Tuesday, June 2, 2020

LeMoyne Stars

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at its testing point.'
~ C. S. Lewis

Quilting


With the chunks are out of the way, I'm ready to attack the scrap bag. Still enthused with diamonds, I cut newspaper foundation into five-inch wide diamonds to make LeMoyne Stars. To add some cohesion each started with one common fabric at the widest point of the diamond.

The idea to make a ring inside the star came from several sources. First, traditional Lone Stars {you recall how the tiny diamonds make a circle of each round.} Since this would be strings rather than diamonds, my mind jumped to those beautiful ringed spiderwebs. But even if I was crazy enough to line up all these strings. there wasn't enough of all the fabrics for that idea to work. I vaguely recalled  Gwen Marston's Amish String Star from her book, Liberated String Quilts and pulled it out for another look. It gave me the brilliant idea of making that circle from striped fabric but there wasn't enough in a color that worked. So I pulled out all my fabrics for a closer look. There was just enough of a pink fabric with double rows of dots. {All of this is just to demonstrate how ideas bloom and how constraints guide our choices.}

Lighter fabrics on one side and darker fabrics on the other; most of them are red or blue dark points. Yes, I cherry-picked the strings but as the preferred colors ran out, greens and purples and even brown was added. The inside is whatever light string was available.

Four LeMoyne stars created with a common center strip. The sides of the diamonds are either light or dark fabrics in mostly reds or blues creating two red stars with two blue stars in the opposite corners
LeMoyne Stars in progress

Problems arose with the background(s). After repeated measurements and calculations the four backgrounds require twenty inches for each pair of colors. Just over half a yard. And there's the rub. The print at the top of each of these photos {Background 1} works beautifully for the red stars but only okay for the blues. After pulling more choices, the flamingos looked best here but... there's not enough to make two backgrounds. And the other fabrics won't even finish one background. So all four will have Background 1.

Printed white fabric is set behind a blue LeMoyne star to determine which might make the best background. Three of the choices have insufficient yardage to create the background for both of the blue stars
Background fabric possibilities

String diamonds take a while to construct. This is a week's work. I thought I'd be further along.

Enjoy the day, Ann

22 comments:

Julierose said...

Your stars came out beautifully; they sure take a lot of work and thinking through...
:))) Julierose

JoniStrother said...

Ann, I have some of the flamingo fabric and I have all of the time in the world to drop it into the mail. Let me know. I'd be happy to do it! xoxo, Joni

Quiltdivajulie said...

Strings DO take a lot of time but they are so very, very worth it. Love the scrappiness of yours.

Janie said...

LeMoyne Stars are gorgeous and worth the effort.
I like the quote,'Courage, the form of every virtue at its testing point.'
Have a great day.

Robin said...

This is so fun. I enjoyed hearing the creative process. Loved the flamingo fabric, too bad you didn't have enough of that one.

patty a. said...

I really like these string diamonds that will be stars. These are going to make a lively and happy quilt!

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

Lovely string diamonds. I really like how all the lights form the centres. I too seem to end up with issues re not having enough for the backgrounds of projects, but your background 1 looks super!

audrey said...

I'm always amazed and somewhat bemused by the difference a change in background can bring. Love the strings, definitely something on my bucket list for future quilting! There's something extremely satisfying about making something beautiful with the scraps.:)

Ann said...

Thanks, Julierose. Yes, it's surprising how much time it takes to organize a scrap quilt.

Ann said...

I wish I'd read this earlier. I've already cut out the other fabric so will just move forward. Thanks so much for your kind offer, Joni.

Ann said...

Very true, Julie. Thanks.

Ann said...

I've never made one before but they are just a variation of lone stars. Making them with scraps was really fun. I will do it again. The courage quote is so appropriate this week. Thanks for writing, Janie. Wishing you and DH well.

Ann said...

It is sad. It completely changed the look of the stars. They are a bit more traditional with this background but more contemporary with the flamingos. Thanks for writing, Robin.

Ann said...

Thanks, Patty. We are all busy finding ways to use our scraps, aren't we?

Ann said...

I only thought of that after I'd laid the first strings. Then I wondered if the centers would be too light/nondescript for the outside. Whenever I buy lots of yardage I never seem to use it up. But now I'm finding "short" yardage is insufficient for some types of blocks. I need to get more creative working with these.

Ann said...

You and me. Now that things are cut I wish I'd tried some really wild backgrounds. You know, the ones you are "sure" won't work. It would have been interesting to see. I've never made LeMoyne Stars although I've long admired them. Similar to lone stars. It is a great joy to have a lovely block that works with all the strings in my bag. Like you, I hate to waste any of it.

QuiltGranma said...

Love It! I've had a similar idea, but make huge diamonds, to fit the top of a bed instead of a Texas star out of strings. With scrappy backgrounds, and a strippy border. Someday!

Ann said...

Oh, that's a lovely variation. Isn't it fun all the ways we can put the same basic block together!

Mystic Quilter said...

Ann, these LeMoyne stars are beautiful! Interesting to read how you came to the decision to have the central ring in the star the same fabric in each diamond, very effective indeed.

Ann said...

Thank you, Maureen. We makers always enjoy reading about the process.

Mel Beach said...

Very cool start...I look forward to watching this project evolve...

Ann said...

Thanks, Mel. I look forward to getting it quilted and gifted. Haha