The Star Go Round Quilt with Polka Pop Batiks: A Burst of Colorful Fun! -

Hi everyone! Mary Burroughs-Mayer from Ember Craft Company back here again, sharing my latest makes with Riley Blake Designs!

This month, I got my hands on a few of the fabrics from the Polka Pop batik collection (find them HERE). These fabrics are part of the Expressions Elementals family and considered blenders, but I guarantee these hand-dyed beauties do just fine on their own! The polka dots add a fun, modern touch, and the colors are SO saturated. This is my first project using batiks of any kind, and I can guarantee it won’t be my last!

You’ll notice we’ve chosen all the pinks, purples, and reds from the line for this project. My polka dot-loving daughter happened to be sitting next to me while I was going through this collection and immediately claimed it for herself. We decided on Confetti Cottons in Riley White (find it HERE) for the background. I love how the brighter white really makes the colors in the batiks pop!

Now, I had a different quilt in mind when I first started this project. That all changed when I saw the new Star Go Round quilt pattern by my friend Amanda Kelly from Quilt Cakes (go straight to the pattern HERE)! She is a master at gorgeous, fat quarter-friendly, mix-and-match patterns (check out her Etsy shop HERE) and I’m so excited to collaborate with her on this fun version! This pattern is super fun to piece and comes in six (yes, six!) sizes. The unique blocks give a circular effect with no curved piecing!

We made the small throw version (nine blocks) and this is the perfect lap size for an adult or snuggle size for a five-year old. My only tip when making this pattern is to make sure to do a “victory lap” or a stay stitch about 1/8″ from the edge around the entire perimeter of the quilt once it’s assembled. There are some exposed bias edges on the corner units of the blocks due to the way they are constructed, and this will help keep them from stretching as it’s being quilted. Your long-armer will thank you for it.

I took this happy thing up into the hills above our house to get a few pictures while we wait for the magenta minky to arrive to truly make this the most snuggly of quilts for my girl. I’ll make sure to update this post once it’s complete!

(Note: I do put a small towel on the fence before draping my quilt tops over the barbed wire – no quilts were harmed while taking these photos!)