A Flock of Feathered Stars - Month 3

I came home from work and decided that I needed to finish the 3rd month of "A Flock of Feather Stars" block.  I just love paper piecing!  Here is the block for this month and it is called "Feathered Edge Star."

 

Working on "Threads of Time"

Last month was the end of the Block of the Month (BOM), "Threads of Time."  I made all of the 36 blocks but only 35 of them are needed to complete the quilt.  I did all of the flying geese that the pattern wanted us to make and that was quite a few....over 300 of them!  

The pattern suggests that we sew all of the flying geese in column 1 together.  That is 40 flying geese!  Next we are told to sew the second column and sew it to the first!  Well....I am easily frustrated by trying to match points.  Instead of doing that I decided to go with another plan.  

Each 8" block has a four flying geese to the left and four flying geese at the bottom with the exception of the last row.  The last column of 8" blocks has a row of flying geese to the right also.

What I decided to do was the following:

Sew four flying geese together and sew it to the left side of each 8" block.  

I sewed on the six flying geese:  two that are sewn in the same direction as the first column and four pointing to the right.






I had to do this to 30 of the 8" blocks and the bottom row only had the four blocks to the left, no flying geese to the bottom of the blocks.  I had to sew 6 flying geese to the right sides of the 8" blocks of the last column.

I laid the blocks out this past weekend.  I selected which blocks I wanted in each row.  I stacked the blocks by row (see photo to the right).  It took me so long to sew the flying geese on that I need a bit of a break from matching all of those points!

On the bottom of each stacked row, I placed the last block with the flying geese to the right.  You can see them hanging out.  

I plan on sewing the first block of row 1 to the first block of row 2.  The second block of row 1 to the second block of row 2.  The third block of row 1 to the second block of row 2.  This will continue until I have just a few blocks to sew together.  

I haven't even started the outer blocks yet!  I will post a photo of the blocks when I get back to the quilt. 

Rapid Fire Hunter's Star by Deb Tucker of Studio 180 Design

I know that I was supposed to start working on my BOM kits but I had a wonderful distraction, the Rapid Fire Hunter's Star by Deb Tucker of Studio 180 Design!  I spent the last two days watching the DVD, deciding what size of project that I needed to sew, determining how much fabric that I will need and running to my local fabric store, Fabric Garden to purchase the fabrics.  So EXCITING!  

I had been introduced (at Fabric Garden) to one of my most favorite rulers that Deb Tucker makes, the Wing Clipper.  It is the most extraordinary ruler that makes every flying goose/geese PERFECTLY!  I met Deb Tucker at PIQF (Pacific International Quilt Festival) three years ago in Santa Clara.  I realized that she had other EXTRAORDINARY rulers to make your sewing so much easier.  I always buy locally at the Sacramento area quilt shops first before I purchase from an online store.  I am embarrassed to say that I started buying Deb's rulers at Fabric Garden even though I haven't used them but I have every intention of doing so.

I purchased the Rapid Fire Hunter's Star (petite star) ruler years ago but I decided to purchase the "Field Guide" last year at PIQF.  It is full of layouts for quilts and yardage that you need for each project.  It's an amazing guide.  By the way, her videos are amazing too!  Check out her website:  www.studio180design.net

I love red, white and blue quilts so these are the fabrics I selected.


It was an absolute delight to sew this quilt!  I put the whole 4 x 4 blocks quickly.  Of course, I did not include the time that I watched the DVD which I just purchased a couple of weeks ago from the website. I admit that I am a student and love to explore and read anything new that I am interested in trying. 

 

 

I came up with this....so fun and enjoyable to sew!  As I said before, this is the 4 x 4 block layout of the 6" Block.  It is 36" x 36" finished.  I was so surprised by the ease of sewing this together!  I thought that I would be ripping out seams at the corners of the stars for hours!  NOT!  I must say that I did not watch the entire DVD especially the end!  Deb has remedies for correcting errors in other words:  troubleshooting.  I did not watch those until just now.  I could kick myself because I do have some errors which I could have avoided if I watched it all the way through.

Thanks Deb and Studio 180 Design for another fabulous technique and ruler!

Arcadia Avenue BOM - Block 1 - DONE

I am finally done with block 1!  I should've been done yesterday but I had to work and I was feeling tired so I took a break....a half day break!  

I wanted to be sure that I sewed the two halves together as well as I could.  I finished half of block.  I don't want to go back to fix the center as I have to do on block 3.

The pinning for me is the most difficult.  I usually squeal with pain each time I touch the block because I pierce my skin many, many times during this process.

I am thinking that I am falling behind my other BOM's so I will put the fabric and book away to try to catch up, a common theme in my quilting/sewing life.

More Arcadia Avenue Blocks

I finally had enough left over fabric from blocks 2 and 3 to make block 1.  I made in error while I was cutting the fabric for the first block and I decided to go on to the other blocks and just wait to see if there would eventually be enough left over fabric to make it.  This block is called "Fly Away."

Here are the foundation paper pieces, one left and one right.  I have them upside down so you can see that there is a Block 1 - Foundation A & B.

I finished the Foundation B pieces first.  Pieces A & B are sew together and then sewn to the other pieces.

I finished sewing these pieces last night but I will have to wait to sew them all together for later. I just laid them out to decide where I was going to place them.  I see two pieces that I will have to change their location in this block.  I have to go to work so I will post a photograph of the finished block tomorrow.

Arcadia Avenue BOM - Block 3

I finished block 3 last night.  The name of this block is "Northern Lights."  It is another fun block to piece but I could not get the center to lay flat.  I have been working on this block for two days and can't get it right but I am tired of working on it so I will put it away for now and get back to it later to "re-work" the center.

 A friend asked how this block was sewn together.  There are six foundation pieces that are the right side of the smaller block (shown at the right already sewn) and there are six smaller components that are not sewn and comprise the left side of the smaller block (the foundation paper is shown here).  A left and right piece of the smaller block is sewn together and those six smaller components are sewn together to make one large 21" block.

Again, a fun block to piece but it is tedious work even if you like foundation paper piecing.

Arcadia Avenue by Sassafras Lane Designs

Almost six months ago, while my husband was at a meeting in Anaheim (California) and I was in our hotel room, I started to look over a catalog from Keepsake Quilting.  I spied the Arcadia Avenue - A Block of the Month Quilt Pattern and was so intrigued.  So I ordered the BOM and it has arrived every month for the last six months.  I didn't have time to sew the blocks so I put them away in a plastic bin waiting for the day that I could pull them out and start them.  I really don't have the time but I decided that I would try at least one block.  Since I love paper-piecing so much with the Flock of Feathered Stars, I thought this would be just as enjoyable.  It is so much FUN too!

It consists of 12 separate sections to make one large block approximately 21 inches from opposite points.  I used vellum paper to print the patterns.  I like it because it tears easier and feels smoother than the newsprint.  The drawback to using vellum is that it is more expensive than the newsprint.  This is block #2, called "Peacock Feathers.  I made an error in cutting block #1 that I decided to go to block #2.  I hope to have a bit of left over from each month to finish block #1.