Fabric Ready

OK, fabric is washed, pressed and ready to go. I'm going for a scrappy Navy and Chocolate version with beige/putty color replacing the whites. I worked up an idea in EQ6 as to what I'm heading towards. What do you think? There will be tweaking as I go I'm sure. I'm not sure about the borders but I have a year to let them speak to me.

Diane

Star Crazy

Hi, I'm Patty from Bakersfield, and I just finished January's blocks. I'm using jewel tone batiks. I love seeing all the different fabrics everyone is using. Thanks to everyone in the group!

Welcome Teresa from California!

We have a new friend that has become part of our group. Welcome to Teresa from California!
While viewing Teresa's personal blog, I noticed she is very involved in helping others through her quilting. I know she will be a great person for us to learn from.
Here is a little information that Teresa shared with me:

My name is Teresa Fredenburg from Corona California and I found your blog the other day and fell in love with the Star Crazy Quilt. I didn't sign up with The Quilt Show right away but I kept thinking and thinking about the Quilt. Finally I couldn't take it any longer and just HAD to make it, hahaha.
I just recently started a quilting blog and I posted about the Star Crazy Quilt , here's my blog site http://thefabricstopshere.blogspot.com/
Please add me to your Star Crazy Log and we can all go crazy together while having a great time making this gorgeous quilt.

Teresa
May your stitches be many and your seam ripper go unused!!

I love how she signed off.
Nedra

Finally I've started....

Finally I've started my Star Crazy-quilt. I've been looking forward to that for a long time. The fabrics are all labelled and sorted. They've even got their own basket :o)

All of  the long, white borders have been cut, marked and placed in a plasticbag - I thought, for a little while.... I was happy, for a couple of minutes, it went so smoothly and quick ( I don't like this part very much), until I realised I have just cut half of the borders :o/ Well well, the rest will have to wait for a couple of days. I was quite surprised that the width of one of the borders were just 1 1/4", thats not much! I checked it over and over, so I think it must be right. Please let me know if I have misunderstood.

In stead I started to cut the parts for the blocks, that's much more fun! So now I'm ready for the sewing machine tomorrow. I think I will manage to be finished before next months patterns will be available next week.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend!

Welcome Brenda from Georgia!

I just received an e-mail from Brenda in Georgia, and she is joining our group too! How fun to have so many to share in this adventure of making the Star Crazy quilt. We now have 21 participants.
Brenda signed up for The Quilt Show and will be making the quilt with her own fabrics. I think seeing the variety of fabrics we are all using will make the quilt even more interesting.


Brenda has a blog Quilting Cowgirl with this picture as her logo. Her profile said this:
I am a native of Mississippi, who found her way to Atlanta several years ago. My husband and I live in Tucker, outside of Atlanta. I am a media specialist in one of our local counties. I enjoy quilting, reading, traveling, and cooking.
Brenda, if you only knew. When I was a little girl I was raised in a big city outside of San Francisco. My dream was to become a cow girl. My stick horse was the closest thing I ever got towards my goal, but I still love anything "cowgirl".
Welcome!

Welcome Lori from New York

Our group is growing and growing. We have a new member to add to our group: Lori Ross from New York.
Welcome Lori!
Lori has joined The Quilt Show for the first time, and will be making Star Crazy from her own fabrics.
She has a blog called "Oodles of Noodles" (See the sidebar to follow)

Lori is a mom, and loves her bassets. In sharing her feelings about quilting Lori said "I started sewing garments as a young girl then, about 1994 I discovered quilting.
Needless to say I don't sew garments anymore."
How many of us relate to that?!

Welcome Diane from Illinois!

What a great day. We have another friend joining our group!
Welcome to Diane Kapetanic from Illinois.
Diane is also a knitter and has a blog called Studio Knits that shows all of her beautiful works. It's been a while since she has posted on her blog, but wants to get back into the swing of things soon.
I asked Diane to share a little bit about herself so we could get to know her better and this is what she wrote:
I'm just returning to quilting after a few years off working away from home. I now have the luxury of time and have fallen in love with my sewing again. I'm a retired grandma of ten who lives on a small farm in central Illinois. I'm an avid gardener, raise chickens & ducks, and a few head of cattle. I think this spring will see a few little piglets joining our menagerie. Oh, and I dream of owning a long arm quilting machine every single evening lately. Sigh! At least I can see it in my dreams.
Welcome Diane!

At last :o)

Hi!

Look what I got in the mail today! It made me sooooo happy :o)

The fabrics and colours are so beautiful! Tonight Im going to sort, label and enjoy :o)

Whishing you all a wonderful evening!

Merete

Welcome Carolyn!

Hi Ladies:
We have a new member that has joined our group. Carolyn Sands is from Texas, although she and her husband will soon be moving to Michigan. Carolyn has been a member of The Quilt Show, currently doesn't have a blog, but hopefully will be posting pictures of her quilt so we can see her progress.
She will be working from her stash, and I'm excited to see the colors that will be used.
Welcome Carolyn!
*remember, anyone can join us anytime. You can e-mail me at nedras@mstar.net
You need to be a member of, (or run over and join!) The Quilt Show so you can download the patterns each month.

Nedra

Set Number One Complete

Hello Everyone,

Here are my 1930s stars for the first month all complete!! Yay, I am so excited! I have used 1930s from my stash and Kona Cotton White for the background.

I just love how sweet the look. Now I have started on my second version of this month's block. So I should be posting again soon. If you would like to see more photos of my 1930s blocks, just click here.

Until Next Time...

Star Crazy January Blocks Done

I have finished my Star Crazy January blocks.

I'm using Kona White as the background and pulling from my stash for the stars.

Better late than never! I realize it's still January, but I had big plans to have these done the first week of the month. Remember, I had all the half square triangles finished and then discovered my computer had downloaded the paper piecing sheets at too small of a scale.

I had to start all over.

I love the look of these colors with the star blocks.

I am also happy to have this much finished and am looking forward to next week when I can start on the February blocks.

You guys are doing great! Thank you so much for all of your contributions on Star Crazy Log.

Make sure to check our site meter. Since we started a few weeks ago, we have had over 1,000 visits (people looking at our blog), with 2,088 page reviews. As of this week we have an average of 67 people looking at our progress each day.

I'm back...

Hi Everyone,

I didn't really go anywhere I was just taking a rest from blog land. I needed to get some things done and get re-prioritized... My stars are still not finished I hope to get that done this week while my husband is traveling for business. I want to be ready for the new ones when they are out.

Hugs,
Julie

A little update from Norway

Hi friends :o)
I can see you have all made such beautiful blocks, I love that there are so many choises of colours! It will be really exciting to see how they all turn out in the end.
Still waiting for my fabrics for the quilt, but at least yesterday I got to know that the parcel has arrived to Oslo, Norway. So today have have sent some papers to the customs to get it cleared, I really really hope I have it in the beginning of next week. Feel like I'm way behind you all - and I dont like it :o)

Wishing you all a wonderful and creative weekend!

Merete
(I added the picture to brigthen up the post a bit :o))

Rhode Island Stars

Hello, Starry friends! I'm so happy to be a part of this group!

Here are my month 1 blocks. The quilt will be an anniversary gift for my husband (and me!). I've had this stack of batiks waiting for over a year. Bill likes stars on quilts, so when I saw this pattern, it was divine inspiration!


Even though I love to paper-piece, I wasn't sure that's how I wanted to make the HSTs. I gave it a try, and I'm hooked! I'm thrilled with how accurate they are.

I'm counting on your inspiration (or peer pressure) to keep me on track with this project!
See you next month,
Tina

giveaway

I am featuring a give away on my blog if any of you want a chance come visit.
Karen
http://karensquilting.com/blog/

Here are my January blocks; the sets of HSTs are already put away in a little bag and labeled. My quilt will look very familiar to you all, since the only reason I joined the group was that I found a bundle of Alex's Whisperings in my stash. *L* I thot the fabric in Sue's example looked familiar.

Over in TQS, that group is mostly using flying geese around the center unit; I was really happy to see this was all HSTs, since I have no luck holding my points in stars made from flying geese.

I think what I'll do now, while I have all this fabric out is to sort by month from that page in Sue's directions. I'll know then if I'm a tad short on anything.

January Star Crazy

January Star Crazy, originally uploaded by karenfgoad.

I am trying to upload my photo of the January stars using my flickr account seeing as I can't seem to get the photo to upload straight on to the blog using blogger for some reason. Let's see if this works. (edited: It cut part of the picture off I see, if you click on it you will see the whole photo in flickr.)
Karen

January stars done

I got all my stars done today but I can't figure out how to put the photo on here. Help! step by step instructions :)
Karen
http://karensquilting.com/blog/

OK finished with January

Hi everyone.  Today I finished the 8 January blocks.

I also put a post on my blog about the blocks.  Two things I will change next month.

• I will be changing a few fabrics so I will have more contrast in my stars.
• My blocks are a little oversized so I will try to sew a true 1/4" unlike the scant 1/4" that I like to sew

This is fun.  This blog truly inspires me to get in there and sew!

Until next time,

Kathy  

Hi!

I finished my month 1 blocks the other day (posted about it on my blog already :) ). I didn't have any problems with printing the foundation sheets, but then I don't remember checking anything except the sample block! I'm not a very precise piecer - somehow I always have issues with blocks sizes. Although lucky for me, the smaller the block, the better it is! My Dear Jane blocks seem to be right most of the time. Can't wait to see what blocks are coming for next month!

Kelly

3 More Have Joined our Group!

Hi Ladies,
Today has been another wonderful day. We have had 3 more ladies (making our total now at 17) who have signed up with our group:
1.) Yuki Nakamoto of Maryland. You can follow Yuki's blog "Yuki Quilts" on our sidebar. Yuki has been quilting since 1990, was a professional seamstress before that, and is now a computer programmer. She has 3 cats, and loves to quilt.
2.) Patty Young is from Bakersfield, CA. I haven't heard back from her to know if she has a personal blog yet. She already belonged to The Quilt Show, and I am looking forward to getting to know her a little better.
3.) Cynthia Horst recently moved to Florida, but previously lived in Utah. She is a wife, a mother of 6, and grandmother to 2. You can follow Cynthia's personal blog "Music To Our Ears" on the sidebar. Even though we have never met, we know some of the same friends, and have lived in some of the same cities.
Welcome Yuki, Patty and Cynthia! We are very happy to have you as part of our group!

Nedra

Kelly from Ohio has now joined us!

This has been a great day. We have two new members who have joined us. I did a post about Tina form Rhode Island joining us this morning. This afternoon we now have Kelly from Ohio in our group. Welcome to both of you!
Kelly is from the Cleveland area and her blog is Kelly Kwilts. She is now on our side bar, so make sure to run over and see her beautiful work. I noticed she has the patience and dedication to do Dear Jane. Woa.
Nedra

printer is off

Ok I have my printer set at full size - no scaling and I am 1/16th inch too small on the patterns. I measured the little sample block and it was right on. But when I printed the patterns they are 1/16th too small!! I had got started to sew and thought I would put one star together and realized that some of the blocks are too small.

I will need to start over and make this correct by making the seam allowance smaller than the 1/4 inch normally taken.

Is anyone else having this problem with their printers?

Tina has joined our group!

Hi ladies:
We have a new member to our group. We welcome Tina Craig from Rhode Island http://www.seaside-stitches.blogspot.com/
Tina heard about us from reading Jackie's blog.
I have loved reading the progress all of you have been making on your January blocks. Great job! Thank you for the posts and the updates.
Nedra

HST's All Done!

Hello Everyone,

Well, I am done with all my HST's for my first version, the 1930s! Now to piece them into the stars. I love how they all look nice and neat and tidy. All pretty!

I am really going to like this version, it may end up on our guest bed. I still have to start cutting the second version yet. That will be totally different.

So far, I am in control and not behind yet. I am glad because I really like this quilt. If you would like to see some more pictures, head on over to my blog and check them out. Just click here. Looking forward to seeing everyone else's progress.

Until Next Time...

Got started

I have the fabric all cut for this month's instructions. Now tomorrow I will try to get started sewing. I need to clean the machine first - lot's of dust bunnies in there from my four patches that I had been making for the last two weeks for a different quilt.

I noticed on the blog listed on the side bar that you have me down as KarenFae - that is just my blogger name as Karen was already taken - I sign in with that for yahoo, g-mail, blogger ect. My middle name is Fae which is a different spelling than most use so it is just a combo of my first and middle name - I just go by Karen.

Will be away for a little while...

I hate to do this when we just started this group but I will be away from Blog Land for a couple weeks. I promise I will be back on the 25th and be a much happier camper... all fresh and springy :)

Be well... and keep on sewing :)

Jewel

I have a question.

I'm working on the pink ripple HSTs now. I see the sheet shows 12 of them in a set to save til later. However, the paper piecing sheet has enough on the sheet for 24 HSTs with the pink ripple and white.

SO.........as this moves along, will we follow the number on the pp sheet or the number in the actual block instructions? Shall I make 12 or all 24?

Also, I think I, personally, will cut fabric pieces as I'm ready to use them. It seems too tricky to try to keep all the sizes labeled by cutting them all at once. I'll mark them off with pencil as I move along the cutting instructions. What do you guys think?

Month One

This is what happens when the day starts out with a temp of -2F. 

I love them!  I did start to think today, just how many stars is this for the whole quilt?  No worries, this is going to be a lot of fun.  It sure is nice to have a group working on this for motivation though.

Kristin

Hi From California

Hi Everyone!

This is going to be a fun group. I love this quilt. I have my fingers into way too many things so I thought why not add one more :) I have my HSTs made for this month but nothing else done so far. The weekend got away from me becuase we were pulling down he Christmas tree and it is my Daughter's birthday. Here is a pic of my progress so far.

Can't wait to spend more time with you all... Jewel

Hello from OOOOklahoma

Greetings from Oklahoma.  My name is Kathy (aka Kclily) and I am joining in on the BOM fun.  I am currently also working on the 2009 BOM Stars for a New Day so this should keep me busy.

I have a blog Empty Nest Gardens and Quilts and you can find it here  I have put one post on my blog about the Star Crazy Quilt.   My fabrics are red, white and black.

I have been a member of The Quilt Show for a little more than a year now.  I met Alex Anderson in Houston in 2008.  She pulled me over and showed me the 2009 BOM and inspired me to make it.  My user name at The Quilt Show is Kclily.

I look forward to getting to know each of you.  Thank you Nedra for putting this all together and thank you Jackie for telling me about Nedra. 
Until next time,

A check in from Vermont

Hello!

I am so excited to be a part of this group.  I decided a few months ago that I was going to make the Star Crazy quilt, basically the minute that I saw it. What fun to have a group of people to help keep me on task for the year.  I have been working on the month one installment.  This was my progress as of last weekend.

This afternoon I was able to get the two larger stars for the month done.  I will try to snap a photo tomorrow when the sun it out (even though the current temp is 0 F, the sun was beaming today). 

I am so pleased to be a part of this group!

Kristin

Hi from Arkansas

Hi everyone I am Karen from Arkansas. I have a blog here. I do my blog from WordPress so I need to learn my way around Blogger. With my husband's help I added the Star Crazy logo to my side bar - I know how to do most things on my blog but my husband usually handles that kind of stuff :)
I just got my background fabric yesterday and have my instructions printed out but it will be next week before I start as I have to clear off my work table first and get some things out of the way. I'm looking forward to seeing the progress everyone makes.
I will do a blog post on my blog later today about this quilt and the group.

I got it wrong.....

Hi again!
I got the letters mixed up in my blogadress - the correct is:

www.myequiltingoglittannet.blogspot.com

Merete

Greetings from Norway

Hi all!

I am Merete from Norway. I have been quilitng for some years now and I love it. I have my own blog, www.myequilitingoglittannet.blogspot.com, where I write about quilting, knitting, other hobbies and anything else that could be interesting :o)
This is my first BOM, so Im really exited! And I think its great to have a 'support'-group for all questions and thoughts and lots of inspiration :o) I have ordered the BOM kit some days ago, and I know its on its way over the ocean to me. Hoping to get it soon, because Im eager to start!
Today I printed out the instructions and the blocks for January. And I measured the 1"-square at page 9, it turned out to be 1/16" too small. So now my loving husband is pulling his hair to make it 1" exactly on the printout, and Im sure he will figure it out. What would I do without him :o)

So, nothing more to 'report' this time.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Merete

My Current Status on The BOM

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to introduce myself, if you don't know me already. My name is Jackie and I have been blogging now for about 2.5 years. You can click here to visit me at my blog. I love quilting with a passion and am very glad to be part of this group of quilters making this phenomenal quilt.

It will be so inspirational to me to see all the different versions that will be made over the next 12 months. I am actually going to make 2. You can read a little more about that here and here. One of my readers said that I am not crazy just ambitious. I like that word better.

The above picture shows where I am currently at in the process of this quilt. All my HST's are done. I just have to de-paper them then join them to make the blocks. So far, I am having tons of fun. I love HST's!!

So here is to a successful year of Star Crazy piecers! Thank you Nedra for making this blog so that we all can be inspired and show our progress!

Until Next Time...

Our Blog is Up and Running!

Hi Ladies: Our blog is now up and running! I picked the title name as a suggestion from Rae Ann. She felt this would be a great place to start a "log" of our progress as we work this year on our quilt.

Here is a picture you can use for a button for your sidebar. Make sure to add the link http://starcrazylog.blogspot.com/
For those of us who have blogs, may I suggest that you do a post about our new web site? It's early enough in the year to add more friends, and they will most likely hear about our site from you.
I am double posting about my progress on Star Crazy. I have already copied three of my previous posts about the BOM. (I just learned how to copy from one blogger account to another, so if you have any questions, please e-mail me.)
Thank you again for joining me in this venture. I am having fun already!

testing

I'm testing this out to see if I have got it set up right here. Karen

Testing, Testing.........*S*

It WORKS! ............

Nice header up on top.......looks familiar.....:)

I went over all the instructions from Sue last nite (again), pumped up my ironing board.......discovered that my one-inch test is a 16th off......

Today, I'm washing fabrics, cutting those long border strips, getting all organized.......I'm happy to be finally seriously starting.

BOM Alert

Last night I did a post about how I've been merrily working away sewing half square triangles for the BOM Star Crazy.

I got up early this morning to start piecing the HST into blocks.

Arrrgh! They didn't match up! I love paper piecing because they make the squares EXACT, even with the bias edges.
So what went wrong?

Here is your first tip when making this quilt: Read and follow ALL the instructions. On page 9 there is a test square. I saw it and didn't pay much attention because I have downloaded HST on my computer before and haven't had a problem.
When I got my trusty ruler out, guess what? The one-inch test pattern did not measure one-inch for me.
***So check your test pattern first before you begin to sew!
All computers download differently.

The pattern needs a lot of 2" and 1 1/2" half square triangles.
Fortunately I have a lot of these I can work with, and I have extra fabric.
Maybe I should have titled this post "Live and Learn".
A little embarrassing since I have taken it upon myself to lead this group! But I want you know, I am learning along with you, and even with this small set back, I'm having fun!
I will share with you my mistakes, and my successes.
In truth, I made this mistake just for you. Really.
*kathyg: you left a message on the comment section saying you want to join us, but you didn't leave an e-mail or a way to reach you. We'd love to have you along! Please send more information.

Star Crazy/ January

I did a post on Saturday about joining The Quilt Show Block of The Month to make "Star Crazy".
I asked if anyone wanted to make this quilt with me. I have been so pleased with the response.

We now have 12 in our group:
1.) Jan K./UT
2.) Jewel/ CA
3.) Jackie K./CT
4.) Rae Ann N./ UT
5.) Kathy C. / OK
6.) Annie/ IL
7.) Kristin/ New England
8.) Merete/ Norway
9.) Sharon/ IL
10.) Karen/ AR
11.) Tracey/ United Kingdom
12.) Nedra/UT
This is going to be fun! We will encourage each other on every month, and have a fun quilt to show (hopefully) a year from now.

Today my friend Jan K. came over and we started on the January block.
To keep track of her fabric selections, Jan gave each color a number.

The instructions say to cut the borders out first. One of the reasons I am so thrilled to be sewing next to Jan is because she is Miss Organized. She had labeled all of the border cuts and and placed them in a zip lock bag.

Star Crazy is designed by Sue Garman. Very clear instructions that offer all the printouts for paper piecing the stars. The instructions say even a beginner can make this quilt. I agree. The paper piecing part is easy, and I really like how accurate the half square triangles turn out.

Jan working away.

The fabrics I will be using.

Both Jan and I have so much fabric in our stash, that we opted to make our quilts out of what we have rather than buy the kit.

Jan is making hers out of batiks.

Today I finished paper piecing the January blocks, and all the half square triangles are now ironed. I will show you the finished blocks once they are completed.

If anyone else wants to join us, feel free to e-mail me/ or leave me a comment and I will include you in our group.

Star Crazy Block of The Month

It's the first of January and The Quilt Show has posted their new Block of The Month patterns. This year they offer a pieced BOM and an appliqued BOM, both designed by Sue Garman.
If you are a member of The Quilt Show you can download the patterns for free. If you are not a member, run over and sign up! The yearly membership is worth the patterns alone, plus you get to watch all their shows, and the other fun things going on with their web site.

When I worked at the Houston show, I stood right by the 2010 pieced BOM "Star Crazy" (84" X 84") for several days, and fell in love.

Pictures never do a quilt fair justice, but let me tell you, in real life this quilt is stunning.

This is their appliqued BOM "Hugs and Kisses" (71" X 84"). Because of time restraints, I won't be doing this one this year.

Sue Garman designs all the BOM's for the Quilt Show. Such a talented lady, and a very nice person too.

Both quilts are available in kits and can be ordered from The Quilt Show Shoppe. I have watched my friend Patti work very hard. She has been cutting kits for months and months. The fabrics for the pieced BOM are from Alex Anderson's collection "Wisperings" by P&B Textiles.

My friend Jan K. and I are making this quilt together. Anyone else is welcome to join us if you are interested! (Just let me know).

For right now I have downloaded the available information and placed the pages in a binder.

The instructions for the first block became available yesterday.

Ready. Set. Go!