Red, White & Blue Blog Hop Block - The Five Pointed Star

Happy July 1st! Today is the kickoff day for the Red, White & Blue Blog Hop for Sew We Quilt, created by the lovely Madame Samm and organized by the charming Jane of Jane's Fabrics and Quilts.  I drafted a five pointed star paper pieced block to share with you.

When I think red, white and blue I think patriotic and I wanted to create a block that I could use to echo our national flag.  A five pointed star seemed just the thing, with blues in the upper left quadrant like our flag and reds everywhere else.  Add some white to fill in the blanks and voila!  This star can be just as fun in any color combination, or in a scrappy single color version. 

This is a 10.5 inch paper pieced block, and you can download the templates here.  **** This file has been updated with some helpful hints on planning fabric placement.

There are 5 pages, with instructions.   If you are new to paper piecing, I recommend you read this tutorial by Faith at Fresh Lemons and then go watch this video by The Crafty Gemini.  Whether you learn by reading or by visuals, both are excellent and will help you understand the process.

The general instructions the 5 Point Star are as follows:  Print all five pages and cut them out, adding a 1/4" seam allowance.

Starting with Section A, sew on the line between 1 & 2, then the line between 2 & 3, and then the line between 3 & 4.  Do this for each of the five sections.  Section B is printed horizontally on the page, but once you have that leg of the star cut out, you'll see how it fits.  Section B is the topmost point of this star.  Once all five sections are ready, peel off that paper.  Its fun!

The star is built in a clockwise direction.  As you sew each of the five sections together, press the seams all in the same direction, always to the right or always to the left.  This will make the center points fit together more smoothly.  Sew Section A to Section B (creating AB), then AB to Section C, then ABC to Section D, then finally ABCD to Section E.  The last seam is the trickiest, but you can do it! 

Here is one all finished with extra sashing and all bound up to be used as a wall hanging or a small table topper. I might even hang it outside on my gate for July 4th, although then lizards would get on it and that would be gross.  There are alot of lizards here in Florida.

A great big hug and a huge thank you to both Madame Samm and to Jane for allowing me to join the fun of the Red, White & Blue Blog Hop.  Love you both ladies! 

I really enjoying creating this block and I hope you like it too!  Hop on over to the other blogs in the blog hop today and see what's cooking!
Mary on Lake Pulaski
Vrooman's Quilts
piece peace
The Cuddle Quilter
Marcia's Crafty Sewing and Quilting

Paper Piecing a Birdhouse Block

Do you have more than one project in the works at a time?  There are several crafts that I enjoy so between sewing and embroidery, knitting, sometimes scrapbooking, and other DIY decor things a girl can stay pretty busy.  I bounce around from craft to craft, and sometimes project to project in the same craft.  After my first encounter with paper piecing the Lone Starburst blocks for my do Good Stitches circle, thoughts of paper piecing have been simmering inside my head while I sew other things.  My thoughts finally landed and I created this birdhouse block.

Those photos were both posted on Instagram - you can follow me there as HotPinkPeonies!

Anywho, I wanted to do something fairly simple, but garden themed.  Since I love birds, I thought a bird house with a little birdie was in order.  A charm pack of Fresh Flowers by Deb Strain for Moda makes for a colorful garden-y pillow, don't you think? 

This was tons of fun, and didn't take too long once I decided what fabrics to use for the block.  Its a 6.5 inch block unfinished so with a little sashing here and a little blue bird there, it makes a cute pillow cover.  I added a strip of leftover squares to the back too for a cheerful pop of color.

There are alot of great tutorials on paper piecing on the internet, and I am by no means an expert yet so I suggest you read this tutorial by Faith of Fresh Lemons, and maybe watch this video by The Crafty Gemini.  I'd been directed to that YouTube video a couple times by fellow quilters and I think she does a great job of explaining things and showing the process.

Click here to download the 6.5 inch unfinished Birdhouse Block.  When you go to print the block, be sure to change Page Scaling to 'None', or it will print in a reduced size.  This is my first time including a pdf link, so please let me know if you have any problems, or any advice on downloads!




I'm linking up!

Finally a pattern to publish!

I finished the Detroit Lions dishcloth a long time ago and wrote up the pattern some time after that.  Its the age-old story of modern life - time moves on, computers crash, data is retrieved, yada yada yada.  Anyway, this is my first pattern and my first time trying to add a pdf to the blog so its a big adventure all around!  The photo is dreadful, I'll admit it, but the cloth is now happily in use in another home so I can't improve the picture without knitting it again.  One of these days ....

Detroit Lions NFL Mascot Dishcloth