Antique Rose Star Workshop

Recently, I had the pleasure of teaching the Antique Rose Star workshop to 7 students locally.  This is a wonderful old block that has found new converts in the Internet age and the resurgence of handwork:

Here are two blocks from my sample quilt.  Each is made from 72 kites, all the exact same size:

My quilt was made both by hand and by machine, what I call the "hybrid method", but it can be made completely by machine.  That was the focus of this workshop.

Using templates makes it easy to cut the "kite" shape. My template came from Australia--I've written about this process numerous times.  A hand-piecing workshop is featured here.  Now there is a template set by Marti Michell's Perfect Patchwork Templates that makes it easy to buy these templates.  It also includes a "crown" template that greatly increases the design options. These template sets come in two sizes, 2" and 3".  In addition, a Rose Star pattern by Marci Baker shows a very easy way to sew the "Y" seam by machine, without having to mark "dots" or stop 1/4" away from the edge:

The students quickly got to work cutting fabrics:

Michelle came to class with a Fabric Plan

Michelle's Option 2

Throughout the day, units were made, wedges were sewn, and then finally blocks appeared:

Michelle's Option 1

Mary M has the first half laid out

Mary E was thrilled to be sewing quilt blocks again and is eager to finish this

Susan worked in the 2" size and did a variation  with a Hexagon center and Crowns as well as Kites

Anna made a beautiful block, two halves here,  and was well on the way to a second block by the end of class

Mary M has two halves sewn

Judith made a beautiful block, two halves, and really enjoyed the process

Unfortunately, I missed getting photos of Charmaines' efforts--she was in the hand-piecing class almost 3 years ago and decided if this quilt was to get done, she would switch to machine piecing--she did a great job!

I'll be teaching this workshop again, later this year to a guild out-of-state.  It is fun to teach and see how quickly the students get units and ultimately, blocks made.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara