Make-A-List Monday - Back To The Real World!!

Hi, all!

Wow!  My week at QuiltCon is over, and oh, what a week it was!  So much fun, and I've got lots to share, but I'll spread it out over the week.  Here's a little peek at what went on, and then I'll share my list for the week...

It started out like this - - - standing in a long line at 8 am on Thursday morning to check in before my first class...

...and - - - SUCCESS!

My first class was with Angela Walters, learning how to use rulers on the long-arm.  It was a great class, and Angela is a really good teacher.  What a rockstar - but one cool lady too!

I REALLY wish my eyes were open!

After my morning class, I had a chance to wander around the hall and look at some of the many beautiful quilts that were entered in the competition.  Here's a few of them...

This quilt won the People's Choice award!  It was totally amazing...

And this was my favorite quilt in the "nine-patch" section - I thought it was just so creative!

The thread painting on this quilt was so amazing - very minimal piecing, but the quilting really made this quilt!

Here's another one where the quilting really stands out!  I love the combination of matchstick quilting and hand quilting!

This quilt really IS a "Stunning Star", isn't it?  Love those quilted circles in the background...

Thursday evening I had a class with Christa Watson, quilting with a walking foot on a domestic machine. The class focused on spirals and swirls and was so great, I completely forgot to take any pictures!  I was getting pretty worn out by the end of the class...

Then Friday rolled around!  This was my day to meet up with people, and it started out with a total geek out...

I got to meet Kate Spain!!  I did manage not to totally geek out, for which I am eternally grateful...  Kate is another person who is just so sweet and real, we had a great meet-up!!

It was also pretty cool to get to meet her husband Pete, who I've exchanged emails with in the past.  He's really neat too!!

Mot of the times I met up with people, I got so excited talking to them that I forgot to take pictures - but here's one of me, Mel and Tirzah!  It was awesome to meet everyone in real life, although unfortunately there were a few folks I didn't get to connect with.  Oh well - there's always next time!

Saturday was another class day - two classes, both with Christina Cameli of A Few Scraps.  I took her Wedge Play class all day Saturday, and it was so much fun!  You'll be seeing the results of that class pretty soon...

Christina is really sweet and so much fun as a teacher!  We sat around on the floor for instructions and passed samples around, then played on our sewing machines all day!  Exciting news, too - she's got a new book coming out in November, which will be more about her Wedge Play quilts!

During the two-hour lunch break, we sat out on the grass by the river and watched the big container ships go by.  I was eating with Christina and Jack (short for Jacqueline) and it was so funny when this ship went by - we all three said, "Wow, there's a quilt in that!"  The colors were just beautiful!

I also got to take Christina's Wild Quilting class - and I found out that I am horribly rusty at free-motion quilting on a domestic machine!  But the class was a great learning experience, and I'll be able to translate a lot of what I learned to the long arm.

All in all, I had such an awesome time at QuiltCon!  I'll share more pictures during the week, but I don't want to bore you too much right now!

And now here's my list of to-do's for this week...

1.  Put together the final Stunning Stars quilt (which is also a baby quilt for a gift!)

2.  Write the tutorial for that quilt.

3.  Cut out a shirt for Nathanael.

4.  Start working on projects for the next secret sewing for Free Spirit Fabrics!

5.  Finish up my Wedge Play project.

6.  Keep up with any quilt ministry needs that come up.

I'm going to keep it short this week because I've got to get the last Stuning Stars quilt finished for this coming Sunday and two weeks from today is the reveal of the new secret project for Free Spirit - and there's a lot to do between now and then!!

So now the question is - - - what are YOU working on this week? 

Hugs!

Sarah

Stunning Stars #5 - "Ring Around The Roses"!

Hi, all!

Welcome to the fifth week, and the fifth quilt, of the Stunning Stars Quilt-Along!  It's been a wild ride so far, and it's so exciting to hear so many of you talking about making your own star quilt - music to my ears!!  This week's quilt is one I made a while ago to debut a new fabric line for Free Spirit Fabrics, but I promised a tutorial for it then, so here it is!

I named this quilt "Ring Around The Roses" - I love the way the friendship stars nestle into each other!  

This block has been on my bucket list for a long time, but I didn't want to make it more than once, so I super-sized it for this quilt.

Wanting to showcase more of the Free Spirit fabrics in the quilt top, I used a print to make the final border on this version.  The tutorial below calls for a border made of the background print instead.

I did a brightly colored charm square patchwork back for this one to contrast with the relatively calm front.  I love all those pretty roses and pastel colors paired with the Kona Honeydew!

So here's the tutorial for this quilt - as a one-block quilt, it's really pretty easy, provided you are careful in putting your pieces together correctly as you sew them up.  Enjoy!

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“Ring Around The Roses”

A Stunning Stars Quilt

Finished size:  approximately 66” square

MATERIALS:

8 Prints - fat quarters or 1/4 yards

3 1/4 yards background fabric

CUTTING INSTRUCTIONS:

From each of your prints, you will cut two 7” squares to make the HSTs for the star points.  You can also choose to make your centers in the same print; in that case, you will also cut one 6.5” square.

From your background fabric, cut:

A - Eight 6.5” squares (unless you chose to make your star centers with the print.)  

B - One 18.5” square (center)

C - Four 12.5” squares (outer corners)

D - Eight 6.5” x 12.5” rectangles (top, bottom and sides)

You will also need sixteen 7” background squares for the HSTs that make up the star points.

E - Two 6.5” x 54.5” strips (side borders, can be pieced)

F - Two 6.5” x 66” strips (top and bottom borders, can be pieced)

NOTE:  You may want to wait to finalize the length of the borders until the center unit is completed, to be sure they fit properly on your quilt.

ASSEMBLY:

Pair up each 7” print square with a 7” background square.  Draw a diagonal line on the back of the background piece. Using the traditional method, make the HSTs for the star points.   Trim all of the HSTs to 6.5” square.  Don’t skip this step - you’ll be happier with the finished quilt if you take a few minutes to do it!

Please ignore my measurement notes in the bottom border!

Place the center square on your design wall and, using your HSTs and center 6.5” squares (either background or print, depending on your choice), arrange the stars as shown on the diagram.  Place the C and D background pieces as shown.

This diagram may make it easier to see how the stars relate to each other...
Don't use it for background placements, though.  Mine is assembled differently!

Now take the three blocks that touch the right side of the center square and sew them together, being careful to keep them in the right positions.  Repeat for the left side blocks.  Sew both strips to the center square.  Replace on the design wall.

Now take the five blocks that touch the top of the center unit you just created and sew them together, being careful to keep them in the right positions.  Repeat for the blocks that touch the bottom of the center unit.  Sew both strips to the center square.  Replace on the design wall.  

The next parts to assemble are the right and left sides, two columns of blocks that fit between the 12.5” corner squares.  Assemble those units and attach them to the center unit.

Now you will assemble the top and bottom sections.  Assemble the block units that fit between the two corner units, then attach the corner units to them.  Attach them to the center unit.

Now measure your quilt across the center vertically.  Make your right and left borders that length, pinning them to the sides of the quilt top and easing as necessary to make them fit.

Repeat for the top and bottom borders, measuring your quilt across the center horizontally.

Congratulations!  You’ve finished your quilt top!!

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I hope you enjoy this quilt as much as I did!  It's fun and easy and would make a great gift for a friend - remember, it's a friendship star!

And if this is the first week you've caught of the quilt-along, here's the quilts we've already seen...

"Scrappy Stars"

"Exploding Stars"

"Speak To Me Of Love"

"Supernova"

There's only one more Stunning Stars quilt to go!  I'll share it next Sunday, and then we start the Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge 2017 the following week!  Are you excited yet?

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? QuiltCon 2017!

Hi, all!

Wow!  It's Friday again - can you believe how fast the weeks go by?  But Friday means it's time to get our whoop whoop on - are you ready?  Let's get started!

I'm at QuiltCon 2017 in Savannah GA this weekend, enjoying classes with the likes of Angela Walters, Christa Watson, and Christina Cameli, and getting to meet some blog and Instagram friends in real life!  I have to say I'm really excited!!  With any luck I'll have been able to update this post with pictures from QuiltCon, but if I don't have access to internet, that may have to wait until next week.  If there aren't any pictures here, you can see what I've been seeing and doing by checking out my Instagram feed - I'm @fabricaddictquilts there.  I'm sure I'll be flooding IG with lots and lots of pictures!

And now it's your turn!

What's got you whooping it up this week?

What's making you do a little happy dance?

Share - we want to dance right along with you - 

And it's always more fun to dance with friends!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight.

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah

I May Have a Scrap Problem... Some Inspiration!

Hi, all!

It's time for another scrappy post, but today I am driving to Savannah, GA for QuiltCon 2017 - I'm so excited! - so I'm just going to share some inspiration with you today.  

First of all, I want to be sure you have a chance to see this fabulous post by Kat of Kat & Cat Quilts.  If you don't know Kat already, she is the brains behind Covered In Love, which was one of our Hands2Help charities last year.  She is also, by choice, a scrappy quilter, and she has a great idea for using up some of those precious small scraps that we hoard...

Bookmarks!  What a great idea!  Her technique is very simple and you can read all about it here.

And here are some pretties I've seen on Pinterest this week - lovely quilts one and all!

Isn't this a cool way to do a charm quilt?  I love the focus point the white squares give this one...

And I have long wanted to do a bookshelf quilt, but wasn't willing to commit to the "realistic" look - and yet I really love the way this one looks!  Less realism, but still gets its point across! And oh, the color!!

I love the background color in these next two - grays can make all those beautiful scraps really POP!

And this one just makes me smile!  You can make this using either four mini-charm packs, or by cutting one regular charm pack in to quarters - a great way to use up that random charm pack you've got sitting in your stash!  

You can find the links for all of these quilts and more on my "Oh Scrap!" Pinterest page - click here to go there!

So - - - do you feel inspired now?  I'm thinking about taking my sewing machine with me to Savannah - wonder if I'll have time to do any sewing???

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - An Easy Week!

Hi, all!

It's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, my home town.... how many of you remember that wonderful opening line?  Garrison Keillor is one of my favorites, and his stories of Lake Wobegon felt like visiting my crazy family!  Well, it's been a quiet week here, too - recuperating from an icky cold is no fun!  So let's see how last week's list went...

1.  Quilt and bind the next quilt in the Stunning Stars series.
Done!  I really love this one!

2.  Clean up the house for a LuLaRoe pop-up party here this coming Saturday morning.
Done!  It took almost all my energy, but the house looks decent again... and we had a fun party!  Oh, and I made a new curtain to cover the closet in my guest room (that's been needed for months now!)

3.  Quilt more of the quilts for Stash Builder Box.
Done!  I have four quilts ready to go to Amanda - not as many as I wanted to get to, but at least these are completely finished and ready for gifting...

4.  Pull together my class supplies for QuiltCon!
Done!  I have four lovely piles on my sewing table that I need to get into project bags, but at least they are pulled and ready!

5.  Write the tutorial for the next Stunning Stars quilt.
Done!  The quilt is named "Supernova", and you can read the tutorial here.

6.  Prepare my blogposts for next week (while I'm at QuiltCon!)
In progress!  I've got them started, just need to take some pics to finish them out...

7.  Finalize the charities and sponsor requests for Hands2Help.
Done!  You can read about the charities by clicking on the Hands2Help page under the header picture, and boy do we have some good sponsors lined up!  Plenty of room for more, if you have any suggestions, though!

8.  Keep up with any quilt ministry needs that come up.
Done!  We gave away a few quilts this week...

This quilt went to a woman recovering from surgery...

...and this one went to a gentleman who just moved into a nursing home.

And this quilt went to another brand new baby in our church!

I also did more than a little cooking, but I think the best of the week was this pot of chicken noodle soup!

I made it in my Instant Pot using this recipe, and wow is it amazing!  My husband said it was a miracle cure...  I have to say, it is a really easy recipe and gives you a wonderful chicken broth at the end.  I added a bag of frozen mixed veggies after cooking the noodles, but that's the only change I made in the recipe.

So that's how my week went - not too bad, all in all but I didn't have very high expectations!  And this week will be even easier because.... (drum roll) ... very early Wednesday morning I'll be leaving for QuiltCon East in Savannah, GA!  I'm so excited - I have classes with Angela Walters, Christa Watson and Christina Cameli, plus I've got a whole day free to meet up with people I only know through blogs.  How exciting!  So no list for me this week - I won't be back  until late Sunday night, and don't really have time to do much but pull my supplies together and pack between now and Wednesday morning!  The grandkids are keeping me busy Monday and Tuesday mornings while my daughter works, so there's not much time for anything extra.  But I get to play with the kids!  So it's all good.

So now the question is - - - what are YOU working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah

Stunning Stars #4 - "Supernova"!

Hi, all!

It's time for another quilt in the Stunning Stars Quilt Along - and this week's quilt is my husband's favorite!  He laid claim to it before it was even finished, and there's no higher compliment in my book.  So here it is - - - Supernova!

This is a super-simple quilt - made up of half square triangles!  

The layout and color variation is what creates all the movement in this quilt.

I quilted it with radiating lines from the focal star through the diamonds to increase the "starriness" of this quilt.

Once again, I dug through my stash for this quilt.  The top was made using leftovers from the oranges I used for Emmalyn's 2016 annual quilt, and the back utilizes a great Brandon Mably print and some gray and white polkadots.  Both those pieces had been sitting in my stash for quite a while!  So this is another one for the Sew My Stash 2017 challenge!

It was awfully windy the day I took these pictures, but at least there was sunshine to show off those beautiful bright oranges!!

I can see this quilt done scrappy, or in rainbow shades radiating out from the focal star, or shading from light to dark in a single color.  So many possibilities!!  

So - - - are you ready to make one of your own?  Here's how!

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“Supernova”

A Stunning Stars Quilt-Along Quilt

This is a very simple one-block quilt; its secret lies in the layout.

Finished size:  approximately 60” x 60”

FABRIC REQUIREMENTS:  

2 yards of background fabric

2 yards (or equivalent) of print fabric; this could be yardage, fat quarters, or scraps.  There are 50 diamond shapes in the quilt, so you could use up to 50 different fabrics.

CUTTING DIRECTIONS:

From the background fabric, cut fifty 7” squares.

Take your print fabrics and choose one that will become the focal star.  From that fabric, cut four 7” squares.  From the remainder of your print fabrics, cut forty-six 7” squares for a total of 50 squares.

MAKING THE BLOCKS:

Take your background squares and draw a line from one corner diagonally across the square on the back of the fabric. Pair one background square with one print square,  right sides together.

Using the traditional method, make your half-square triangles (HSTs).   You will have 50 sets of two matching HSTs.  Trim your HSTs to 6.5” square.  Don’t skip this step - it will make your quilt go together faster and look better!

Locate your eight focal star HSTs to start your layout.

LAYOUT:

To get a similar look to the finished quilt shown above, use the diagram below to lay out your blocks.  (NOTE: The quilt above has more blocks than this quilt tutorial calls for.  Don’t use the finished quilt as your layout guide!)  

Start with the focal point star in the lower left quadrant, and work out from the star.  Step back often and check to see that your diamonds are going the right direction!  Fill in the gaps at the upper right and lower left edges with half diamonds, splitting up some of your pairs for the purpose.  Assemble the quilt top.  Quilt as desired! 

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If you make your own version of "Supernova", I'd love to see it!  If you share on Instagram, tag me (@fabricaddictquilts) and use the hashtag #stunningstars!

And if you've missed the three earlier Stunning Stars quilt, here are links to those...

"Scrappy Stars"

"Exploding Stars"

"Speak To Me Of Love"

Inspired yet?

Hugs!

Sarah