Week 1 - Bronte's Stars Quilt Sew Along
Feb 17, 2021 - 1:19pm
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Welcome to Week 1 of the Bronte's Stars Sew Along.
This week is all about choosing your fabrics.
I'll be making an original size version using fabric from my stash and a little top up courtesy of some late night shopping fueled by wine. I have paired my lovely brights with a cream and black spot.
GETTING STARTED:
GETTING STARTED:
- Make sure you’ve purchased your Bronte's Stars Pattern
- The Bronte's Stars SAL will be taking place on Instagram, so be sure your account is set to public so we can all see your posts using the #brontesstarssal and #brontesstarsquilt hashtags.
- There are lots of people participating in this sew along, so let’s start off with introductions! We’d love to see a picture of you in your sewing room or space and hear a bit about you. If you are still working from home, I know many of you are, I hope this sew along will help you feel a little less isolated and a little more connected.
- Post a photo of your fabric pull (if you have one yet!) – in this newsletter we’ll talk a bit about fabric choices. If you’ve already decided on your fabric, posting a picture may help to inspire others.
- Now’s the time to buy up on fabric if it’s not in your stash – support for small businesses has never been more important and most fabric shops are selling online!
PLANNING YOUR QUILT:
Your first step is to decide what size quilt you are making. The Bronte's Stars Quilt comes in 6 sizes, Baby, Small Throw, Large Throw, Original, Twin and Queen. Hopefully there's a size to suit everyone!
The next step is to decide on colours!
CHOOSING YOUR COLOURS:
This week we are concentrating on choosing fabrics.
The original quilt was made up using a mix of Alison Glass fabrics and paired with a Andover Chambrey in black. I have heard this fabric is hard to find so if you are looking for something similar your could try one of the Robert Kaufman essex yarn dyes.
I think the quilt works really well with fabrics that have a good contrast. This helps each star shine and gives the finished quilt top movement. The contrast can be done with colour or tone.
I love the selection of Alison Glass fabric that I choose. These fabrics have such high saturation and the colours just glow against the chambray background.
This fresh bright version was made using Rock Pool by Jodie Carleton. Most of these are cute novelty prints which really pop against the white background.
Another great way to work out if the colours you’re thinking of using will work well in this quilt, is to use the colouring page from the pattern and have a play around with the colour placement. I love getting out my old derwents from high school, some of them are getting really small!
If you still can't decide, here are a few Australian shops that have put together kits for you!
The Next Stitch, Queensland
Fabric Sauce, New South Wales
GJ's Discount Fabrics
The Next Stitch, Queensland
Fabric Sauce, New South Wales
GJ's Discount Fabrics
MY BRONTE'S STARS QUILT:
I really wanted to share with you my process for choosing fabrics.
It always starts with a fabric or a couple of fabrics that I love and in this case it was 5 prints from the Smol collection by Kim Kight for Ruby Star Society.
My plan is to make the original size quilt with 36 blocks and I will be using 36 different fabrics so I have lots more to add to the first 5!
Next up I added some nice bright raspberry fabrics and a number of warm caramel prints. I have always been a bif fan of lime greens and hot pinks so this was an easy choice.
Then I needed to add some more greens and medium pinks to fill out the colours.
The colours above look really great but I felt it needed a little more punch so I added some turquoise fabrics. This would be pretty much be my favourite colour so I had plenty to source from my stash including some prints from my range Eureka. I always love using some of my own designs, it always makes the finished quilt that much more special.
So you can check out my full selection below which includes a mix of large prints, small prints and blenders. There is a good balance of warm and cool colours which will give the finished quilt top lots of contrast.
This selction did not happen quickly. I always take a good week or so to put colours together. I leave them on a table and as I walk past I might some more or take some away. At one stage I was looking at adding navy to this group among other colours but I decided it wasn't the look I was going for. It's a process that takes time but I also find really enjoyable.
This selction did not happen quickly. I always take a good week or so to put colours together. I leave them on a table and as I walk past I might some more or take some away. At one stage I was looking at adding navy to this group among other colours but I decided it wasn't the look I was going for. It's a process that takes time but I also find really enjoyable.
INSPIRATION:
I love putting together different looks to inspire you all. Below are some simple colour combinations that I think will look great. All of these looks can be achieved with different scale of prints, pattens and colour.
I love putting together different looks to inspire you all. Below are some simple colour combinations that I think will look great. All of these looks can be achieved with different scale of prints, pattens and colour.
It's so interesting to see how different the quilt can look just by swapping the background colour. The star becomes more of a feature when the background is dark, the star shape seems to pop!
How good would this look if the fabrics were all florals!! I am imagining big Kaffe Fasset blooms teamed with spots and stripes.
I really enjoy making these mock ups, however it just makes me want to sew more quilts and I hope it helps you decide on your fabric selecion too.
I also wanted to take this opportunity to talk about fabric requirements. I only stated fat quarters on the pattern because of lack of space. With 6 different finished sizes it was a bit tight.
I have made a little table below which breaks it down into different fabric sizes from Fat 16ths to Half Yards. I thought this might be easier for you to get your head around different fabric options if you are using your stash or would like to purchase some new fabric.
The quilt I am making is the original size and I am using my stash. I wanted a really scrappy look so I am using the cutting requirements for Fat 1/8ths and I'm making the original size quilt which is 36 blocks. This should give me the scrappy look I'm after.
I have made a little table below which breaks it down into different fabric sizes from Fat 16ths to Half Yards. I thought this might be easier for you to get your head around different fabric options if you are using your stash or would like to purchase some new fabric.
The quilt I am making is the original size and I am using my stash. I wanted a really scrappy look so I am using the cutting requirements for Fat 1/8ths and I'm making the original size quilt which is 36 blocks. This should give me the scrappy look I'm after.
Now it's time to share one last mock up with you. In this stunning rainbow version the two star fabrics are just black and white while changing up the background. I also worked out the requirements for you if you would like to make it!
I'll share the cutting requirements for this beauty next week. I'm crossing all my fingers that someone will attempt it otherwise I'm going to make another quilt!
Each week I will pick a winner from the posts using the hashtag #brontesstarsSAL to win a bundle of my patterns.
That's three PDF's patterns, your choice!
I'm am still finalising some prizes for the last week, so stay tuned.
That's three PDF's patterns, your choice!
I'm am still finalising some prizes for the last week, so stay tuned.
If you have any questions, you can always email me!
Thanks so much for joining me on this fun ride, whether it's your first time or you're a sew along veteran, I really hope you have fun. My family is going through some pretty heavy stuff at the moment and I am looking forward to the distraction that sewing and connecting with like minds brings.
Emma x
Thanks so much for joining me on this fun ride, whether it's your first time or you're a sew along veteran, I really hope you have fun. My family is going through some pretty heavy stuff at the moment and I am looking forward to the distraction that sewing and connecting with like minds brings.
Emma x
Feb 21, 2021 - 6:08pm
Noga lewis: All beautiful! Seriously considering joining...
Feb 22, 2021 - 5:07pm
Lisa Hurkens: Challenge accepted - I’ll make the rainbow version. I’m sure it will probably take me longer than the 6 weeks to complete but will do my best. I originally was going to make the small throw but are now excited to have a new quilt for my bed. Thanks for the mock ups Emma.
