Starry Eyed…Enjoy Variations of Quilting’s Most Historic Design

The variations seem endless among star designs that have emerged from quilters’ minds and hands since the mid-18th century. 

While the Star of Bethlehem is perhaps the most familiar, consisting of eight pieced ‘arms’ created in different ways, there are myriad stars to guide your choice and your collecting. Consider a version with fewer or more star arms, or pieced with diamonds, triangles or squares, a solitary star as a monumnetal motif in the quilt center, or multiple pieced stars in numerous eye-catching variations.

Most stars are challenging to piece because not all the arm edges are cut on the straight grain; so some attempts never were completed since the final quilt top result would not lay flat. Still, many quilters who attempted a star succeeded, and there are impressive examples still to discover.

Shown here are variations available in the current inventory of NYC’s FISHER HERITAGE; owner Laura Fisher always looks for unusual examples to add to our knowledge of star patterns.

Among the several dozen stars in FISHER HERITAGE’s inventory are: 

* COMPLEX STAR, seemingly circular blocks in late 19th century cotton prints 

* CARPENTER’S WHEEL ON POINT, chic unexpected color combination of blue and cheddar wool, lste 19th c. 

* STRING STARS, PA. MENNONITE, c. 1890s colid cottons 

* SUNBURST, PA. MENNONITE, radiant octagonal centralized design c. 1890s solid cottons 

* MARINER’S COMPASS ON POINT IN A DIAMOND GRID, repeat blocks in varied mid 19th century cotton prints 

* EXTRAORDINARY MONUMENTAL STARBURST WITH SATELLITE STARS QUILT, c. mid 19th c cotton prints 

* SIX POINT OPENWORK STARS TRUNDLE QUILT, chintz and cotton c early 19th century 

* CHIPS AND WHETSTONES or COMPASSES  QUILT, dated 1835, Hannah Welsh, cotton 

For further information and assistance with purchasing, contact Laura Fisher by phone 917/797-1260 or by email to  [email protected]. Open online 24/7 and in Chelsea (NY) by prior appointment. Find even more stars on our website laurafisherquilts.com