Learning to make wonky stars
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| Wonky star mat for September's 2022 Table Scraps Challenge |
September's colour is light blue and the theme is pumpkins. Sorry, don't go looking for the pumpkin - it's not part of the mat.
I found a tutorial on YouTube by Jenny Doan of Missouri Star (see links below). It really took me a while to get the hang of making the wonky star. I kept wanting to place the second leg of the star backwards.
I did a quick practice block to see if I could make a wonky star. I did it, but realised that the fabric colours were all wrong. Since I'm going to Almonte on Sunday to demonstrate meditation stitching at the Out of the Box booth at Fibrefest, I'm going to cut this block up and see what I can do with it.
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| Practice wonky star block |
Once I knew what I was doing, I cut up a bunch of 1½" squares and made a small wonky star block. I then sewed the other squares together.
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| Wonky star block surrounded by blue squares |
I sewed the block to the batting using the walking foot. To make sure that I learned from my experience, I re-read my blog post of the Happy Hexie Mug Rugs. I'm glad to say that I didn't make the same mistakes...just some new ones 😁.
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| Getting ready to attach the back |
I stitched the front to the back and then in the opening, turned the mat out. Once the opening was stitched up, I sewed around the edges with the walking foot.
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| Glamour shot :-) |
I found a pumpkin!
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| Blue Wonky Star Mat with Pumpkin 😊 |
What I learned
- I should know better than to work with tiny square pieces of fabric. They don't hide the fact that I'm accuracy challenged. I did quite well on the wonky star block but the other square pieces aren't great. I know that I shouldn't worry about the quilting police but somehow it's ingrained in me!
- I ended up cutting the back fabric the same size as the front but it didn't give me much fabric to close up the opening.
- I sewed the front and back using a seam allowance that was too small. I had to go back and fix one area that hadn't been stitched properly. A generous ¼" would have been good.
- Check out Ivani's orange Wonky Star block - I love it!
- IVANI VIEIRA - Arte em Casa, Wonky Star Blocks, September 10, 2022
- Make a "Tiny Wonky Stars" quilt with Jenny Doan of Missouri Star (Video Tutorial)
- Happy hexie flower mug rugs, July 25, 2022
I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties. I'll be linking up to the 2022 Table Scraps Challenge as soon as it opens at the end of the month! Let's see what others are up to! Put your foot down, Peacock Party, Off The Wall Friday, Patchwork & Quilts, Oh Scrap!, Monday Making, Beauties Pageant, Needle & Thread Thursday, Finished or Not Finished Friday, Free Motion Mavericks with Muv, DrEAMi!,
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So cute!!! Love the wonky star! Such pretty blues...
ReplyDeleteThanks Nancy, it was a bit of a challenge but today I used a quarter of my practice piece in a meditation block that I made at Fibrefest.
DeleteLovely blue fabric. I’ve never made a wonky star.
ReplyDeleteI hope that you have a chance to try it. It was very cool and fun to make.
DeleteYour wonky star looks great and I love your elephant :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Janine - and the elephant is my muse :-)
DeleteAhhh Andrée you made a beautiful wonky star table mat!!! Congrats !!!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Ivani - your block was my inspiration :-)
DeleteThis turned out to be a beautiful little piece. I am also challenged with accuracy and wonky sounds like something I could manage. Star blocks even wonky ones are always pretty. And those blues are so sweet.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jocelyn, wonky stars are definitely the way to go for accuracy challenged quilters. Just make sure that your fabrics stand out (unlike my sampler!)
DeleteJ'adore ce modèle d'étoile, et le tien est très réussi, j'aime bien comme elle se détache du fond foncé. Il va falloir que j'essaie aussi ;)) J'avais repéré celles d'Ivani aussi :D
ReplyDeleteMerci pour le partage !
Merci bien Frédérique. Le petit morceau est bien réussi. Je veux quand même essayer de reproduire celui d'Ivanie. Bonne semaine :-)
DeleteLove that mat... um, but the plaid pumpkin? that is my kind of pumpkin!! TOO cute!!
ReplyDeleteYes, isn't that plaid pumpkin gorgeous? I must have been channeling your vibes last year at Thanksgiving. I bought it at a lovely market. I'm really glad that I actually remembered that I have it :-)
DeleteROFL!! I absolutely LOVE the way you incorporated the PUPMKIN theme into your Light BLUE quilted mat post, Andree. SEW funny! Thanks for linking up with the TABLE SCRAPS Challenge. :o))
ReplyDeleteThanks Joyful :-) I was trying to fit in the pumpkin without too much effort. I'm glad that I actually found the pumpkin, hidden away in my studio!
DeleteI love wonky stars, too - your mat turned out really fun! I made some a few years ago - there's definitely more to making them than meets the eye!
ReplyDeleteThanks. I'm not sure that I would be up to making a whole quilt of wonky stars. That's why I love these little challenges. Just enough to try something out.
DeleteIt's a lovely wonky star mat. Those quilting police never show up, so I would stop worrying about them. Thanks for linking up to tips and tutorials!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kathleen. I really have to give myself a break or I will become a quilting police :-( Not a good thing. Thanks again for hosting. It's always lots of fun to learn from others.
DeleteWell done Andrée, it sounded impossible, but you managed to combine pale blue with a pumpkin in the final picture! Great little star, and I love the deep blue background for the night sky.
ReplyDeleteThanks Muv, it didn't look good for the pumpkin until I spied this one hiding on my shelf in the studio. Of course now there are tons of pumpkins in store everywhere but I hate to buy one and not eat it.
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