Ohio Stars in my eyes and in Quilters World

Tropical Storm Fay rained on us nonstop for three days and continues to drizzle, but I sneaked out to the mailbox around midnight when the winds died down and retrieved my latest copy of Quilters World Magazine. My article about Ohio Star quilt design variations is featured and as usual editors Sandra Hatch and Sue Harvey did a 'stellar' job.

It was a fun article to research and write and I'm still fascinated by the way people can look at the same pattern and turn it into something amazingly unique and totally different.

I find it difficult to name my first choice of all of the quilts I viewed, but Maria Elkins' Ohio Dreaming stays with me. She painted the likeness of her daughter on the quilt shaped like Ohio and the use of the Ohio star quilt at the bottom couldn't be more perfect. Its folds remind me of the waves of the Ohio River and the red, white and blue -- Ohio's innate patriotism. What a talent! And what a touching quilt.

I so enjoy researching these quilt articles, interviewing quilters, artists and designers and learning more about them and the quilting arts. There are so many I admire, hopefully I can bring them to the pages of this blog for you to admire, too.

Not as easy as it looks

I've been sewing since I was a child. I've been sewing well since a teenager. As a young wife and mother I made most of my family's clothing -- out of necessity and just for fun. But I haven't sewed now for several years, maybe a decade, maybe longer. I have tried a few small projects -- fabric bowls, an Irish Chain quilt, a Christmas wall hanging.... That's about it.

So this past weekend I put a new audio book on the CD player and started cutting and sewing together an Ohio Star quilt complete with appliqued hearts.

First of all, I couldn't decide on the fabrics. What colors to use and where and why? Purple? Blue? Monochromatic? Two-tone? Scrap? Then I pulled out some patriotic fabrics --red, white and blue stars, flags, variations on that theme. And that solved my color and fabric dilemma, I'd make a patriotic wall hanging. Not that I need one. Not that I'll even hang it for more than a few days each year, yet, I liked the idea of it. I felt it was doable. So I started cutting out squares and quarter-triangles while listening to David McCullough's book John Adams. Great book by the way and soon to be released as an HBO mini-series. The book and quilt seem to be following a similar theme.

But I digress.

I snipped and measured, sewed and ripped and sewed and sewed and ripped. And the poor Ohio Star that developed -- well, lets just say some parts fit better than others. Some of the triangles fit together giving the little block a waistline. Not a good thing.

I discovered that printing out a pattern off of the Internet comes with some problems. Some size problems. It seems that just because it is printed off of a page that has the right sized pattern, doesn't guarantee that the printed pattern will be true to size.

So I got out my trusty copy of Quilts! Quilts!! Quilts!!! by Diana McClun and Laura Nownes
with their carefully prepared patterns and instructions.

I would love to say that the quilt fell together and I am finishing it up. But what I have is an Ohio Star laid out with all of the pieces in the proper places, awaiting a trip to the sewing machine. But first I must work up the nerve to give it another try. It is the first hurdle. Just do it. Don't try to channel Hollis Chatelaine or Kaffe Fassett or Ruth McDowell -- just sew for the joy of sewing.

It has been too long since I did that. But, I'm looking forward to that -- not the quilt, not the wallhanging, not even mastering the basic Ohio Star pattern. But sewing simply for the joy of it. It has been too long.

The Ohio Star and variations

I'm a native Ohioan. One of my favorite traditional patterns has been and will always be the Ohio Star. No surprise there. It has been a popular pattern for a good many years, first appearing in 1815, according to DawnPages quilt history.

What surprises is what people have done with this simple little pattern of squares and triangles. Check out the photo of Kaffe Fassett beside one of his dazzling Ohio Star quilts at the Festival of Quilts, 2006.

Quilt.com offers directions for constructing a basic Ohio Star block. The Quiltaholics offer a variation based on colors and turning a few squares into triangles. Quiltville offers a variation based upon size of the individual blocks, setting them together in a colorful, pleasing configuration. It is a good choice for a quilt made from a block exchange. Quiltville also offers great photos and step-by-step directions on piecing blocks efficiently. And if you want to make it in a day, check out Eleanor Burns, she even has some cute socks sporting Ohio Stars for sale on her site.

How about an Amish version?

An antique quilt at Stella Rubens Antiques shows how an Ohio Star pattern changes with added borders. And miniaturist Kate Adams demonstrates what Ohio Star quilts look like in antique fabrics and teeny tiny pieces. Note that Adams frames her finished quilts, a fantastic idea for displaying your own projects and turning them into art....

Then, check out what artist and quilter Rita Denenberg does with an Ohio Star. Rita writes on her site,

I took the traditional Ohio Star pattern,
blew it up and gave it dimension. I left the traditional
blocks in the corners. This quilt is hand pieced
and hand quilted.

And we can't forget the luscious, amazing and startling version of The Ohio Star that Caryl Bryer Fallert created and offers for sale at only $3,000.

For a departure from the basic fabric quilts, check out the barn project where traditional patterns have been painted on barns across Southern Ohio.

This is only a tiny sampling of what I found on the Internet this evening. As I find more variations, I'll be adding them. If you have some to add, please let me know!

Addition: A beautiful antique Ohio Star and Carolina Lily quilt circa 1920 offered by Betsy Telford in vibrant Christmas colors on a pristine white background. And below is a book devoted to Ohio Star variations by Jackie Robinson
available on Amazon.


Fellow writer and quilter, Marijke Durning sent me a photo of her version of the Ohio Star. She used a flowered fabric to showcase the center of each star. A friend from Town and Country Quilters in Lima, OH made Ohio Stars using the center as a place to showcase a miniature of another pattern -- sail boats, card tricks, even small Ohio Stars.

Quilt designers Jean Wells and Marina Anderson offer a book, A Celebration of Hearts that features heart quilts. One pattern is an Ohio Star variation. I believe it is the top middle block.