Sunday, October 19, 2008

It's About TIME!


I bet you thought I'd never get around to doing a tutorial on the Scrappy Stars quilt, did you? Well, SURPRISE! Here it is--the first half, at least!

This part of the pattern was given to us--my online Thimbleberries group--by my friend Kairle as a mystery quilt. Today I'm going to give you directions for making the main blocks. Tomorrow I'll talk about the sashing that forms the secondary pattern--that part of the quilt was something I came up with.

The original directions Kairle gave us were for making four blocks, which makes a nice size tabletopper. For the quilt I made pictured above, I used 16 blocks, and that made a bed-sized quilt for a twin or double bed. Today I worked on making only four blocks, so that's what I'm going to give you as far as cutting directions--you'll need to increase that accordingly if you want a larger quilt. Make sense?

This is a scrappy quilt, so I'll just refer to "neutral" fabrics and "medium/dark" fabrics. If you want a more controlled look to your quilt, this would be a pretty good pattern for a two color quilt.

CUTTING (FOR FOUR BLOCKS)

From Neutral Fabrics:

Eight (8) 5" squares
Sixteen (16) 4-1/2" squares

From Medium/Dark Fabrics:

Eight (8) 5" squares
Forty-Eight (48) 2-1/2" squares

PIECING DIRECTIONS:

On the back of each of the eight 5" neutral squares, draw a diagonal line. Pair up a neutral square with a colored square, "right" sides together. For each pair, sew a seam 1/4" on either side of the center drawn line.


Cut on the line and press open. You'll end up with 16 half square triangles. Trim each of the 16 blocks to measure 4-1/2". Set aside.

Using 16 of the 2-1/2" colored squares, make four 4-patch center blocks. Set aside.


You should have left 16 4-1/2" neutral squares and 32 2-1/2" colored squares. Place a colored square on the corner of a neutral square and sew on the diagonal like this:


Trim under layer(s) and press up. Repeat with the "neighboring" corner (see picture below). Again, trim and press up into place. Now it should look like this (except less blurry! LOL!):


You now have all the "parts" that form the blocks. I find it helpful to place the pieces on my design wall in their correct positions and work from the wall to sew them all together.


When you've sewn your pieces together, your unfinished blocks will measure 12-1/2". Now you've finished the first part!


To be continued . . . .

17 comments:

Teresa said...

I am so inspired by both your chicken and your star quilts. Thanks for the tutorial. I think either of these would be fun to put together on a cold winter weekend - well at least start one, I doubt I could finish either in one weekend.

Anonymous said...

Absolutely beautiful!

- Wendy in Iowa

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the great tutorial...looking forward to the next half. Another fantastic quilt!
Nancy in WI

MichelleB said...

Very nice! Thanks.

Joy said...

I love it! Thanks for posting the great tutorial! I have added this one to my Must Make List!! :)

Shelina (formerly known as Shasta) said...

This is another beautiful quilt, and there you are again tempting me away from my UFOs! I hadn't realized when I first saw the whole quilt that you used the same sashing as the pumpkins.

Nan said...

Wonderful tutorial! I love the looks of this quilt! Thanks, Kim, for sharing it with us!

Judy said...

These are lovely and so simple!

Now please tell me about those 2 pieces of masking tape lined up on your machine bed...is that some fabulous trick I need to know about to guide fabric?

WIPPYSPLACE said...

OH BOY!!! another scrappy quilt for me to try--I just love stars!
This is terrific, KIM and KAIRLE
*~*CAROLE*~*

julia said...

Hi Kim,
thanks or this great tutorial - I'll remember it as soon I've time to use all the scraps that are accumulating in my stash ;o)
The quilt is beautiful!
Hugs, Julia

quiltmom anna said...

I love the tutorial Kim- thanks for sharing.
Yesterday I was shopping and found this great chicken fabric and thought of you and your quilt. I purchased it and sent for the book from the Buggy barn - see all the ways you are contributing to supporting the economy. VBG
I posted a link to your blog today from mine.
You can find it here:
http://quiltmomsjourney.blogspot.com/

Regards,
Anna

meggie said...

What a fabulous quilt! Thanks for the instructions.

Anonymous said...

Another very nice scrappy quilt! Sleep already will ya?! Hey...where is Kairle? I've been watching her blog and poof gone!

Anonymous said...

Love this quilt! I'll be making one of my own soon -- just as soon as I finish up a couple UFO's, that is. Thought I should point out, though, that in your cutting instructions you list 4-1/4 inch squares instead of 4-1/2. Later in your instructions you reference the 4-1/2 inch size, but if someone's already cut their fabric it's too late.

Donna D., Hemet, CA

Molly Mandeville Fryer said...

Kim--I love scrappy and stars. You have inspired me to get in there and sew up some blocks with scraps I have been saving and organizing. Great Blog! When I post a picture on my blog I will link to yours
www.sewhappy10000.blogspot.com

Mel said...

I'm so glad I found this!! I love the scrappiness and your colors!!
Thanks so much for sharing!!

Betty J in OKC said...

Is there a way you can create a PDF of your patterns? I love this one, but need to conserve paper/ink. Thanks for letting me know.