Spaced Out Quilt Pattern Test: Bright Strawberry Version
Spaced Out Quilt: Strawberry & Linen
You can maybe tell by now, I always jump at the chance to test a new quilt pattern from Morgan of Modernly Morgan—her designs are consistently fresh, modern, and fun to sew. Her instructions and math are usually already reviewed for technical accuracy, leaving me free to just follow directions and play. My biggest concern is usually “What amazing fabrics should I showcase?” or “What unique color choices can I make?”
I love how pattern testing gives me one of the first opportunities to show what a quilt pattern is capable of, and this one was especially exciting with its stripey stars and modern layout. I had to edit myself down from about 7 potential choices for fabrics, but eventually settled on this summery mix of bold and bright strawberries and a relaxed yarn-dyed homespun linen.
My Fabric Pull: luscious Strawberries and homespun linen
I started in a very different direction with this quilt, originally intending to use the Favorite Flowers collaborative collection from Ruby Star Society. I was going to make those little tiny square ellipsis blocks in a sharp cerulean/lime shade, and I purchased the requisite yardage of Art Gallery linen blend in Ash for the background.
Then, I hit the lottery! Not that lottery. The fabric lottery. I found a jelly roll of an upcoming (but not yet released) collection from Kim Kight that I have been hotly anticipating since it was previewed for wholesale, Strawberry!
Originally included in 3 colors in her Yours Truly collection, this is one of Kim Kight’s most popular and loved prints, and it’s no wonder. With their chubby, wonky rounded shape, the swoopy stem and leaf, the contrasting seeds, and the repetition broken only by the occasionally silly upside down flipped berry, they just scream POP ART to me. They are like something you’d see in a Warhol print or a vintage fruit crate label. I have always been drawn to pop art, before I even really knew what it was.
“Pop art is about liking things.”
In a subsequent collection, Strawberry & Friends Kim Kight expanded on her strawberries print by adding new color ways, a mini strawberries scattered print, and some complementary plaids, ditsy florals, and even a pop art style yogurt cup print. I still had a few of those Strawberry and Friends plaids and florals in my fabric stash so I added them in here for some print variety.
This quilt pattern does not call for a jelly roll, so I did have to make some adjustments to use some of my jelly roll strips, but Morgan trusts that I know what I am doing. If you’re a new quilter, I suggest you use the fabric requirements as written in the pattern (fat quarters or quarter yards). But if you too have a made some quilts before and you know the score, you can definitely make this pattern work with a jelly roll.
This newest (upcoming) Strawberry collection has no non-strawberry prints. But it has the classic aligned strawberries, the mini scattered strawberries, and a larger scatter print, and it definitely has a bigger variety of COLOR. A glorious rainbow of bold, saturated color. Colors that I felt perfectly complemented one of the Warp and Weft dress plaids from the Ooh Lucky Lucky Warp & Weft collection. This yarn-dyed cross-weave has such a soft drape and a silky smooth texture with a gentle sheen. Both of these collections are manufactured by Ruby Star Society, my favorite group of designers, so it makes sense that they coordinate so well.
I had a hard time choosing between a crème de la crème solid, the Ash linen, or the Homespun linen in natural, but in the end, I paired the bright playful prints with the more rustic texture of the Essex Homespun linen. I love the contrast in texture and personality between the prints and the background.
the design: classic stars with clever stripes and …
Three dots (...) in punctuation are called an ellipsis. An ellipsis is used to indicate an omission of words, a pause, or a trailing off of thought…
Anyway, what were we talking about? Oh yes, the Spaced Out quilt pattern and how cleverly Morgan names her patterns. Not only are stars a feature of space, but these star blocks are offset with narrow blocks made up of 3 dots, an ellipsis if you will. They are so creatively s p a c e d o u t… aren’t they? You get it. I overdid it. Moving on…
The stars are striped, and they don’t require any flying geese (another classic Modernly Morgan pattern feature). If you know what flying geese blocks are, you can see why they might be a little frustrating to piece while trying to achieve those horizontal stripes.
A modern star quilt pattern, with no flying geese, that loosely incorporates punctuation?? Yes, please!
Piecing the spaced out quilt: tips + tricks
These stars did require more double checking of fabric placement and HST trimming than usual, and Morgan wisely warns quilters to avoid directional fabrics in this one, but the striped stars keep your eyes dancing across the quilt, so I’d say the final effect is worth the extra efforts. Just follow the instructions closely; Morgan will not steer you wrong.
I added a unique twist to my pattern test, by switching up the colors of the ellipses to bring out more of the colors from the star fabrics. The pattern calls for the mini square blocks to be all one color, a secondary feature color. But I was indecisive, and just decided to treat them like party confetti! Each ellipsis block is in one color, but I used five different colors of ellipses over all: bright fiery red, rich plum, caramel, bold blue, and lime yellow-green.
Can you find more strawberries around my sewing room in this photo??
I can already think of approximately 150 more fun ways to personalize this quilt, and make a totally unique version. Use color to create a gradient in each star! Or use tiny fussy cuts inside those mini square/ellipsis blocks, like a little row of 3 windows!
striking finishing touches for an heirloom look
I have already mentioned that this quilt was partly planned around the stunning dress plaid from the Ooh Lucky Lucky Warp & Weft collection. So I pieced yardage of that together to form this silky soft quilt backing. I decided to also make my binding out of the leftover yardage so it’s visible all over the top too.
I generally use Quilter’s Dream bamboo batting as my quilt filling and I felt that it is an especially good choice when using linen. While breathable, linen is a bit heavier than quilting cotton or sateen, while bamboo batting is a lighter weight and a smoother drape than cotton or wool or poly blend batting.
To mimic the Spaced Out spacing of the star blocks, the mini squares in each ellipsis, and even the lined up strawberries, I chose to use my Baby Lock Sashiko machine to give the look of big-stitch hand quilting. I can set the distance between my stitches on the top, and I chose very far apart large stitches. This also plays off the rustic vibes of the homespun loose weave linen. I am not a hand stitch quilter, but I love the look and feel of hand stitching, and this machine lets me accomplish it.
I chose a light lavender cotton thread because it was the most playful color I could choose that would still complement both the warm and cool shades in the prints.
Strawberry quilt photo shoot
Just in time for the pattern release (but before the final binding was on), I took this retro mod stunner to a local mural to have its glamour shots. The street where this mural was located has been partially closed for repairs for a few months, and I was really worried the same wall would no longer be there (this has happened to me on my mural hunts before), or that the art would have changed. But it was still there! And honestly it was even more perfectly suited to this beauty in person than I could have hoped.
The plant pictured is known as an American Beautyberry, and have you ever heard a more adorable name in your life? The bright red ladybug, the vivid plum beautyberries, and the rustic brick of the backdrop; it’s like it was created with this quilt in mind.
This clever modern star quilt with a pop-art punch will be available for sale soon, so please check the Handmade Shop if you need some strawberries and linen in your life. It’s a great size for a throw quilt. I also think it would be perfect for an artsy kid’s bunk bed, because you’re never too young to appreciate POP.
Quilt pattern review/final thoughts
I obviously think you should go ahead and get the Spaced Out quilt pattern. I have taken it in a playful retro-pop direction, but I have seen Morgan’s sample quilts and mock-ups in a wide variety of fabrics, styles, and color stories. It’s a versatile star quilt with great opportunities for individual creativity.
You might be interested in more pattern test posts…
