New Year, new pattern! I’m thrilled to bring you another Cedar Quilt Co. design. Introducing Maple Star Grove, a Fat Quarter friendly quilt pattern that uses the classic Maple Star block.
Maple Star Grove is on sale this week for 25% off along with all of our other patterns, no code required!
About Maple Star Grove
Cozy up with Maple Star Grove! This fun and satisfying fat-quarter friendly quilt pattern is perfect for displaying a variety of fabrics. Each block is unique and together they create a beautiful quilt.
Maple Star Grove offers a twist on the classic Maple Star block, with an economy block at the center and four corner squares as an accent.
Maple Star Grove comes in 5 sizes, from baby to king. It looks great with a light or a dark background and it works well with fat quarter or half yard bundles.
This quilt pattern is suitable for adventurous beginners who are looking to practice their skills and learn how to make flying geese blocks.
The Inspiration
This quilt is inspired by fall foliage, cozy sweaters, hot tea, and, of course, the beautiful Maple tree. Maple trees of all shapes and sizes are very common in my area and they have a special place in my heart as a Canadian. I have always loved the Maple Star quilt block and I enjoyed playing with that design in this quilt.
Fat Quarters
If you are new to quilting, ‘Fat Quarter’ might be an unfamiliar term for you. A Fat Quarter is a half yard piece of fabric that has been cut in half along the lengthwise grain. It is the same amount of fabric as a ¼ yard cut, but it is cut ‘fat’. Fat Quarters are popular in quilting because you can cut larger pieces from them and you get to see more of the print (if applicable).
There are lots of patterns out there that cater to Fat Quarters and Maple Star Grove is one of them! Quilters often buy fat quarters in bundles so they get a cohesive group of fabrics to work with. These bundles are typically all from the same fabric collection or they are custom picked by a designer or fabric store owner. Buying this way helps to take the guesswork out of choosing fabric for your project.
One of the best things about working with fat quarters is the variety of fabrics that you get to play with! If you are making a quilt using just a few fabrics, it can get a bit monotonous. Making a quilt that uses many different fabrics is exciting! You can combine the fabrics in different ways to get fun results. Each block is a unique sewing experience and that can help you to stay motivated to finish your quilt.
Sizes and Fabric Requirements
I have provided five sizes for Maple Star Grove; baby, lap, throw, queen, bed king. I made the throw size for the cover quilt which uses 16 Fat Quarters / ¼ yard cuts. You will need 6 - 36 FQs depending on the size you choose. Half yard cuts are also an option for the throw, queen, and king sizes.
FQs or ¼ yard cuts will result in a lot of variety in your blocks. Half yard cuts will result in less variety in the quilt, but for the two larger sizes, it can make the quilt feel more cohesive because the fabrics are repeated more often.
If you are feeling intimidated by choosing so many different fabrics, I highly recommend getting a FQ or HY fabric bundle. This will ensure a beautiful result. You can also copy our cover quilt! Sample quilt fabrics are Fableism wovens from the Forest Forage collection. We used “Oat” from the Sprout Wovens collection for the background.
Colour Examples
Maple Star Grove is an easy quilt to choose fabric for. Pretty much any bundle of fabric paired with a neutral background fabric is going to look great. The accent colour (D) is the same for all blocks. We recommend choosing a colour that is a shade or two lighter/darker than the background fabric (in the same colour family). This really lets the blocks shine.
Can you use directional prints?
Using directional prints for Maple Star Grove can produce a really exciting and dynamic effect. The prints will not all be pointing in the same direction, but it is still a unique and playful look.
The example to the right uses different striped fabrics to illustrate what directional prints could look like in the final block.
Construction
This pattern is satisfying to sew because it uses simple squares and rectangles paired with a few more complex elements such as flying geese and economy blocks.
I think Maple Star Grove is a really fun quilt to sew because:
- It has lots of different elements in each block so it doesn't get tedious.
- You get to play with loads of fun fabrics.
- The blocks are large (15”) so bigger scale prints and wovens work really well.
- Quilting really shines on this design thanks to the larger scale.
The Quilting
Thanks to Shelly over at Ma Tante Quilting for longarming the cover quilt. I chose “Woodgrain” for the pantograph and it looks so great. I wanted to lean into the Maple theme so this one was perfect.
The background fabric is a Fableism Woven called “Strata” from the Canyon Springs collection. I was so happy when I found this print because it includes all the same colours I chose for the piecing. I also used it as the binding around the edge and I love how it looks!
For the baby size of Maple Star Grove, I did the quilting myself and made my own design to compliment the blocks. The backing is a beautiful painterly fabric that uses all the same colours as the pieced top. I chose to do a scrappy binding using the leftovers for the edges!
Maple Star Grove is on sale this week for 25% off along with all of our other patterns, no code required!
I hope you enjoy this new quilt pattern!
