New Orleans House Project

Saturday, August 8, 2015

RSC 15: Playdate with the Stars

I was lucky enough to play around in my sewing room all day today!  I put needle and thread together in several ways, but for now I'm going to share some Rainbow Scrap Challenge goodies that were creative fun.

Sawtooth Stars in indigo were assembled.  It's so hard to photograph these dark fabrics.  Even tweaking them with a photo program doesn't entirely help.  

I also started piecing red, white & blue 16 patch blocks for a Scrap Jar Star quilt.  I stacked RWB squares next to white squares and used the pairs as leader-enders.  I haven't pressed these open, so you're looking at the wrong side of the fabrics.

I'm thinking about using the Ohio Star block as an RSC project next year, so I played with sizes and piecing again this week.  I want to make 9" blocks in an effort to use up bigger scrap pieces.  This is the most basic Ohio Star variation, using 3.5" blocks for the corners and centers.  I used 4.25" blocks to make the Quarter Square Triangles (QST).  The only drawback to this method is cutting the 4.25" blocks from scraps every month. 

I like this Ohio Star variation better than the one with the plain center!

Since I practice Bonnie Hunter's Scrap User's System, I wanted to try making the star using scrappy strips I already had cut.  I went to the stash of 2" strips and pulled a light blue strip and a dark blue strip and used the Companion Angle Ruler to cut QSTs.  Then I went to the stash of 3.5" strips for my center and outer corners.  I was lucky to have the light blue fabric in both strip sizes.  Sewing the Companion Angle QSTs is a little more finicky, because sewing on the bias is required.  I reckon I can handle it!  If not, I'll go back to the other method.  It's always good to have several piecing techniques up your sleeve!

The Rainbow Scrappers have more inspiration on view over at Angela's Soscrappy blog, so take a peek over there for more colorful delights!