Hurray! I’
ve waited (
im)patiently all week but my turn to post is finally here! If you are a new visitor to my blog, welcome...or as the Celts in my beautiful province of Nova
Scotia, Canada say:
"Ciad Mille Faite". (A Hundred Thousand Welcomes). I hope you take the time to look around and become a regular. There are lots of pictures and tips and tutorials, my main website is
here and ...who knows?...you may even learn a little bit about beekeeping on the side!
Earlier this week, I challenged readers to pick which was my block from this shot of the mug.
Linda and
Gail, two dedicated quilting
bloggers, both emailed to say they knew exactly which one was mine so... ladies, did you get it right?!
It's this one, plain and simple.
If you know me at all, you know I operate on the KISS principle. My favourite quote, attributed to Albert Einstein, is "Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler."
And that's exactly how this block was born. Essentially, I started with a square and added a narrow
sashing with angled ends. It was fine but Albert would have viewed it as too simple. So I split the centre square into an HST and it was immediately better. I could place blocks side by side to get this...and thus the name Hidden Stars was born.
Placing the blocks on point was even more fun:
Here are some layouts you get when rotating the block:
It's cool how the stars superimpose themselves over what's going on in the background with the
HSTs.
The good folks at
Quiltmaker also liked the simplicity of the block and played around with their own layout. They decided to make a kit available with full instructions and yardage to complete the quilt shown below. You can check out the details
here:
For those of you who have the block instructions from the magazine, here's a simple runner you can make using large
florals and only three blocks. Finished, it will measure 12-3/4" x 25-1/2". Simply follow the instructions for the block, tripling the yardage given for the materials. I like how that centre star cinches the middle section together, almost like a tiny waist or a bow on a package.
Of course, you can also do it full sized and add a funky pointy border as well.
There's no limit to where simple can take you. If you'd like to win a copy of the magazine, leave a comment at the bottom of this post by midnight tonight (Friday),
AST (Atlantic Standard Time)
saying where you are from. Please make sure that your email address is included so I can contact you; send it to me
here in addition to the comment if you are unsure.
I'd like to thank
Quiltmaker magazine for such a fun week and so many wonderful surprises. I visited every designer's blog and really enjoyed the experience. There is one final surprise once you get a copy of the magazine in your hands and that relates to the signatures you may have noticed on the blocks. Scroll back up and see mine. There's a reason they are there...but you need to have the magazine to find out! So, leave your comment for a chance to win or check the newsstands on May 10
th. You will not be disappointed. Thanks for visiting, and make sure you visit the
rest of the designers on today's tour!
EDIT: I am getting a lot of comments without email addresses which means I cannot contact you. MAKE SURE your profile is enabled in the settings for your mail account, type your address in the comment, or email me after you've left the comment to send your address. I need to have your email address!
The good folks at Quiltmaker have put together a magazine of quilts made from these original blocks.
On a blogspot from last May, I gave several layout suggestions for use in a quilt, such as the one shown below.
Peg Spradlin has cleverly varied my block and combined it with 3 others from that same issue in this very patriotic quilt entitled "Let Freedom Ring." 
Another of Peg's quilts appears on the cover, "Irish Spring Surprise" shown below on the left. It's beautifully quilted with bee motifs among the flowers . If you've been looking for ideas on how to use the blocks from the magazine in a quilt, this issue is on newstands now. Visit the Quiltmaker site and click on the magazine image to see more quilts from the issue.
