Quilts of Valor Blog Hop (and a prize!)

Giveaway is now CLOSED. Thank you.

Welcome to the GO for a Star Quilts of Valor (QOV) Blog Hop. The main page for the blog hop is on Marjorie's blog here.

I am sharing a quilt pattern I designed in Electric Quilt 7 on my computer.  I call this quilt "Long May She Wave"

There are two layouts.  Just adjust based on the size of your blocks. Smaller block sizes require more blocks to make it the desired size.  You can also add borders to achieve the proper size.

I tried designing a traditionally pieced five pointed start for this quilt.  I came up with one. It just looked sad.
So I went back to the drawing board and did a paper pieced version.Here is an image that a dear friend, Tonya, tested for me.



She said that it works well. So if you want to paper piece stars; the file can be downloaded here .  I discovered that although I started out quilting with paper piecing, I don’t love it.  So I went back to the drawing board again!


This time I spent a lot of time thinking about the techniques I have used that I like and don’t like.  I really don’t like the tedious act of cutting out pieces using templates.

While I was thinking about this, I noticed part of the quilt n my bed.   I saw a nice sharp point. Hmmm….. I did this by layering fabric and cutting thru it and rearranging the layers.   So I tried it with three little sheets of paper and some tape.   Hey that looks like it will work.  So I took the pieces of paper to the sewing area to follow along with.  (I drew a diagram as I went so I could follow it  since  it worked on paper!)

What do you think?   The stars are not perfect but they are five pointed stars AND they are easy to make.   (These are untrimmed in the picture)

So here is how you make them:
First  cut three squares (I did mine 12 1/2" square) one each of red, white and blue. Stack them with all right sides up and edges even.

Now we make one cut at an angle from Top center to ?? 1/5 from the right edge on the bottom. (I just eyeballed it. See next image for approx location)
Shuffle the piece on the top right stack to the bottom Then sew the two pieces that are now on top together. Repeat with the second and third pieces. Press your seams then restack the pile being sure that all the pieces are facing the same way like in the next picture. (sorry the color on it is horrible!)

You should have a pile similar to this - but make all the edges match again.








Now you are ready to cut your neat stack again:

I made cut two about a third of the way from the top.  Again shuffle the top piece of one of the piles to the bottom.





Like this:

You are going to sew the three sets again-try to line up those seams. The edges might not match exactly but we are going to trim the square later.








Again we press the seams, restack and make the next cut like this:

Shuffle, sew, press and  restack - I think you should have the idea now.


The next cut is like this:

Again: Shuffle, sew, press and  restack









Make the final cut  like this:

Shuffle and sew.  Then press your three blocks and trim them to size.

You can do with with up to 6 blocks- more than that and the cutting becomes difficult - your blocks will slip. You could also do these in three shades of blue. or use a dark and a medium blue with a white or a red.   Changing the order of the cuts will change the layout of the block.







Here is  the cutting diagram with the cuts marked.  The color of the line matches the color of the number.

And one more thing! Here is the video showing how to make the Wavy Bar blocks.  If the wavy bars aren't your thing,  you can make straight stripes.  I just think the wavy bars add a nice movement to the design.



If you are making only blocks to send it for this challenge, you will have to make these larger by adding borders to them.  The full requirements list is HERE.


Oh yes...about the prize; to enter leave a comment telling me if you prefer a video tutorial or a "words and pictures" tutorial. Entries accepted through Sunday, April 8. The prize winner will be picked on Monday April 9th.  The winner will be contacted by email to get mailing information. This is a USA only giveaway (sorry my international friends.)

PRIZE: Aurifil thread pack and a 2 yard cut of this fabric. 

The full listing for the blog hop is:

April 2: Barb Gaddy
http://bejeweledquilts.blogspot.com/

(If you missed Barb's post, be sure to go back and read it!) 

April 3: Gene Black, an Alabama Artist and Quilter
http://blog.geneblack.com/

April 4: Marjorie’s Quilting Bee – will also be Blogger Spotlight for Accuquilt on April 4.http://b-quilts.com/blog

April 5: Marilyn Lewis
http://northhillsquilter.blogspot.com/

April 6: Linda Alexander
http://living4quilting.blogspot.com/