Volley Star: A Volleyball-Inspired Quilt Pattern
- Jessica Steele
- 3 minutes ago
- 7 min read
If you’ve got a volleyball player in your house, the Volley Star quilt pattern is one you’re going to love. The design blends both a modern look with traditional elements and if you’re worried a volleyball-inspired quilt involves curves, rest assured this one has exactly zero of them.
With two color layouts and three sizes, there any plenty of ways to make this one your own. Use fat quarters for a perfectly “scrappy” look or use your team colors to rep your favorite player or school.
Want to learn more? Keep reading for pattern information and inspiration.
About the Design
This design has been floating around in my head as a concept that I couldn’t quite nail down until recently. I have wanted to design a volleyball-inspired quilt for three years and I've sat down various times to sketch out different ideas and they never quite came together how I pictured them in my head.
A volleyball itself has a unique design with different line structure depending on the angle. I knew I wanted the volleyball to be easy to piece so I had played around with different line structures and when it came down to it, the structure of the ball itself ended up being much more straightforward than I anticipated.
The beginning stages of this design began with just the volleyball blocks themselves in a simple repeat. The repeat design felt very modern but was almost difficult on the eyes with the repeat of the volleyballs so I worked through different ideas having the volleyball being the center of the block.
In the end, the sawtooth star ended up being the perfect “traditional” block to pair it with as depending on color choices the star points can give a secondary pattern of a net behind the balls. This typically works best if the star is a lighter color than the colors used the volleyballs.
Volley Star is my most “traditional” pattern so far with the sawtooth star block but the design still feels modern. I love this pattern so much I'm making 4 samples...because I just can't choose the perfect color combo!
Pattern Details
Difficulty Level and Techniques Used
Volley Star is rated at a confident beginner level and utilizes the following techniques:
Half Square Triangles
Snowball Corners
Flying Geese
To maximize time efficiency, 8-at-a-time and 4-at-a-time methods are used for both the half square triangles and flying geese respectively.
Helpful Tools
A helpful (although not necessary) tool for this pattern is the Creative Grids Quilt Ruler Ultimate Flying Geese Tool. Two of my testers used this ruler for trimming their flying geese as the largest size of flying geese on this ruler is exact size of the flying geese needed in this pattern.
You can also make your own with an 8.5 inch square ruler or a 4.5 x 12.5 inch ruler (or larger) by using painter's tape or washi tape to mark off the 4.5 x 8.5 rectangle for trimming.
Another helpful tool, Diagonal Seam Tape! All of the subunits in this pattern utilize drawn lines to mark where you will need to add your seams. Diagonal seam tape can alleviate the need to draw most of these lines and save you some time.
There are great tutorials on how to use the diagonal seam tape in this link if you've never used it before.
Finished Sizes and Layouts
There are three finished sizes included in the pattern instructions:
Lap (48” x 48”)
Throw (64” x 64”)
Full (80” x 96”)
This pattern also has two layout/color options: the Cover version or the 6 Color version.
The Cover version is Fat Quarter friendly and can be a great way to get a more “scrappy” look.
I originally designed this pattern as the scrappy cover version however I always try to have at least one version of each of my designs that lends itself more to using team colors.
The 6 Color version is the “team color” version for this pattern. While most teams only utilize 2-4 colors, I’ll share some color guidance for how you can achieve your team colors in this quilt if you only have a few colors to work with.
Color Guidance
Even with two different color layouts, there is one consistent guideline you’ll want to pay attention to while choosing your colors.
If you want your volleyballs to be a focal point of the design with the stars in a more supporting role, you’ll want your volleyballs to be contrasting fabrics/colors with the background/sawtooth star colors.
As you can see in the examples below, similar colors are used in the volleyballs and the background however a darker purple is used for the sawtooth star in the second option. This allows the volleyballs to stand out more in the design with the contrast of those color values.
The first option where the sawtooth star and volleyball colors are closer in value has less distinction between the design elements causing the volleyball design to be more subtle.
The 6 Color option is the better choice of the two color layouts if you want to use team or school colors for this pattern. There are lots of ways you can combine colors (see mockups below) but here is one suggestion:
Most teams have at least 2 colors. If working with two colors, choose 3 different values of both colors and use one set of 3 colors for colors 3-5 and one set for colors 1,2 and 6. This could be a medium pink with a light pink and darker pink for the volleyballs, and three shades of blue for the “background” like the 6 color sample shown here.
Not sure what your fabric color value is? Take a photo of your fabrics sorted into dark and light values and use the black and white filter on your phone to see if the colors contrast enough.
Shown below are all green fabrics with the top fabrics grouped into lighter value and the bottom group darker value.
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Fabric Ideas and Mockups Using Solids
Cover Version - Scrappy and Fat Quarter Friendly
Have a Fat Quarter bundle you've been dying to use? Pair it with some yardage to make this scrappy version come to life.
Keep it playful with an all-over "scrappy" look by using 17 different colors OR choose to stick with color families in different values for a more cohesive look to the different elements of this quilt.
You can see in the options shown in the first row below, I've used colors in the same family each for the volleyballs, background, and diamond shapes. The second row uses a more truly scrappy approach.
6 Color Version - So many options to rep your team
Starting with only two team colors? No problem.
Another easy way to incorporate both team colors is to start with using three white/light gray shades for the volleyballs in this version (Colors 3-5). Then pair with a neutral background for Color 1 and use your team colors for Colors 2 and 6 as shown below.
You can also go more monochromatic with your team colors like the purple and blue options below.
Choose 4 values of your team color and pair with 2 values of your other team color (or a neutral like the black in the purple option).
Or choose 6 values of one color as shown in the blue option.
One tip for the monochromatic options: Choose 3 colors for the volleyballs that are different in value from Color 2 (the sawtooth star). The values of the blues used in the volleyball below are lighter in value than the dark blue used for the stars. This will help your volleyballs to stand out from the rest of the pattern.
Similar to the first mockup above, another way to use one or two team colors is to pair 3 values of white/light gray for the volleyballs with 2 or 3 values of one of your team colors.
You can also use color for your volleyballs by utilizing 3 values of one team color for the ball, and then your other team color for the star/background color.
Printed Fabric Mockups
You may have heard this before from me but don’t be scared to use prints in your quilt! I’m a big believer in thinking outside the box when it comes to sports-inspired quilts and prints can be a great way to add more interest and personality to your quilt instead of always sticking to solids.
Tips for using prints:
Smaller scale prints generally are best for this quilt. Bigger prints can be distracting especially when used in the background.
Blender prints are a great way to add dimension and texture without too much distraction
Want to use your team colors but not sure where to start to find a print to match? Grab the solid color for your team and carry it with you while color matching your prints. You’ll want the majority of the print in that fabric to be the same color as your solid fabric to make sure that color comes across strongly in the pattern.
Some examples of using prints in this pattern are shown below. Be sure to play around with the placement of your prints.
If using “louder” prints, it is best to pair them with solids or blenders as most of these options show. Either use solids/blenders for the volleyball and then prints for the sawtooth star and/or background or vice versa.
Stay Organized and Plan Your Quilt
Labels and a coloring page are included in the PDF download of the pattern but you can also print an extra set here.
Get started by coloring your own!
Want to mockup your quilt with ease? Head on over to QuiltInk and color your quilt digitally, save options and find inspiration from others. You can also print fabric requirements for your mockups on QuiltInk.
Fabric Requirements for the Volley Star Quilt
Ready to get started? Get started gathering your fabrics with the fabric requirements below.
Fabrics used in the cover version above are Bella Solids by Moda (in order 1-17): Pale Pink, Freesia, Cheddar, Off White, Melon, Amelia Purple , Petal Pink, Horizon Blue, Jade, Surf, Aqua, Bermuda, Summer Sky, Amelia Apricot, Pink, Lilac, Sunflower.
Fabrics used in the above 6 Color version are Ruby Star Society (in order 1-6): Starry Blue Ribbon, Starry Smoke, Speckled Flamingo, Speckled Sorbet, Speckled Metallic Playful, Starry Turquoise.
I'd love to see your Volley Star Quilt when you're finished! Be sure to tag me on Instagram @jessicasteeledesign and use the hashtag #volleystarquilt. Or feel free to send an email anytime at hello@jessicasteeledesign.com.
I hope you (and your volleyball player) enjoy this pattern!
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