Mosaic Star Quilt - using the Sketchbook collection

Written by Brittany Lloyd

Today, I'm sharing about a quilt that's been in the works for a while it finally has it's moment to shine here on the blog. This quilt was a really slow burn because it is the sample that I used to film most of the video lessons inside of Triangle School. (psssst! Find course details and get on the waitlist here!) But back to this quilt... I used the Sketchbook collection by Alexia Marcelle Abegg for Ruby Star Society and it turned out so beautifully.....

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When I first saw this collection, I was a little unsure if I would make anything with it. It's stunning, don't get me wrong. But it felt a little more modern than what I'm used to working with. That said, I still wanted to give it a try and I'm SO glad that I did. I remember seeing this collection early on during my design process for Mosaic Star. I decided to pick 12 of my favorite fabrics from the collection and create the Throw size version of the pattern. It was really hard to narrow it down to just 12 fabrics, but I went with several of the warmer fabrics from the collection and these are what I ended up choosing.

Foreground Fabrics:

Sketchbook Metallic Copper Grei RS4070 13M Ruby Star #1
Sketchbook Dahlia RS4070 15 Ruby Star #1
Sketchbook Earth RS4070 17 Ruby Star #1
Sketchbook Suede RS4070 18 Ruby Star #1
Sketchbook Sunlight RS4070 19 Ruby Star #1
Sketchbook Kiss RS4070 21 Ruby Star #1
Sketchbook Cayenne RS4072 13 Ruby Star #1
Sketchbook Wolf RS 4071 15 Ruby Star #1
Sketchbook Earth RS4076 12 Ruby Star #1
Sketchbook Cactus RS4075 17 Ruby Star #1
Sketchbook Orchid RS4071 12 Ruby Star #1
Sketchbook Suede RS4075 19 Ruby Star #1

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I originally had the black and light blue fabrics in the mix, but I later decided to swap out those two fabrics. Here's what they looked like with everything.

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With the Throw size Mosaic Star quilt, there are 12 blocks, which means that you need 12 fat quarters or quarter yards for the foreground fabrics. One cool thing about this pattern is that if you cut carefully and don't waste too much, then you can get away with only using eighth yards or fat eighths instead of FQs/ quarter yards. That's actually what I ended up doing with this quilt, but if you want some extra fabric leftover to go in your stash or have on hand in case you make a mistake, FQs/ quarter yards are the way to go!

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The Mosaic Star pattern uses 3 different patchwork triangles: half square triangles, half rectangle triangles and flying geese. There's also a diamond-in-a-square or "square-in-a-square" block and some other fun skills. It's a great pattern to work through in batches....so you could make all of your half square triangles, all of your flying geese, and so on. Or it's also a fun pattern to just make block-by-block. This gives you a little taste of what your quilt is going to look like as your finish each block, which I find really satisfying. Since I was using these block to film video tutorials, I found myself doing a mix of both!

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Around the time I was making these blocks, I had the itch to get a design wall. This has been on my bucket list for FOREVER, so I was really really excited to make this happen! I ended up getting a 60" x 72" Fons & Porter Instant Flannel Design Wall (click here for an affiliate link), and it works really well! I used command strips to hang it on my wall and I was so giddy with excitement to hang each block up on the wall, one by one. It is SO much better than using the floor!

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For the background, I wanted to use something that didn't feel so stark. Bella Natural felt like the perfect, warm neutral for this project. I love that it gives a little bit of contrast to the other fabrics, but it also fits in with the overall vibe of the quilt.

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We have quilt kits for this exact quilt top in the shop.

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The binding Sketchbook Black Paint from the collection, which is a really great contrasting fabric to frame everything in. If you don't like black, you could also use your leftover scraps from the Foreground.

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The backing is called Sketchbook Kiss Brushstrokes and it's such a lovely pink/purple shade. It's probably my favorite fabric from the collection! We have 4.5 yard cuts of this fabric in the shop as well!

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The quilting is by Ashely of HenHouse Quilting. She suggested this Arches pattern and I immediately said yes! It's such a good contrast to the many different triangle points in this quilt. Plus the fabrics plus this quilting gives me a whole "Saved by the Bell" vibe...I'm not sure why, but I'm here for it!

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Overall, this quilt feels like a summer party. The warm colors and star blocks remind me of little sunshines floating throughout the quilt. It was a fun project to stretch my creativity and branch out and use some fabrics that I wouldn't normally use. I hope you love the quilt as much as I do!