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Wednesday, March 15, 2023

New River Star Gift-Away!


Good Morning, Quiltvillians!

March 15th has arrived - and with it, my latest pattern release New River Star is now available in both Quiltville Store and the Quiltville Etsy Pattern Shop.

Yes!  There is introductory pricing!  And yes, there is a Gift-Away!  We'll get to that in a minute -

Read along my friends -


Breaking in my hew Juki!

This project was the one that finally pushed my buttons hard enough to get the Juki I'd wanted since 1998. And I am so glad I did it!  It's now my favorite machine for paper piecing (sewing on a line) or string piecing (just covering a paper foundation with random widths of strips to fill the shape) and I couldn't be happier with it.

Don't get me wrong - I still love my vintage machines and use them.  But when it comes to foundation paper piecing, and short seams that start and end in the middle of the paper template, a machine with a thread cutter has its purpose!


Short seams in the middle of the template - it makes things harder to "chain" piece without long threads in between pieces. But paper piecing is the best way to go with this quilt because of the long odd angles.

The pattern includes templates for "over sized" cutting of the odd pieces to help avoid fabric waste and misalignment of pieces. 

The printable PDF template for the block is included at the end of the pattern, and as a separate “stand alone” file, making it easier to pull up the template to print the number of copies you need without having to designate which page to print from the pattern.

15 pages of detailed instruction with many optional construction methods, full-color photos and graphics.

This pattern assumes the maker has some knowledge and experience with foundation paper piecing, but the concept is easy enough for beginners to catch on easily.

The most fun for me?  Gathering my odd scraps of blues and neutrals - including from a selection of charm squares that had been languishing for quite a while. This quilt made a big dent in the smaller saved scraps and put them to great use!


Check out those screaming neutrals!

And you may recognize some of these fabrics from your 1990s stash - The blues run from sky blue to navy - and yes, those neutrals include fun prints and colors as well.

(Are you surprised?!)


Of course it's the chartreuse yellow/green that is the show stopper in this quilt.

Some designs just beg for a constant.  And because the chartreuse is a solid - it gives the design a place to rest among all of the other busy action going on with the blues and the neutrals.


My luck held out!

I was limited to the amount of Chartreuse I had on hand - and because it was a solid it had no manufacturer name or info on it.  I'd had it a few years - so it was anyone's guess.  I couldn't run out and find some more - so this is why I pre-cut my star triangles to make the most of the fabric as possible with the least amount of waste.

Because of this - I had enough to bind it in the same fabric!


I absolutely adore how this quilt turned out - even though I ended up removing an outer border and adding a second row of flying geese to frame the center.

Sometimes we have to follow what the quilt says it needs - we can't call it done until it says YES!

I used strips from my Scrap User's System and my Essential Triangle Tool to do the flying geese and border triangles, but I've also included instruction on other flying geese methods, including the use of the Simple Folded Corners or Simple Folded Corners Mini.

If you participated in our Chilhowie mystery, you'll be up to speed on those methods!


New River Star was quilted with beige thread in an edge-to-edge design called Radiate by MyCreativeStitches.net.  

It's currently one of their free designs, and there are some variations that come with it.  It was a good exercise in purchasing and installing on my new Intelliquilter computer system for my long arm.


Lola, supervising while I pattern write at my desk.


Stash Enhancement at Cotton to Quilts!

The folks at  Cotton to Quilts have been busy at work getting fabric rolls and even yardage ready for you!

Facets of Blue color rolls will add some pizzazz to your blue scraps on hand, and of course their Notable Neutral rolls just can't be beat for the fun prints your quilts long for.

New this time around - they've got Bella Solids in both Chartreuse and Key Lime if you want to go a bit brighter. You can purchase a 3 yard cut on the website, or they will cut by-the-yard for you if desired.


And we are going to be giving a way two of these rolls!

I'll be drawing for two winners who will each receive a New River Star PDF pattern from me and a Facets of Blue color roll from Cotton to Quilts!

(Winner must have fabric prize shipped to a USA address.  If you are outside of the USA, we can send to a friend within the USA who can forward the prize on to you.)



We'll be drawing for our winners by random number generator on Monday 3/27/23.

Good luck, everyone!

And yes, the  New River Star pattern is currently 25% through 3/31/23  in both Quiltville Store and the Quiltville Etsy Pattern Shop.

Chartreuse & Blue!

Quilt Size: 88’’ X 88’'

Do star quilts and paper piecing tick all of the scrappy boxes for you? The blocks in New River Star are sewn on paper foundations and assembled traditionally with sashings and a wonderful flying geese border.

15 pages of detailed instruction with many optional construction methods, full-color photos and graphics, along with easy-to-print foundation patterns.

This pattern assumes the maker has some knowledge and experience with foundation paper piecing, but the concept is easy enough for beginners to catch on easily.

The printable PDF template for the block is included at the end of the pattern, and as a separate “stand alone” file, making it easier to pull up the template to print the number of copies you need without having to designate which page to print from the pattern.

Optional but helpful: Bonnie K. Hunter's Essential Triangle Tool and either the Simple folded Corners ruler, or the Simple Folded Corners Mini, Carol Doak Foundation Piecing Paper.

Traditional rotary cutting methods are also given for those who don't have access to these rulers.

I'm so excited to put this pattern out there.  I can't wait to see what you do with it!

If posting your progress to social media, please remember to use the hashtags #quiltville and #newriverstarquilt so I can track you down and see what you are up to!

Today I'm putting the finishing touches on the inn, and waiting the arrival of the Richmond Express quilters who will be arriving this afternoon.

It's another quilty retreat ahead!


Quiltville Quote of the Day -

While things may look perfect online, everyone has a different life behind their monitors and phone screens.
Everyone is heightening the positives and downplaying the negatives. They are only showing you their A sides, not their B sides.
Smoke and mirrors. Just remember that.⁣
Marketing will always push the "newer is better" mindset to us.⁣
Don’t get so hung up on what you see on social media that you feel you are not good enough or worthy enough.
Just get in the sewing room and CREATE!

Have a wonderful Wednesday, everyone!


 

9 comments:

  1. I have been wanting to get better at paper foundation piecing. This would be a great way to do that!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous10:47 AM EDT

    I paper pieced a double wedding ring quilt a few years ago, and haven’t found another paper pieces quilt pattern I’ve liked since! This is gorgeous!!! Love it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous12:32 PM EDT

    I am so impressed with how this turned out as well as your vision for it overall. I will admit to not being completely on board during the process. Just goes to show what I know. I just love it now! The flickering chartreuse is lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous12:42 PM EDT

    I absolutely love this. I admire your vision, bc my lack of it had me wondering about those points of chartreuse during the process. Another win!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jennifer Gately1:26 PM EDT

    The double flying geese border is so perfect on this awesome quilt!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Just beautiful! What a great pattern and colorselection! !

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous7:46 PM EDT

    I am a big fan of lime, chartreuse or icky green - with blue it is fantastic! Color is everything!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous7:51 PM EDT

    I am a huge fan of lime or chartreuse or as my quilt pals call it "icky green" - with blue it is just stunning. Color is everything

    Apple Annie

    ReplyDelete
  9. I like paper piecing it is so precise

    ReplyDelete

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