Inverted Fat Quarter Stars

I tell you what, my attention can be turned to a new project in the blink of an eye. A simple, innocent scroll through Instagram or Pinterest often results in my dropping whatever current project I'm focused on in order to 'Hurry! Let's see what this is like!' And whoosh, I'm off to try it out. You may want to read about the "squirrel" syndrome.

Case in point. This Inverted Fat Quarter Stars quilt came from my having seen a picture on Pinterest that struck my fancy. I clicked to the source and found a lovely new-to-me quilter and blogger Penelope Handmade. Immediately, I dragged out two matching FQs to give her technique a try. Her specific blog post for this block is very straightforward, and I just couldn't help myself. I ended up making more.

And over the past couple of months whenever a few moments availed themselves for a quick sit-down at the sewing machine, I have continued making these Inverted Fat Quarter Stars. 

(from Penelope Handmade)

The original quilt in the blog post shows a quilt that is decidedly brighter and more floral than the reproduction-style I have made. Actually, I can see myself making more of these and doing one in florals. It's such an easy block to make, and the style would look good in a variety of colorways, IMO.

Two things I encountered along the way. First, I don't like to do as much trimming as this block construction requires, so I altered the sizes on both parts of the 'no-waste flying geese." That was a big time saver for me. 

The second issue was that I discovered after all my blocks were constructed that I'd made 6 pairs incorrectly. Look at this earlier layout to see if you can detect my error.

The correctly-made star blocks are supposed to have the outer background and the center square of the same fabric, leaving the star points to be different. In the blocks shown above, six pairs are made in which the stars centers and star points are the same. I though I would just use them, and move on, but laying them out became problematic, so I just accepted that they needed to be corrected and did it.

I don't know how I let myself make this mistake on so many blocks (6 pairs! 12 blocks!), but I did and now that I've unsewn and then resewn correctly, I don't think I will ever make them wrong again! Arrgghh!

 This quilt is perfect for stash-busting. Years ago when I first began my fabric stash, I started by collecting fat quarters. Consequently, I've got an entire dresser full of them. Making this quilt was a good way of using them. Just pull one, find a complimentary mate and get to sewing. Easy to do and the blocks come out so big! Twelve inches! I made this quilt 6x7, so a decent-sized quilt with just 42 blocks.

Here are a few more shots of the flimsy. You are also getting some views of our remodeled bedroom. I still need wall art and additional decorative touches, but the biggest parts of the job are finished.

It feels good to share a finish. I haven't been nearly as productive as usual, because I am getting other things done. Are things getting done in your quilting room?

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne