Grazie Mille!! Bel Fiore Star Tutorial

The quilting community has helped me grow in so any ways and I wanted to give back. How could I say thank you to so many? Well....

Remember this mini quilt  for the Schnitzel and Boo Swap?

I had quite the response on flickr and instagram, all good actually. So much that I decided to do a tutorial on this design, but instead of a mini I want to do it in throw size. As a big thank you!!

I made this one in Christmas fabrics but the quilt can be made in many different color ways. It's such a fast design that it can be sewn up in a weekend (I made the top in one afternoon). In this version I used kona white as the background. For the prints - Ann Kelle's line 'Jingle' in tossed snowmen, tossed penguins, boys in hats, birds in hats and retro snowflakes in lime, also Makower Christmas 2013 trees, flowers and snowflakes from fabricdepot.com, and a ornament print I grabbed from JoAnn's.

Bel Fiore Star

Quilt finishes at 60 x 60”

Fabric Requirements

Print fabric for Unit A (corners) & C (center)
o Fabric 1 - 3/8 yard
o Fabric 2 - 3/8 yard
o Fabric 3 - 3/8 yard
o Fabric 4 - 3/8 yard

Print fabric for Units B
o Fabric 5 - 3/8 yard
o Fabric 6 - 3/8 yard
o Fabric 7 - 3/8 yard
o Fabric 8 - 3/8 yard

Background 2 3/4" yards

Backing fabric 4 yards

Cutting Directions

From each fabric 1 thru 4, cut 1 - 10 ½” square and cut 2 – 11” squares.

From each fabric 5 thru 8, cut 2 – 11” squares.

From background fabric cut 4 – 10 ½” squares and 16 – 11” squares

Assembling the Units

Units A

Using the 8 – 11” squares from fabrics 1 thru 4 place a background fabric 11” square on top of each with right sides together.

Draw a diagonal line on the back of the background fabric from corner to corner.

This line will be used as a reference when sewing.

Sew ¼” on each side of the drawn line for all 8 sets. 

Cut on the drawn line, this creates the 16 Half Square Triangles (HST) needed for units A and C. 

Press towards the dark fabric and trim to 10 ½”.

Put 2 each of fabrics 1 thru 4 HSTs aside for a total of 8 HSTs

(some of these will be used to create unit C).

Next sew 4 - HSTs to 4 - 10 ½” background squares, press towards the background square.

Sew 4- HSTs to the fabric matching 10 ½” square prints and press towards print fabric. 

Assemble the units by sewing together to create 4 unit A blocks.

Units B

With the 8 – 11” squares of fabrics 5 thru 8 place a background fabric 11” square on top of each with right sides together.

Draw a diagonal line as before on the back of the background fabric from corner to corner.

Again sew ¼’ on each side of the drawn line for all 8 sets and cut on the drawn line.

Press and trim to 10 ½”.

Sew the HSTs together in rows, press seam allowances open (this helps reduce bulk when sewing the next step). Then sew the rows together to create the unit B blocks and press seam allowances open.

Unit C

Take one of each HST print fabrics you set aside from unit A and arrange so that the background fabric is in the center and sew these HST together. (this is where I like to lay it all out on the floor and match up the fabrics)

Press seam allowances open. (You will have 4 HSTs left over, you could use them on the back or make a throw pillow with them)

Sewing the Quilt Top Together

First layout your units and arrange the blocks so that units A point to the same color in unit C.

Sew the units in rows and then sew the rows together,

press seam allowances open.

Create Backing and Finishing the Quilt

For the backing cut the 4 yards into 2 – 2 yard pieces and trim away the selvage edges. Pin with right sides together along the selvage trimmed edge and sew.

Press the seam allowance open.

Layer the quilt with batting and backing and baste.

Quilt as desired and bind to finish.

In the Shadows...

I joined in the Schnitzel and Boo Mini Quilt Along back in October, but didn't post anything about it because I wanted it to be a surprise for my swap partner. I am horrible about keeping a secret and if I had posted about it I might have mentioned something I shouldn't. 

My swap partner listed orange, pink, gray and anything cheery as her favorites. I really wanted to play with solids and her color choices were just perfect for this. When I went shopping I pulled out all the solid fabrics that fit in this category and then narrowed it down to 8 colors and the dark gray. Made from Robert Kaufman Kona Solid fabrics in the colors cerise (my fav!!), if I only had saved my receipt I might be able to list the other color names - sorry and the background is Charcoal. The bright colors against the dark gray background make the colors much richer than they appeared on the bolt.

The finished size is 22" by 22" and made entirely of 4" half square triangles. I used Karen at Sew Many Ways method for creating the HST. I am sure there are patterns out there like this, but I just arranged the HST until I got the placement where I liked them.

The straight line quilting was done on my Pfaff 2122. I was so unsure about the quilting that I even asked quilting questions on instagram and the response was to continue with the straight lines. But after I washed it I love the quilting now.

As always I work right down to the last minute and then almost forgot to take pictures. I took all these pictures at work in the parking lot, although not the best glamour shots they will have to do. This quilt remained unnamed, mainly because I wanted the intended owner to name it, but when I was picking out photos to use for this post the one above told me what the mini quilt name should be for me at least - 'In the Shadows'.

You know those times when you are struggling with life and everything seems so empty? (Believe me I do, depression affects so many people and I have dealt with depression for most me life - although that is another story for another day.) Things may seem dark, gloomy and and empty - just as your about to give up, there is that tiny twinkle, that little light in your dark abyss and you fight to reach it. And eventually you see it and its bigger and you gain that tiny bit of hope and it grows. That is what this mini says to me - In the shadows there is always hope!

I sure hope my swap partner loves this little quilt as much as I do. I almost wanted to keep it because it's such a happy cheerful quilt. It's on its way to you partner :)

Thanks for hanging out and letting me tell you about my quilting adventures in life!!