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Lone Star Quilts
History, Design, Patterns

A large single 8-pointed star in the center of a quilt top is sometimes called a "lone star quilt", but many Native Americans refer to them simply as "star quilts". Some history of the Lakota Star Quilts are explained on the Akta Lakota Museum Gift Shop web page. The Carnegie Museum has more here. The Star Quilt took on the role of replacing the buffalo robe in ceremonial and religious life. Death, birth and other important events are a time for giving and sharing of these Star Quilts at ceremonies. As explained "The most important use of star quilts in contemporary Lakota society is as gifts at a memorial for the dead called a "Giveaway". The Giveaway is a time to share food, quilts and goods at a memorial for the dead. Wambdi Wicasa explains more Star Quilt Tradition here. Also see Native American Quilts and be sure to explore the image collection at To Honor and Comfort: Native Quilting Traditions. "To Honor and Comfort" was a collaboration between the National Museum of the American Indian and Michigan State University Museum, the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Services (SITES), and Atlatl, a nonprofit organization that promotes the arts in Native communities. More about the exhibit can be seen here.

This classic Lone Star quilt is featured in an article about Southern Arizona Folkart in the African-American community of St. David, Arizona.

Don't miss visiting Polly's Quilts Web page. Polly's Quilts is located in New Town, North Dakota - a small town located on the shores of Lake Sakakawea on the Ft. Berthold Indian Reservation. She shares an excellent series of photos of how she sews her star quilts.

Patterns?

Want to make a Lone Star quilt of your own? You can use a classic approach with cutting and sewing 45 degree diamonds. Or you can use a paper piecing pattern such as this beauty by Karen Stone.

This page by Mary Ann Beattie shows you Faye's string pieced star and also includes good instructions for making the templates for the diamonds. In a hurry, but want a Lone Star? See this additional Quick Lone Star idea by Mary Ann.

One book with Plains Indian Star quilt information is Morning Star Quilts: A Presentation of the Work and Lives of Northern Plains Indian Women by Florence Pulford (hardbound) - a paperback version is also available at a lower price.
 

Lone Star Items

If the love the Lone Star motif you can find T- Shirts and Handmade Clothing adorned with the star image.

Try putting 'lone star quilt' or 'star quilt' into a www.google.com search to find much more about Lone Star quilts.
 

Lone Star Blank Block

For a large, plain black and white image of a Lone Star Block - go to this page. You may use this block for printing out to experiment with coloring and layout.  The block was prepared by Susan Druding using Electric Quilt

Special thanks to Roy Azure Azure Sky Star Quilt Mfg. on the Ft. Berthold Reservation in No. Dakota, for allowing me to use quilt images from his Web page, many more quilts can be seen at his site.

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Susan
Susan Druding