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

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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 Eight

The final stars we will complete are the 36" Fierce Feathered Star blocks. 

Welcome to Week Eight! I cannot believe we only have ONE more week left!

Week Eight instructions: Complete two 36" Fierce Feathered Star blocks. Here's a weird thought: We will literally make ONE-HALF of the quilt top (in area) this week, minus the borders.

The Fierce Feathered Star construction is the same for the 20" as well as the 36" stars, so the only thing that varies from last week to this week is the size of the pieces you'll cut. Remember to be as exact as possible with cutting and with your 1/4" seam allowance.

It's very easy to get "turned around" when sewing the block components together, especially when it comes to the direction of the half-square triangle units. For as many times as I've made the blocks, I STILL match up my pieces to the pattern photos EVERY TIME to make sure I'm sewing them correctly.

And only because I haven't said it yet this week: pin a lot! I'm okay with being a broken record on this point.

And just because this is a fun side-by-side comparison, I give you the mama (36") and the baby (8") blocks! ;)

I have a pattern correction for you that pertains to page 8 of the Feathered Star QAL pattern if you are completing the quilt with the kit (thanks for the heads up, Juleen). The color guide diagrams are correct, but I did not have the wording correct on the "color guide" listing to the left of the diagrams. It should read as follows:

Background = Shadow

Sashing = White

Spines = Blue Jay

Spine background = White

Cornerstone squares = Valentine

Star tips = Royal

Star points = Canary, Chartreuse

Star center = Blue Jay

Center triangle accents = Royal

At this stage, I only have the Canary star completed (pictured above), the last block I'll be making will have Chartreuse for the star points.

Don't forget to take one step at a time. This isn't fast sewing, each block takes several hours to complete. Enjoy the process - you can do it!

SIDE NOTE: This would be an adorable single-block baby quilt! Add as many borders as you like to make it the size you'd like. As if you needed to start another project, am I right?? ;)

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 Seven

Next up are the 20" Fierce Feathered Star blocks!  You'll notice there is no paper used to sew these pieces together. ;)

Welcome to Week Seven! There are no more paper piecing stars to tackle, so we're getting FIERCE this week!

Week Seven instructions: Complete two 20" Fierce Feathered Star blocks. There are only two in the quilt.

I would encourage you to look through the Fierce Feathered Star instructions in total before you begin. Notice how the Fierce block goes together in the end just like the No Y Seam Feathered Star block.

If you are using the fabric kit or a similar coloring scheme as mine, I've laid out the cutting instructions for you on page 4 of the Feathered Star QAL pattern. Because we're no longer dealing with foundation paper piecing, it's important to get the cutting measurements exact. I really, really want you to use washi tape or some other method to mark rulers for easier cutting. When it comes to using 16th of an inch measurements, it's very easy to make a mistake!

Once the fabric cutting is done, follow the Fierce Feathered Star block pattern to make two blocks. You will need to print and cut out two templates for the 20" star. Like with the paper piecing templates, make sure these templates are printed at 100%. Use the inch square provided on each template page to test accuracy. You will tape these templates to a rotary ruler to easily trim (pictures of each step in the pattern).

I also recommend doing a lot of pinning throughout.

In the photo above, notice how I use the same pinning technique as I did with the NYSFS pattern for lining up points, even though there's no paper. Pin liberally to get great results!

YOU CAN DO IT!

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 Six

Here's one of Kristen Lee's beautiful 8" No Y Seam Feathered Stars! Visit Kristen's Instagram feed for more inspiration and check out her fabric selection in her online shop.

Week Six! 

Can you believe that we'll tackle the LAST paper piecing blocks this week?! 

Week Six instructions: Complete two 8" No Y Seam Feathered Star blocks.

Looking ahead: Think of your practice making the NYSFS blocks as training wheels for a smooth transition onto the larger feathered stars. Both blocks go together in the same manner, the Fierce Feathered Stars just don't use foundation paper piecing. And there will only be 4 Fierce Feathered Stars total. That's all the blocks you'll have left (after this week)!

If you need any reminders on the 8" NYSFS blocks, see the information posted last week.

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 Five

Check out the tiny 8" No Y Seam Feathered Star on top of this stack. We'll make two for Week Five!

I hope you enjoyed the break from the QAL last week. We're back at it today with Week Five!

This week we'll tackle the 8" No Y Seam Feathered Star block. We will be making a total of four for this quilt, but let's just focus on two this week.

As you might have guessed, for Week Six next week, I'll assign the other two 8" NYSFS blocks, so if you'd like to batch them together in a big group of four, be my guest!

Remember to print at 100% or "actual" size, making sure your print dialog box is not set to auto-scale. A test square of 1 inch is provided on every page so that you can ensure accuracy.

If you bought the PDF bundle, print pages 27 & 28 of the PDF if you haven't already. You'll need 4 copies of each page. 

If you're working from the No Y Seam Feathered Star PDF (original, not bundled), it's pages 9 & 10 of the PDF. You'll need 4 copies.

Check out these 8" and 12" NYSFS blocks made by Lindsay Mayland! Find more from Lindsay on Instagram @lindsmayland and her blog Happy Hour Stitches.

Cut templates apart and cut fabrics* according to pattern.

*As the blocks get smaller, the less excess fabric you'll have according to the pre-cutting instructions. This is especially true for the 8" blocks, you will have the least amount of margin as compared to the 16" & 12" stars. If you have the extra fabric, feel free to cut the pieces bigger unless you're working with the fabric kit. (For more information on fabric kit cutting, read this: Week One - the first few paragraphs of the linked post.)

The 8" blocks go together in the same way as the 16" and 12" blocks. Can you make them in your sleep yet?? 

Remember to remove your papers when you are done with each block and refer to the QAL pattern to see how the sashing strips need to be sewn to the 8" blocks.

In case it's been a few weeks since you last paper pieced, remember to use a shortened stitch length. 

If you need any further clarification on the process of making these blocks, I'd suggest reading the Week One information and reviewing those photos and tips.

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!