Starlight Lily QAL: Week 1
Welcome to Week 1 of the Starlight Lily Quilt Along! I hope you’re excited to get started! This week is all about setting yourself up for success. First, let’s talk tools. I am not a big gadget person and tend to look for a workaround before I invest in a new piece of equipment. (Let’s just say I sewed all my quilts on a 3/4 size machine for about five years.) But, investing in these two simple and inexpensive tools is really worth it when it comes to paper piecing.
Add-a-quarter ruler. This ruler has a quarter inch raised ridge that measures exactly a quarter inch. When your paper is folded back, the ruler nests against the paper and won’t shift when you are cutting your fabric. The opposite side is thin and is great for making a neat fold in the paper template. I use this brand: Add-a-Quarter Plus
Seam roller. This little wooden roller is so helpful! Ironing with paper piecing has to be done carefully and there is always a chance for something to go wrong—toner can transfer to your fabric or the adhesive can get gunky. At the same time, it’s really important to get your seams nice and flat. This little tool works surprisingly well. Mine is made by Violet Craft and I love it.
OK. Now for the fun part—fabric! The pattern calls for three fabrics and I used solids because I was aiming for a sort of modern Amish look. But, some of my pattern testers used prints and they look fantastic. Check out the hashtags #starlightlilyquilt and #starlightlilypattern for some inspiration! You can also incorporate four colors by using two colors for the outside points of the Lily. @rivera.debora has a really pretty version that uses four colors really well. (If you want to use four colors, a fat quarter in each of the colors for your Lily will be plenty.)
One thing to think about when choosing your fabrics is how the seams are pressed. With paper piecing, the direction of the seams is determined by the sewing order of the template. So, you won’t always be able to press to the dark side. To avoid shadowing, you might want to choose fabrics that don’t have a huge contrast between dark and light. Here is a picture of the back of the block with the pressed seams so you can see the directions dictated by the templates. You can see that some of the seams are pressed toward the darker background color and some are pressed toward the lighter colors in the Lily. (I used white thread in the test block so the seams would be really visible, but for your project use a matching thread!)
I’m a big fan of three color quilts. There’s something about the way three colors interact that I find super pleasing. Here are a few tips for finding a three-color combination that really sings.
Try out lots of options and don’t be afraid to use a color that’s outside your usual palette. For my version, I had bought a bunch of Kona Raisin for another project that I never made—it happens! Dark reds and purples are way outside my comfort colors but I felt bad about those yards of unwanted fabric. I played around with some second and third colors and ended up loving how the Raisin worked.
Check your values. Even though you maybe don’t want to have a huge contrast to avoid shadowing, the values of you colors need to be different enough that the Lily will stand out from the background. You can test the difference in value by taking a photo of your fabrics or fabric swatches and then editing the image to black and white. Here are the colors I’m thinking about for my version, changed to gray scale. Plenty of contrast!
Experiment with unusual color combinations. If you have plenty of solids or color swatches on hand, try this experiment. Make a group of about 20 swatches or scraps of colors you like and some that you don’t normally like. Close your eyes and pull three (or four) at random. Keep playing the game until you find a color combination that is surprising and beautiful. (I sometimes take pictures of combos I’m considering as I play the game.)
I hope you have fun choosing your fabrics and getting ready to sew your Lily Blocks! Remember to tag your fabric pulls with #starlightlilyQAL to be eligible for this week’s prize—a $25 gift certificate from Lamb and Loom Fabrics!
Next week, we will be sewing our first Lily Blocks. I’ll have a video tutorial for you that walks you through the paper piecing for the entire block. Now, I’m off to play around with fabric swatches!
