The Encircled Stars Quilt in the New Morning Latte Fabrics is a Lovely Way to Wake Up! -

Hi everyone! Mary Burroughs-Mayer of Ember Craft Company here sharing my latest make for Riley Blake Designs! This week we are featuring my Encircled Stars Quilt pattern (find it in my Etsy shop HERE) in the new Morning Latte fabrics by one of my fave fabric designers, Sandy Gervais!

The Fabrics

This fabric collection (find it HERE) features a gorgeous mix of delicate floral prints in warm earthy tones with pops of pink and soft mint. The chocolate browns remind me of a lovely, hot espresso. The main floral prints are easily my favorites and served as the perfect focal points for my pattern!

The Pattern

My Encircled Stars quilt is a medallion-style quilt pattern. It is the first pattern I ever published and is really close to my heart. It is appropriate for an advanced (or adventurous) beginner and utilizes cutting templates for the triangle-in-a-square units, no-waste flying geese, and 8-at-a-time half square triangles. I’ve also included foundation paper piecing (FPP) templates for the triangle-in-a-square units in the pattern for those that prefer that method, but please note that the pattern assumes users already have a general understanding of FPP Construction.

I’ve found that people tend to feel strongly about foundation paper piecing, they either LOVE it or HATE it. I like to use it as a tool to get those perfect points we, as quilters, always seem to be looking for. See link HERE for a reel I posted to my Instagram a while back showing exactly how to use the FPP templates to make this block.

Sewing While Traveling? Yes PLEASE!

I had the pleasure of sewing this quilt top on vacation last week on my Featherweight sewing machine. For those of you who may not be familiar with these darling little machines, they were made by Singer from the 1930’s through the 70’s and have a fold up bed. They are light (for a sewing machine) and come in a carrying case. I love to take it with me up to our cabin and it’s especially cozy when it’s snowing up there. It’s one of my favorite things to watch the kids play outside while I stay warm and sew. It’s the perfect traveling companion!

Now, sewing while traveling can come with it’s own hazards. I had all the pieces for this quilt cut and ready to go before we left, and did not bring any extra fabric with me (major mistake!). Once I started piecing the blocks, I found I was short 5 – 3 1/2″ background squares! UGH! I don’t know if they fell out of the bag at some point or I miscounted, but regardless, it would be impossible to finish this. There are no fabric stores remotely near our cabin.

Miraculously, I was able to salvage this project by using some of the excess border yardage and piecing them together! Can you see the improvised square in the block below? It’s barely noticeable, and doesn’t bother me a bit. I’m a firm believer in Finished > Perfect, and being able to get this entire top done to get a few pictures in the snow was 100% worth it.

The Finished Top

I finished this quilt top just as we were leaving the mountains and was able to convince my husband to hold it up for me to get a few snaps in the snow. I love how the Main Floral in Espresso used for the large triangle units frames out the medallion and accentuates the look of curves where there aren’t any!

This sweet thing is currently at Featherbed Quilting getting a spa treatment (find Donna’s beautiful work HERE) and I can’t wait to be able to wake up underneath this and enjoy my morning coffee! Make sure to check out my Instagram for updates when this is finished!

I’ve made my Encircled Stars quilt about a dozen times now for different things and I have to say it never gets boring! It’s really fun to play with different fabric arrangements and see what makes the design pop. Make sure to check it out HERE to see a few other versions!

As always, thanks so much for following along with me here. I’m always working on some kind of sewing shenanigans, make sure to follow me on all the socials to see what I’m up to next!

Happy Sewing!

Mary Burroughs-Mayer – Ember Craft Company