Starstruck Quilt Tutorial

with
Jenny Doan

Starstruck Quilt Tutorial

Quilt Size: 75" x 75"
Jenny demonstrates how to make a stunning Starstruck quilt using The Binding Tool by TQM Products. This quilt pattern uses 2.5 inch strips of precut fabric (jelly roll). For this tutorial, Jenny chose Edyta Sitar's "Perfect Union" 2.5" Strips by Laundry Basket Quilts for Andover Fabrics. Keep an eye out for a Christmas version of this quilt at the end of the video! It was made using a "Homegrown Holidays" Jelly Roll by Deb Strain for Moda Fabrics.
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video transcript

Hi everybody, it’s Jenny from the MSQC. And I’ve got such a fun project for you today. Take a look at this quilt behind me. Isn’t this great? Don’t you love these great big stars and I love that we brought in this harvest gold for the background. It’s so beautiful. So to make this quilt you’re going to need one roll of fabric. And we have used this Perfect Union by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts for Andover. And it’s just gorgeous. You’re going to need some of this background right here. You’re going to need three yards of that. And that’s going to make up all your other pieces. Your outer border out here, this is a nice big, how big is this border, six inch. This is a nice big six inch border. And you’re going to need 1 ¼ yards. For your backing, isn’t that gorgeous, don’t you love a big floral on the back. I love it. Anyway for the back you’re going to need 4 ¾ yards and it makes a quilt 75 by 75. This is a square quilt. And so it makes a nice, a good size quilt.


You’re also going to need a binding tool for this. And this is the binding tool. And its actual use is to help you bind. Surprise! I know, right? It’s made by my good friend, Susan Brown with TQM Products. And this saved me when I was first quilting because it teaches you to bind so that everything ends up on the 45 and right and it’s just perfect. Anyway a lot of people bought this tool and if you’re going to use it for what it’s made for that’s great. But if there’s more things we can do with it, how awesome is that? So I decided I wanted to make this binding tool star. And in designing this, this didn’t happen exactly as I thought it would. It actually came out so much better and I just love it when that happens. Alright so let’s start and let me show you how to make this.


So the first thing we’re going to do is we are going to take our background fabric and again we’ve used this harvest gold color. With this line, I just think it’s stunning. And we are going to make some cuts on it. Now you’re going to have, you’re going to have a lot more of it than I have of this little piece. But the first thing we want to do is we want to cut some 8 ½ inch squares. And so you’re going to cut a strip like this. And we are going to make sure. Now I like to cut folded double like this, so that it’s like nice and straight, my ends match up and I fold it in half again. And I make sure it’s lined up across the top. And then I’m going to come over here and I’m going to get a clean edge right here, clean up my edge. And then I’m going to come in eight, I know the ruler is five, so six, seven, 8 ½ on this one. And you’re going to need some 8 ½ . And then I’m going to take my little strip that I’ve cut like this and I’m going to open it up. And I’m going to cut eight inch squares from this. So again I’m going to cut off my little selvedge edge. I’m going to trim off my selvedge and I’m again going to come over 8 ½ . So I’ve got five, six, seven, 8 ½. And then you’re going to cut four of these for each block that you make.


So the second piece that you’re going to cut is going to be a nine inch square. Actually in the pattern it’s listed as 8 ⅞. But most of you know, you know, I mean that’s such a tiny little bit so I just do it at nine and if I have a little extra I cut it off. And once you get that square cut you’re going to cut it once on the diagonal. And you’re also going to need four of these for each block. So we’re going to set these over here. The other thing you’re going to want to cut out of your background fabric are these little 2 ½ inch squares. And if you cut one strip, you get 16, 2 ½ inch squares and that’s how many you’ll need for one block as well. And when I’m talking about one block I’m talking about this one big star right here. Alright let me show you how to make this because this is so cool and it comes together so easy. I’m just going to press this so it lays down really nice. It has a little fold in it.


Alright so you want these pieces nice and smooth to start with. Now we’re going to get into our 2 ½ inch strips over here. And we are going to cut these. Now when you cut your strips, you’re going to want to leave them folded like this. So they’re 2 ½ inches wide and you’re going to leave them folded. We’re going to start by cutting off our little selvedge edge right here. Alright so we’re going to start by cutting off our little selvedge edge right there. And then we’re going to take our binding tool and we are going to lay the straight edge on the straight edge. Now if you don’t have a binding tool, basically the binding tool is a, let me see how long this is. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight and a half inch ruler with a 45 on the end. That’s all it is. This just makes it super convenient. So I’m going to lay this so the end lines right up on the end of my fabric, and I’m going to cut like this. And I’m going to scoot this away and I’m going to cut this little dog ear off the end right there. Now I’m going to is I’m going to keep the same strip and I’m going to put these up here and I’m going to turn this, just rotate it, so I’m always just making one cut. And I get all these pieces. This is what you have leftover right here so we’re just going to lay that out here. That’s for some other project or something later. And I’m going to cut these little ends off right here. And then we’ve got these pieces.


Now what you want to do is because we folded them, you’re going to have one piece that kicks out to the right and one piece that kicks out to the left. So we’re going to stack those in stacks so this one is going to go here and this one is going to go here. And see what I mean, when you open these up, they’re going to go opposites like this. And they’re each going to go in a separate pile like this. Now one pile and you can decide which one it is, it doesn’t matter at all, but one pile you’re going to put a 2 ½ inch square on the top. So let’s get some of our 2 ½ inch squares and let’s get some of our pieces and we will put a 2 ½ inch square on the top. And I have just chosen, you know, the side that kicks out to the left. But it doesn’t matter, you can pick either pile. And I’m just going to put a 2 ½ inch square right on the top like this. So I’m going to lay it on here and I’m going to sew it straight across. And I’m going to do, I actually do my whole pile. And so you can do it by star if you want but I cut up my whole, all my strips I cut them all up and then I just, one pile I put a top on all of them. Alright so once you get your tops on like this, then we’re going to press these back like this and just like that. And then again you put them back in your stacks.


Alright so now what we’re going to do is we’re going to bring up that 8 ½ inch square, this is our 8 ½ inch square that’s pressed nice. And we’re going to add our first strip and we’re going to put it like this so that it curves in toward the fabric. And so make sure you can see that right here. So it curves right in. So we’re going to lay that on this side and we’re going to sew it down. Now I would probably do four of these at a time. I’d add this side to four of them but I have all the other pieces made for you. So I’m just going to go down like this and then I’m going to press this back. And then we’re going to add a piece to the other side. And you could have it the same, I like them different. And so now this side is going to go on here just like this. And this little point is going to match up here. So I’m going to lay this on here. And what I’m going to do to check this is I’m going to make sure that this little piece, this little seam nests and then I can line it up down here and sew this one on. Sew all the way down. And now we are going to do the same thing four more times. So let me press that. And so now again, so however you want to turn it so it makes sense to you. So now I have this pile over here and I’m going to take another one of these right here and again I’m going to add it on here like this. And see how it just fits on there. So you’re just going to lay it up on the gold and sew it down. And then I’m just going to finger press this out and then I’m going to grab a strip with a gold on the top. So you just go back and forth and back and forth. And I’ll take this one. And again I’m going to lay this on here like this, make sure that my seam is snugged up here on the top, pull this down and you just start. And it just kind of hangs over a little bit on that end. But really what you’re looking for right here is you want this top part, this seam to snug up here on the top. Alright let’s press this. And this is one of those quilts where I make myself a little nest and I have my little iron right next to my sewing machine so I can press all of these because it’s way easier, I think, to add them on as they’re nice and flat. Alright let’s put this one on here like this. So again this one has no top. You always put the one with no top on it first. And then we’re going to add the other side over here. I’ll do this one, flip that over. And you really get into a rhythm of these so I actually really enjoy making these and I think these stars are just beautiful and brilliant. I’ve done several other, several other patterns with this binding tool and they’re, it just works out so beautifully. Alright now we’ll press this. And we’ve got one more to add on here. And I’m going to add a short one of these like this. There we go. Onto my gold, make sure it lines up on the top. Alright and one more. Let’s see how about this guy right here. He looks pretty. Well they’re all pretty but. Alright. So now what I’m going to do is I’m going to put this one, turn it over, nest it up. This is my last one right here. And this little quadrant is going to make one quarter of the star. So what we’re making, we’re making in quadrants. And it’s going to make one quarter. Alright. So now I’m going to press this out just like this. And this is what you’re looking for.


And now what we’re going to do is take our nine inch square that’s been cut in half on the diagonal and we’re going to lay it right on the sides like this. So we’re going to make sure that we’ve got a quarter of an inch hanging over this end and a quarter of an inch hanging over this end. That it’s lined up with our fabric. And we are going to sew this down on these sides. And this is going to turn this into a square. Now we’ll add the other side on. And again there’s nothing to it except just making sure that you get a little bit of hang over on each end and it lines up nice and straight and just sail along. Alright now let’s press these open. So this is the quadrant you’re looking for. And we’re going to make four of these and put a star together. And let me just show you how that’s done.


I’ve got some pieces sewn together here. Here is two of the quadrants sewn together. That will make the top of my star. And here are my two bottom pieces right here, ready to go together. And just, wait, let’s move this one over here. We don’t want two of the same strip together. So now, ope, look at how perfect that is. So now what you want to do when you put these together you’re going to match up your little gold squares, make sure that this first seam nests perfectly. And you want to watch this junction right here. So they’re both at a slant. But you want to try to get those as close as you can. So let’s sew this together right here. And I find, honestly on this center square, it’s actually a four patch that comes together. But this is the one you want to really pay attention to because it’s right in the middle of the star. So you want to make sure that that’s nested up really well. The points are going to show as much of that center. Alright so now we’re just going to sew down here. Alright. Hey that looks pretty dang good. Alright let me press this out nice and flat. And then you’re just going to put this big one together like a four patch. So you’ll just fold it in half and sew this seam right here and you’ll have a whole star.


Now the strips that you have in this pack are going to make five stars. You can see I only have four here and four makes a great quilt. It makes a beautiful quilt but that poor last star. Well I thought it would make an awesome table topper and so I put mine together. A little different border and how cute is that? I just made a little table topper out of this one last star. It also would work great for a baby quilt. So you just don’t want to waste that last star so go ahead and make a secondary project out of that.


Oh, do you hear that? And just like that it’s Christmas in July. We have so many amazing lines coming into our shop and I just couldn’t resist. The line I used to make this quilt behind me is Home Grown Holidays by Deb Strane for Moda. And it’s just adorable. And of course here’s my little one. And I want you to take a look at this quilt behind me because remember when you cut your pieces off, when you use your little binding tool and cut your pieces, you can get two pieces per strip or two cuts per strip and you have a little piece left. Well on this quilt I did that little border all the way around on the inside just to frame it up and to make it a little fun. And then of course I have my number five star leftover and so I made another darling little table topper for or baby quilt or whatever it is you want to make it for. And it just looks so cute. This is such a cute line of fabric.


So whether you’re doing Christmas in July or you’re just making stars like this, we hope you enjoyed this tutorial on Star Struck from the MSQC.

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