Sunday, October 1, 2017

Sapphire Stars, The Conclusion

"Sapphire Stars"
Scrap Club hosted by Kevin the Quilter
2017 Summer Session Mystery Quilt



Here is Sapphire Stars in it's entirety!

Are you surprised??????

Do you likey??????

I certainly hope you do!
I know I do!
This design was created out of 
Scrap Club's love for Stars, and a 
combination of my September birthstone!
Whatta combo....right??? LOLOL

As with anything you piece, please measure,
press, and assemble the way that works for you.
I am NOT going to give all pressing instructions as 
most seams will nest from the previous unit instructions
and most quilters have their own way of pressing
during assembly, especially with a scrappy quilt.


Let's see how to piece this all together, shall we?

Here are the cutting instructions for assembly:

Remember that constant gray we haven't touched yet???
We will need:
17qty: 2.5" x 12 1/4" strips 
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE measure your blocks
before cutting these!!!!!
This was my measurement, however, your sewing 
may be a little different than mine.
Hold off cutting this clue until the big block
assembly.

We will also need:
4qty: 4.5" x 12.5" navy rectangles

AND
Various lengths of 2.5" strips of navy
to create the inner and outer borders of this quilt top.
(You may use only one navy fabric if you like for these
borders, that is your choice.  As for me, I chose several.)

Here is a good place to start......

Remember these units from clue #1?

We will be turning them into 12 of these units.
I selected to place my light corners in the center
so it would look like a shimmering sapphire.
Remember the pressing instructions from Clue #1
will make seams nest for these units.
MAKE 12

After constructing these 12 "sapphires"........

Using the units we just constructed from Clue #1 as our centers,
we will be using units from Clue #3, and Clue #5
to make this block.
We will be making 12 blocks with the same layout.
These are sewn together just like a 9 patch unit.
IMPORTANT
Place reds in opposite corners and yellows in 
opposite corners.  Make sure ALL 12 blocks 
have the same orientation with reds and yellows.
(Photo is distorted, thus, uneven corners.)
MAKE 12

Next, let's work on the sashing......


I do recommend laying out your quilt blocks
for this next step with the sashing
for easy piecing.

As you can see, we will be using our
"SURPRISE" units from Clue #4 to create
what will look like an alternate block.
Please note in the photo above,
 the 4 house top blocks we made along with
that cornerstone are all of the same fabrics.
You should have 6 sets of these from Clue #4.
The 10 random house top blocks will
complete the sashing on all the sides of the quilt top.
With this being said, you certainly can mix up
all of the house top blocks and cornerstones if you wish.

If you are interested, this is the way I pressed my
sashing strip.

And here is one sashing strip completed
from the back.

Please measure before cutting your gray strips.
You don't want to cut off the tips on those
hose top blocks.

Here is the sashing sewn on one block.

And I am adding a cornerstone here.

Notice that the blue strip in the half square triangle
do not meet the points of the star in the sashing.
This is the way it is designed, so don't think
you are doing something incorrectly here.

We all make quilts differently.......
for me, it is the shortest seam way
and for others, they may want to piece rows
and then add sashing.
The choice is yours, as is the pressing.

I laid my quilt top one half at a time.
This worked for me, and I ask you to do
what works for you.


Next......

Once the center of your quilt top is complete,
you will want to add a 2.5" inner border of 
Navy.  I sewed several Navy strips together,
sewed them to the sides, squared it, then added
them to the top and bottom, and squared it again.

Now....it is time...........

To go to work on our top and bottom borders.
I insert a whole-hearted apology to each and every one
of you here.  Through a mathematical error on my
part, we all pieced 4 extra units of the 7.5" rail fence units.
You should only have 18, not 22.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE forgive me?
I am human, and mistakes happen more than ever anymore!

We will be piecing 9 of these units from Clue #2
 together, alternating the placement of the blue.

Seams should nest beautifully for this part..
I offset these so you could see.

Make 2
One set for the top, and one for the bottom.
They should look like this.
Notice the reds run straight through in a single line.

Now, let's address those smaller rail fence
units for the sides of the quilt.
You should have 24 Light blue rail fence units
and 24 bright blue rail fence units made from Clue #2.

Divide each into 2 stacks of 12.
As shown in the photo, there are 2 stacks of 12 each
for bright and light blue units.
We will be making 2 long piano key borders
for each side of the quilt.
Make 2 strips of 24 alternating bright and light blue units.

Chain piece them together like this.
Notice I used every last inch of that
red piece on the left....the selvage was pieced
into the seam and didn't show!

You will now have these strip sets to complete the quilt top.

Attach the top and bottom borders first.
Trim corners if needed.
This photo shows how much I had to trim off
using a square ruler.

We are almost there......

Remember, the 4qty 4.5" x 12.5" rectangles we cut 
at the beginning of this post?
We will be attaching these to each end of 
our remaining 4.5" rail fence/piano key borders.

Please notice, it is easiest to go ahead and piece the 
last navy 2.5" border to the sides at this time.
I used several different lengths of 2.5" navy strips
to make these, and trimmed the excess off.

Now......

Find the center of your quilt top sides.
Hint.....it is going to be at your center sashing,
right at that point on the side.

Find the center of your side border strips,
by folding in half,
pin them in place, and attach to your 
quilt top center.
Notice, there is some excess on those navy rectangles.
After sewing, square them up.
I added extra to these rectangles
 so I had room for error.

After the side borders are attached,
add a 2.5" navy pieced border to the top and bottom

and.........

TA-DAH!!!!
Your "Sapphire Stars" quilt top will be done!

I certainly do hope you have enjoyed participating in
this mystery quilt, as much as I have?
I would LOVE to see your version!
Please e-mail your pics to me or post it 
on your blog!
It's been a pleasure mystifying you!


Thanks for all of the encouragement!
Keep on Quilting!
Kevin the Quilter



















38 comments:

  1. I love the way the corner units make a secondary pattern. Thanks for this beautiful design.

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  2. Yes, I most definitely "likey"!!! The sapphires in the center of each star are the perfect design choice - it sparkles!

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  3. Your Saphire Stars quilt is truly a GEM! I likely very much. Thank you Kevin for sharing so generously. XO

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  4. Beautiful quilt! The colors really pop!

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  5. Love It!!!!!! Will try to be patient waiting for the PDF :-) Thank you

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  6. Whoop! Whoop! This is so cool. :D And it's killing me that I can't work on mine. I can't do anything but bed rest or sofa-feet-up stitching until after Black Belt testing is finished. Just one week left to go, and then I am zooming on my final clue and this finish!!

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  7. It is an AMAZING quilt !!! Just gorgeous! I look forward to the PDF for it, honestly, you should sell it as a pattern now, I would certainly buy it. take care from Iowa

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  8. So, you know what I really love about those borders? They look call to mind the medals bars on mess dress uniforms. :) This is perfect for an Air Force QOV.

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  9. Fantabulous quilt, Kevin!!! I love it!! The borders do remind me also of the ribbons worn by our military and the secondary pattern created by the sashing is AWESOME!! I can't wait to get home and make this quilt!

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  10. Oh oh oh this is fantastic fabulous freeking awesome! I LOVE it. Full steam ahead to the finish line now. Thank you so much.

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  11. Oh my goodness I love It! Thank you for doing this for all of us. Can't wait to put mine together.

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  12. Wowsers! Turned out beautiful with surprise borders & awesome secondary corner pattern. Great job!!!

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  13. Oh my Kevin this is fabulous i love love love it, i cant wait to finish mine. Thank you so much for your generosity in running this mystery.

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  14. Very, very striking. I am only half way through the last clue. Still have to sew the yellows. I love the effect. I think I am going to replace the gray with something- maybe a light blue. I have time to think about it and will use the design wall when I get the stars sewn. It is really amazing for all the pieces to come together.

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  15. It's beautiful Kevin! I can't wait to get sewing my top together!

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  16. Great design, I can see the gemstones in the star centers, very creative.

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  17. great job Kevin - I love the pallet did you make it?
    The piano key border is my favorite part!

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  18. Kevin. This is a gorgeous quilt. I can see so many possible, and planned color ways that could be created. That encourages me to sort my scraps with greater intention. It is amazing, the prospective quilts that are just waiting in my heaps of scraps.
    I will go to my basement now and get the rake and snow shovel and get sorting this afternoon.Maybe I can get my 93 year old daddy to help..... ha, just kidding. He is an old accountant and would say something like "what purpose does this piece have?"
    Happy Monday Kevin

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  19. Oh My Gosh, it's stunning! I can't wait to see all three of mine completed! Thanks for a fun Mystery. This was my very first Mystery quilt. I usually can't make something unless I know what it will look like, but, since I know your quilts, and, this one is sized and colored for QoV, I knew I could do it.

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  20. What a beautiful design....thank you so much for all the time and effort you've put into GIVING this to us! And it's been a HOOT! Thanks to Heather as well. I love the way the star block centers really look like a faceted jewel...and the secondary design is amazing. I hate to be greedy...but I really hope you'll do this again.

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  21. I am absolutely speechless - well, o.k., I am never speechless, BUT... I LOVE this! I can't wait to finish it! Mine will be going to my quilting angel and back to me for binding, then on to a deserving veteran. Thank you, thank you, thank you for hosting such a fun mystery! And, thanks for the 4 extra blocks, they will have a wonderful home with the rest of my orphans!

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  22. Fantastic! I figured the blue stars, but you thru me with the sashing. Thank you for a fun QAL mystery and super pattern.

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  23. SCORE, Kevin! Looks SO good!!
    Will there be more mysteries in your future? :)

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  24. It is beautimous!!! I love it! If making 4 extra rail fence blocks is the only mistake you made, then you're a GENIUS quilt designer! :)

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  25. LOVE it!!! Thanks for including us in in your Scrap Club. Now, I just need to go catch up on all the clues... I'm about 3 clues behind! :o((

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  26. Fabulous!!! Great mystery! Sure had me stumped! Thanks for a great pattern and I can't wait to see it presented to a deserving Veteran here is Spokane!

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  27. It is beautiful, Kevin! I'm looking forward to working on mine again very soon.

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  28. AWESOME!!!
    WHEN YOU'RE READY TO GIVE UP YOUR DAY JOB, YOU'LL HAVE A CAREER OF TEACHING!!!

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  29. Congrats on a fun and successful mystery quilt. It turned out beautifully.

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  30. Yeah! My top is done! Thanks for the wonderful fun and interaction. Love, love the final outcome and how it all came together. Thanks. I will be out of town for the party (am I bummed or what), but am looking forward to sharing.

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  31. Gorgeous QAL Kevin, thank you so much. I love all the elements this quilt contains, You rock!

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  32. So pretty Kevin. Wish I'd heard of it sooner.

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  33. Very nice reveal Kevin. I didn't get a chance to work on this one, but maybe I'll get a chance next year. I'm going to download the pdfs now so I have them all in a "safe" place. LOL

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  34. Kevin, I'm a little slower than most and am just now assembling my top. See my post here: http://sewhigh.blogspot.com/2018/01/sapphire-stars-progress.html

    Sandy

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  35. How do I find all the steps to Sapphire?

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