Rainbow Starstrip Quilt

November's Imagine Circle@ Do.Good Stitches Bee quilt is all finished!!

I asked the lovely ladies if it was all right if this one time we could give to another good cause, an auction!  The luncheon is for Special People In Catholic Education (SPICE) and being a mother of two dyselexic sons, I can't thank them enough for saying yes!

I love this quilt so much and I KNOW I will do another in the future....maybe for our regular charity!!

Now to the quilt stuff.

The blocks are using the Starstrip Block Tutorial that I worked up.  Each bee member was assigned a color.

I asked them to use coordinating low volume centers for the "stars".

They pieced together easily since the blocks were a nice size.

When it came time to do a border I really debated. Just white or a lot of color. I think the postage stamp border was the best of both worlds!

I knew I needed a quilt pattern that meanders but was interesting just the same. I decided to try my hand at "ribbon" quilting.

Definitely fun!  I basically travelled a path one direction and the traveled closely back. Letting it get wide to thin and even crossing.

 

For the backing, a simple black and white crosshatch. Binding small black and white dots. 

Quilt stats

Measures: 60"x60"

Pattern: Starstrip blocks 

Fabric: scraps, scraps, scraps

Backing: crosshatch from Joann's.

Binding: dots from Whindam fabrics

Quilted: by myself on Avante 18" 

All set up for the auction!  With a quilt card to the winner so they know who worked so hard on it!

 I'm not sure of the final bid, but I know it was doing well when I checked on it midway through the luncheon!!  Thanks my dear do.goodstitches friends!!!

WIP: Charity Stitching

This week has been all about wrapping up some of my "unselfish" sewing.

Finishes:

 NEEDLEPOINT

Two needlepoint ornaments for my son's school auction.

The swan was finished just last night!

WEATHERVANE BLOCK

December's do.good stitches bee blocks were VERY late.  I just have been trying to gather myself after some unexpected news and trips.

Definitely gave me some trouble picking fabrics for some reason.  When I see "pink" in a stack, iI want to run in the opposite direction because my stash is sadly lacking.

They are a Weathervane block from  Don't Call Me Betsy.

 

SQUARE IN A SQUARE

Yes, it seems simple now, but I know that Toni has some tricks up her sleeves for January's do.good stitches quilt block.

She plans on slicing and dicing.  Can't wait to see the results with her gorgeous color pallette.

In Progress:

STARSTRIP QUILT

I finally recieved one of the stragglers for November's do.good stitches quilt.....the holidays were tough in our bee group this past season. Big moves.  Babies.  You name it!

I finally came to a conclusion for a border.  Rainbow colors, here we come.

But first, I need to stitch my Starstrip blocks together.  Can't get too ahead of myself!

 When I get this top pieced, I think I will get back to work on little Button's quilt.  He is patiently waiting, bless his little heart!

Starstrip Block {Tutorial}

It's my turn again for Imagine @ Do. Good Stitches Bee!

 This is large block based off of a jelly roll block, however, I've adapted it to use up some of those strips and leftover jelly rolls you have in your scrap stash!

However, if you don't have a stash that you can pull from, you can easily cut some strips off from any of your WOF pieces or fat quarter pieces!

STARSTRIP BLOCK TUTORIAL

FINISHED SIZE: 16.5"

Supplies:

Strips/jelly roll cuts at least 36" long. However, 18" long pieces would work also.

Center star fabric measuring 6.5" x 8"

Ruler with 30 degree measurement or Template A 

Template B (both downloadable templates HERE)

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Gather enough strips to stack up to 8.5 inches after piecing with 1/4" seam allowance.   

Stack and piece so that you have a rectangle that is at least 8.5" high by 36" 

or TWO rectangles measuring 8.5" by 18".  You can stack higher and trim the height back if you are one of those quilters that like a little breathing room.

 

Cut four 8.5 x 8.5 blocks from the rectangle (s).

Cut a 6.5" x 8" rectangle from low volume stash.  I chose one with dark and light blues in it.

 

Cut into four triangles that measure approx 3.75" wide and 6.5" high.

Using your ruler or triangle template A.

.pdf HERE

 Cut a 30 degree angle to create the first triangle, then 90 degree cut to cut the second. Another 30 degree cut for the third, and then a 90 degree to complete the set of 4. 

You will have a bit of strip leftover. 

Cut the bottom right block using the 30 degree ruler.  Line up the 30 degree mark along the bottom and have it cross at the 3.5" point from the bottom left.  

You can also use the template triangle B (.pdf here) as a guide.

Line up your low volume triangle along the cut edge. 

Be sure you have some overhang on both ends.

Piece and press and trim any excess so the block is 8.5" square.

Repeat three more times.  The corner will always be the right bottom.

Flip and arrange using the photo above to get the "star" in the middle.  

I think this will be a lot of fun! 

 I have a few mock ups of what this could potentially look like if you do ROYGBIV colors.

 

or use a ton of low volume and have the centers as colors! 

  Full scrappy could be a lot of fun too!

A LARGE block at 16.5" that can make up a full quilt pretty quickly!