math involved...and we all know that isn't my strong suit. 

 

Once the first round of improv blocks were added to the star, the triangle pieces were increased to the size needed by adding more background pieces and placed around the quilt.   

That led to adding more improv sections in between the triangle blocks and eventually sewing it all together.

Once the top was finished I could sit back with a sigh of relief!  It all came together much easier than I thought it would.  From the redrawing of the star, to the improv piecing to the placement of the triangles!  It looks like it was a quilt planned from the start, but we all know that isn't the way I work!  I like to take on an idea and work out the details as I go.  That's normal, right?!

Next up will be quilting.  I plan on quilting something similar to the mini quilt, but on a larger scale.  Wish me luck...the center free motion quilting is going to be a wild ride!

If you are interested in making the star block, the  paper pieced block is available here:  Evening Star.

LINKING:

OH SCRAP! ● MAIN CRUSH MONDAY ●  MONDAY MAKING ●  LINKY TUESDAY 
LETS BEE SOCIAL  

MIDWEEK MAKERS ● NEEDLE & THREAD  ● TGIFF ● CAN I GET A WHOOP WHOOP