just a few more blocks

Here are my two blocks for this month in the do. Good Stitches bee. I didn't love the construction, because we had to use paper templates (which seems like it could be error-prone). But I think the quilt will look awfully cute!

I'm pretty proud of my work - the centers are almost perfect! I used starch at every step, and I think that really helped.

And surely you've heard of Moda's Just One Star project by now. Of course I had to join in! But asking me to make just one of anything? Ha!! If I pull a fabric out of the stash, it's not going back in! I pulled out a couple blues, and made as many stars as I could - 20 to be exact!

As I was following the instructions they provided, I got really tired of all the trimming and waste that went along with making the star points. A light bulb finally went off when I realized that these are just flying geese. I hadn't made them before, but I had seen tutorials for no-waste methods. I found this one, figured out the new dimensions I'd need, and tried it with a red fabric (yes, just one star that time!). It worked great! So much faster, and no waste. So, if you are thinking of making these blocks and want to use an easier method for the star points, use both of the tutorials together, with these substitutions:

• Four 2 3/8" (2.375") squares of red/blue fabric (instead of the eight 2" squares the Moda tutorial calls for)
• One 4 1/4" (4.25") square of background fabric (instead of the four 2" x 3.5" rectangles the Moda tutorial calls for)

Hope that helps - go make some stars!