Snowflake QAL: Week Nine

Joan Cumming has been working ahead on her Blizzard quilt! Isn't it spectacular?!?! She added even more stars to make the whole top bigger. Beautiful!!

Welcome to Week Nine of the QAL!

Snowflake Sampler: two 36" Fierce Feathered Stars

Star Flurries: one 20" No Y Seam Feathered Stars or Fierce Feathered Stars (your choice of construction method)

Feathered Star Blizzard: two 16" AND two 8" No Y Seam Feathered Stars

Can you believe there is only one week left? Time flies when you're piecing one million tiny bits of fabric together... isn't that how the saying goes? ;)

Congratulations if you are caught up! Congratulations if you're still hanging in there! Congratulations if you're waiting for the right timing to dig in! The point is, you've challenged yourself to do a difficult thing and I admire that. It's so worthwhile to push yourself and learn new skills, I salute you!

Sampler folks: I have a video tutorial series now on how to construct the Fierce Feathered Star. If you feel safe and cozy within the confines of paper piecing (no shame in that) and are nervous about tackling the non-paper piecing star, watch the videos! They'll give you the boost you need to begin.

Next week, we'll sew our tops together! If you want to get yourself prepped, make sure all of your papers are removed. You could also begin cutting out any sashing strips if you have them (Sampler and Blizzard) and sewing them to the appropriate stars. Again, not part of the challenge this week, but if you're looking for ways to get ready, those are good places to start.

I cannot tell you how satisfying this is to seam together! FUN! This was my Sampler top from the first QAL I hosted last summer.

Hop on over to my closed Facebook group to join the discussion, share pictures, ask questions, get encouragement. We are a community and we'd love to help you out!

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!

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.

Feathered Star QAL: Week Nine

Week Nine: Assembling the whole quilt top!

We've come to our final week of the Feathered Star QAL!

Congratulations if you are caught up! Congratulations if you're still hanging in there! Congratulations if you're waiting for the right timing to dig in! The point is, you've challenged yourself to do a difficult thing and I admire that. It's so worthwhile to push yourself and learn new skills, I salute you!

Week Nine instructions: Use the Feathered Star QAL pattern to assemble the quilt top.

Before endeavoring to construct the top, make sure all of your papers are removed from the paper piecing stars and the appropriate sashing strips have been sewn onto the feathered stars according to the pattern. This will make assembly go smoothly!

Start on page 11 of the Feathered Star QAL pattern to begin assembling the Bonus Stars and follow the remainder of the pattern paying VERY special attention to the diagrams.

To get great results: go slow, take one step at a time, check and re-check your sewing in relation to the diagrams, PIN CAREFULLY AND FREQUENTLY, sew and press with care. 

I cannot tell you how satisfying this is to seam together! FUN!

My focus has now shifted to quilting and to be honest, I'm stumped! I'm sure something will come to me and when it does, I'd love to share ideas with you!

Click the photo to buy your own pin from Eye Candy Quilts! You might as well pick up a second pin for a fierce quilter friend!

Question: HOW PERFECT IS THIS PIN?! Anneliese of Eye Candy Quilts generously provided this enamel pin for me to giveaway! It's adorable and precious and perfect for this crowd! ;)

In the last two newsletters that I sent out to the QAL participants, I asked them to share progress photos using certain hashtags and today I used a random number generator to pick the recipient. Kristen Lee was the winner! Congrats, Kristen!!

Kristen has posted many progress photos, but here's just one beautiful example:

I'm not exaggerating when I say that my favorite thing is seeing the beautiful things that you make with my patterns. It's so awesome! Thank you for sharing photos and inspiring us all!

From Janet MacIntyre:

I get excited every single time Chris Simon shares her work, too! ;) Here's just one of her beauties:

It's safe to say that I might hyperventilate as these quilt tops begin to emerge. And I welcome that! 

Thank you so much to everyone who has participated in this QAL. It wouldn't have been much fun without you! I am considering hosting another QAL over the winter months (snowflakes?) so make sure to sign up for my newsletter (if you're not already) to hear about any developments. If a busy summer schedule wasn't ideal for you, perhaps a winter QAL would be better?

Hop on over to my closed Facebook group to join the discussion, share pictures, ask questions, get encouragement. We are a community and we'd love to help you out!

Feathered Star QAL: Week Two

Week Two will be a repeat of Week One: two 16" No Y Seam Feathered Stars

#ClubOneTwoNine! How are you doing!? 

Of all the stars in our sky–I mean quilt top–I think that the 16" No Y Seam Feathered Star is the easiest one to complete. 

To ease us into the QAL and to give those who are starting late an easier time of catching up, Week Two will be about completing the last two 16" NYSFS blocks needed for the twin quilt top. 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!

This is a heads up if you're looking ahead to the other sizes of paper piecing stars: the difficulty increases the smaller the pieces get. If you have the extra fabric available, you may want to pre-cut the pieces a little larger than what I recommend in the pattern, especially if you have trouble getting them aligned. I'll talk about that more in the weeks to come, but wanted to mention it now if you are thinking about working ahead.

The final part of making this block for the QAL is sewing the sashing strips onto certain sides of the blocks as detailed in the pattern. Make sure that between Week One and Week Two, you have the correct number of blocks with the appropriate strips sewn to each.

When sewing the sashing strips into place, I find it most helpful to sew with the back side of the star on top and the sashing strip on bottom, that way you can prevent seams from being turned. And always pin! At first glance, I find that there is usually a slight difference in the length of the strips compared to the length of the blocks. I pin at both ends first, then in the middle, and then I ease the rest of the fabric in by pinning at regular intervals. Sew and then press (I've been pressing these seams open, but do whatever makes you comfortable). 

It has been an absolute joy to see these stars coming to life in your very capable hands! I'll leave you with this photo of Doris Brunnette's blocks (check out the fussy cutting!), but 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.

I've also started a Pinterest board to which I will be pinning QAL inspiration!

Made by Doris Brunnette.