Oh! Goodies!

Is it Christmas?

Not quite yet I suppose?

However, it has been a season of giving and receiving for me lately!

More importantly, it is a season to be thankful!

I was recently able to award my cousin, David,

his very own Quilt of Valor, courtesy of 

Quilts of Valor, Eastern Missouri at my annual family reunion.

David is a Vietnam Veteran and he was

very surprised and appreciative.

I NEVER tire of giving Quilts of Valor!

This QOV was made by the Missouri State Quilter's Guild

using a string basket weave design.

My mom's immediate family is growing smaller and smaller.

It's always nice to be with family.

Pictured from left to right are my mom's brother Tommy,

her sister Flossie Sue, mom's twin brother Bobby, and his wife Doris.

And, of course my parents are on the far right.

Cousin Phyllis was able to make it in from Kentucky!

She brought me this beautiful cross stitch work of art

in honor of my Gracie Lu.

"Dogs leave paw prints on your heart!"

I! LOVE! IT!

Thanks so much Phyllis......you know it has

already found it's place of honor in my home!

"Funky Chicken"

I recently participated in a Mug Rug swap

hosted by 

Randy of  Barrister's Block.

Randy paired me up with 

Claire of  Cspoonquilt.

We both are rather fond of chickens!

This is the one I sent to her,.........and.........

I received not one, but TWO bright and colorful

mug rugs from her!

Not to mention that beautiful rooster fabric!
These already have designated places of honor in my

office and by my piecing machine!

These are really a wonderful size.......and.......

they are both reversible!

Wow Claire!

You REALLY outdid yourself here!

I look forward to remaining in contact with you!

Thanks for the great mug rugs and fabric!

Speaking of chickens.........and ducks.........

there was a recent hatching here at the Quilt Cave!

13 chicks and 2 ducklings!

This is the best hatch yet using an incubator.

I will show some better photos of the babies soon. 

They are growing so fast already!

If you are close by, I do have chicken and duck eggs for sell!

I have been kitting up some projects to work on

while flying.

I have to admit, cutting is one of my least favorite things to do.

I prefer sitting behind my machine chain piecing the day away.

But, I love having projects to work on in my room.

Do any of you kit your projects up?

If so, how do you go about it?

I'd love to know?

Look who can't reproduce!

LOL

What a little booger Lilly Mae is!

Fortunately, she did amazingly well from

her Spay surgery, and didn't have to wear the cone

long.  Check out that fancy glitter bandage

she received at the vet!

She is growing up too quickly!
6 months old already!

And, I received this postcard from Lesley in the UK

when she went on a trip with her daughter.

There is a ton of photo inspiration from the pics

on the postcard!  Thanks for thinking of me Lesley!

And, Angelia of The Eclectic Abuela

sent me these beautiful fat quarters and 

a nice little thank you message about

the "Sapphire Stars" mystery quilt.

How thoughtful of you Angelia!  Thanks so much!

I also have to shout out to Laura who sent 

me another huge box of scraps!

You know, I dove into that box so quickly

I forgot to take a photo! LOLOLOL

I'd also like to thank all of you who have sent me

photos of your version of the "Sapphire Stars" mystery quilt!

I have seen so many beautiful versions and am in awe

of all of your talents!

It is quite humbling to see so many beautiful

works of art stemming from one of my designs.

Keep those photos coming!

I truly am blessed!

Thanks for all of your encouragement!

Keep on Quilting!

Kevin the Quilter

String Star Class

 ATTENTION!  ATTENTION!  ATTENTION!

If you are in or around the metropolitan St. Louis, Missouri

 area and you are free on Tuesday, October 17,

please join me and the

Circle in the Square Quilters

in University City, Missouri.

I will be sharing my lecture/trunk show that evening

during their Quintessential Quilt Show.

I can't wait to meet everyone there!

Thanks so much for the invite!!!!

I know several of you have expressed interest

in the "String Star" workshop.

Here are a few photos of the most

recent workshop I held in my 

personal studio, The Quilt Cave.

Helen is sharing her work from a previous workshop.

Look at that amazing scalloped border she made!
 I! LOVE! IT!

First you take some strings, or make them

like Grace is doing here!

Separate strings into color families for a stained glass look.

Start sewing them to a telephone page foundation.

Linda, pictured above, used MANY strings in her version.

Marilyn hit the ground running with her

string pieces!

Friends that sew together,........have A LOT OF FUN

together!

Pam and Patty are such a hoot!

Start playing with layouts.

And, before long you will have your string star

well on it's way to completion!

Look at these gorgeous variations!

(We condensed these three to be closer together

for their beauty shot.)

Not to be outdone by these two!

You can choose to piece your background, or

use one fabric.  The choice is yours!

If you or your guild is interested

in the "String Star" workshop,

please contact me!

I can also host workshops in my

studio for you and a small group of

friends!

In other news............

"Sapphire Stars" is at my friend Kim's

being quilted in this panto.

I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing all different versions

being constructed by quilters across the globe!
Remember, please send me photos as I would love

to see your version!

Hmmmm......I wonder what these are going to be turned into??

Here is "Palmateer Point."

The mystery sew along that Lori hosted at

Humble Quilts.

I chose to do my half square triangles in orange

for a fall-esque little quilt.
Linking up with Humble Quilts Linky Party.

That's it from the Quilt Cave this week!
Please stay safe wherever you are, and 

whatever you are doing!

Thanks for all of the encouragement!
Keep on Quilting!

Kevin the Quilter

Sapphire Stars, The Conclusion

"Sapphire Stars"

Scrap Club hosted by Kevin the Quilter

2017 Summer Session Mystery Quilt

PDF FOR FINAL ASSEMBLY

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

Sapphire Stars Final Clue #5!

Well Scrappy Quilters!

It is time for the fifth and final clue in our "Sapphire Stars" mystery quilt!

If you have made it this far, you might as well keep on going and finish this quilt top!
Not to mention, quilt, bind, and label it!

This clue comes from a spirit of scrappiness, and as you all know, my personal goal is to make a quilt as scrappy as possible.  With this in mind, this is how I personally worked this clue.  If you know of a more simple way that is up to you.  I only ask one thing, don't bash the scrappy quilter here! LOL
I am an unpaid quilter that is only wishing to share his passion with his fellow artists.

Keeping it as simple as possible.....

Here we go!

For this clue you will need:

12 Red (All shades of red) 6.5" Squares

12 Yellow (All shades of yellow) 6.5" Squares

24 6 7/8" Neutral Squares

We will also need our

24 light blue 1.5" x 6.5" strips

and

24 bright blue 1.5" x 6.5" strips

These were cut in clue #3.

(If you haven't cut these strips yet, just cut them now....

we will wait for you.....LOL)

Let's begin!

Take your red and yellow squares and cut them 

twice on the diagonal.

(Yellow squares not pictured.)

Like this........

You will now have a total of 

48 Red quarter square triangles

and

48 Yellow quarter square triangles

Next....

Bring out those 1.5 x 6.5 strips of light and bright blues

Pair the light blue strips with the red triangles

like this.

Pair the bright blue strips with the yellow triangles

like this.

MAKE SURE the bottom remains even

 as pictured in the photos.

We want that tall tip at the top.

We will be sewing these units just like this.

Please don't worry about that strip being a little longer

than the top of the triangles.....we will take care of that later.

Sew the strips to one side.....

Press toward the strip.

(For both red and yellow triangles)

Here is a view from the reverse side

of some of the yellow triangles.

(Do this for both red and yellow triangles.)

We are half way there with this part.

Lay the other quarter square triangles on

the other side just like this.

Sew another quarter square triangle

to the other side of the strip.

Make sure you have the triangle positioned

correctly.

(Do this for both red and yellow triangles.)

Once again, press toward the strip.

Here is a reverse side view to help you.

Hmmm.....what should we call these at this point???

Dragonfly units???  Broom units????

LOLOLOLOL

We aren't quite done yet......

Take these units to your cutting table.

Line them up as best as possible on your lines like this......

the lines are used simply for reference marks.

Now place a ruler that has a diagonal line

on top of the unit.  Refer to the photo above.

We are going to trim that extra strip off.

Do this to both the yellow and red triangle units.

Chop!  Chop!

Just like that!

I added some length to the strip because I wanted

to allow some room for error for myself.

It DOES NOT bother me that the extra is waste.

Truth be told, not all of my strips are "perfectly" centered.

Please do NOT report this to the quilting police????? LOL

Pretty simple, right?

I am SURE this can be made as one block

and cut down the center.....but, as I said before,

I want my quilts to be as scrappy as possible and

ALL of my yellows, reds, and both shades of 

blues are different.
I did this by using one quarter square triangle
as a template for cutting the rest from
various red and yellow scraps of fabric.

I know.......call me crazy!

You won't be the first that has! LOLOL

Are we done??????

Not quite yet......

We need to add something to these!

We need to add another side to these units we just made.....

you can use a variety of tools to get that other side

cut appropriately.

I chose to use the easy angle ruler to get mine cut.

and you know why........variety, variety, variety

of neutrals! LOL

However, if you cut a 6 7/8" square of neutral

on the diagonal once, that will work out just fine.

24: 6 7/8" squares of neutral

cut once on the diagonal will yield

the 48 half squares of neutral we need to 

complete this last unit.

Align your yellow units with a neutral......

they will only fit one way....

and chain piece them through the machine.

Do the same with your red units.

I do finger(nail) press because I feel it gets the

crease down to the thread 

where it needs to be when pressing with an iron.

Press toward the yellow and red, away from the neutral.

This may seem wrong to you, but, it

will help with nesting seams in the final assembly of

the quilt top.

You should now have:

24 yellow half square triangles

and

24 red half square triangles.

Trim to 6.5" squares.

I did not have to trim much at all.

I just had to lay out some units to see what they

would look like.......and

I think I may have to make a quilt like this some day!

There you have it!

I am going to give you all a day or two to 

chomp away at this clue.

Also, it's a nice feeling keeping you 

in suspense.

LOLOLOLOL

I promise to share with you all

the last steps of this mystery in a few days.

Get this unit made so you can 

join in the final reveal of....

Here are ALL of the links to this mystery:

Sapphire Stars Intro
INTRO PDF

Clue #1
Clue #1 PDF

Clue #2
Clue #2 PDF

Clue #3
Clue #3 PDF

Surprise Clue #4
Clue #4 PDF

Clue #5 PDF

Thanks to Heather for all of the PDF's!
You have done an amazing job on all of them!

Thanks for all of the encouragement!

Keep on Quilting!

Kevin the Quilter