My friend Barb sent me a picture she found on Facebook of a lovely table topper. It was a pattern by Ruthann Eckersley called Sew Easy Strata Star (all of her patterns are available at: https://ruthsquilting.com/patterns/).
I decided to play with this design, but in my own way (of course). I pulled out a 1 yard batik from my stash that was dyed in gradation,
and cut it into 1 ½” strips.
I sewed these strips back into strata and cut the triangles to make the topper. I didn’t have enough fabric for the small triangles that complete the 3D effect in Ruth’s pattern, but was happy with the spinning star. Here are the 3 possible layouts I came up with:
I pressed the strata using my strip stick. It’s a wonderful tool, and I posted about it a few years ago https://chrisquilts.net/?p=3497. It was so helpful in this project, because I wanted the seams to press crisply. The Strip Stick is a padded piece of half round moulding covered in muslin. By laying a seam at the top of the curve, and pulling the adjacent strips down with my thumb and forefinger,
I’m able to press the seams to the side without any pleats or puckers on the right side. It also allows me to only press one seam at a time. I love it!
To purchase your own, go to: http://www.thestripstick.com/.
Since I didn’t have enough fabric for the pieced corner turn triangles, and I didn’t want to figure out how to finish those 45 degree points, I added corners and made a square.
It’s ready for quilting, but I really wanted to try the original pattern, so I pulled a gradation of blues and greens out of my stash and here’s the results:
I like them both.
**************************
And I’d like to leave you with this parting picture my friend Eileen’s husband took of her while she was quilting.
She had quite a special helper :-)! Thanks for sharing the picture Eileen!
Patricia Nieman says
I made one of these a few years ago. It’s one of my favorite table toppers.
Barb says
I can’t wait Chris! I’m really looking forward to making this. Thanks so much for offering it to us.