Saturday, January 14, 2023

Blocks in blues

 Hello quilty friends! How are things today? Today I finished my syllabi for the coming semester while I watched the temperature drop. It was nice and warm (for January) and now it's cold and more January-like again. Complete with rain and the possibility of snow. Yay?

This week, in between planning my classes, I made some progress on starting this year's RSC projects. As I said last week, I am going to clean out those danged bins this year if I have to sew all day and night to do it. To start, here are a few blocks from this week:

 
Aren't those pretty? I've decided to make a star quilt this year, and these are the first blocks. These are 9-inch blocks, so some of the pieces were very small, but they were all fun to make. And I got to use up this beautiful, long-saved bit of leftover fabric:


But wait, didn't I make a star quilt last year? Yep, but this one is different. I made a list of about 40 star and star-like blocks that look interesting to make, and every month I'll make a few of them in the color of the month. I have no layout yet, just a few ideas, but I think it will be fun and interesting to choose some blocks every month and see what I can come up with. Why make them all the same when I can make them all different?

Nine inch blocks, even 40 of them, won't use up very many scraps, so I'm also making these to use up the bigger pieces:


These are 12-inch blocks called Peace and Plenty, a classic block from the 1870s. The block itself has some neat secondary designs, depending on how long you look at it, but when you put the blocks all together without sashing they make even more fun patterns. I think the final quilt will be really interesting.
 
 
I made this block for a row quilt project in 2015 (!!!) and lucky for you, the tutorial for making it is right HERE. No hsts or qsts to make, and much, much faster than it looks. And don't they turn out cool? I think this quilt will finish at a nice size for a donation quilt once all is said and done. I'll aim for three blocks a month, but it all depends on the scraps. Pretty sure there won't be three in dark green as those scraps are almost gone (hurray for that!)
 
Sad to say that's as far as I got on those scraps. There are a bunch more in that bin, but the pieces are getting smaller and smaller. I may make a bunch of hsts with some of it, and maybe cut the rest into strings. We'll see how desperate I get. 
 
 
Have a great weekend everyone! January is the best month of the year to just stay inside, so I hope you make the best of it!
 
Sharing at soscrappy for RSC23.

19 comments:

quiltingbydawn said...

I like your idea of different stars! There are so many star blocks…so why not. I did a star quilt with 16 different paper pieced stars in red, white and blues several years ago. Can’t wait to see what yours looks like!

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

love your variety of blue blocks!

Sara said...

Those are GORGEOUS blue blocks! I'm such a fan of star blocks of all shapes and sizes. I actually have an old quilt block book that has a star for each of the 50 states.

Kate said...

Love all your blue stars. It's a fun idea to build a RSC quilt around. Good luck emptying your scrap bins this year with both of your projects.

Ivani said...

Beautiful blue scraps and gorgeous blue star blocks. It will be nice seeing your rainbow stars every month. Good luck emptying the bins.

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

Your new star blocks are beautiful, Mari, and not for the faint of heart, I think! But a block with triangles that aren't made from triangles - that I have to check out. Happy sewing!

The Joyful Quilter said...

Impeccable Dark/Bright BLUE scrap blocks, Mari!! Thanks for the link to the slick trick for the larger blocks. Off to see if I have some scraps that would work for giving your method a try...

Maggie said...

Stars must be contagious, because one of my RSC23 is filled with stars as well. Beautiful blocks. Have a fun weekend.

scraphappy said...

You can never have too many star blocks! What a fun collection you have already. Hopefully the blue bin is starting to be less full.

Susie H said...

Those star blocks just twinkle, especially that one with the paisley scraps. Ooo! La! La! Star blocks are wonderful. Truly going to make a pretty quilt one day.

grammajudyb said...

Wow! Those are some awesome Star blocks! You go girl! Clean out that blue bin!

Astrid said...

Those blocks are sooo pretty! Beautiful blues. Great idea to make different star blocks in RSC colors.

Laura said...

Your blue star blocks sure do sparkle, Mari! Great RSC project! :)

Vicki in MN said...

I love all kinds of stars and your blue ones just sing!

Nann said...

A Wonderful array of blues! Thanks for showing the Peace & Plenty blocks together. Having several at a time is a very different look from a single block.

Quiltdivajulie said...

I wish you the best for emptying those scrap bins . . . mine are NEVER empty! The blue stars are wonderful!!

sue s said...

I'm late to the party this week but I just had to comment on these gorgeous blocks! It takes me a week to make one of these and you did three. I am impressed (and have a way to go in my skills!)

Nancy @ Grace and Peace Quilting said...

What an idea--a variety of 9" blocks!!! This RSC quilt is going to be beautiful!

Kathleen said...

I love these blocks. I need to try out your second in EQ to see the secondary pattern! It will be fun to see how you use these in a quilt. Stars are great for scrap quilts because they work for everyone!