Looky Here! Looky Here!

My Friendship Star quilt just arrived in the mail!  My good friend Judy Frank (of Frankly Quilts in West Bath, Maine) quilted some lovely loopy stars in my loopy star quilt!

Isn't it gorgeous???? I still need to bind it (wanted to photograph it while it's sunny - can't depend on too many sunny days in Michigan right now.  Isn't that an ugly shed and fence in the background?).

Even though this is a simple scrap quilt I've compiled over 9 years, it's my favorite.  So many scraps shared by so many friends!  Pieces shared in charm swaps and pulled out of scrap bins at the retreats and classes.  The only pieces I own of the red floral/stripe (arm of this star) and the pale yellow swatch (upper left) are in this quilt - both shared by friends from Cobblestone Quilters in Portland, Maine.  It's a memory quilt of my fabulous friends I had to leave behind but have never forgotten.

Even the back is fun!  I've decided that at holiday time I'm going to fold this quilt so the back is showing with these loopy stars!  Won't it make a wonderful holiday quilt in itself?!?

Hope you're able to enjoy some sunshine on this Saturday also!

Elisa

p.s. Here is the original tutorial to make these fun blocks!

Friendship Star - 15 minutes at a time!

Speaking of 15 minutes… here’s what you can do with 15 minutes… spanning years!  J

Right by my machine is a pile of scraps to make blocks a friend showed me years ago.  It’s a TRUE friendship star!

Sew a 2.5”x4.5” light rectangle to a 2.5”x4.5” dark rectangle.  Or, sew a 2.5”x40” light strip to a 2.5”x40” dark strip and cut down into 4.5” subsets.  Press to the dark.

Using the picture as a guide, sew a light 2.5” square to the bottom of the dark rectangle.  You will be sewing on the diagonal of the square.  You can either use a pencil line or the Easy Angle Acrylic Tool as a guide.

Then sew a dark 2.5” square to the top of the light rectangle.   You MUST consistently sew the light square to the dark rectangle and the dark square to the light rectangle as they appear in the picture. 

Trim the excess square fabric.

Flip the fabric, and press down.  Don’t be stressed if it doesn’t match perfectly along the edges.  This is a very “forgiving” block.

Continue piecing these whenever you have 15 minutes to spare, forming a nice scrappy pile.

When you’re ready to assemble, sew a pair of sections together (like the picture below).  Repeat over and over until all your sections are sewed into these new units.

After sewing your sections into new units, start sewing your units together (like the picture below). 

Voila!  A star!

This is what happens when, after making them over a span of 9 years, you finally put them together!   Can you believe I lost track and have enough for 2 quilts!

Thanks for listening!