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Quilting Plans for Polaris

HollyAnne Knight

Polaris is a classic star quilt pattern with a twist, providing imagery of both a star and a compass. If you want to let your piecing shine, grace this pattern with an all over motif. But if you want to add a little pizazz, Polaris is a perfect candidate for custom quilting! Let’s take a closer look together:

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In many ways, Polaris is a “classic” quilt with it’s embellished star being easily interpreted as either a bright heavenly body or the center of a compass. In softer or more traditional colors, this quilt keeps its classic feel. Swap out those fabrics for something bolder, however, and it transforms into a modern traditional masterpiece, eager for some quilting to match

Pro tip: Use a quilting coloring sheet (like the one included in the Polaris pattern_to audition not just fabrics, but also quilting plans!

All Over Design

As a classic quilt, Polaris looks lovely with a classic all over quilting design. It keeps the piecing as the focus of the quilt without heavy quilting. If you want to use an all over design but also want a “fancier” look, Polaris looks stunning with an all over McTavish, and it would be amazing with an all over feather meander too!

Block by Block Custom Quilting

Custom quilting each block of Polaris allows different parts of the block to be emphasized or deemphasized in order to draw the eye around the block. I chose to emphasize the center cross/ star with dense switchbacks, using the directionality of the design to draw the eye. Choosing a different motif for each section of the quilt is an excellent exercise in drawing not only the desired texture but also using the planning stage to make a “roadmap” of how to move from block to block without breaking thread.

Because this type of quilting is dense and difficult to remove, I recommend making a sample block or tablerunner using your quilting plan to make any changes from the drawing stage to the stitching stage before starting on your larger quilt.

New to custom quilting? You’ll find some starter tips here.

The Background and Foreground Approach

Depending on how many motifs you use with this method, it is likely to fall into what I usually call “semi custom quilting” with just two or three motifs at play, but since it is possible that you will need to break thread between quilting each block, it may be a bit more labor intensive than your “typical” semi custom plan. When I quilting Lisa’s Polaris quilt, I used this as a perfect opportunity to keep the stars super simple with some rulerwork (you could also use your walking foot), then added lots of pizzazz to the solid background with graffiti quilting. It was a straightforward plan with lots of POP.

You could also stitch in the ditch on the stars and choose a simple meander for the background if you wanted a similar depth difference between the foreground and background but in a less labor-intense way.

Read more about the technique I used here.

Quilting Outside the Lines

One of the great challenges of quilting a traditional quilt is the bulk of the seams. This, of course, can be off set with careful pressing, a larger needle, slowing down, etc, but sometimes it’s more desirable to plan quilting that can be easily steered around bulky spots. Enter: quilting outside the lines. Plus, it creates killer cool texture.

I kept my plan simple: divide rows with several wavy, overlapping lines, then fill between the rows with quilting, alternating between graffiti quilting and a feather meander. The feathers, of course, were classic for a classic quilt. But the unusual quilting plan paired with graffiti quilting brought a modern feel to the table. The result was visually interesting and classic without being overly traditional.

Don’t Forget

I hinted at this at the top, but whichever plan appeals to you, don’t forget to make use of the coloring page inside the Polaris Quilt Pattern to draw out your quilting plan before you get started. This drawing becomes like a “road map” to follow so you can focus on the quilting time when you get there. (For more tips about quilting plans, click here). And, of course, Rockstar, don’t forget to have fun planning and executing your quilting!

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