Thursday, June 16, 2016

Two Stars a la Gwen Marston

I've made two stars a la Gwen Marston's instructions (more or less).  The stars themselves are closer to white/natural in real life.  They look cream/yellow because of the nighttime photograph.

wonky star

I thought it was clear in my mind how to place the triangles onto the squares to sew them but when it came down to it the placement was a challenge.  The star points were sometimes too close to the edge.

I wasn't aiming for perfect stars but I do want the tips of all the points inside the edge of the square.  I don't think the one below will measure up to that expectation.

wonky star

The top star will finish at about 4 1/2", the bottom at 5 1/2".  Both are too large for the way I'm imagining their use.  They may -- or may not -- become part of the Gwenny-inspired medallion quilt.  I find them a little fiddly to make and somewhat wasteful of fabric (which is less of a problem because I'm using scraps than it would be if I were cutting yardage to make them).  I don't expect to need more than five to seven of them but I won't know till I get them made and lay them around the center.

I'm linking this post to Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework and Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation.  Thanks for hosting, ladies.

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you have a great weekend.

--Nancy.
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4 comments:

  1. I've never tried making the "wonky" style stars, though I think they definitely increase the "twinkle" effect. I'll be interested to see how you make use of these (or the next ones you make) in your quilt.

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    1. This is my first time making wonky stars, Janet, and to be honest, I'm not impressed with the process but I think (hope) they will work for this quilt. I'll be interested to see how this first border comes together and whether these stars are a part of it or not. I don't have too much time to decide and get the border finished before the next border is announced. (I don't work well under pressure which doubles the challenge of this quilt along. But I think it's a good learning experience.)

      Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment, Janet. I appreciate it.

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  2. That reminds me that I just bought a ruler, which I rarely do, that makes the peaky-spike point squares, and it's designed for the points to float INSIDE the block. That might be a good solution, but it doesn't give you the wonky aspect. Creative Grids for Strippy Stars is the name of it. Ruler link

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    1. That's an interesting looking ruler, Susan. As I was working on the stars it occurred to me that it might work to just lop off the edges of the squares at an angle and match up the triangles to make the stars. I didn't try it because I finished the stars before I thought of it. I'll give the ruler some though.

      Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment. I appreciate it.

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