The Championship Game!

Our March Madness Fan Favorite Pattern Bracket is down to the final game:

Star Struck vs. Star Dance

Thanks to everyone who has helped narrow the patterns down from our original 50 to the Sweet Sixteen to these final two.  As a thank you for your participation, this final round of voting will include the opportunity to win fabric prizes! 

Congratulations to Wendy Sheppard and Ann Lauer for creating the two quilts in our championship game! We interviewed the quilt designers of these two beauties so you can learn more about what inspired these designs and fabric choices before you vote. 

Help us choose the champion by voting in the comments and on our Facebook Group – Sew Interesting.  (see more voting details at the bottom of this post).
And don't forget to download these free patterns (or any of the others that you can find in our Quilt Gallery).

"Star Struck" by Wendy Sheppard; featuring Caryl's Feather

vs.

"Star Dance" by Ann Lauer; featuring Sundance

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Wendy talks about Star Struck:

What do you like best about this quilt?

I like that it looks traditional and contemporary at the same time. You see the sawtooth star blocks?  I am on a personal quest to see just how many ways I can use sawtooth star blocks in my designs.

How did you choose the colors to use in it?

The way I chose the colors was to include as many colors as I could, but still keep an ordered look.  When I use a lot of colors in a quilt, oftentimes I would finish out the border with either black, gray or white.  In this case, my go-to choices didn't bring out the bright look I wanted for the quilt.  So, I used red.

Can you tell us a bit about the design?

This quilt is essentially a one block wonder quilt.  The blocks are simple in construction, and are created in many colors to scrap up the overall look. The framed square blocks, spiced up with the small sawtooth star blocks in all the colors, give the overall design a lot to look at, I think.  I am always excited when I can come up with something with a lot of visual interest using simple blocks.

Why does it work so well with the Caryl's Feather fabric?

Besides colors, the Caryl's Feather fabrics themselves have a lot of movement and texture from the large feather prints that are incorporated with the background colors.  So, even though the designs will work just as well with any basic line of fabrics, I think Caryl's Feather really brings the design to a different level with the texture and movement in the prints.

 Ann talks about Star Dance:

What do you like best about this quilt?

The design looks involved but it's actually simple piecing so it can be made successfully by quilters from advanced beginner up. It also a lot of components so there’s not too much repetition—it’s fun to make. The pattern uses a very easy technique for flying geese, four-patches, and an included template for the half rectangles.

Can you talk about how this quilt shows off your Sundance prints?

The design is not crowded and the components are large enough to let the details of the fabric show off. It has an airy feeling. The black print is a geranium flower, so depending on where you cut it, you’ll get a variety of red petals as well as green leaves. The green, red and purple in the background are all delicate marbles with nice flowing movement.

Can you tell us a bit about the design?

The larger 10” squares help to highlight the focal prints--true watercolor style of the large poppy and field of flowers prints. The Irish Chain look that connects the blocks came about because I was just having fun with four-patches, letting them dance across the background. Plus, the pinwheels are not just HSTs—they are more interesting but easy. 

Tell us about the flexibility of your design.

Of course, I think the pattern is beautiful in the Sundance fabrics but it's designed to work for other collections as well. You could also enlarge it into a twin-size quilt by adding pinwheel borders to the top and bottom. 

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It's a battle of the stars! 

Star Struck vs. Star Dance

Which one will be the fan favorite quilt pattern?

Here's how to vote AND how to enter the giveaway:

• To vote: Leave a comment below with the name of your favorite quilt, Star Struck or Star Dance. One comment per person, please.  You can also vote a second time on our Facebook Group – Sew Interesting. Voting is now closed.
• To enter the giveaway: Send an email to socialmedia23 (at) gmail.com with Battle of the Stars in the subject line.
• Both the voting for Favorite Pattern and the giveaway will be open through Tuesday, April 7th at 5 pm EST. We'll announce the Favorite Pattern and giveaway winners on Wednesday. 
• Prizes: The grand prize winner will receive a box of 80 Sundance fat quarters. Runners-up will receive a bundle of 20 fat quarters from Daily Zen. We'll choose one runner-up for every 50 emails received. Winners will be randomly chosen from received emails and will be notified by email as well as announced here on the blog. 

Good luck to both of these fantastic patterns! 

To see the original bracket of sixteen and/or read the details of March Madness, click here.

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