Teaching the Feathered Star Block

I recently spent the day with 5 enthusiastic students, who were eager to learn the Feathered Star--not paper pieced. We used Marsha McCloskey's wonderful book, Marsha McCloskey's Feathered Star Quilt Blocks 1. Marsha believes in truth-in-advertising--the book is sub-titled:

REALLY HARD BLOCKS THAT TAKE A LONG TIME TO MAKE.

The students could choose whether they wanted to make a 12" or a 15" block and they all went with the 15". For good reason: the pieces are easier to cut for that size.

We worked from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and each student got a row together. All the rest of their pieces are cut out and they now know the process to complete the block. They did great:

Mary used a reproduction-style palette

Brenda knows black looks great with brights

Loretta had a quilt started with these soft fabrics so added this block 

Susan used brights with white

JoAnne is making hers red, white and blue, very striking

They learned a lot, like these are really hard blocks that take a long time to make and they all seemed to be tired at the end of class. Hopefully, they'll finish their Feathered Stars and use them in a great quilt project.

Let's quilt!

Barbara

Back At It

The 15" feathered star block I prepped for demonstrations in my recent two-day Feathered Star--Perfect Paper Piecing Workshop, is now a finished block:

I figure it took me about 6 hours to complete, from fabric selection to final seam.  That's why Marsha McCloskey calls feathered star blocks "Really Hard Blocks that Take a Long Time to Make"--that's truth in advertising.

This block is one of 16 I need for my Diamond Jubilee quilt, to celebrate my 60th birthday--which occurred 2 years ago.  Better get crackin'!  It is the fourth one done, and goes with these:

The gold one is hanging at the quilt shop as a sample so I don't have a photo of it completed, but it is.  Only 12 more to go.

I also caught up on Circa 2016..  We must be getting close to the end of this project:

All these little blocks will surround this middle:

And then there is Stella's Splendid Sampler, 61 of 100 blocks done.  So glad I am assembling this one as I go:

Today I will do some free-motion machine quilting as my regular machine has gone in for her annual cleaning.  Take care of your machine and it will take care of you.  I clean out any lint in the bobbin area and under the throat plate each time I change a bobbin.  And I add the recommended drop of oil each time I change two bobbins--to keep that straight, I simply wind 2 bobbins each time they are both empty so it is easy to tell if this is one bobbin or two.  If you don't know what kind of maintenance you should do on your machine, just Google it--there are videos for most every machine.  Preventative maintenance is very important too.

I'm off to Mississippi for a few days, for a guild show.  I look forward to seeing some familiar faces and meeting new friends.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

Post-Houston Busy-Ness and Semper Fi!

First, today is the 240th Birthday of the United States Marine Corps.  I am a proud USMC veteran and send out a loud Semper Fi! to all my fellow Marines, past and present.  Those were the best four years of my life.  Not that the other years haven't been great but there is nothing better than serving my country in uniform.

Being gone for 2 weeks to Houston means life is very busy when I return.  Bills, mail, newspapers, laundry, and lots of class samples to prepare.  Here are my Winter 2016 classes at Patches & Stitches, my local quilt shop:

Leaders/Enders--make Free Quilts!  I'll teach at least 5 easy units that become great quilts as you are making other projects.  Save time, thread, and use those scraps!

The Feathered Star block--a process class, not paper-pieced, using Marsha McCloskey's book.  A beautiful center for a wonderful quilt.

Color College:  Winter Semester Opposites Attract--using the terrific book on Color by Becky Goldsmith:  The Quilter's Practical Guide to Color. I've written about it here and here.  This is the second of four classes using this book.  My design varies a bit from Becky's--come to class to find out why...

Kisses and Hugs, the Japanese X and + quilt.  This is a great project with scraps.  I've taught it several times and everyone does very well with those tricky intersections. 

I also have 3 sessions of Quiltmaking 101 from January through April. I really love teaching beginners, and trying to get them enthused about the Quiltmaking process.  My goal is to addict one of them, each class, totally and completely to Quilting--that is how my passion and the industry can continue to grow.  And I'm always successful at that goal.

Next week I have the pleasure of going to a private retreat for a small group of quilt teachers.  I have lots of projects to take, several things I want to learn on the business side of the industry and plan to relax a bit too.  Did I mention it's at a beach?  Too cold to swim in the Atlantic Ocean this time of year so the indoor pool will have to do.  More on all that when I get back.

While I was in Houston, my grand-girl, Stella LeAnne Wilkins was baptized in Huntsville.  Here are a few photos from the event.  Can't wait to see her here at Christmas!

Stella with her Mama.  

My happy husband with his grand-girl!

Let's Quilt!

Barbara 

Feathered Star Class

Yesterday I taught a Feathered Star class at Patches & Stitches, my local quilt shop where I have taught for 25 years.  Here is the class sample:

It was a six hour process class, with the primary purpose of the class being to learn how to accurately sew a 15" Feathered Star block.  What the maker did with her block after class was entirely up to her.

Using Marsha McCloskey's great book, Feathered Star Quilt Blocks 1, subtitled "Really Hard Blocks That Take A Long Time To Make", we made the 15" Radiant Star on page 22.   The book has excellent directions and you should check out Marsha's website to see more of her work and patterns/books.  Marsha is the queen of Feathered Stars and a great teacher too.

As I tell all my students, in every class, there are only 3 things you can do wrong in making pieced quilt blocks:  the cutting, the sewing, and/or the pressing.  This block requires you to do your best work on all three of those.  Accuracy is important on this one.

One student, Tina, was making her first ever Feathered Star and she got into the process quickly. 

Making Feathers, the Bias-Strip Piecing Method

Assembling the units--she's getting there!

Two Thirds of the way there, at the end of class.  Great job!

Sarah took this class from me 3 years ago and has made 3 Feathered Stars since then but wasn't completely happy with her precision so she came back for a refresher on how to improve her work.  She used the fabrics and pieces she had made some time ago, and some of them needed trimming before she could get them together.  Back in business:


Christmas Star, on her way!
 

The third student, Joyce, had also taken the class 3 years before and completed her Feathered Star from that class.  But then life intervened and she put it away.  Now she was ready to actually make a wallhanging with her block.  She asked me if I would help her to complete the project in this class and I said "Sure".  She spent her time in class making pieced borders and learning how to figure out what size to make the floater borders that would allow her pieced borders to fit accurately. 



Cutting Half Square Triangles for the first pieced border

Ta-da!  First solid border cut and sewed on, AFTER the pieced border was made, so everything fits!

At the end of six hours, everyone was tired but happy--each person had gotten what she needed out of the class, and more importantly, was ready and eager to go home and finish this project! 

I found it fun and a little challenging to spend the day going to each student and providing what she needed at that particular moment.   Each was at a different step at any given time so that kept me on my toes.  As they sewed, I worked on my demo star--I'll show that soon--it's almost done. 

Teaching quilting is almost as much of a  passion for me as making quilts--I just LOVE to see the light bulb come on when a student figures out how to do something that had been a challenge.  And when they proudly send me a photo of their finished project:  priceless! 

If you're stuck or need to be inspired, find a great class and get back to it.  All I ask of students, mine or anyone else's, is to try the suggestion a teacher gives before you say "That doesn't work for me"--you won't know if you don't try it.   I try to provide more than one way to do something, saying "That's why there's Chocolate AND Vanilla"--no one method is perfect for everyone.  For example, in this class I showed 4 different ways to make those tiny 1" finished feathers.  After working with Marsha McCloskey last fall in Houston, I tried her bias-strip piecing method, again--I had tried it many years ago and not loved it.  This time I was taken with how well it worked for me now so I changed my preferred method.  Always be open to new, or not-so-new ideas.

Hope you are working on a quilt project that makes you happy.  Next up  for me is our bi-annual guild quilt show next weekend--sure to be a terrific event.  Quilts get turned in early this week, judging happens Wednesday and Thursday, and the show is Friday-Sunday. 

Let's quilt!

Barbara