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Scroll down for the Curvy Lone Star tutorial.
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Curvy Lone Star EQ8 Tutorial
During October, I challenged Tech Know Quilter Master's members to design a quilt with only straight lines that gives the illusion of curves, circles or waves.
Often when we think of curves in a quilt we think curved piecing. Or maybe an applique design. So this challenge encouraged members to think outside the box and create the illusion of curves with just straight lines. No designs with curved piecing or applique were allowed. Scroll down to see a showcase of their designs. I also decided to challenge myself to participate in the challenge. My design -- which I am calling Curvy Lone Star is the tutorial in this blog post.
I was inspired by a book by Judy Martin - "Singular Stars". It was an entire book of Lone Star Quits. Fabulous eye candy and inspiration for creating your own lone star quilts.
Within Electric Quilt, my favorite way to drafting lone star quilts is to use the Stars-1 Layout in the EQ8 Layout Library as it is pretty much the layout of every lone star quilt. The layout allows you to drop any block in those diamonds and EQ does the magic of stretching those blocks to become diamond shaped. 
Layouts by Style - Stars Library
One way to create the illusion of "curves" is to vary the width of strips.
So to get started, I drew a 1 inch strip. Then for each subsequent strip, I increased the width by 1/4 inch. Once I reach the center, I reversed the process (reducing each strip by 1/4 inch). 
Partitioning the EasyDraw Lone Star Block
Here is my finished EasyDraw block -- decked out in Christmas colors.
These fabric were pulled from the EQ library (reds and greens). 
EasyDraw 9 x 9 Grid with Varied Widths
I decided to try a Kaleidoscope block for the setting triangles and squares. I liked the idea of creating diamonds -- which is consistent with the stretched squares in the diamond blocks.
PolyDraw has a Kaleidoscope grid which makes it super easy to draw your own Kaleidoscope block. 
PolyDraw Kaleidoscope Block
See how it all comes together in the video tutorial.
Here is the final quilt from the video. Do you think it gives the illusion of curves?
Curvy Lone Star Quilt by Kari Schell
I also tried a variation where I kept increasing the size of the strips (rather than decreasing them when I got to the middle). I also played with a different coloring of the PolyDraw block.
Curvy Lone Star Variation
I could have easily played with this for a number of hours.
But now it is your time to play. I would love to see your curvy lone star quilt. Share a favorite of your designs. I've set up a dedicated post in the Learning EQ Facebook group for your quilts. Tech Know Quilter Masters Curved Illusion Challenge
All I can say is WOW! Tech Know Quilter Masters members really rose to the challenge creating a collection of original quilts that looks great as designed. And would also be great created with fabric.
What was the challenge: Design a Quilt with only Straight Lines that Gives the Illusion of Curves, Circles or Waves
Often when we think of curves in a quilt, we think curved piecing. Or maybe an applique design. The challenge this month was to create an illusion of curves with just straight lines. So no curved piecing, or applique was allowed. Here are some of traditional designs that were suggested for consideration in the challenge.
Here are their quilts. 
Renae Frank Butler I used the Snails Trail block -- and then went down a different route.
Renae Frank Butler The next block I used was a block I found on Pinterest which I picked becausee it looked like a variation of an off center 9 patch that I have in a blook. I then used symmetry to get a layout I liked.
Dianna Carter
Elly da Silva
Susan Sorensen I’ve always liked the look of swirled cocktail napkins on catering tables. After the Racetrack lesson I wanted to recreate that look and to push the technique as far as it would go. For this block I started with a 0.2 inch square. Initially the increase was 0.4 as in Racetrack, but then I increased the density by inserting squares at 0.2 inch intervals. Rings disappeared with Hide/Show autofill turned on because adding squares put patches on top of others. I eventually turned off Hide/Show autofill and quit sending the squares to the back until the block was complete. This way I was able to see them all and fill in missing squares. Then by starting at the outer square, working towards the center, and sending them all to the front, each patch wound up where it belonged. When I tried a to push the technique to 0.1 inch intervals in a new block EQ wasn’t happy, at least on the Mac. The Pick tool stopped working after 5 squares and it was so small it was difficult to see the space between the squares and the block had to be enlarged, which defeated the purpose of the micro interval. But it was interesting to see just how far the technique could go.
Edith Craig Here is my completed challenge quilt. I chose the block Round Cabin, combining a 6" block to make circles in the center and inner borders and half circles in the outer border. I used 2 gray tones for my basic fabric and used a dark green for a pop of color against the white.
Kari Schell Thought I would share one I just came up with. Can you figure out my three blocks?
Katherine Martin Interleave Sample giving the illusion of curves
Zdenka Nemethova
Zdenka Nemethova - And second version.
Terry McCaskey I played mostly with the kaleidoscope block as on old favorite for curved illusion. My first attempts with the stretched border technique did not really yield curves but I thought the coloring was/could be dramatic. The second quilt is paired with the "Spiderweb Maltese 4" block. Lastly I set the "Nine-patch 2" variation (no kaleidoscope) on a baby blocks setting and thought that was curvy interesting. Color seems to be critical and either helps or hinders outcomes.
Helen Hicks “The Twist go round” just having fun
Mary Groesbeck Three different sizes of the block in the quilt.
Julie Pedersen
Fran Heisey Finally decided on a woven bamboo graphic that I found on Pinterest for my inspiration. For the weavers in the group, I think this is just a 3x3 twill with variable yarn widths, that is broken across the center of block 2, and in the lower left corner of block 3. the blocks look very much like Bargello to me.
Curryanne Hostetler
Brigitte Lee I did many rounded log cabin and I love pearls.
Want to know more about Tech Know Quilter Masters?
Tech Know Quilters members are eligible for the Masters program after completing 12 months of Tech Know Quilter classes. Masters members receive fewer lessons each month, with more time to devote to their own projects and challenges. Drop me a note if you have completed over 12 months of Tech Know Quilters and are interested in learning more about the Masters program. You can learn more about the regular Tech Know Quilters membership program and sign up for the wait list for the next open enrollment period here.
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