Hunter Star Blahs
 

I was inspired by a member to make a Hunter Star out of scraps that I had. Enjoyed the piecing but my fabric choices leave a lot to be desired...and I don't like how the star is turning out.
i need recommendations to those who are more experienced with fabrics with this block.
do you tend to use two different fabrics for the larger squares then various scrappy fabrics for the star points? All suggestions welcomed. Thanks!

Trust your instinct and stop for a moment and ponder. I do believe that our inner voice is always right.

I had to google Hunter Star because I didn't know what it looked like off the top of my head. You might want to try google images and see if something helps you.

I see the block is actually the 16 blocks together forming the star.

Maybe all 16 blocks need to use the same fabrics and then you put all the scrappy 16-block squares together???

Does any of that make sense?

My favorite Hunter's Star quilts all have bold contrasts. I personally like the ones that are "controlled" scrappy -- a variety of reds with a single white, a variety of blues with a single white, etc. Two of your blocks seem to me to have inadequate contrast. Although the textures are different, the saturation of the colors is similar. The paisley block has enough contrast, but the prints to me seem to fight each other; neither one is calm. If you look at the darker print portions of the star, they're not dark enough; if you look at the lighter portions of the star, two of them are mediums rather than lights. I'm not an expert on Hunter's Star by any means (still on my bucket list!), but I really think the problem with yours is a lack of contrast. In other words, you need darker darks and lighter lights.

the colors all seem to be mediums (except the white) I would try more darks and lights or mediums and whites.

I think you are getting ahead of yourself with this worry, because I think it's going to be a gorgeous low contrast quilt. Don't change anything or panic just yet. Let it develop more before you decide to make changes.

I agree with Prism. I think you need more contrast in your fabrics.

Personally I would put a different colour in the large square section. It could be the same colour in every place.

Maybe you don't have enough contrast between the fabrics??

In my opinion - there is no law that says that a hunter's star quilt/block HAS to be high contrast - but that seems to be what is usual.

If you wanted to go with the low-level contrast look - I think the pink and print and green and print blocks work - and I would eliminate the white and print unit - because that looks out of place to me.

Just wondering - do you trim/check your half square units before incorporating them into your blocks?

Many of us have learned to make them slightly oversized and trim them down to get better results. I have also learned to check to see if - for example - that the four HST units sewn together and the squares I am going to sew them together are the same size.

I can ease and stretch with the best of them - but the results usually look nicer if the adjoining pieces fit together smoothly. It is also much easier to press the entire block then.

Yes, I plan to trim them up before putting the squares together. These ended up as practice squares - learning what to do and what not to do. Thanks!