Yes, I still have some things to share from Carolyn Forster's book. I'd like to talk a little about the Kite shape on page 38-39. While it may seem that these should be hand pieced (which is what Carolyn does so beautifully throughout her book), I am the machine queen! 20 To Make One-Patch Quilts by Carolyn Forste r. One Patch Quilts by Carolyn Forster I became enamored with the kite shape when I saw a Rose Star quilt for the first time. What's that, you ask? Look closely at my quilt in this photo and you will see only kites! Rose Star quilt But, let's see the kites by themselves. Here's a group of 4 kites. They are 90 degrees in the top left/right corners; 120 degrees in the top point; and 60 degree angle at the bottom. That equals the magical number 360! Four kite units Yes, when pieced there are y-seams. "Just get over it," I tell myself as I stitch. But, then you can do such lovely things with these patches!  Y-seam from back of patches Groups of kite...

It's fun to finish a quilt and take a photo. That's the only way I "keep" many quilts. I've made hundreds and hundreds of quilts in the past 35 years and given away most of them. I only keep those I use for my teaching and trunk shows and also those I want to use to give to friends. 5 Block Gingham Garden: 44" x 46" The Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks were English Paper Pieced. Then I machine appliquéd them to four background rectangles. But the center of the 4 blocks was boring, so I added that pink one. Notice that in order to increase this to a usable size, I added the two pink print horizontal strips. Quilted by my guild friend and part of our charity quilt endeavors it went! Dancing Apples: 47" x 47" Apple themed fabrics used in off center log cabin blocks. Fun, huh? Delectable Mountains: 50" x 55" Delectable Mountains: 50" x 55" The floral print was left over from workshop samples from 10 years ago! No templates...

 I created and taught a workshop based on the vintage block called Rose Star. I had acrylic templates made for my students and taught them how to make a y-seam. There honestly isn't any other way to get those 120 degree angles put together into the 3-patch unit. Patches cut with acrylic template Then 3 of these get pieced into triangle units. Yes, there's a y-seam in there! 3 Patch units with y-seam After piecing the 3 patches into the triangle, there are no more y-seams. I call this Stacked Kites. I turned these beautiful patches into a sweet quilt in 2020. Still waiting for borders. This one's going to stay with me. My oldest daughter loves ALL my 1930s quilts and probably will lay a claim to this (once I let her know about it!) 30s Stacked Kites: 44" x 50" My Rose Star workshop focused on making one block. I made several of these, but I didn't need another table runner, so I added side triangles to "square up" the hexagon. Here it is - 36" hi...

Just when I think I'm done with a particular pattern, it shouts at me from another room and I have to pay attention! My sister in law asked for a cheering-up quilt for a friend whose husband is going through chemo. She sits with him during his treatment and Sarah thought it would be nice to have something cuddly on her lap. Hence, she chose this Stacked Kites quilt I made a few years ago.  Stacked Kites quilt : 44" x 54" I taught a Rose Star class a few years ago and even had a simple template made to make cutting those kite shapes easier. Here is my Rose Star class sample: Rose Star table topper Here's my simple acrylic template (I have not a single one left): Kite template for 5" kites You may even have one of the "specialty" rulers on the market. They are cumbersome to operate, especially the Clearview Triangle that came with NO INSTRUCTIONS for cutting kites. I asked them about that. Crickets. (It's a $27 ruler, btw) Creative Grids Kite ruler (...

I bet you don't use the kite shape in many quilts! Maybe you aren't familiar with this patch shape, but it's part of the 60 degree hexagon family and appears in many English Paper Piecing blocks. You've seen this in my Rose Star quilts. Can you see how this quilt is composed ONLY of the kite shape? Rose Star table topper was my workshop sample  Rose Star is a vintage block and has reappeared in quilts lately. I guess our ancestors weren't too afraid of sewing y-seams! You can see how the 3 patches come together in the center. 3 Patches of Kites from the back 3 Patches of Kites from the front And here are some more of those kite patches: Lots of Kite patches leftover from my Rose Star I decided to make my own version of a very scrappy quilt which I call Stacked Kites. I pulled some more Kaffe Fassett prints and added them to my pile of fabric kites. Kites and Kites! My Rose Star pattern includes a line drawing of making my Stacked Kites quilt , but I never put toge...

For some reason I have been enamored with these kites! I dug through my workshop box and discovered I had enough kites cut out to make two more of this block. I shared it earlier in the week. Vintage inspired block using 18 kite shapes  Here are the 3 fabrics that make up this block (not sure of a name). This is a 2015 Windham Fabrics collection called Flora . I guess I must have cut all the fat quarters until nothing was left. But, it was my lucky day in that I was able to piece 2 more blocks. They measure 14-3/4" x 17" (that's because they form a hexagon which is not square). I rummaged in my stash and found this perfect yellow/lime green and cut 30 degree setting triangles. Here it is before my borders. And I pulled another Windham fabric from last year, Grand Illusion (which I also made a Rose Star with) and used one of the border style prints. What do you think? 3 Block wall banner (or table runner): 26" x 54" I plan to quilt it this week. It definitely has...

Let's see some more kites. Or maybe you've seen enough! These are used in my 2nd Stacked Kites quilt. They have a 1930s flavor. The Stacked Kites planning sheet is included in my Rose Star pattern. 1930s fabrics in kites Here are my 3-patch units. These are the same units used in the Rose Star quilts. I used two different light prints with the kites shown above. 3-Patch units I sewed until I ran out of the light blue and white floral fabrics. That means I'm DONE! Now for a border. Or maybe I don't need a border; just binding. Stacked Kites: 44" x 52" Here is my set of various kite-shaped rulers. I didn't include one of them (much like mine - for only one size) which I paid $14 for! I bought the Clearview Super 60 ruler ($27.00) but there are NO directions for cutting kites. I even wrote to the designer. Crickets! The Creative Grids Kites-Plus ruler (also $27.00) works for 4 sizes. The cutting directions need to be edited (my opinion) because of a LOT of fa...

Another week, another theme. I probably won't do a full 7 days, but I know you'll be entertained with some lovely projects featuring the Rose Star. "What's a Rose Star," you ask? It's a vintage block that uses a patch shape called the "kite." And you all know what a kite it, right? Here are a few dozen kite shaped fabrics waiting for a quilty home. Kite shaped Kaffe Fassett fabrics Are you nervous? Are you thinking: Y-SEAM! Well, if you have a driver's license, you know how to make a y-seam, only it's called a "y-turn" in driving school. That's what I tell my students in my Rose Star classes. Here is the project I made using these patches. It's one of my favorite quilts. I'll show you a few steps, too. Rose Star Table Topper I realized I needed a dependable kite shaped template and had one made for me. While it cuts only one size, it's very easy to do without a lot of weird twists and turns. I also realized that the ...

In 2019, the winter solstice for the Northern Hemisphere occurs on Saturday, December 21, at 11:19 p.m. EST. I'm getting ready and want to let those short days of Fall know that I'm not going to take it any more. I want more of the sun and I'm going to get it! You've seen this quilt here before when I first blogged about it in 2015 . I quilted it last month and it's ready to hang and wag it's finger at those dark days. And shine and shine from it's place on my wall. Winter Solstice Quilt: Here Comes the Sun!  26" x 28-1/2" Do you remember when I showed you how this was pieced so that there are NO y-seams? Just because it's a hexagon does not mean I have to have set-in seams. Everything was cut based on that center hexagon from Paula Nadelstern's Fabricadabra collection. That hexagon was cut using my multi-sized 60 degree triangle ruler. It will finish to 10-1/2". No y-seams here! Those triangles are based on t...