Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity
I finally finished the 4″ Sawtooth Stars over the weekend. This project is lingering a little too long for my tastes, but I wasn’t miserable making these little stars and the group of them makes for a very nice accomplishment.
Now I am ready to put the blocks together. I plan to follow the plan from the Oh My Stars QAL, because I think it is an interesting way to put the blocks together.
I like blocks.
Have you noticed?
I really do. The possibilities are so endless and I love possibilities.
Above are the 59 Sawtooth Star variations that I have made for my Star Sampler Project. I am pretty pleased with the way they look together. There are 2 I may redo, but TFQ is coming to visit this weekend, so I will ask her what she thinks.
These are the Week 15 blocks.Left to Right, Top to bottom they are Mosaic #11, Sarah’s Choice (again), Basic Star (with a flourish) and Rising Star (another redux).
I am still dying to know why many of the classic blocks are called Mosaic #something. I’ll have to look on Barbara Brackman’s blog to see if she ever talks about it. I like the fabrics I chose for this block. It looks beachy and fresh.
The Sarah’s Choice is a bit blah, but not terrible and it blends in well with the other blocks (see above), so I will leave it.
I decided early on that I wouldn’t get fancy with the Basic Star, but decided on this last one to use my ‘focus’ fabric as the center and different legs for one block only. I wanted it to be clear that the Basic Stars were Basic Stars.
I am pretty pleased with the Rising Star. I really love the design of that block. I used the excess backing (cut off after the quilting process) from another quilt. It is a nice batik fabric and I wanted to use it again.
I still have about 25 4″ Sawtooth Stars to make. I pressed fabrics earlier this week and on the weekend and cut parts to make them, but didn’t do much sewing. I didn’t get to cut all the parts I needed, but I will certainly be ready to sew when the weekend finally arrives.
I am really looking forward to starting the process of putting these blocks together.
Week 14 Week of April 29 (8″ blocks) (JHL chooses)
Hooray! I finished another week’s worth of blocks. We are nearing the end of these blocks, too.
I still have about 40 of the 4″ blocks to go, but I have been cutting for them and using them for leaders and enders. I can get about 5 done in a few hours that way.
I made a pile of fabrics, from the grand pile that is my palette of blues, greens and purples, that I may use for the 4″ stars. I’d like them, if possible to each be different. I don’t know if it is possible. I have plenty of fabric, so that isn’t the issue.
The issue for next week is whether I lost a basic star or not. I think the issue is that the stars fill every inch of my large design wall and I may have lost track of one of the blocks. I have to count and see.
I have plenty of work to do on this project, but I am glad that the end is near.
As I have mentioned, I am behind on this project. We both should be done with the 8″ blocks and finishing up the 4″ stars. We are on Week 13, which was supposed to be finished during the week of April 22. TFQ chose these blocks and I just started them on Sunday.
Free Trade was the first block I sewed to try and catch up.
I like the look of the squares and half square triangles in the center.
I used squares for the center that had been rejected from other blocks. I couldn’t find any to match, so I used some that would look good together and, perhaps, create a little added movement in the block.
I was pleased with myself for thinking of this. I happened to be filing scraps in the course of tidying up the workroom when I thought of it.
I finished all of the blocks last night.I don’t usually sew during the week, but my mom had to switch her days (she usually comes over on Tuesdays to see the Young Man) so I threw caution to the wind and just worked. I don’t know what DH was doing (ballgame, maybe?), but he didn’t want to catch up on a show with me until later.
So, TFQ picked these blocks and they were fine. I wasn’t really pleased with A Salute to Colors (lower left) when I saw the pattern, but I changed around a couple of colors and like it now that it is done.
My favorite of this group is the Chisholm Trail block. I love the way the fabrics work together.
The fabric I used for the arms of the star is perfect in that space with the other fabrics.
I am pleased.
Now I have to get busy with the blocks for Week 14. I have one cut out, one made and another 41 4″ Sawtooth Stars to cut out and sew.
I think we are on week 12 of our Star Sampler project. We are still making 8″ blocks. These are from the week of April 15. I am now behind again, because I was able to sew over the weekend. I chose these blocks:
Whale’s Tail: There are a number of the blocks with chevrons making up the legs. I kind of wonder about the name of this blocks.
Since we are nearing the end of the pieced larger blocks, I am trying to make sure that all the fabrics I have used in other blocks have been used at least 3 times, so that there is some balance in terms of the colors and fabrics. If you want to read more about balance, Sandy and I did an episode in the design series and we talked about it.
Centennial: I really have to wonder why this block was named Centennial. I looked up the block on the web, because I don’t have my Jinny Beyer book handy. I found some interesting settings for this block.
2142 Mosaic #19: I should look up this block in the Jinny Beyer book, because it is such a weird name. Were there 18 other versions of this block?
I have also done similar blocks. I paid attention to the fabric placement and, as you can see, fussy cut the fabric for the center.
I think all four blocks came out nicely and look good together.
I have now made 37 4″ blocks. I am almost half way finished with them. TFQ is going on vacation and my goal is to make them all during the first two weeks of May so they are ready when she comes to visit.
This is the group of stars from the week of April 8 (I believe). They were a lot more work than I anticipated or expected. Somehow, they were temperamental and needed more attention than their 8″ siblings. I was also in ‘a mood’ for some of the week, which didn’t help either.
One of the things that happens when making blocks, regardless of how many you make, is that they don’t always come out the way you think they will. In the best of circumstances, I had to rearrange the look of blocks by cannibalizing parts of other in-progress blocks. In the worst circumstances, I removed certain fabrics completely and cut new pieces in order to be satisfied with the outcome.
The above, with green and lavender, is the first version of the Missouri Star. I realized, again, that the green needed to be away from the background. I don’t know why I forget that, but I did until it was all up on the design wall. It took me looking at the pieces on the design wall to see how nicely the green and background were blending into each other.
I also realized that there was too much green. I love that green, but a little goes a long way.
I changed out a few fabrics and rearranged some of the pieces to come up with different options. The arrangement, left, is the iteration with which I am most in love. I moved some of the darker blues from the Flying Cloud Star block into the center, but it didn’t work for me. I tried a variety of the medium batiks that I have been enjoying in other blocks. The combination that I have now is not a usual one, but I like it and I think it works.
The dark blues in the first version of the Flying Cloud Star (below) just don’t work for me. Somehow they stood out too much, I guess.
I was trying to add in some more of the fuchsia that I used in Mrs. Lloyd’s Favorite in the 12″ group. It is one of the Simply Color ombres and I don’t have much, if any, of the fuchsia part of the fabric left. Thus, the one I used in the Flying Cloud is a different fabric. It isn’t as dark in person as it looks in the photo. It is also a solid.
After trying a few different options, decided, again, on the medium value batik. I worry about choosing mediums all the time. They do not seem like a bold choice. I do love those batiks.
Lesson?
MAKE VISUAL DECISIONS VISUALLY
THERE IS ALWAYS MORE FABRIC, SO CHANGE OUT ONE YOU DON’T LIKE.
The last photo shows the finished blocks and I am pretty pleased with them.
These are the blocks for this week. Or so I thought. TFQ took the time to go through our list and found, though not her intention, that I wasn’t ahead as I had thought. She found that I actually finished blocks for the end of the last week not the beginning of this week. I have to say I felt disheartened. I wanted to work on another project, which was why I got busy with these so early in the weekend. So much for clearing the decks.
We have a deadline of getting the 8″ blocks done by the beginning of May and I want to stick to that schedule. Her efforts, fortunately, got us back on our real schedule, rather than the schedule in my head, which is good.
Still I didn’t want to work on any Sawtooth Stars at the moment, even the new patterns. I just left these on the design wall and pretended I wasn’t behind again. This is an interesting exercise in working on one project almost exclusively. It is difficult for me to dedicate so much time to one project, I am finding. This makes me think more about my process. More on that later, I think.
Above are: Chevron Star (actually from the week before as I made the wrong block previously) (upper left) Basic Star (upper right) Home Treasure (lower left) and Stars & Pinwheels (lower right). All of these can be found in one of the Around the Block books.
I am using some of the 12″ blocks as inspiration for the fabric combinations.
Yesterday, I decided to do some cutting and cut out the new blocks. Life goes on.
This segment discusses sewing the block together. In order to get to this point, you should have completed parts 1 and two and three as well as part four.
Like piecing all other blocks, you want to sew smaller pieces together to make larger pieces, then sew the larger pieces together to complete the block. In part three, you should have cut any fabric for templates that did not have matching fabric patches. so, inventory your templates and make sure you have a fabric patch for each template. If you don’t, go back to part three.
In part 4 you also pinned:
Remember that the edges are not quite as smooth on the other (blue) side, but that is ok. Just remember to sew slowly and carefully.
Once those two patches are sewn, they might look a little rumpled, but once you turn them both right side up and press the section, they will look great.
Press which ever way you think will work best for your block.
Next, we will sew the corner section to the small pieced strip (Section D).
Nota bene: if you did not foundation piece the small strip, follow the directions in part 4 or part three to do so. If you haven’t done any foundation piecing you might want to start with this piece as it is smaller and less complex than the pointy triangles section.
Again you will need to pin. This time you are pinning your quarter circle corner piece and your small foundation pieced strip.
Take your quarter circle corner piece and your small foundation pieced strip and pin them together. I, first, line up the straight edges on the ends and pin them together (horizontally). I make sure the horizontal pins are out of the way of other pins and the sewing machine foot. they are used just to make sure my piece is in place while I put the other pins in.
I use a lot of pins. It works for me. I know there are other tutorials that are pinless or use minimal pins, but I want precision and pins give me precision. Put these two pieces together the way it works for you. Remember: you only have two hands.
Once you are happy with your pinning, get ready to sew. I put the non-pieced corner quarter circle on the bottom and the pieced part on the top. I try to make this a habit, though it doesn’t matter with this particular foundation pieced section. In some sections, like our spiky triangle section, it matters.
You can rip off the paper before you piece or not. I was having some other problems, so I ripped it off, but normally, I would leave it on until the very last second I could, e.g. before I took the pieced top to the quilter!
Attach your quarter inch foot and sew your small foundation pieced strip to your corner quarter circle. If you don’t know how to sew curves, take a look at the curves tutorial.
Once you are finished, press carefully. I press to the side with the least number of seams, or to the side that the fabric seems to be naturally inclined to lay. Your corner will look gorgeous like the one above.
Once you have the small foundation pieced strip attached to your quarter circle, you will sew it to your spiky triangles piece. You will, again, pin a lot, using the horizontal pin trick to stabilize the piece.
Again, as shown in the photo above, I put the foundation pieced part on top. In this case, you are sewing two foundation pieced sections together, so you can choose which you want on top. I chose the spiky triangles section to go on top, but it doesn’t really matter, since there are no points to worry about cutting off.
Next sew the two remaining sections together, press, again, towards the piece with the least number of seams and you should have a piece like the one below.
After all that work, you have a beautiful foundation pieced block. Pat yourself on the back!
We are nearing the last part of the foundation piecing class. I know this is a long tutorial, but there are a lot of steps and it is difficult to explain when I am not in the same room with you. I also don’t have a crew, so photographing every single step with only two hands can be a challenge.
Mostly this segment discusses getting ready to sew the major parts of your block together. Yes, there is more prep before you can sew your blocks together. I will give some template tips as well. In order to get to this point, you should have completed parts 1, 2 and part 3. All of the supplies are listed in part 1.
Like all other parts of piecing, your goal is to sew smaller pieces together to make larger pieces. First, inventory your templates and make sure you have a fabric patch for each template.
For any templates that do not have matching fabric patches, cut your fabric.
Based on the photo above, I need to cut 3 pieces. In some New York Beauty related patterns, these are pieced, but in ours we are using one fabric. You can certainly modify any of these pieces to do more foundation piecing.
To cut out these templates, I place my fabric right side down and the template right side down and draw on the back of the fabric. This is the same for all three of the templates.
Your patches should look similar to your template once cut out. All of these templates have an element of bias, so handle them carefully.
Once you have drawn your template shape on the fabric, you can cut it out. Where possible, I use a rotary cutter and ruler. If I cannot use those tools, e.g. for the curves in the pieces of this block, I use very sharp scissors and cut slowly and carefully. Above you can see that I have cut as many parts of the patch as possible with my rotary kit and am ready to cut the curve with scissors.
Lay your fabric right side down and place the corner template on top, also face down. Draw around it with a Pigma Micron, or similar, pen.
Once you have drawn carefully around the template, remove it and make sure your line is continuous. If it is not continuous, carefully replace the template and fix the missing segments.
Line up your ruler with the corner of the fabric patch. You may need to rough cut your fabric first, if there is too much yardage skewing the fabric as you try and cut.
The corner quarter circle template has a quarter inch seam allowance, so you don’t have to do anything, but cut the line you drew (and all the fabric on the other side) off. You will want to cut so that the line is cut off, but you need to cut ONLY the line off.
Also, these pieces are large, so make sure you can hold your ruler down tight as you are cutting. You want to avoid ruining a whole large piece of fabric because your ruler shifted.
Once you have cut out your fabric patches, you will have pieces that look like those in the above photo.
After seeing the above patches laid out, I decided to sew the two outer pieces together first. Again I want to join smaller pieces into larger sections. Also, the very outer piece has very skinny ends. I want to stabilize them a bit by sewing them to another piece before sewing them to the foundation pieced Section C.
The first order of business is to pin them together. I apply horizontal pins on the ends and a lot of pins in the middle. My goal is to make the seam smooth. You are working on the bias, so don’t yank too much.
For my advanced students: if you put the horizontal pin in the two fabrics as shown above, the horizontal pins on each side should be out of the way of your 1/4″ foot.
It is not quite as smooth on the other side, but that is ok. Set this piece aside for now, but remember that when you are ready to sew, sew slowly and carefully. Next, we will sew the corner section (quarter circle, Section D) to the small pieced strip.
If you don’t know how to sew curves together, check out the curves tutorial.
Nota bene: if you did not foundation piece the small strip, follow the directions in part 3 or above to do so. If you haven’t done any foundation piecing before you might want to start with this piece as it is smaller and less complex than the pointy triangles section (Section C).
I use a lot of pins and I know there are other tutorials that are pinless or use minimal pins. Put these two pieces together the way it works for you.
Now you are ready for part 5, which is the last part, I promise. 😉
Tips:
Resources:
While this certainly won’t be a comprehensive post on everything there is to know about color and fabric choices, I thought I could pass along a little information while it was fresh in my mind.
Above is my completed foundation pieced New York Compass. If I were doing this block over again, I would not choose that specific aqua or that red for the small second foundation pieced strip (next to the corner quarter circle). In the grand scheme of the quilt, it will be fine, but this close up it really takes away from the fine piecing of those spiky triangles. The reds, especially run into each other.
That second foundation pieced part is tricky for my particular version, because my quilt is a two color quilt. I can’t introduce additional colors into the blocks at this late stage and maintain the integrity of my plan. I could have paid more attention to the particular reds and aquas I was choosing and chose fabrics for that small foundation pieced strip that stood out more against the red dot of the spiky triangles.
My mistake?
I grabbed fabrics and started cutting. I did not look at all the fabrics together before cutting. I didn’t try different fabrics to see what the change in look would be. I didn’t make my visual decisions visually. This lesson is a good reminder.
We are midway through the foundation piecing class. This is a long tutorial, but there are a lot of steps and I want all of the parts to be clear. This would be a great tutorial for a video, but A) I don’t have a crew and B) I don’t do video.
This segment discusses more foundation piecing. In order to get to this point, you should have completed parts 1 and 2. All of the supplies are listed in Part 1
Remember our goal:
Next, we need to foundation piece the small strip called Section D.
Cut 4 pieces of fabric that coordinate with the fabrics of your block. The pieces should be about 2.5″x 1.75″, which is generous. You may be able to use scraps for these pieces. (Please ignore the messy cutting table)
As you did in Part 2, you will work on placing 2 fabrics on the line between D1 & D2 with about a quarter inch hanging over into D2 as a seam allowance. Note the printed part of the pattern (the lines on which you sew) are face down for this step.
I like to pin the first piece of fabric to my pattern. It helps keep the fabric from shifting as I work on the second piece of fabric. Note the printed part of the pattern (the lines on which you sew) are face up for this step.
Flip Section D back over and position the second piece of fabric over the first.
When you have both of your pieces placed like you like them, pin in place. I like to use thin pins. Your piece should now look like the above photo.
With the applique’ foot on your machine. Sew on the line between D1 & D2. Do not cross the perpendicular line at the top or bottom. Back stitch one stitch at the beginning and the end.
Once you have sewn on the line, your piece should look like the above photo.
Open up both pieces and make sure they cover D1 & D2. Once you are convinced that you have covered both D1 & D2 with your fabric and there is a 1/4″ seam allowance, press your piece. Press with the pattern on top. Note the pattern is face up and you can see the sewing lines. (Nota bene: if you have taped your pattern, use a press cloth so that you do not get melted tape on your iron)
Flip your Section D over again, so you are ready to trim.
Lay your pattern, with sewn fabric, pattern side up (fabric down) on your cutting mat. The inside part of the curve will be facing your body. You may want to flip Section D around if you are left handed.
Fold the longer piece of the pattern over to the left using the seam line as the fold line. This will expose the fabric that will be your seam allowance.
Line up your ruler’s 1/4″ mark on the seam/fold line and trim your seam allowance to 1/4″.
Trim seam allowance to 1/4″.
Go back to the ironing board and position your piece so the fabric is up, pattern side down and smooth the fabric towards D2, lightly finger pressing.
Take the piece to the iron and press carefully towards D2.
Place your next fabric with the longer part towards D2 and the future seam allowance closer to D3. Hold the whole piece up to the light to make sure your placement is correct.
Pin in place.
Get ready to sew on the line between D2 & D3.
Once sewn, your piece should look like the photo above.
Check to make sure your fabric covers pattern section D3. You do this by folding the fabric over and looking to see that you have about 1/4″ on all sides.
Now, get ready to trim. Put your piece on the cutting mat pattern side up.
Fold your pattern to the left again, like you did before.
Line up your ruler’s 1/4″ mark on the seam/fold line and trim your seam allowance to 1/4″.
See that bump in the photo above? You do not want that bump to show once you have pieced D4 on to the parts of Section D you have already pieced. Press again, this time towards D4. Avoid the bump by pressing!
Press towards D4. No ironing!
We are heading to the home stretch!
Position your last piece as you have done before. It is going to look at little weird and out of alignment, because you are working with a curve. Remember to position the fabric so it covers D5 plus 1/4″ seam allowance. Pay no attention to the edges of the other pieces, such as D4, that you have already sewn.
It is easier for me to see whether or not piece D5 was in the right position by pinning it. Note, I would pin it on the pattern side to sew, because then I can see where the pin is in relation to where my sewing machine foot and needle are. the pin in the photo is temporary.
Once you have the placement finalized, go ahead and sew.
Now you have to fold back the pattern one last time and prepare to trim the seam allowance.
Trim!
Now your piece is done. Fold back the D5 fabric and press. Place your ruler on the lines at the end of the pattern and trim a 1/4″ seam allowance. I know you can do this without photos.
Now you have to trim the curved parts of Section D
It is too difficult to sew the untrimmed Section D, so you will have to trim.
To trim, mark 1/4″ away from the dark line. The dots in the photo above mark 1/4″. I have trimmed the straight ends with a rotary cutter and I am ready to play “dot to dot” with my scissors. I am going to cut from dot to dot to create a 1/4″ seam allowance.
On to part 4!
Tips:
Resources:
Here are my little group of 4″ stars. This group is not growing as fast as I would like it to grow, but they all look great. I am very pleased with the way they look together. Even the ones that are running towards red-violet add a spark to the group.
There are two things annoying about these stars:
Also, take a look at the original Quilt-a-long instructions. You can see all the posts on this topic by searching the tag “Star Sampler.”
I did something a little different for this week’s blocks. I didn’t have a lot of time last weekend, so I cut the pieces for each block out in advance and had all the pieces on the design wall ready to sew. I did this, because I thought I might have a few minutes here and there to see, but really I only had various bits of time to cut. I didn’t have any sewing time until late in the day on Friday. I am not sure if cutting in advance made any difference.
I added in the Michael Miller teal dot fabric, which I also used on the sewing machine cover I made a couple of years ago. I needed some more dots and I really wanted to use this fabric in a quilt I could admire regularly.
At least I thought I cut all the pieces! Part way through I realized that I still needed to cut out the last star.
Aunt Addie’s Star looks a little backgroundy to me, but I think it will be ok. What does “Backgroundy” mean? I think it means that that big square in the center gives a look of a lot of background and not too much star. I think it is fine, but I will have to look at it in context and see if I need to make others with more background or that see through look. One of the Rising Stars has background in the center.
I do have all the stars on my design wall and think they are looking fine together.
The Taj Mahal Star will go really well with the Austin Star from last week. It has, as you can see, the same kind of corner treatment. I need to find one more block or make another one of these two so the quilt looks on balance. I like, as I have said before, to use threes – three of the same blocks, three pieces of the same fabric, three design elements, etc to make the quilt look right. You can use 5 or some other odd number, but I use three as my starting point. I am pretty sure I talk about this concept in more depth in the Design Series. Perhaps the episode on Balance?
Finally, I made the Square in a Square Star. While I was cutting for it, I was thinking of the green dot I talked about in the last post about the Star Sampler. I decided to use it in the center of this star. I wanted to make sure that there was enough of it in the quilt so one or two pieces didn’t look weird. It works GREAT, because it is enclosed and not touching the background.
I also like the Square in a Square pattern. I think it looks really good in the Sawtooth Star format.
I finished all the blocks on Saturday and started cutting for the next Basic Star.
TFQ has already selected blocks for Week 4, so I need to get going on those.
Also, take a look at the original Quilt-a-long instructions. You can see all of my posts on this topic by searching the tag “Star Sampler.”
I just realized it has been about two weeks since I posted about the Star Sampler. The last post was March 10. It is not an abandoned project and I have been working on the blocks. I know the week of March 11 was really busy for me. I had two meetings in the evenings that week and must have gotten off track with writing about the blocks.
The first thing I did last week was redo the Hourglass Star block. The previous version didn’t work. I used that great yellow-green dot for the arms and it was too light. I had two of the centers, so I used the same center and just put a Michael Miller Dumb Dot as the arms.
I think that yellow-green has to be contained on the inside of a block. I think it is too close to the background to work effectively next to it.
If I keep screwing up blocks. I’ll have a second quilt on the back!
I included some of the yellow-green in the Checkerboard Star and you can see how well it does enclosed by other fabrics. I have to keep that in mind as I move forward on the rest of the blocks.
I saw TFQ’s version of this star on Flickr and noticed that she lined up the fabrics she used for the arms so they were the same.
I like the Plaid star. I like the look of the piecing. I am not 100% on board with the fabrics I chose, but I don’t dislike them enough to re do the block right at this moment. Also, I chose the colors to go with the Bard of Avon block. I didn’t want the Bard of Avon to be sitting out there with these fabrics alone.
I do love that turquoise I used for the arms, though. It is hand-dyed or some kind of special surface design by Stitch ‘n Dye fabrics. It is a very special fabric, but I thought I might as well use it. I am pleased with how it looks with the other fabrics.
Someone pointed out on Twitter that the Austin Star block looks really different from the others. The squares in the corner are quite prominent. They enhance the X effect of the block. I haven’t decided if this rendition of this block will make the cut for the final quilt. It is a little on the dark side. I know there is another block similar in layout that might make this work.
I am playing with lavender/purples since I ran out of that perfect lavender with white dots by Lakehouse. This one is pretty good since there are a number of different dots made up of different colors.
I am really enjoying working on this project with someone else. Seeing the placement of fabric and fabric choices some one else makes is so interesting. It also inspires me to think a little differently.
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.