starry skies sampler :: block no. 5

i must admit, my 'star making' mojo was in a funk this week. between a nasty cold that has lingered past its welcome (not that it had one to begin with) and a botched attempt at a tiny star involving y-seams and an ugly fabric combination, i left the sewing of this newest star block for the very last minute. so in order to restore my faith in my ability to finish this project, i chose to work with my favorite miscellany print from the line and my favorite, basic stash fabric that i always stock up on when at joann fabrics.

my newest addition to the starry skies sampler is the amish star, another block found in 5,500 quilt block designs by maggie malone. although the book has since been returned to the lbrary, i was able to make some quick sketches of a few star blocks that i found the most appealing. yes, the amish star is nothing but squares, rectangles, and some half square triangles. yes, it is a simple nine-patch quilt block, but it is just what i needed to (hopefully) get me back in the swing of things for this sampler quilt.

interested in how the stars are coming together?

side note:

if i bend over far enough, i can almost see my toes

past the giant belly full of baby boy.

i have plans for big things next week. i have plans to get my act together, do some serious piecing, and take a big chunk of work out of this quilt. i have plans to hang this on the wall in a room where i can walk past it every day and smile. 

in the meantime, back to work.

these days i am loving knitting little things

on tiny needles with skinny yarn.

although our little boy will be a spring baby

i can't resist knitting up some booties and

finishing up a log cabin baby blanket.

back to the needles!

see you tomorrow with a new star...

in honor of two special birthdays (my boy's and my own), a long overdue visit from my mama, and some much needed time off, i'm afraid there won't be a star for the starry skies sampler to share this week. sometimes its important to knit and snuggle and gestate rather than keep up with deadlines. i promise i will make it up to you next week!

starry skies sampler :: block no. 4

one more week, one more block - with each star i get a little closer to realizing a sampler quilt and (if it could be possible) more excited to make the next star in line. i found the layout for this week's star block while exploring my local library's quilting reference section. i wish i could say the selection on this little shelf in the library was a little broader and a little larger, but i'll settle for the fact that there is even such a thing as quilting books and magazines for loan. however, on that shelf in the library, i was able to find "5,500 Quilt Block Designs" by maggie malone. it has proven to be a wealth of design inspiration and star block ideas.

i am loving the pop of a bright solid that this block has, as opposed to the (somewhat) more mellow choices i made for the previous stars. the miscellany collection is very bold and while there might be a lot of black and white, there are also some major colors running through this line of fabrics. i am hoping to strike a balance between prints and solids, both bright and subdued with enough white and maybe some improv accents to make this quilt really work. i think that i am on my way!

as always, come back to this space every wednesday for your daily dose of stars, and be sure to get sewing on your arrowhead star in the meantime! you can find all of the previous posts about this work in progress here, grab a button for your blog, and follow along - these stars are so much fun, i promise!

my weekend was spent

knitting and binding off and picking up stitches

and knitting some more.

i'm really loving this log cabin baby blanket.

boiling eggs and baking bread.

cutting fabric, making half square triangles

and flying geese, and piecing stars.

starry skies sampler :: block no. 3

inspired by the newest issue of fat quarterly, i decided to try my hand at paper piecing for this weeks newest star: the web star block found at quilter's cache (have you seen this sweet elixir bottle wall hanging and awesome catherine holm pot holders?). while it seemed a little daunting at first to see lots of numbers and lines, and which side do i sew the fabric on to the paper, and oops that's the wrong side, it soon became clear that paper piecing was allowing me to create crisper lines and tighter corners than i would be able to achieve with simple patchwork alone.

and so, after a little futzing with the tiny bits of white fabric that i had left, and after an incident in which my temperamental iron sputtered some rusty water on the corner of one block component, my web star is complete and i couldn't be happier with it. seeing this block with its fellow stars makes me giddy - the miscellany line of fabrics seems to be pulling the concept of this sampler together and i look forward to experimenting with new techniques and blocks each week.

as always, be sure to come back next wednesday for a new block.

and in the meantime, 

check out all of the starry skies sampler series here, 

make yourself a beautiful web star block for your own sampler

and be sure to share your progress!