We have attempted our first Lone Star Quilt top and have ran into a problem, PLEASE HELP. WE were using a pattern that you piece eight strips together, cut them at 45 degree angle into eight strips, then piece those eight strips together to form a diamond and repeat until you have eight diamonds and sew them together with blocks and triangles to complete the top. After piecing it all together, the center of the top is bulky and baggy? What may have caused this problem? The rest of the top is straight and even, but the center is just bulky and baggy. Any advise on preventing this on future quilt tops we make would be GREATLY appreciated. Thank You

with all those pieces, you need to be really accurate. Accurate cutting, the infamous scant 1/4 inch seams. The other issue is that you wind up with the edges of the diamonds on the bias. You have to be very careful not to stretch them. Starching your fabrics before beginning would be a good idea. I'm sure other folks will chime in with addional advice.

Welcome to the board from Southern California!!!!
I have never made a lone star, but there are others on here who have!!!

You must be EXTREMELY careful to get exact 1/4" seams on these stars, and with all these pieces being cut on the diagonal, do not stretch the fabric. You will now have to re-sew some of the seams until the piece lies flat, and then sew 4 pieces together, and then the other 4 pieces together, and then sew the 2 half-stars together, matching up the center seams. Press all of the seams OPEN on this, as it helps reduce the bulk.

I recently did a Queen sized lone star, and I had good luck. You MUST be extremely careful with your seams and handling the fabric.

PM me if you need more help. :-)

Here's the quilt I did:

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-79225-1.htm

It is the bias edges that cause this to happen. When you put the eight triangles together did you do so that you ended up with two halves that had to be sewn with one long seam? If you did then you can fudge a little in the center by making the seam a little deeper towards the center of the seam where all the ends come together. Next time when you piece the diamonds together start sewing at the end where they all come together and work towards the outsides of the diamonds. That will leave most of the fullness from stretching of the bias to the outside instead of in the center. With the fullness to the outside you can then gently work the fullness in as you apply the outer squares and Y seam triangles. We'd love to see a picture. Lone stars are my favorite pattern!

Now I see what you were saying on chat. It's very pretty but I don't know what to tell you to do to help.

Well, speaking from a lot of experience in a center that looks like a mountain or a mole hill.

I have taken the 8 diamonds apart and then cut them to size. This takes a bit of time, but you won't have a bump then.

When I have quilted them I can sometimes take some of that out of there.

Sorry not much for good news.

I'll try to post one of my latest ones.

I took a class and made one. We drew out the shape of the big diamonds on muslin and then pinned the muslin to the ironing board. Then pinned the diamonds onto the muslin, stretching and easing where needed and then starched and ironed the diamond shapes into the perfect sized diamonds. the diamonds sewed together perfectly with no bumps or baggy center!

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-87433-1.htm
hmmm, if all else fails, you may have to turn it over and see what seams need to be stitched again. you will probably need to take up some in order to get it to lay flatter. good luck.

I think if I had sewed the star together before I added the blocks and triangles it would have done alot better. I used instructions off the internet and they were not clear at all. They had it to where you sew the star when you are sewing the blocks and triangles on together. Will probably make another one and just hand quilt this one for myself.

The best pattern I used was Eleanor Burns~Quilt in a Day, that is not true!

I have also had a friend make me an acrylic template for me to use!

I just did a broken star pattern and ended up with the same problem you had. It looked terrible! As others have said the reason is the bias, 1/4 seam, etc. There is hope though. I blocked it (which is something often done after washing a completed quilt). What I did was wet the quilt in the bath tub and ran it through the spin cycle on my washing machine to get out excess water. Then I used a braided rug and stretched the top into shape and pinned (straight pins) to the braided rug. If you pin it in the correct shape when it is wet it will keep that shape when it is dry. I just finished this quilt (I'll try to post pictures tomorrow), but after I had all of the quilting completed and then washed it, the quilt kept the correct shape without all the puckering. Hope this helps! Let me know if it works for you or if something I wrote needs more explanation.

thank you so much that is worth a try.

It's so soothing to know when one is not alone...

Read this:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-99549-1.htm

and this:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-106776-1.htm

I think it is pretty.

I have attempted lone star twice now - and I get the same result - I think I am being careful and doing everything right - but I always get the hump in the center. Its very frustruating....Hope you get an answer - then I can peek and figure out what I am doing wrong. Good luck.

Go to you tube and watch Sharon Schambers tut on adjusting the fabric in a block. I do not know if it will work with yours but you might try it.

I've never made a lone star and want to. To everyone, thanks for all your input. Now I will try it. To designsforyou, I bet your quilt will look great.

Never tried a Lone Star, not experienced enough, yet.
I am thinking about sewing long strips together. Usually you sew from top to bottom then the next strip from bottom to top. This is so the strips don't get cocky-wompus.

Does anyone think this method would work?

best advice I ever got was... when you sew your large diamond sections together, dont let your fabric 'hang' in the front of your machine. You dont want any drag whatsoever. I sorta bunch it up right in the front of the machine and let the feed dogs do their job. All the intersections are pinned as well.

Yes I do. I took a class from Jackie Robinson. After ironing our strips, she told us to put away the iron and not touch it until the top was put together. She was very adamant about not ironing. Of course it has to do with the stretch of the bias.

She also said the bottom to top and top to bottom alternating seams was the way to go.

Hello from Western Mountain Maryland !! ;-)
I am of no help, but want to welcome you to the bosrd. ;-)

I have made a lot of log cabins, after the 1st one, have that problem, I now press my center seams open.

Hi,
I have made many lone stars and when I sew the star sections together, I sew it slightly wider going in towards the center. I have never added the squares and triangle at the same time.
If you put it together 2 by 2 and have two half done stars then sew it straight across to join the two halves (as someone else mentioned) I start scant...then widen as I get to the center then slowly work out to scant.
It is true also it can be quilted flat if it isn't too bad. I ask my quilters to do a scribbley design in the center middle blaze and outside diamond (makes it look like it was done on purpose) so the not all the lines end up meeting in the center and puff it up.
Also and all over design flattens the bump if it isn't major.
Yours is kind of major. If it were mine, I would separate (rip)the 8 points in the center about halfway out and resew them with a bigger seam. Sometimes you can applique something in the center and cut out what is underneath (like the bump!)....I have put things in the center of my lonestars.

In such cases I will cut a template the finished size and mark the stitching lines for the center diamond. I don't trust the 1/4" foot or my eyeballing it.

I did this; this only works if your piece is off by less then .75 inches. While it *helped* to adjust the block ala Schambers, it was insufficient on its own to solve the "outy belly button" problem.

-- jillaine

I used Eeanor Burns book too and have made 2 lone stars. Spray Starch and that good old 1/4 inch seam, a must. When cutting your strips, make sure you double check the 45 degree every couple strips. So easy to get off the mark, I did that and then had strips for plain pillows and almost ran out of fabric. Pin and pin and pin the seams, careful not to stretch even if they are spray starched and that center will turn out great. Most of all have fun!!

Related to this: make sure the width of your diagonal strips is accurate; this is where I messed up.

And also make sure that the "outer arms" of your pieced diamonds are directly across from each other.

The first photo below is what it should look like; the second is how off mine initially were.

STARCH, STARCH, STARCH!!!

The most important thing is the seam allowance, but I would also make sure that each 1/4 section is at a true right angle. I would trim at this point to a right angle and check again once the two quarters are sewn, to be sure they are straight. This should make it lay flat...

Love this process used at your class - sounds like it would be hard to miss doing it this way - Thanks

It's disheartening to put in so much work on a Lone Star and then have it turn out this way. All the suggestions I've read are good .... it's those bias edges that give you trouble.

Another thing you can do: Steam PRESS, don't slide your iron. A lot of that (but probably not all) can be gotten rid of by shrinking. Don't give up after one time; press, let it dry, and press again and again.

Good luck!

It is definitely the bias that is the problem! Thankfully when I did mine, I was using a serger to piece. It helped a lot!

It's very pretty. I hope the other hints help you fix it as I have nothing to add.

I have always wanted to do a Lone Star Quilt and was wondering what book or pattern you used.

No pressing until you join the four pieces to form the star. With so much bias the pressing tends to cause stretching. Also when you sew the four pieces together stitch from the center out to the outer edge. Hope this helps.

Did you sew all the strips together in the same direction. I have made this pattern and alternated the way I stitched the strips together. maybe two from outside to inside and two from inside to outside.

[quote=adrianlee]This is also how I have done mine, but also used freezer paper to help in keeping the correct shape or from stretching the bias. You iron the freezer paper to the diamond before sewing them together. But after the strips are sewed.

You might try steaming it to see if it will lay flat. if that doesn't work, you can go from the peachy diamonds and try to sew just a scant smaller seam to take in the excess. Just my 2 cents worth. Jan

I agree, you have to be very careful handling the bias edges. You also have to trim up each section once you have a section done. Also mark each section with a 1/4" line and match those up.

This has happened to me. I took the center apart and carefully marked the seam line. You do know that it shound not be sewed across the seam line in the point. Thats what my error was Finally got it to lay flat and it was well worth all the trouble.