Medallion Star Sampler

This quilt was pieced by Janet K's mother.  I need to get her name because she was a very good piecer and very prolific.  These quilts are being quilted and finished in her memory.  I wish I could have met her.  She was not afraid of difficult blocks and Y-seams!  She made a feathered star for the center.  The surrounding blocks are all star sampler blocks, and not easy ones either.  She choose a few coordinating colors from a floral focus fabric, which she used in the border.

 

I followed the floral theme and quilted large flowers peaking out from each corner of the medallion center.

Feathers were quilted in the dark pink sashing.

 Small flowers were quilted in the triangle areas.  I did a small stipple in the white background areas that were smaller to make the stars pop.  I didn't quilt over the stars, only some stitch in the ditch, to keep them flat and help define the piecing.

I had planned to quilt a complicated floral design in the border and realized I wouldn't be able to see it.  So I quilted a piano key border (straight lines).  No photo, but it finished it off nicely.  

Feathered Stars by Marsha McCloskey

Our guild had Marsha McCloskey as guest lecturer in October.  She is known for Feathered Stars and has been quilting since 1979. 

Did you know there are two different kinds of Feathered Stars - Grid Based and Radial.   Grid based looks like the Ohio Star.  Radial stars are when the points are evenly spaced, like le moyne stars.   Here is her sampler - all grid based stars with different centers.

She doesn't enter her quilts into quilt shows, but others who have used the feather star as center medallion, have won ribbons.  Sh brought along a few more quilts.  She loves to use toile fabrics and uses large scale chintz for borders.   

 This one is a radial feathered star - see the difference?  They are based on Le Moyne Stars. 

 She said this is the most difficult feathered star to make, so make it large.  (Below)

 Triple Feathered Star (below)