LUCKY STARS PROGRESS

 A few months back I mentioned a new handwork project: LUCKY STARS. I was inspired by my friend Jackie Kunkel of Tuscon AZ as she showed all the great stars she was preparing: 

Jackie Kunkel photo

The Pattern from KUSTOM KWILTS
www.kustomkwilter.com

Read that first post for much more information: HERE

Getting fabric from my 12 Sunday Sew and Sew friends is a fun and easy way to gather a wide variety of fabrics each month. There is an assigned color each month and we each bring one light and one dark 3.5" square of that color for each person. These are very easy to cut from fat quarters. 

We "deal" them out as people arrive and everyone goes home with 12 light and 12 dark squares of the color. Here is the first month's table with the color Orange:

I thought I was going to LOVE this project. It's been a bit of a struggle. The pattern is great, the instructions are fine, I LOVE the design BUT...  I really don't know why I feel this way. 

I  LOVE making the 15 wedge ring by English Paper Piecing (EPP)--that is fun and simple handwork:

Joining the center star with black background to the outer wedge ring I find a bit more challenging:

So far I have made these 3, using different techniques each time:

I left the cardstock papers in before the machine applique--BIG mistake, it was a challenge to remove them after the applique

The "papers" were printed on Print n Piece Fuse Lite, easy enough and they stay in but they don't provide much of an edge for the EPP

Hybrid method, some hand, some machine applique and I took out the card stock wedges first--much better. 

I decided to machine applique the completed star to the black background, so much faster hand applique, and I am satisfied with that.

It is lucky that I have smart friends. One of them, Cyndi R., would rather Foundation Paper Piece (FPP) by machine than hand piece by the English Paper Piecing method (EPP). She worked with Electric Quilt (EQ8) to create a few star/centers that are the right size and shared those patterns with us.

Here are a few of Cyndi's blocks:

I printed her Split Star pattern on Freezer Paper and used it for my Blue/Aqua one:

For this one, I hand appliqued the outer Wedge Ring to the pieced Star, leaving the extra black background to be trimmed away after the applique was done.  I carefully removed the card stock papers from the Wedge Ring before the applique.  

After trimming the excess black background from behind the Wedge Ring, I machine appliqued the completed Star with Wedge Ring to a pieced black background square. Then I cut away the extra back background behind the Wedge Ring/Star.  I was happiest with this plan. 

A few of the Sunday Sew and Sews took a local class on how to make this entirely by machine, gluing all the pieces together then machine appliquing each seam. That is an interesting technique BUT this was supposed to be my ongoing HAND project so I am not interested in that method. 

So, for now, I will keep making Stars by Foundation Paper Piecing, using FREEZER PAPER as the foundation, then doing BOTH hand and machine applique to complete the block. 

If you want to know more about Foundation Paper Piecing with Freezer Paper, see my TUTORIAL HERE.

Susan C. said "I was DREADING this project BUT I LOVE this block and English Paper Piecing!" I am thrilled she is loving it. Look at her progress:

A few of our group haven't started yet so time will tell how many of us make a complete quilt. I can always use more placemats...

Let's quilt.

Barbara

A LOOK BACK

 Not a lot new to show you so let's take a look back.

This blog began December 31, 2011, mostly as an "online diary" of my quilting Journey. Here is the first post:

Out With the Old, In with the New

Today the studio has a different configuration but it's still my Happy Place.

Ten years ago I had been "on the road" teaching all over the country for 2 years. And I started "teaching" on the blog too. There are many tutorials--find them under the TUTORIALS tab at the top. 

In July 2016, so 10 years ago, I wrote this one:

PIECE YOUR QUILTS LIKE A PRO

It is lengthy with lots of photos and emphasizes a lot of tips for improving your piecing. As an added bonus it shows how to correctly replace an Olfa rotary cutting blade. In my classes I often fix a student's rotary cutter--they are often reassembled incorrectly:

I also explained the fastest way to get diagonal lines drawn on a lot of squares, a method I still use frequently. And I still teach this to most every class. It's a  "worth the price of admission" TIP:

Five years later, 2021, I am still going strong with a weekly blog post. This one features RED WHITE AND BLUE QUILTS:

Some are simple, some more complex. The pattern SAIL ON was in a magazine Easy Quilts Spring 2019. The larger one shown here was presented to a friend as a QUILT OF VALOR. Read about that ceremony here:

QUILTS OF VALOR AWARD CEREMONY

And if you are only going to look at ONE of my blog posts, go to THIS ONE: 

MY FAVORITE BLOG POSTS

It is my TOP TEN favorite posts I have written and certainly touches on the most important aspects of my JOYFUL JOURNEY as a quilter.  You will know more about who I am from these than any thing I could tell you directly. The list includes tributes to two special quilter friends you should know. And lessons I learned from a humble old quilt.

Now I have to get back to two big projects so I have more to show you.

Let's quilt.

Barbara

AN "INTERESTING" TRIP

Recently I flew to Denver to meet with Colorado Quilting Council, a statewide guild that meets in person and on Zoom. Overall, it was a great trip and the people were wonderful. BUT, a few funny things happened that will make this trip memorable.

I start out in Huntsville Alabama and almost always make a connection in Atlanta. This doesn't bother me at all, that's just what travel looks like for me. I know my way around ATL, rarely use the underground train, I walk between the various terminals. It's all good. Both my flights were fine--the ATL to Denver flight was about an hour late leaving so I arrived an hour late. 

The day before I made sure the person picking me up had the flight info so she could keep an eye on the flight. Do you know the easiest way to do this is to text the flight numbers to yourself--DL1708 and DL530 for this day. That creates a link to PREVIEW FLIGHT which will show in real time when the flight left, when it is expected to arrive, which baggage claim it will use, etc. Very easy to keep up with flights that often have changes the day of travel.

Sue met me at Baggage claim where she already had my big purple suitcase as we had exchanged photos so we each knew who we were looking for. Now we were off to find her car.

She parked in 3N--you can't there from here or almost anywhere at the Denver airport. Most elevators said 3 was not accessible from that elevator so off we went to find another elevator. Airport construction is always ongoing and what worked a month ago may not work at all today.

After 45 minutes of twists, turns, wrong floors, wrong parking areas, we asked the nice young man at the INFORMATION booth--it was his FIRST DAY and he didn't know. BUT he did have a map and I found the very small print that showed how to get to 3N--it wasn't easy. But we got there and eventually were ready to head south for the drive of a little less than an hour to the hotel. 

The Residence Inn by Marriott at Highlands Ranch is the hotel this guild uses. Rooms are large with a full kitchen: refrigerator, cooktop, microwave, dishes, silverware, and a table with chairs as well as a large desk and couch. It was clean and my room was in the building nearest to the Lobby/Breakfast area--that's good, there are several buildings. You want a ground floor room as there are no elevators--hauling my 50 pound suitcase up and down stairs would not be fun.

After we saw my room was fine, I had Sue drop me off up the street at the Lazy Dog restaurant so I could pick up dinner to go. I took it back to the hotel and was a bit disappointed that my "medium" burger was exceptionally well done. My husband would have loved it. It was tasty... 

The next day I had an excellent breakfast--lots to choose from. I could eat wisely and the banana and yogurt would be for later. There might have been a bagel too...The staff person did an excellent job keeping things refilled. I made a point to tell her what a great job she was doing:

Ready for the day:

Sue picked me up right on time to go to the meeting at a lovely Lutheran church. I like to arrive an hour early so the technical side gets all set. The church audio/visual system is used, my PowerPoint is on a thumb drive and that always works. 

EXCEPT something had changed with the system, the church contact person was on vacation and the guild person did all she could to make it work. To no avail. Those watching at home on ZOOM were able to see the entire meeting, including my PowerPoint. The 125 + people in attendance could not see anything on the screens. 

I was told about this just prior to the meeting beginning at 10 am. During the meeting I had time to consider how I would present the Lecture: A QUILTER'S LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT aka Your Kids Don't Want Your Stuff, to the audience without the slides that illustrate the various points.  I used my Ipad so I could see the presentation and just gave all the information as usual. 

The president reminded the audience they could watch on ZOOM on their phones as the guild tech person feverishly tried to get things working--unsuccessfully. I gave the guild permission to upload my PowerPoint to their Members Only, Password Protected website--they were given 48 hours of access. This is a big deal--I do not let my "intellectual property" be saved, recorded or shown in any other way. Most teachers I know do the same. We are paid for one presentation of the lecture. 

Before my presentation there was Show and Tell--my favorite part of most meetings. They did something interesting--after the person told about the quilt she brought to share, it was draped over chairs so it could be seen after the meeting up close, for those who wanted a better look:

The guild had an "opportunity quilt" on display and it was lovely. It will go to a lucky winner in December. It was pieced and assembled by Carol Cook and others from the guild. Celeste Grande did the beautiful quilting. Celeste tells me it's a Judy Martin pattern:

Photos of the quilting I took--simple but lovely: 

All in all, the day went well. Those at home saw the Lecture as usual. Those in the audience appreciated the chance to go home and watch it again on their computer. 

Dawn, Sue's partner in programs/workshops took me to Chicken Salad Chick for lunch where we met up with about a dozen guild members. Several told me they watched on Zoom on their phone, the rest were going home to see the slides on their computer. Everyone was sympathetic and understanding about the "technical difficulty".  We all did the best we could and it worked out. 

Since I was on my own for dinner and Lazy Dog was not my favorite, I got smart and ordered a different Chicken Salad Chick meal to go for dinner. That worked out fine. I had a quiet afternoon in my room, talked to my husband for a while, handled email and business stuff, etc. My plan to swim that afternoon went by the wayside when I realized I didn't want to be out there in the 96 degree heat, at a mile  up in elevation--no sunburn for me. 

On these trips I often don't sleep well. Different bed, different sounds, etc. But I was sound asleep at 2 am Sunday morning when the fire alarm went off. I jumped up, put on clothes I could wear in public, called the front desk  which took a while to get answered. The fellow knew about the alarm and said the fire department had to put it out. I got back in bed, fully dressed, put a pillow over my head, and listened to the very loud alarm for 15 minutes. The good news: there was no fire and the alarm works.

There wasn't much sleep after that. But in the morning I had another great breakfast. While getting dressed for the workshop day I had a "wardrobe malfunction"--my new Taos Sandals broke--the velcro on one of them came un-stitched from the leather--not to be worn again. What else could possibly go wrong?! I talked to me husband early that day and he said "BE CAREFUL!" 

before the shoe broke

I love meeting people who know me from my blog, The Quilt Show, and from taking classes at other venues. They often want to show me their quilts from the Block of the Month or our classes. One of those in attendance saw on my blog the week before that I would be in her area that next weekend. Janet Miller joined the guild, signed both herself and her daughter up for the Sunday workshop and came to the Saturday meeting. She asked if I wanted to see her BOM quilts and, of course, I did. She brought them to the workshop Sunday:

Garden Party Down Under

Homeward Bound

Janet's turned edge machine applique is exquisite. She used Superior's MonoPoly thread for a small modified blind hem stitch. I dare you to tell it's not hand applique. She quilted these on her domestic sewing machine. I was thrilled to see such excellent work and all the other students got a special Show and Tell during lunch.

Class  went very well--Oh My Stars! has been a popular class for me. The 15 students did well, there were lots of "teachable moments" and it was a good day:

After class Sue took me to a Modern Market to get a Salmon Caesar salad--no more Lazy Dog or chicken salad this trip. I took it back to the hotel, Sue and I said our goodbyes, and a quiet night was ahead of me.

No fire alarm that night. Not a bad night's sleep. I was up at 5:15, packed and at breakfast at 6 am. Jeanette, my ride back to the Denver airport, was right on time and we headed north. We had allowed ample time for the trip since it was a Monday morning but we made it in less than 45 minutes. Within 30 minutes of saying goodbye to her, I had checked in, gone through TSA and gotten to my gate, A two hour wait doesn't bother me, I have plenty to read and I'd rather be safely at the airport. 

The flight to ATL was perfect. The flight to HSV was delayed about 15 minutes because the inbound plan was late. But I was going HOME and my husband was eager to get me back, safe and sound. The next day he fixed my shoe with some powerful glue--he is a very handy man!

I have been making these kind of trips for 12 years, 8-12 times a year. There have been very few issues on all those trips. Only once did I get stuck overnight, for TWO nights, in Dallas due to weather. There are a lot worse problems than spending two nights at an Embassy Suites. 

With all that travel I have been lucky.  I am cutting back on travel in the future. Big shows, Empty Spools Seminars, and teaching locally, that is where you'll find me. It's time to spend a little more time at home. 

Next up is the Fall Retreat in Livermore CA September 29-October 4, 2026. There are a few spots left--see the  FLYER HERE.  I will be teaching Oh My Stars! and The Village. 

Let's quilt.

Barbara

GAME ON! MONTH 7

Game On! is the 2026 Block of the Month quilt designed by Becky Goldsmith exclusively for THE QUILT SHOW: find Game On! information here. Join as a Star Member to get all the patterns and all the videos FREE. Membership is just $49/year and provides access to almost 20 years of shows and tremendous additional content. Join HERE

This month we add the fourth 3" border, the one at the bottom of the center. This is another one of those "good to know" borders, easy to make and interesting to use. Arranging colors makes the border flow.

The units are easy to paper piece. Simply start by figuring out your colors and keep the fabrics organized. 

Becky has a great tip to make it easier to get intersections to match well. After removing the paper, repress the seam allowances of EVERY OTHER BLOCK in the opposite direction they were pressed when paper piecing:

Now the seams at top and bottom will "nest" 

The intersections will be just where you want them with little bulk:

Be sure the 3" borders measure 36.5" long. I "measure as I go". Each pair needs to measure 6.5" wide. Two pairs sewn together will be 12.5" wide. There are six pairs--I check them all after joining them to each other. Finding the mistake as soon as I make it and fixing it then makes it much more likely the border will be 36.5" wide when complete. 

If the border is longer than 36.5",  measure each unit/pair to find the ones that are too wide and snug up that seam allowance. The FIRST PAIR will measure 6.25" when sewn to the next PAIR, allowing for the outside SEAM ALLOWANCE:

The pairs already sewn to other pairs need to be 6". It is very EASY for borders to GROW just a little with each seam. It is best for me to check each unit/pair as I create the border.

Next we make the four SMALL CORNER BLOCKS that will are used as you add the four 3" borders to the center. Becky shows two LOG CABIN options: a Log Cabin with a CORNER square and a Log Cabin with a CENTER square. 

You can use ANY 3" unit you like. I used Nine Patches for mine:

Here are some alternative ideas:

Once your borders are the right size follow the pattern instructions to add a Log Cabin or your choice of block to the LEFT and RIGHT sides of the TOP and BOTTOM borders to complete the center. 

Finally, carefully cut the narrow BROWN SASHING strips to the EXACT size of the center and add them. Good job! The MIDDLE is getting DONE!

The final 6" CORNER BLOCK also gets made this month. I had a little trouble with my first one. I sewed the wrong sections together:

I should have taken my own advice: WATCH THE VIDEOS, READ THE PATTERN! 

The second time was better. And I didn't trim the outside edges of the papers until the star was assembled. This allowed me to be sure my star was 6.5" and I had a 1/4" beyond each star point:

Another thing I tried to do was keep straight of grain on the outside edge of each section. This meant I usually placed the white fabric on the paper first, then added the blue star point:

Whenever I sew seams with ODD ANGLES or more than FOUR FABRICS coming together, I machine BASTE the seam first. It is much easier to remove basting threads and readjust if I need to:

Machine basting, long stitch set at 5.0

Check to see if you are happy with the intersections. If so, set the machine back to normal piecing length, 2.0 for me, and now sew the complete seam. Here I like this basting so I will complete the seam:

This is a good FIVE POINT STAR and a block I like. Paper piecing it works well for me. I use Freezer Paper so I can use the pattern multiple times. 

Next month we get started on the wider 6" Borders. This will be regular piecing--NO PAPERS TO PRINT!

Let's quilt.

Barbara

TAKE CLASSES WITH ME!

 Here is a quick look at where I will be teaching through the end of this year.

June 27, 2026--Lecture "A QUILTER'S LAST WILL AND TESTMENT--AKA YOUR KIDS DON'T WANT YOUR STUFF" Things we should be doing now to help our family when the inevitable happens

Colorado Quilting Council General Meeting, 10 am, St Phillip Lutheran Church, Littleton, CO

June 28, 2026--Workshop OH MY STARS! 9-4, Above and Beyond Sewing and Vacuum, Littleton CO 

See the guild website here: Colorado Quilting Council

OH MY STARS

September 29-October 4, 2026--FALL RETREATERS, Hilton Garden Inn, Livermore, CA

Early sew days are September 29-30, Classes October 1-2. 

I am teaching OH MY STARS October 1 and THE VILLAGE October 2. During the two Early Sew days I will be working on the 2027 Block of the Month FLIGHT OF THE BUMBLEBEE--see some of the amazing things you will learn in 2027. 

The Village

Alex Anderson will be a special attendee!

Contact Debbie Stephens by phone or email NOW to register:

October 20-21, 2026--Loose Threads Quilters, Spring City, PA. Tuesday October 20 is a full day workshop, still waiting to see which great class they pick. 

Wednesday October 21, Lecture "TIME MANAGEMENT FOR QUILTERS", 9:30 am.  First United Church of Christ, 145 Chestnut Street, Spring City, PA 19475

See the guild website here: Loose Threads Quilters

November 11-14, 2026  International Quilt Festival Houston. 

Wednesday November 11: Class OH MY STARS, 9-5:

Enrollment will open in mid-July: Quilt Festival Houston

LECTURES: 

Thursday November 12: HOW TO MAKE A WINNING QUILT, 11:30 am

 Friday November 13: TIME MANAGEMENT FOR QUILTERS, 4:30 pm

You can pay at the door for Lectures, no pre-enrollment required.

In 2027 there will be big changes: I am cutting back on travel. The plan is to teach at special events like EMPTY SPOOLS SEMINARS. Registration opened June 20, 2026 for the 2027 Sessions.

My class FULL CIRCLE filled quickly a few years ago when I taught it there. Don't miss what is likely to be your last opportunity to join me for this class.

FEBRUARY 28-MARCH 5, 2027:

Shows like HOUSTON, PADUCAH, and others like that are where I hope to concentrate my teaching time. And another few CRUISES are in the works. 

In 2027 I will be teaching/assisting Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson with the 2027 BOM: FLIGHT OF THE BUMBLEBEE. I am learning things as I make this quilt and you will too. It starts in January 2027; look for TIPS and HOW TO GET READY in November. THE QUILT SHOW with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims

The BIG NEWS is my JOYFUL JOURNEY RETREAT, #7, is back. MARCH 31-APRIL 4, 2027,  Red Rooster Retreat Center,  Crane Hill, AL. Not just a free sew retreat, this EVENT aims to build friendships, offer TEACHABLE MOMENTS, and make it worth your time to participate. Contact me directly for more information--or to be added to the waitlist--we are almost full. bbquiltmaker AT gmail--you know the rest. 

Locally, I hope to offer more classes here so I can sleep in my own bed and have more time to make my BUCKET LIST quilts.

I love teaching and hope to continue to share my knowledge with you.

Let's quilt.

Barbara