Wracking my brain to arrange this fabric/pattern
 

I've been going round & round with this all day...

Here's the pattern: (8 total fabrics used)
http://www.windhamfabrics.com/images..._lone_star.pdf

And the fabric I want to use is from Indigo Crossings Line [ATTACH=CONFIG]397079[/ATTACH]
For the life of me, I can't seem to get the arrangement right and not have two of the same hue in the same spot, or looking wonky. I printed in grayscale to get a sense of what colors to use where, but even if I use just "light, med, dark" I don't seem to have enough actual different colors in the Indigo line (3 shades of blue, cream and tan) to get it right. The only fabric I really am NOT fond of in the line is the stars.
Anyone want to help me tackle this?
Thanks!

Sometimes it helps to look at other pictures of the style of quilt you want. The only thing I've noticed in my browsing is that sometimes if the very center is too light or too dark it can look like a hole. I tend to like the ones with mid-tones in the center best. Here are some pics from Google:


https://www.google.com/search?q=lone...Lon49gS87YCABA

I would take my cue from the picture if that is the look you are going for. If the color is neutral. pick a neutral. dark/solid looking/not busy , pick one of those. Don't be afraid to add one of your own in there if you cannot find one from this group. If it was mine, I would want a less busy fabric for the background, but that is JMHO. I think the star would stand out more. How about finding a floral that has a bit of another color in it to tie them together:red or green?
Also looks like they have repeated fabrics...Center fab matches row 5 (right after the cream), and so on. If you did that, you would not have to pick out so many! let us know how it goes...

If you squint your eyes you have more darks in upper left. It seems to me if you moved one of the darks down into bottom right. and a darker tan or two into bottom left and then eyeball it.ha. I think the really darks are together. You consider the blues as medium and all tans and lights as lights. I only see 4 really darks. All blues consider medium and all other as lights. Now I'm confused! LOL Barny

Exactly, Katie- The "hole" thing. I like that this one uses a mid-tone fabric in the center rather than a sharp light or dark contrast in the center & on the endpoints. It just "flows" really well (IMO). Yup, glazing over all the L-Star quilts online, too. (There's one out there called a Grand Lone Star...love that one). I may have to modify it somehow similar to the coloring in that one, which only uses 7 fabrics. Just didn't want to have to think about 'modifying it' at this stage of the game.

I have a question. How can that quilt, as pictured, possibly be a 60" x 80" quilt as the pattern claims??? It's a square, not a rectangle...finished and bound as a square with no instructions for adding anything extra to make it into a rectangle. Doesn't anyone else find that a bit odd?

I have made a few of these Lone Stars using Quilt Smart. You will have perfect results if you use it too. The first LS I made in the traditional way got so out of shape that I tossed it! Lone Star quilts are square not rectangle.

quiltsmart.com

There is a correction on the Windham site that the directions should say 60 x 60".

I popped it into EQ to play with it and the swatches. How about something like this?

LyndaOh ... I like your solution. I was going to suggest to OP that with Lone Stars it easier to use a darker color in the center to hide any ... ummmm ... mis-matches :)

The only other thing I would add is that I love lone stars that use the same background fabric as was used in the 2nd or 3rd position down from the point of the star ... it makes the tips of the star 'float'. I've done two like this (actually 1 1/2 as I'm not finished with the second one yet) and I love the effect I get from the "floating" points.

Pic below is one that is finished to show you what I mean by the "floating" point. In mine below my background fabric is the same as the fabric used in the 4th position from the tip ... I prefer it to be the 3rd position though (which I did on the one I am making now). Also note that I didn't use the darkest fabric for the center ... and my mismatched points in the middle are a little obvious.

LyndaOh, I really love your rendition...the scrolls looking fabric really brings some motion into it and I love the calming blues with the cream and tan. I think you nailed it!

LindaOH - WOW! That's fantastic! I need to clear some stuff off my plate so I can buy and learn EQ!
Teeler-Beautiful fabric line! Can't wait to see the finished product!

Linda- THANK YOU! I don't have any version of EQ, but thinking I should probably invest in it. Love the way you worked it up. Brain overthinking; just couldn't get there yesterday. I super-duper appreciate it!
(Yes, typo in the pattern on 60x80; I was trying to figure that out, too, at one point)

I would take your cues from the layout in the sample picture you showed. You can see how they laid out the charms so that there is maximum contrast between adjoining fabrics. They didn't put 2 blues that were the same hue right together but chose different blues or different creams to touch when they had to be close. Can you pick 1 row or 1 column of the fabrics that appeals to you best and then use those fabrics in that order for your layout, just adding 1 additional fabric?

You're very welcome, Teeler! EQ is just the best.

Where in NH are you? Before Ohio, we lived in Troy, near Keene. My husband and I were just talking yesterday about missing the snow and the adventure of those big storms, which I think you might be experiencing right now!

Lynda

Rebecca- good point; will pay more attention to that kind of thing when I'm looking to do this sort of thing. Very helpful.
Lynda- we're down near the seacoast. It's just starting to spit out there now, and not sticking yet.

When looking at the pattern and the fabrics you have, which I think are beautiful, I do not see a very large scale pattern in the mix. If you look at the pattern it's self there is a very large scale fabric. I wonder if that is why you are unsettled with it. Just a thought.
If you have ample fabric you may want to cut out a small sample with the diamonds and glue stick them on to a sample card to give your eyes an example. I'm so visual that I usually have to do that to wrap my head around it.
I look forward to seeing this beauty come to life - I love 2 color quilts.

Beautiful fabrics, your quilt will be gorgeous

I am confused! Why are you laying/looking at the fabrics as if they are going to be used as just square blocks and not "Rebecca's Lone star " pattern? Try to visulize how this fabric line will look in the pattern. If you have a hard time doing that then take the color swatches from the pattern and match them with the fabric samples. Are you going to order this fabric on line? Perhaps you can find a store in your area that carrys this fabric. I think you are over thinking this!!!!

Just to see if I was on board with everyone else, I did the same thing you did Lynda & came up with the same color tones as you did. ( Although I chose a solid cream for the background, I like your choice better) That I came to same conclusion you did made me extremely happy as I sometimes out guess myself. I love the look. I have a green brown & tan one ready to be made. I am using the book called "Radiant Star Quilt " by Eleanor Burns.
Be sure to post pictures when you are finished Teeler.

I find that decision making is a great part of quilting :) The only thing I would suggest is that the upper left seems to have a lot of dark squares in it........all other areas look great.

Overall, the stars look good but you know best about this.

Good luck.

Agreed!

Could you print the red quilt in grayscale and place along side the fabrics you have in grayscale and then match up the "grays" the best you can?

Your fabrics are beautiful. Also love Lynda's rendition. Don't think you could go wrong with it.

I really like the star solution to your problem. That will be beautiful! Good luck in getting it together.

LyndaOH- Your vision...brought to life:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ps1e223981.jpg

I'm so glad you posted this! The star looks great and your piecing looks perfect! Thanks for the PM - I was happy to help and especially happy to see the "real thing".

Looking great!

LyndaOH, I like the pattern you came up with. I have that same problem all the time. Guess it is time to invest in a EQ. Will need to do a google search to see what it actually is. Thanks for sharing. Just love this board.

I LOVE the Indigo Crossings fabrics. When considering them for a quilt, though, I wanted to put a medium blue or two into the mix. To my eye the assortment reads all darks and lights except for the tans. I haven't seen them in person, just pictures. (LindaOH has posted a star that works well IMHO).

Awesome! I love the way that turned out : )

Take a picture. And look at the colours in sheds of black nd white.