Day: July 17, 2010

Frosted Stars Test

Frosted Stars Test
Frosted Stars Test

Since I am thinking about going out and actually buying special fabric for a project, I thought it might be a good idea to test the pattern to see if I liked it. Since I finished the top and back of the Blue Janus quilt this morning, I thought it was something that I could manage.

I dug out the directions and went to work. I can’t say I was enamored with the directions from the Moda Bakeshop. It really too me a long time to make one block and I had to follow the directions step by step, because there weren’t cutting directions for one whole block at the beginning of the section where the star starts.

I redrew the block in EQ7 just to see what it would take to make some straightforward cutting directions. I can see why Charlie Scott used some fancy triangle tricks. I created rotary cutting directions in 12″ and 9″ (both finished) sizes. These blocks use quarter square triangles and the triangles need to be cut weird sizes, which I know nobody likes. Still, my directions are a lot more straightforward than those on the Moda Bakeshop page. You can cut the quarter square triangles slightly larger and then cut them down to the normal size. I hope you will be able to click on the numbers above and download the rotary cutting directions.

I am going to make another one using my directions and let you know what happens. I am not knocking Charlie Scott. I love the free patterns out there and have a really difficult time following them. I will probably put some borders on the one above and send it to Anna Maria Horner for the Rainbow project.

Corner Store Project

Corner Store Test
Corner Store Test

I have written a lot about the Corner Store pattern from Pretty Little Mini Quilts. This block is very appealing especially since I have been thinking about my scrap pile lately. I bought a large piece of Kona Snow and finally cut into it for the Zig Zaggy quilt and for this Corner Store project. I didn’t cut a multitude of pieces in advance (always a recipe for disaster for me), but I did cut some.

You are probably wondering why in the world I am starting  this quilt at the same time I started the Zig Zaggy quilt and am still working on the Blue Janus quilt. Insanity? Perhaps.

The true reason is that the box in which I store the triangles for this project is getting full. Also, I thought I would make a few blocks and see how they looked.

My first step was to ask TFQ for the dimensions. She has the Pretty Little Mini Quilts book at the moment. She emailed me back right away with a 3.5″ size. When I cut a few of  the squares I thought that looked terribly small. When I put one triangle on, the block did not look at all like the version I saw in Pretty Little Mini Quilts or on Flickr. I must have misunderstood the size. Again, something that should have been a quick chain piecing and trimming start to a project has turned difficult.

Difficult is a strong word. I have to test different squares sizes to see which one will suit the look I am trying to achieve. I wanted to focus on the Blue Janus quilt, so this was put to the side.

Stay tuned!