string star

i've been an admirer of tara faughnan's color genius for a while now. her palettes aren't obvious and many colors she uses wouldn't be my first choices. but the way she combines them is just brilliant.

recently, i noticed she was offering an online class for making a string star from scraps and i jumped at the opportunity to join. it would challenge my skill set and i could maybe pick up some information from tara about how she combines colors. (her website is tarafaughnan.com)

the class was conducted over two zoom meetings, 3 hours each, a week apart. i wasn't sure how that would work, exactly, but it turned out to be a wonderful format and so much fun!

we learned how to draft our own diamond templates from freezer paper, and how to make slabs from our scraps to cut the diamonds from.

after the first one or two, selecting the colors got a lot easier and the process became really fast.

i decided to make a small test block star that will measure about 20" total when done, to be used on the back, and make a large 60" star for the quilt top. that's right in line with my "stella grande" sizes, so i'll just add a string border to the ends and have a(nother) nice 60"x72" star quilt when i'm done.

we learned how to join y-seams in the class. they just take a little practice. after i made 2 slightly puffy y-seams, we figured out what i had done wrong (pressed between sewing the seams - press after making both, instead), i had no problems with the next ones.

somewhere along the way i didn't do a good job lining up my diamonds, so my points in the center when i joined them all together were a mess. i lost all but two of them.

so i'm unpicking and redoing this when i get a chance.

i'm so glad i decided to do a test block before trying to make a giant single star.

this one is going to be fun on the back, which i have some exciting ideas for.