Shoot for the Stars with Michael Miller's Hula Universe Collection

Shoot for the Stars, Finishes 71" x 71"
Fabrics featured in this post were provided by Michael Miller Fabrics as part of my being a Michael Miller Brand Ambassador

 

I am excited to launch into a new year with a new finish featuring Michael Miller's Hula Universe and Krystal collections. Join me as I share my process for making this stellar quilt using improvisational slice and insert piecing.

Fabrics:

Hula Universe and Krystal Fabrics

Here is a list of fabrics and yardage used:

• Lift Off: 1 Panel
• Cosmic Space in Black: 1.5 yards 
• Heavenly in Black: 2 yards
• Krystal 1161 (Blue): 1/2 yard
• Krystal 1068 (Seafoam): 1/2 yard
• Krystal 1027 (Yellow): 1/2 yard
• Krystal 4125 (Orange): 1.25 yards (also used for binding)
• Tumble Towers 108" Wide Back: 2.25 yards

Making the Units

Small Shooting Star Units:

Cut one WOF strip measuring 7" from all 4 Krystal fabrics and subcut each strip into 6 squares measuring 7" x 7".

Cutting for Small Shooting Star Units

Make a stack with one square from each color, right sides facing up, and make the following cuts:

1. Bottom left corner from 2.5" to 2.5" mark (slide corner triangle away)
2. Two diagonal cuts dividing the remainder of the square into thirds as shown above (no need to measure) to create 3 similar sized rays.

From the Heavenly print, cut 1" strips (you will need between 20-25 1" strips total to make both the small and large shooting stars units). Insert a 1" strip into the cuts made--starting with the last two diagonal cuts first. When adding strips to the background rays, leave 1" or more at the start and finish of each seam to account for the various angles. I prefer to press all seams under the strip. After the strips are pressed, trim bottom of strip (closest to the small triangle corner) even with the angle of the background unit. Don't worry about trimming the outside edges as the blocks will be trimmed in a later step. Take care to return each unit to its proper stack and position so you can reassemble into squares.

Inserting 1" Strips for Small Shooting Star Unit

Shuffle the ray colors and reassemble. Press seams under the pieced 1" strip insert.  

Assembling and Pressing Small Shooting Star Unit

Piece a 1" strip as shown below to fill in the first cut made and press seam under newly added 1" strip.

Adding Corner Strip

Use small square to trim newly added 1" strip even with outside edges.

Trimming Corner Strip

Add on small triangle unit (using the 4th color not included in the pieced wedges). I placed a strip of Peel n Stick ruler tape (you can substitute any 1/2" wide masking or washi tape) between the 2"-2.5" mark to the adjacent 2"-2.5" mark on a 6.5" rotary square ruler as shown below. Place ruler on top of block, aligning ruler tape on top of the corner strip and trim all 4 sides to 6.5" x 6.5".

Trimming Small Shooting Star Unit

Make 5 more stacks and repeat process to improv piece a total of 24 small shooting star units measuring 6.5" x 6.5". Fast food trays helped to keep all 6 stacks organized for quick assembly and safe transport between the sewing machine, pressing station, and cutting station for trimming.

Fast Food Trays for Organization and Safe Transport Between Stations

Adapting Small Shooting Stars into Small Starburst Units:

From the Heavenly print, cut 10 WOF strips measuring 3.5" wide and subcut into the following rectangle units:

• Take 3 WOF strips and cut 3 12.5" x 3.5" rectangles for a total of 9 rectangles
• Take 1 WOF strip and cut one more 12.5" x 3.5" rectangle (set the extra aside as we'll use it for the Small Shooting Star Blocks)
• Take 5 WOF strips and cut two 18.5" x 3.5" rectangles from each strip for a total of 10 rectangles
• Save the remaining WOF strip for the Small Shooting Star Blocks as directed in the next section.

Piece 4 Small Shooting Star units together in a 2x2 configuration. Avoid having the same colors touching in the center or along the outside rays. Frame with two 12.5" x 3.5" rectangles (top and bottom) and two 18.5" x 3.5" rectangles (left and right). Repeat to create five 18.5" x 18.5" Small Starburst Units as shown below. 

Small Starburst Unit

Finishing Small Shooting Star Blocks:

You will have 4 leftover Small Shooting Star Units that will be framed along two sides only using the remaining 3.5" strip (and partial strip)

• From the last WOF strip, cut 4 rectangles measuring 9.5" x 3.5"
• From the last partial strip, cut 4 rectangles measuring 6.5" x 3.5"

Add one 6.5" x 3.5" strip above and one 9.5" x 3.5" strip along the right for each of the 4 remaining Small Shooting Star units with the Small Shooting Star Unit orientation as shown below:

• 2-Small Shooting Star Block A (left)
• 1-Small Shooting Star Block B (middle)
• 1-Small Shooting Star Block C (right)

Small Shooting Star Blocks A (left), B (middle), and C (right)

Large Shooting Star Blocks:

The process for making the Large Shooting Star Blocks is very similar with a few changes:

1. Make the first triangle diagonal cut from the 3" mark to the adjacent 3" mark
2. Make a center diagonal cut to the opposite corner
3. Make a cut above and below the center diagonal to create 4 similar sized wedges

Large Shooting Star Block Cutting Guide

Insert your 1" strips and reassemble to have a ray of each color in each Large Shooting Star Block. Attach the final corner strip and triangle to match one of the two center most ray colors.

Trimming Large Shooting Star Blocks

Once your blocks are assembled, place the tape between the 2.5"-3" mark on your rotary ruler to align over the last inserted strip and trim all Large Shooting Star Blocks to 9.5" x 9.5" squares.

Large Shooting Star Block

Planet Squares:

From the Heavenly (Planets), cut 5 strips measuring 9.5" wide and subcut into 20 squares measuring 9.5" x 9.5". You will only need 18 squares.

Planet Squares

Panel:

Center and trim Lift Off panel to 18.5" x 27.5".

Trimmed Lift Off Panel

Layout Auditions:

A few different layouts were explored.  

Playing with Layout Options

Initally I placed the panel in the center and surrounded with a checkerboard of planets and different sized Shooting Stars (top left image). This layout was too busy with the shooting stars pointing in all different directions and only the center panel to rest your eyes.Then I started to combine four Shooting Star units into two different configurations (top right and bottom right) to create additional focal points. Then I relocated the large panel from the center to the bottom left as if it is just launching into outerspace and surrounded it with a large Starburst in the opposite corner and 5 smaller Starburst Units sprinkled around the panel. Any remaining gaps were filled in with leftover Large Shooting Star Blocks, the remaining 4 Smaller Shooting Star Blocks, and Planet Squares (in a mostly checkerboard grid).

Finetuning the Final Layout

Construction:

Construction Map

The overall design was carefully sewn together into 8 smaller chunks as shown above:

• A (Left Red): 2 Large Shooting Star Blocks, 2 Planet Squares, 1 Small Starburst Unit
• B (Left Yellow): 1 Small Shooting Block A, 2 Planet Squares, 1 Large Shooting Star Block
• C (Left Green): 1 Small Starburst Unit, 2 Planet Squares, 2 Large Shooting Star Blocks
• D (Left Purple): 1 Planet Square, 1 Large Shooting Star Block, 1 Small Starburst Unit, 1 Lift Off Panel
• E (Right Blue): 5 Large Shooting Star Blocks, 2 Planet Squares, 1 Small Shooting Star Block A
• F (Right Green): 3 Large Shooting Star Blocks, 4 Planet Squares, 1 Small Shooting Star Block B
• G (Right Yellow): 1 Small Starburst Unit, 1 Small Shooting Star Block C, 2 Planet Squares, 1 Large Shooting Star Block
• H (Right Red): 3 Planet Squares, 1 Large Shooting Star Block, 1 Small Starburst Unit

A-B-C-D were sewn together to form the left half, and E-F-G-H sewn together for form the right half. Both halves were then stitched together to form the quilt top measuring 72" square.

Quilting and Finishing:

Thanks to using Michael Miller's Tumble towers on 108" wide back, I was able to launch ahead to the quilting phase! Lots of doodling to audition different quilting designs: stars, constellations, planets, and galaxies.

Free Motion Doodles and Designs

While I initially considered using one all over design, I am so glad I opted for custom quilting in each of the various blocks and units using my Gammill longarm machine!! Many of those doodles worked their way into the panel, rays, and planet squares including Zig Zags, stars, wavy lines, loop de loops, and pulleys. To help usher in a new year, I stitched messages of hope into each of the Large Shooting Star Blocks: Hope, Happiness, Wish, Peace, Love, Resilience, Creativity, Truth, Equality, Civility, Delight, Kindness, and Wellness.

Quilting Details

8 binding strips were cut from the Orange Krystal. I managed to complete the binding by 10:30 PM New Year's Eve---just in time to launch into the new year with a fun new finish!!

The Final Countdown

This project marks the conclusion of serving as a Michael Miller Brand Ambassador for the past 2 years. I have truly enjoyed working with the amazing Michael Miller team and their spectacular fabric collections. All this "Making It Fun" with Michael Miller Fabrics certainly inspired me to create some fabulous new finished projects, while exploring new patterns and techniques along the way!! I still have quite a bit of Michael Miller fabric left from my Welcome boxes, so you are sure to see more Michael Miller finishes ahead!

Wishing you a wonderful new year, filled with new creative adventures!! Cheers!!