Stars on Strings--An Original Design

This quilt began on graph paper. I have an EQ program, but I was defeated by triangles!

Stars on Strings--66" x 88"

I tried this more than once. My first experiment was to use regular, brightly-colored strings.

As you can see, the red stars are lost amidst the chaos!



I went to neutral strings which worked better to show off the stars.

Please forgive the camera strap in the corner!

 I stayed with this idea, though, for me, it was hard--I always want MORE COLOR!



The making wasn't too hard, though 60 degree triangles can be tricky to assemble. It was simple string piecing for the blocks.

8.5" paper foundation 60-degree triangle

4.25" red triangle (sorry the picture is so fuzzy)

Pieced triangle (ignore the partial to the right)

I didn't get a picture of the step of gluing the triangle to the foundation, but you can see its placement here. After the triangle was secured, I simply string pieced the three areas around it.


When I had finished the pieces, I assembled it in rows.

This is when the stars and hexagons show up--you have to keep the faith through the piecing; they will eventually be there!


The edges of a triangle quilt are uneven. I didn't want to trim off all the piecing work to make them straight, so I pieced some half-triangle for the ends.

Now you can look at the piece on the right!

I did these half-triangles with neutral centers, so as not to distract from the star pattern. I also used a narrow (1.5") coping strip (border) at the top and bottom of the quilt, so I could manage my triangle points better for binding. I didn't want to lose them. 😉

You can see both the half-triangle ends and the coping strip here.

I had intended to use a pieced backing, but with the weight of all the strings on the front, I was afraid it would be too much. Instead, I chose this backing fabric both because of the color and the pattern--the hexagons echo those on the front.

All in all, this was a successful experiment, though I must admit that I am heartily sick of neutral strings for now!

Now, please, bring on the color!

I'm linking with Jo's Country Junction String Challenge,  Fiber Tuesday 167 at The Quilting Room with Mel, and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.