Northwest Stars Quilt with Bright Solid Fabrics

First, let's talk about fabric choice. Since the Northwest Stars Quilt Pattern uses fat quarters it's super easy to choose fabrics for. I love a good fat quarter pattern because it allows me to buy a curated bundle. I struggle with choosing my fabrics so having someone else do this job for me makes my life a little easier. 

Which brings me to the fabric for this quilt... I fell in love with a bundle of Meghan's from Then Came June. She had made one of her patterns with the fabric bundle. I loved the color combinations so bought the bundle and stashed it to the side until I decided what to do with it. 

The fabrics worked perfectly for the Northwest Stars Quilt. I just had to buy a bit extra background fabric. The pink background adds such a great pop to all the other bright colors in this bundle. This is probably my favorite part of the quilt!

I made this quilt the large throw size which uses 15 fat quarters and finishes at 60 in. x 72 in. It's the perfect size if you want an oversized throw, which is my go to at night on the couch. 

This pattern includes several sizes:

• Baby (36 in. x 36 in.)
• Small Throw (48 in. x 60 in.)
• Large Throw (60 in. x 72 in.)
• Twin (72 in. x 96 in.)
• Queen (96 in. x 108 in.)

If you are beginner quilter then this is a great pattern to grow your sewing skills. The pattern uses strip piecing with the striped center of all the blocks. This speeds up the piecing process by sewing long pieces of fabric together and then cutting them into smaller units. 

The scant 1/4 inch seam is used when piecing the long strips for this quilt. This ensures that the seam allowance comes out the correct measurement and all units fit together to form the blocks. If the strips are pieced without the scant 1/4 inch seam the center units can measure a bit too small. 

To learn more about seam allowance and the scant 1/4 inch seam read here. 

Flying geese blocks are also a big part of this quilt pattern. I know some of you really don't love these blocks! I used to hate them when I was a beginner quilter. Then, I found some tricks that really helped me become more accurate when sewing them and a ruler to help with the trimming. To learn more about flying geese blocks click here.  

If you want to learn about how to use directional fabric when sewing flying geese, this blog post will be helpful to you. 

Since this quilt used all solid fabrics the flying geese were easy to sew and didn't require any special orientation when piecing. When the blocks were starting to come together on this quilt I got so excited because the fabrics are pure happiness! 

You can see when the blocks are placed together, the squares in each corner form a four patch. This is one of my favorite parts of the blocks!

It's also probably the hardest to get the seams to match up perfectly. So make sure to pin at the points when sewing together. 

I wish I had taken a quilt top picture before I sent this off to the quilter. It actually sat at my house for about 9 months before I finally finished it. I usually like to keep my unfinished quilts to a minimum. 

I sent this quilt off to Knot and Thread Design to be quilted. I decided to add minky to the back and I do not like to sew with minky. Plus, Kait carries a large stock of colors of minky. So I sent her the quilt top and then she sent me pictures of minky she thought would go with it. 

In case you don't know what minky is... it's a synthetic fabric which is super, duper soft! I backed all my kids blankies with it and swore never to sew with it again. 😜

I wanted this quilt to be a good quilt for my 10 year to use who has sensory processing disorder and really loves the soft texture of minky. I let her choose the design to be quilted on the quilt. She chose Zooby Rad. 

The binding is kind of perfect for this quilt. All the colors splashed on the fabric go with the fabrics in the quilt. This is from the Speckled fabric line by Ruby Star Society. 

The finished quilt came out perfect! My daughter loved the panto she chose and the minky is super soft. In fact, I think I use it more than her. 🤫

Some of these pictures are taken post wash and dry. Some are taken before. You can tell by the crinkle. 

I love the picture below! I shows all the colors and how happy the quilt turned out. It's an up close, yet full quilt photo. 

Below you get a peak at the minky on the back. 

Is there anything better than pictures of quilts at sunset? I mean, there is... but not for quilters. 

Look at those colors popin' on this quilt! What a great color combo Meghan from Then Came June curated when she made this bundle!! It really makes the quilt. 

Pattern: Northwest Stars Quilt Pattern

Fabric: Solid Bundle Curated by Meghan from Then Came June

Panto: Zooby Rad

Quilted By: Kait from Knot and Thread Design

To get more information about the Northwest Stars Quilt or to make your own find a PDF copy here or a paper copy of the pattern here.