Star Sampler Block #1

Connie from Free Motion by the River kicks off our Star Sampler Blog Hop with a star-in-a-star design using three Venetian Glass prints on a background of white. The block is made from half-square triangles--nice and easy with great results! 

Connie: I was asked to make up a 12 inch finished star block and here is what I came up with. The beautiful fabrics used are Marblehead Venetian Glass by Ro Gregg for Fabri-Quilt. Fat quarters work perfectly for this!

Here is my star block and the cutting directions:

I like to stitch my HSTs (half square triangles) as shown. It is also a good idea to trim them and make sure they measure 2 1/2" inch square after you have stitched them.

The diagram shows where the pieces will go in the block.

Placement of the corner sections.

This shows you the way I sew the sections together and then the rows.

Completed block. I hope you enjoy this block!

Here it is again!

I can't wait to see the finished quilt after all the blocks have been shared!

Connie


For a chance to win one of 3 fat quarter bundles of Marblehead Venetian Glass, sign up to follow Inspired by Fabric (using the "follow" button or the "follow by email" button in the right hand side bar) and leave an email letting us know you did, as well as telling us which Venetian Glass print is your favorite (see them all here). You can leave a comment to enter once for each post during the Star Sampler hop (9 entries total). The giveaway will be open through Monday, March 17th at 11:59 EST, and we'll randomly pick 3 winners on Wednesday of that week. 

Make sure you catch the tutorials for all the blocks in the sampler!

     Star #2: Joanne

     Star #3: Fabri-Quilt blog team

     Star #4: Dawn from Spring Water Designs

     Star #5: Heidi from The Whimsical Workshop

     Star #6: Fabri-Quilt blog team

     Star #7: Shanna from Fiber of All Sorts

     Star #8: Tammy from Tamarinis
     Star #9: Monica from Diary of a Quilt Maven

2-1/2" Strip Tutorial!

Hello! My name is Connie Kresin Campbell and I blog at Freemotion by the River. I'm excited to share  a tutorial here at Inspired by Fabric using these beautiful Marblehead Pleasing Pastel fabrics.

I always enjoy taking my quilts outside if the weather and wind cooperate. I live right along the Mississippi River in Iowa and haven't lost a quilt yet.

I put the quilt up on a window before I quilted it and it looks like stained glass.

The block has quite a few pieces but is very easy to put together. I used my Tri Rec rulers, if you don't have them the AccuQuilt die Triangles in Square 2" will work, or you can download my templates here.

I used a bundle of 2-1/2" pre-cut strips plus some additional yardage of Marblehead Pleasing Pastels by Ro Gregg.

 

Fabric requirements for this 42" x 54" quilt:

Each block is 12-1/2" square unfinished

Quilt uses 12 blocks

• 1 jelly roll of Marblehead Pleasing Pastels
• 1-5/8 yd of #120-42924 Creme
• 1-1/4 yd of #120-42921 Pink
• 1-3/4 yd Backing piece, I used muslin
• Batting, I used Warm & Natural

You will use two 2-1/2" strips in colors of your choice to make your block. You can get 2 blocks out of these 2 strips if you use the cutting info below for one and then switch the colors for the next.
For example this block shows a pink center, cut all the pieces and then cut another, reversing the colors to a teal center. If you want more variety there are enough strips to make blocks by just choosing 2 colors.

For each block cut the following: I am going to use pink and teal as an example.

•  Pink - one 2-1/2" x 8-1/2"  and 6 - triangles
• Teal - two 2-1/2" x 4-1/2" and 4 - triangles
• Creme - four 2-1/2" squares, four 2-1/2" x 4-1/2", two 1-1/2" x 12-1/2" and 20 side triangles

Cut your triangles with the Tri-Rec tools at the 2 1/2 inch line or use my templates.

When you cut the side triangles, be sure and keep the strip doubled with wrong sides together so you will get mirrored images....one for each side of the pink triangle. Use the 2-1/2" line on the template.

If you use the Tri-Rec be sure and cut the little corner piece, it will help you match your pieces.

Here is a photo to show you how to line up the side triangle pieces.

I like to make all the pieces using the triangles and side triangles first. I used a 1/4" seam allowance while making the entire quilt.

Here are all the triangle pieces for one block.

Start sewing your sections of the block together.

Add a 1-1/2" x 12" strip to 2 sides of the block as shown.

Here is a diagram showing the sizes of the pieces in each section.

Here is your block all pieced! Now just make 11 more for your quilt.

Here are my blocks all pieced together.

Follow the diagram below to put your blocks in rows.
I used the pink for a 3" border and the binding, which I cut 2-1/2" wide.

You can really see on this diagram where I reversed the order of the color of fabrics....for example see the green/yellow block? One has the yellow in the center and the other has the green in the center.

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial! Now, how about a giveaway?!?

One lucky person will receive this beautiful strip set of Marblehead Pleasing Pastels by Ro Gregg that Fabri-Quilt is giving away. Head over to Connie's blog to help her name her quilt and see how you can enter to win the bundle!