Monday 30 July 2012

Like a diamond in the sky

 I love stars. When my eldest was only a baby, I had dreams of lots of star themed things for his room. You know, back when you have the time to dream about all the things your child is going to love when they get older and how their taste will be impeccable of course. I even crocheted a giant king-single size blanket with stars and his name on it. He’s 4 now. He doesn’t like stars. He likes fire trucks. And police cars. And ninjas. And dirt. And mud.

As for my youngest… she’s 2. She plays dolls that eat like this: “Num num num BURP hehehe”. She’s all class. She also copies everything her big brother does. So no stars there either.

So I guess I have to make the star things for me. What a shame, right? So here is my latest paper pieced offering – diamond stars. Because they are like a diamond in the sky. Or something meaningful like that.

Diagonal stars

I drew up this design to have it set on point. If I made the design in a normal square, there’d be a seam in the middle of the points and I wanted to avoid that. Plus I like on-point quilts. Even if I haven’t made too many of them.

Stars nearly square
Imagine this picture but with sashing and pretty cornerstones. This is what I had in mind when I drew it up:

Stars in purple

But I haven’t settled on purple and blue now. I decided to go with a “favourite things” theme. I.e. I’m using some of my fave fabrics for the centre of the stars, outlined in matching solids.

Diamond star
A bit of Good Fortune by Kate Spain

Blue star
Some Wrenly by Valori Wells

Green star
And a bit of Terrain by Kate Spain. Again.

So now I’m having a dilemma. Do I continue making stars in these lovely cool colours? (Though I may have to buy more fab purple prints as they are lacking in my stash). Or do I make a rainbow of stars using all my favourite prints? Oh the dilemma!

Stars in a line

While we’re talking purple, here’s Marieka’s version of the star, in Terrain prints. She was kind enough to test the pattern for me. Gorgeous isn’t it? Look how beautifully the swirly frond bits match up on the outside of her star! Impressive!

Mariekas star

So now it’s been tested, I’m sharing this pattern on my blog as a freebie. Though I would love to see if you make it! You can find the pattern here.
 
Make sure you pop back here on Wednesday too! We’re kicking off the Practically Paper Piecing Blog Hop!

PPP Blog hop button

As extra incentive, I’ll be offering a little charm pack for a giveaway – you wouldn’t want to miss out on the chance to win fabric plus get great paper piecing ideas would you?! Thought not! See you on Wednesday! Winking smile Make sure you wear your lucky pants!

7 comments:

  1. Ooooh cute star block. I love star blocks - can't think of one I've seen that I don't like!! I don't have any lucky pants - I don't think I have ever won anything, not even pass the parcel as a child!

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  2. You are thinking of passing up an excuse to buy more fabric??? Are you feeling alright?

    Love your cool colours, would love to see a whole quilt of them.

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  3. Great stars! Go shopping get some fabrics, the cool colors are so relaxing. Love it.

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  4. I have to agree that the cool colours would make the 'starry' quilt very easy to look at...so get thee to the quilt store or a fabric swap page. Thanks for making another great FREE pattern!

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  5. The block looks fab! Loving the colours and the print with solid looks very effective! I think you should definitely continue on in the cool colours =D

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  6. I can't wait to make this! And of course, I'll share it with you. You are so talented with your pattern skills. Isn't it funny how your babies grow into someone you can't even imagine in your dreams! We love them anyways for just who they are...but it's funny. I wonder what my mom dreamed me to be like!

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  7. These are beautiful! I love the colors! I think a rainbow of them, or sticking with these colors would be amazing. :) Marika did an awesome job too.

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