Life is busy. And, it seems that sometimes it is just too busy to enjoy the things I really love, like quilting. I haven’t touched my sewing machine in way too long. I have a quilt in the works to be hand-quilted and one that just needs to be put together with backing and batting to be quilted. There just always seems to be something else more pressing to do. Ironically, that is the very reason quilting is so necessary. It soothes me, makes me happy, and keeps me somewhat sane.
Recently I decided to add some color to my kitchen. More info is available about this color choice at my personal blog at CHMusings.
What better project for a kitchen face-lift than a new table runner? I chose my new color in the kitchen to be turquoise, so I went through my fabric stash and picked out some fabrics. I have come to love this color and enjoyed working with it.
I decided to make the same table runner I have made many times before using the Double Star quilt block. I like to think of this as my signature block because I have made so many of them.
The table runner consists of three blocks, joined by a strip of sashing, with a similar border all around.
Rather than use my own pattern since I wasn’t quite sure where it was, and I was anxious to get started, I decided to just look for one online. Big mistake. There are several flying geese in this block and there are many different ways to make them. The pattern I downloaded used templates to cut and sew the pieces together. Have I mentioned before that I hate working with triangles? It may bear repeating. Although there was no waste involved in this method, the precision, at least for me, left much to be desired. I finished one block and was glad I didn’t cut out the pieces for all three, because I didn’t like the result. Haste does make waste. So, I decided to find the pattern I’m familiar with.
I like the method, such as in this tutorial from Connecting Threads, which makes flying geese using squares sewn to rectangles and then trimming the corners. There is a bit of waste involved, but it is so worth it to have points match and end up with uniform pieces.
I became acquainted with this block during a Craftsy project, the 2012 Block of the Month. I loved making that quilt and fell in love with the Double Star.
Once I found the pattern, I cut out all my pieces and began to sew them together. It went much smoother this time around. In fact, I found it all to be pretty enjoyable. It was nice to be back into the swing of it. I’ve really missed working with my sewing machine. While a little out of practice, I like how the table runner turned out. I’m pretty happy with it. It adds just the right splash of color to an ordinary drab part of my kitchen.
I have adopted a favored quilt block--the double star block. I have made so many of these that I am now calling it my signature block.
There is something about this block, with its contrasting colors, all those various shapes within it, and all those not-so-perfect points, that just thrills me. I wonder if it were a different color if I would have become so taken with it early on. Purple, or more accurately violet, has always been one of my favorite colors.
I made this block a couple of years ago as a part of a block-of-the-month (BOM) project in a Craftsy class, taught by Amy Gibson. I named this quilt, shown at right, Periwinkle Blue. My double star block is prominently located in the top left. This quilt was my first real free-motion quilting project--a quilt-as-you-go class also by Craftsy, and taught by Leah Day, who is arguably the best free-motion quilter and instructor ever.
This quilt marked my first intoxicating step into the world of free-motion quilting, for which I cannot and do not want to escape. I was hooked. While the quilting on this project is rather flawed, it was so inspiring.
In fact, speaking of flaws, can you find the huge mistake in the quilting in the above block? Despite my glaring error, I still love this block.
In fact, I love it so much that I have incorporated it into a table runner. I have made several of these for various friends and family members. In fact I have ongoing as we speak.
Each one is different and I just love how they turn out. Here is just one example one of the many colors I've used. This was a birthday present when my mother turned 85.
The funny thing is, I figure I've made five of these. That is three blocks each, plus two that I put into quilts. I have made 17 of these blocks. The latest one that I completed will go into the teal and yellow quilt I am working on now.
Truth is--I screwed it up. This isn't a terrible mistake, but it is a mistake none the less. I didn't realize it until after I quilted it. I've quilted all of these the same way, so I should have noticed while I was doing it--but I didn't. I have no idea where my head was, but it was only after looking at it completed that I noticed the outer ring of star points is upside-down. It can hardly be called a double star when the star that would make it a double is not there.
I suppose these are the kinds of things to laugh about, not to fret over. I don't suppose it matters anyway. The block is still beautiful. It is still one of my favorites.
If you would like the instructions to make this block, you can find a link to it here.
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