Snowflake QAL: Week Four

Hellllllllllllo, Club 129! How is it going?

Just joining our adventure? Catch up on the first three weeks here:

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

As for this week, here are the specifics:

Snowflake Sampler: Boders & Bonus Stars

Star Flurries: two 12" No Y Seam Feathered Stars

Feathered Star Blizzard: Borders & Bonus Stars

Star Flurries participants: You know what to do! By now, you're an expert!

Snowflake and Blizzard patterns:

Go ahead and cut everything in the Putting it all together cutting section toward the end of your pattern, even though we will not use all of the pieces this week. 

As for the first sewing assignment, complete the instructions on the bottom of p. 64 (Sampler) or p. 46 (Blizzard) under the Inner borders section. Don't worry, it's two tiny seams and some trimming. Piece of cake!

The bulk of this week's work will be completing pp. 65 & 66 (Sampler) or pp. 47-49 (Blizzard).

We will be using the Magic 8 method for making half-square triangles as detailed in the pattern. I just wanted to mention here that the HSTs are intended to be a little oversized and trimmed down to exact specifications.

As you're sewing the larger squares together, try to align the outer edges as best as possible, but don't worry if they end up like the next photo. I don't pin the squares together or go to any other heroic measures, the trimming step will make them perfect!

I set my stitch length is a little shorter (2.2) than what I normally use to discourage unraveling after all the cuts are made.

Stacks on stacks!

This week of the QAL is sponsored by Tara Curtis of WEFTY!  If you have not seen a WEFTY needle before, you neeeeeed to check it out! There are crazy-amazing designs that can be accomplished with these small but mighty tools!

Tara is generously awarding a prize pack of WEFTY needles, her Woven Stars variation pattern, an EZMiter AND the EZMiter baby quilt pattern! Basically, she's spoiling us! Thanks, Tara!

Follow her on Instagram for innovative and inspiring projects!

Would you believe that we've had our first top finish?!?! I know!!! Donna Barrieau shared this in our Facebook group! Isn't it incredible? And not to mention that she got this accomplished during Week Three! Beautiful work, Donna! Thank you for inspiring us... and making us envious at the same time! :) HA!

Wishing you a productive week! Don't forget to join our Facebook group to connect with other QAL participants!

Snowflake QAL: Week Three

12" No Y Seam Feathered Stars

Here we are! Week Three is already here! Your challenge this week:

Snowflake Sampler: two 12" No Y Seam Feathered Stars

Star Flurries: two 12" No Y Seam Feathered Stars

Feathered Star Blizzard: four 12" No Y Seam Feathered Stars

Let's talk totals for each quilt. The Sampler & Blizzard folks will be tackling all of their 12" blocks this week. The Flurries people will do two 12" blocks this week and two 12" blocks next week. If you are printing templates and cutting fabric this week, you might want to do all that prep at once.

By now, you are a PRO at constructing the No Y Seam Feathered Star blocks! The 12" blocks go together in the same way as the 16" or 20" NYSFS blocks (depending on what you completed in the previous weeks). 

Remember to remove papers as you complete your blocks! I got into the habit of sewing by day and then removing papers by night in front of the tv. It makes the job more bearable, I think. Paper removal is not my favorite part of the process! ;)

I hope you're all experiencing the excitement of having the 129 fabric pieces come together to form each star! I'll leave you with this fanstastic 16" star made by Julie McLane!  What a great example of coordination and contrast! I love how all of our quilts will look so amazingly different and special when we're done!

This week of the QAL is sponsored by Kate Basti of Quilt with Kate.  Kate is a graphic designer tuned quilter extraordinaire and is the author of some pretty great paper piecing patterns! She will be emailing a bundle of THREE pattern PDFs to the winner. Please refer to the weekly QAL email for specifics with how to enter this drawing. Make sure to check Kate out on Instagram, too: @katebasti.

Have a great week! Don't forget to join our Facebook group here: Friends of Threaded Quilting Studio.

Snowflake QAL: Week Two

#ClubOneTwoNine! How is is going!? What do we think of these stars so far? Hopefully you're getting the hang of how they are sewn together.  

This week's challenge is to complete:

Snowflake Sampler: two 16" No Y Seam Feathered Stars

Star Flurries: two 20" NYSFS or Fierce Feathered Stars (method is up to you)

Feathered Star Blizzard: three 16" No Y Seam Feathered Stars

If you did your printing, cutting, and prepping last week, this week should take less time! If you haven't yet made the first two blocks, check out the Week One post for lots of tips!

Pattern error/typo! It's nothing to get too excited about, but the color guides on pages 22 & 23 of the Sampler & Blizzard patterns show incorrect square measurements. YOU DO NOT NEED TO RECUT ANYTHING! To update the pattern, I've just eliminated the specific dimensions because the only thing that matters is whether to use the bigger or smaller squares in each unit.

TIP!!

If you've had a little trouble with your points (like the spines) not being as pointy as you'd like, try this:

• Aim to sew on the far edge of the last sewing line (last in sequential order for the unit). You don’t want to deviate too much from the line, but you might be able to fudge it a bit.

• Realllllllllly open that last fabric piece out and finger press it "aggressively" after it’s sewn. Get way down into the crease! It helps so much.

It has been an absolute joy to see these stars coming to life in your very capable hands! Here's one I'd like to show you, made by JessicaQuilter. If you'd like to see more, come join us in our Facebook group! For even more photos, check out the #featheredstarqal hashtag on Instagram. Did you know you can follow hashtags on Instagram now? They'll pop up in your feed whenever a new photo is posted with a specific hashtag!

I also have a Pinterest board called Feathered Star Obsessed you should check out.

Made by JessicaQuilter, click image to visit her on Instagram.

JessicaQuilter sponsored our first week by giving away FOUR of her Selvage Bookshelf Quilt Patterns!  Congrats to Melanie for winning! Each of these patterns is available on JessicaQuilter's Etsy site and also as a bundle.  These patterns were inspired by a love of books, and a desire to integrate selvages into a pattern.  They can be made to fit any size quilt, and leave room for the quilter to add personal touches in the final design. 

Thanks so much for sponsoring, Jessica, and for sharing your creativity with us!

For all the QAL'ers, check your email each week for the weekly photo prompts to be eligible for the prize drawings!

Week Two is sponsored by Amy Friend of During Quiet Time. She'll be sending the winner a copy of her pattern Flitter (foundation piecing!) and a charm pack of her Improv fabric!

Amy is the author of two quilting books (Amazon affiliate links below) and tons of amazing patterns, you should definitely check out her PDF shop for some ADORABLE pp blocks!

Keep up with Amy on Instagram for more quilty inspiration. She's @duringquiettime.

Have a wonderful week! I look forward to seeing the magic you create!

QAL FAQ

Here we are less than one week away from beginning the next quilt-a-long! I wanted to answer a few questions that have come up. I hope this helps you! If you have any additional questions, please leave a comment or get in touch with me through email: threadedquilting at gmail dot com.

1. How will the QAL work?

Each Sunday beginning December 31 (this Sunday!) and lasting for 10 weeks, I will email a new challenge out to the participants. I consider anyone who bought one of the three new patterns to be a participant. The email will have a challenge for that week. Depending on the pattern, it'll be about 2 stars per week. I will also post the challenges publicly here in the journal section of my site.

2. What if I can't keep up?

This is a fairly fast-paced QAL, participate as you're able. My goal is to provide support and fun along the way. The last thing I want is to create added stress in your life! No need to apologize for not keeping up! This is meant to expand your skills, challenge you to sew and create, provide community. There will be no guilt-tripping!! :) 

3. Are there prizes?

YES! I can't wait to feature other pattern designers as we go! Most of these designers will be known to you, but if not, I can't wait make an introduction! Since paper piecing is kind of "our thing", I focused on designers who have paper piecing patterns for giveaways!

Prize winning will be based on a mix of general participation and completing specific weekly challenges. I will rely on social media posting on Facebook and Instagram to see who is participating. Please make sure your posts are "public" so that I can see them!

4. The fabric requirements seem like a little much. What's going on?

The Star Flurries and Feathered Star Blizzard patterns can be exclusively paper pieced and because of this, more waste is involved than with conventional sewing methods. This is a reality of paper piecing. 

If you plan to use the Fierce Feathered Star method for sewing the 20" stars instead of the paper pieced versions, you can expect to use slightly less fabric. For the patterns that give you the choice, I listed the fabric requirements assuming one would paper piece the stars, just so there would be no shortage.

5. What's with all the shades of blue?

This winter QAL uses fabrics to make the feathered stars resemble snowflakes! I thought it was easier to classify the fabrics by shade (light, medium dark, etc.) but perhaps Fabric 1, Fabric 2, Fabric 3, etc. would have been easier! My apologies if you find it difficult to keep track. I'd encourage you to use the "my swatch" pages preceding each star size to help you stay organized.

6. What size of needle to you use when paper piecing?

I use Microtex Sharps either a 90/14 needle or 80/12 needle. Using the larger (90/14) needle, may help papers better perforate and tear away if that is an issue. I reach for whatever one is new and sharp and haven't had an issue with either size.

Amazon affiliate link:

7. I've paper pieced a few stars to get used to the pattern and have dulled the points of my spines. Any suggestions?

Two (or more?) things could be happening. Pressing could make a difference. I actually only use my fingers to press while I'm constructing. Sometimes it looks like the very end of my points are gone, but after I *really* get in there to crease the fabrics with my fingers, it looks better. Use the pressing method that will yield the best results. You might want to experiment with finger pressing, using a wooden iron, using a mini iron or using your regular dry iron to find the method that works best for you.

Another thing to consider is that when you're adding your last piece of fabric to a unit with spines, sew on the outside edge of the black line to give yourself a smidge more space.

8. What about a two-fabric quilt? Would that look good?

Oh heavens yes! I think two-color quilts are amazing and I think this pattern would look outstanding in two tones.  (We want a picture if you do this!)

9. Do I need to buy any additional lessons?

Nope! The pattern is thorough and complete on its own. The patterns are advanced and assume knowledge of foundation paper piecing. I will add supplemental tips to my weekly emails and to my journal entries as we progress, but there are no further costs involved.

Buy your pattern here in my shop if you haven't done so already!

Snowflake Suite of patterns NOW AVAILABLE!

The 20" (paper pieced) No Y Seam Feathered Star pattern is new and exclusive to these patterns!

I'm so excited to roll out THREE new patterns that use feathered star blocks!

Buy your choice of pattern and join me for the next Quilt-A-Long that begins on New Year's Eve! How's that for ringing in 2018 with a new project and new challenge?!

The QAL will take place over ten weeks: nine weeks of "challenges" and one week of catch-up. :) It averages out to about two feathered star blocks per week. Unless you're piecing the Feathered Star Blizzard... with nearly double-the-stars, you might decide to take on more per week or extend your QAL experience by another few weeks. ;)

More information such as materials needed and fabric requirements can be found here.

Leave a comment below or email me at threadedquilting@gmail.com if I can answer any questions!

New Quilt-A-Long Announced!

We had so much fun the first time, we're doing it again!

On December 31st, the next QAL will go live!

Update! I now have three patterns from which to choose!

When I'm excited, I use a lot of exclamation points!

:)

Corresponding buy buttons can be found directly below each layout.

The first option will look a lot like our first QAL. The blue and white color way reflects our current wintery reality... at least in the midwest. They're snowflakes!

This sampler will include all five sizes of feathered star blocks for which I have patterns: the 8", 12", 16", 20" & 36". Fun layout? Check! Wild'n'Crazy border? Check!

Snowflake Sampler QAL - 76" x 86"

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The other option is slightly less intense, but also: still a little intense. We are talking feathered stars here, after all. Instead of making many different colors and sizes of stars, this quilt features only two blocks repeated. 

Star Flurries - 86" x 86"

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Feathered Star Blizzard - 76" x 86" (Layout Option 1)

Feathered Star Blizzard - 76" x 86" (Layout Option 2)

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If the second layout was the "lite" version, the last two are the "heavy" versions. Twenty-four feathered stars! My goodness!

We're another month or so away, but it's never too early to be thinking about fabric! I have the yardage requirements for both options ready for you:

Snowflake Sampler QAL - fabric requirements

Star Flurries  - fabric requirements

Feathered Star Blizzard - fabric requirements

If you are not yet on my email newsletter list, please sign up! I'll be communicating the important developments by email as well as posting here.