Star Flower Quilt Block Tutorial

 

Star Flower Quilt Block 14.5"x14.5"

I made this block using turnover triangles.

  

Start by taking 8 turnover triangles for the star and 1/4 yard neutral for background print.

  

Cut all of your turnover triangles in 1/2 as shown in the image above.

From your background print you will need to cut 2 - 6" squares. Cut them in 1/2 as show in the image above, twice to get 8 triangles.

You will also cut  from your background material 4 - 4" squares for the corners.

Lay your block out like the image above.

Now sew all of the triangles to get 1/2 square triangles.

Press.

 

Sew your blocks together in strips.

Press.

Sew the strips together. 

Walla!

I love this block, it's super simple and perfect use of a turnover.

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~Natalia

Duluth Bound

I just finished my initial stocking order for a wonderful art gallery in Duluth, Minnesota called the Waters of Superior. This gallery is located in the Canal Park area of Duluth on Lake Avenue. I've been thinking of contacting the gallery for two years but my trips to town are usually a quick jaunt there and back to pick up our son from college. If you are going to the Minnesota Quilters show in Duluth next week please take time to stop in, enjoy the gallery and all the other great shops and restaurants in the area. DS & DGF work at Little Angie's Cantina a few doors away. They have great mexican food!

I will be going to this show for the first time. I am meeting girlfriends in Duluth, but my main reason for the trip is to visit with my son and his girlfriend while they are on vacation from school.

Here are a few more shots of my work in progress. I use this little organizer to sort cut colored fabrics and keep them from getting dusty between uses. Most of the fabrics I use are hand dyed by me. I also use Cherrywood Fabrics for the brown log cabin pin and matching flying geese pendants and earrings.

Here is a look at the back side of my jewelry. I thought you might enjoy seeing the stitching.

Hope you have a great week! Chris

Sewing Again!!!

Here is a peek at my Spice Market bed quilt. Yes, after a year and a half of hand quilting (very slowly) the quilt is on my bed. I love it! I'll show you more once I finish the pillow covers.

Last weekend my mother and stepfather came for a visit. I am always grateful to have company. I enjoy spending time with family and friends. I love the added incentive it gives me to clean the house. I finally completed a huge reorganization of the house before the long weekend. Life is in order and the house is still clean. I can sit and sew with out guilt. I also completed a month long stint of fabric dyeing last week.

This is what I spent part of my weekend working on. These are some of the more popular colorways of my quilt block jewelry. I keep running out of stock so I am sewing many multiples to try to build enough stock to get me through the summer.

Last night I worked on the most tedious part of making the jewelry. I cut two 11"x 14" pieces of thin glass into 3/4"x 3/4" squares. To cut, wash and dry these tiny pieces of glass takes about 6 hours. I will clean the glass one more time with window cleaner before assembling the pieces.

A Little Progress and Some Set Backs

I made some progress on my Winter Solstice project last week. I'm pleased with the hand dyed fabric I chose for the background. It really highlights the stars and makes them shine.

I have been working on a new idea for marketing my hand dyed fabric. I came up with a catchy name, which made me think I should rename or open a new ETSY store of the same name. Has anyone done something similar? Any thoughts? I'm really undecided.

I had planned to have my newly dyed fabrics added to my store this weekend but I had a few commission requests that have changed my focus for a few days. I am glad for the change. I have long been putting off adding some crazy quilt purses to my store. I'm working on one in particular that may be hard to part with. Oh well, I have learned to let go because I can always make another.


We have had a lot of wildlife sightings near the house lately. A few weeks ago I started smelling a skunk like odor and figured the skunks were coming out of hibernation. I turns out we have a red fox living very near our home. Our dog Jack has found remnants of meals just outside my studio window. The musk of a fox smells very much like skunk but MUCH more pleasants. Take it from one who knows. Our Alaskan Malamute was one to chase skunks. Never, NEVER, let your dog in the house if it has been sprayed by a skunk. :)

The deer have been coming in mass to the orchard and this morning I discovered why. We have seen a pileated woodpecker feeding on the remaining apples from last years crop. The apples no longer stay in the tree as the woodpecker pecks. Instead they fall to the ground to feed the deer.

Winter is slowly coming to an end. The morning sun is finally reaching our home early in the day. In a few weeks the quiet of winter will be replaced by the song of red wing blackbirds as they nest in the fields and raise their young.

Color and inspirations

If you've visited my Etsy Store you know I make miniature quilt block jewelry from my hand dyed fabrics. These are foundation pieced quilt blocks enclosed between two pieced of glass and then sealed with lead free solder.I was recently asked to choose my favorite colorways in my jewelry collection. Here is what I decided on. They are all reminders of childhood memories. This brooch reminds me of a Maxfield Parrish sky in one of his paintings. My mother used to read us stories from "Poems of Childhood" by Eugene Fields and Illustrated by Maxfield Parrish. The illustrations in that book were so dreamlike.

This pin reminds me of the fields of sunflowers near our favorite lake in Minnesota. This is a favorite memory for myself as well as my sister.

My mother had an aunt that lived in New Mexico. Over the years we have all treasured the craftsmanship of lovely pieces of turquoise jewelry that came from my mothers visits to the area. This is the first pattern I designed for a pair of earrings. I love the flying geese pattern. The colors in this jewelry came from my first attempt at dying a color gradation. When I saw the result I was hooked!

This last piece was inspired by the only piece of clothing I still own from my childhood. It is a printed cotton sundress from Sears with a picture of Winnie the Pooh and Piglet printed on it. I'll have to dig it out to photograph it some day. It's so adorable. I hope you had a wonderful weekend! Mine was full of fun and family times.