All Flights Lead Home - done

I tried to hang this up in my house to photograph, but all of the places I chose were in shadow and it wasn't showing off the colors.  So I finally layed it on the kitchen tile. This project was a Row By Row kit I picked up in Iowa a few years ago.  The finished size is about 8" by 35" which is slightly shorter than the original kit, because I left out one of the rainbow fabrics. There was a blue print used between the blue and purple and I didn't like how it looked, so I didn't use it.

The metal star hanger was a happy surprise.  I had just finished the binding when my husband came in with the mail.  I had ordered a small "box" from Fat Quarter Shop that had a July 4th theme and it had arrived.  Inside was this metal hanger.  

There was also a cute red checked pincushion, some patriotic fabric and a pattern in the box.  I can play with those another day.  For today, I have a finish that is ready to be gifted.  

Design Wall Monday

I love it!!  Breezy is the first project we are doing for the Club #9 collection of Simple Whatnots, and it's very cute.  Plus it went together without to many problems in spite of the 1" sashing strips.  My goal is to get this quilted today, and maybe even put the binding on it. 

My other goal - while I'm in the mood to do some quilting - is to quilt the little wall hanging.  This one shouldn't take long at all to quilt.

Check out more Design Wall Monday posts:  https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/

Clutter, clutter, clutter

I must confess that I have TOO MUCH STUFF.  This crib in a guest bedroom had become the place to put quilts. Big quilts, little quilts, quilted bags, quilted pillows.  No one has stayed in this room since maybe last fall sometime, and it has gotten completely out of control.  Now, as I look at the photo I realize there are some framed pictures leaning against the wall on the left as well.  HMMM - too much stuff.

I started putting things on the bed too.  On the left are 5 Quilts of Valor (with pillowcases) that should have all been presented by now. But thanks to Covid they are still at my house, folded neatly and ready to go as soon as we can safely do that.  A small stack of puzzles sits next to the QOV.  And behind that is a stack of table runners that no longer fit in the dresser drawer where I usually keep them.  And a small stack of recently finished projects - bags, runners, wall hangings.  

I will also confess that there is a similar stack of puzzle boxes under the coffee table in the living room.  And another small stack of projects - in various stages of completion - sitting on the living room love seat.  Again, I have to say it . . . I have way too many quilts and other things around this house!!

I pulled one quilt out of the crib last week to give as a gift to the graduate (great-niece) and another one is going in the mail as a baby gift this week. But I need to keep giving some of these things away.

And the youngest grandchild is 5, so it's definitely time to get rid of that crib.  A nice antique of some kind would be perfect to store quilts. 

Breezy and binding

All of the various parts and pieces for Breezy are cut and are now laid out on my big design board.  I have a couple of these just the right size to hold a block, but this one is twice as big and works perfectly for these mini quilts. 

Breezy is a Simple Whatnots mini quilt by Kim Diehl.  I sure wish our group were meeting in person today, but we're not able to yet.  Maybe next month.  This one is so cute that I just couldn't wait to get started on it.  The cutting didn't take as long as many of these do.  There are 5 pinwheel blocks and one of those is sewn now - because I just had to. The rest will have to wait. 

The binding is also on the Oh My Stars quilt, and I'm about 1/4 of the way around it already with the hand stitching. I didn't spend as much time as expected sewing yesterday, but progress is progress.

I'm playing some golf later this morning before it gets too hot, and then going to a family graduation party for my niece's daughter this evening.  Lots of extended family will be there and some came from out of state.  It makes me a little nervous about being among so many people but we are going.

Speaking of being nervous around people. My husband told me yesterday that we've been invited to a big annual birthday bash for one of his friends.  This guy lives in western Iowa and does this big blowout every year, inviting friends, family, and clients.  It would involve staying in a hotel overnight, and mingling with tons of people we don't know.  My response was "are you nuts?".  How is this different than the groups of college kids on the beach together for spring break?  Oh yeah - we are all old enough to know better.  No way am I going to that birthday party!!

Change of plans

I should be in the car with my husband, on the way to a golf course. We had plans to meet one of his business partners this morning at a course in Sioux Falls.  However - he is on his way to golf, and I'm at home while a repair technician works on our air conditioning.  Actually I'm OK with that as I can't survive without air conditioning.  OK, maybe I wouldn't actually die, but I would be miserable.

I do plan to go downstairs shortly and work on a couple of things.  I still have the 3 little blocks left to make for Week 4 of Lori Holt's Sew Along. And I need to find something to put on the back of the house warming wall hanging I was working on earlier this week.  I'm going to do some simple vertical quilting in each of those 4 vertical rows with black thread.  And then I'll bind in black.  I've ordered a metal hanger for it, so maybe it will be ready to gift to my daughter in a couple of weeks.  

I bought a pretty dark gold fabric yesterday to bind Oh My Stars.  So that is on my radar for today to cut and sew onto the quilt so I can work on the hand stitching.  

And while I was in the shop I picked up my fabric for this next collection of Kim Diehl Simple Whatnots quilts - Club 9.  The pattern for the first mini quilt was in the bag too and I can't wait to work on it because it's so adorable. Breezy is the name and it's only 18" square.  I hear that our Simple Whatnots group leader is going to post a video online Saturday since we can't meet as a group.  This is another group that I miss greatly. 

I'm not sure that I've shown the kits I put together for 2 additional Quick Strippee quilts this week.  So I now have 3 quilt kits: flamingos, Scottie dogs, and sheep.  So cute!!  I also pulled out a couple of border prints (geraniums and Halloween) that I'm going to kit up for 60 degree table runners.  I'll have several quick project kits all ready for some delightful sewing this next few weeks. 

Have a great weekend!!

One week behind

The blocks for Week 3 of Lori Holt's Bee Patriotic Sew Along are now done. These are the 6" blocks and are very cute in the small size.  I was worried about having enough fabric because I was using a fat eighth bundle, but now that I have only 3 more blocks to make it's obvious that I have plenty. 

What I don't have plenty of is a good binding fabric for the Oh My Stars quilt that I showed yesterday.  I want a gold similar to the stars, and I don't have anything that would work.  What a shame - I'll have to go shopping.   

Snowflakes in June

Yesterday I was able to pick up another quilt that is quilted and ready to bind.  Bonnie at The Pin Cushion does wonderful quilting.  She has a great eye for thread color in particular in my opinion.  She used a dark gold color on this one and those snowflakes just POP on the cream borders in particular. I love it!!

This is my Oh My Stars quilt (Pat Sloan pattern) made in blues and cream, with dark gold stars.  I think I have binding already cut for this, but if not I'll have to shop for some soon because I'm excited to get this one bound.  Before quilting this quilt was OK (below) but those gold snowflakes and swirls make it so much prettier.  Thank you Bonnie!!!

Bonus time sewing

I took this morning off as I had a 10 am appointment for a pedicure but the appointment was pushed back to 11:30 - so I suddenly had some sewing time.  Yay!!  This is the Row By Row kit I posted about yesterday.  Very honestly it took me an hour to cut the pieces and put together this little project.  It's only about 8.5" wide by 35" long.  I haven't made a final decision yet about the words (angle and location), so they are not ironed on yet.  And I'm still debating about whether I want to add a narrow black border to finish this off, or just bind it in black.  

However, I have decided it is going to be a vertical wall hanging.  I even fussy cut that top piece to make sure there was a dog in it because it's going to be a house warming gift for my daughter's family. And they are dog people, although they've been without a dog for a year since their old bulldog passed.  Now that they've bought a house I'm guessing another dog will join the family in the near future.   

Design Wall Monday - a new PIG

I've set some new project goals for this week - some are working towards new finishes and another project is a new PIG (project in grocery sack).

The PIG I chose is out of the bin full of Row By Row kits and patterns.  This kit was from Quintessential Quilts in Reedsburg Wisconsin in 2016.  I believe this kit was the absolute cutest packaging design of all that I purchased.  The fabrics are folded in this cute triangle set and the pattern is folded just narrow enough to hold the strips of laser cut words "All Flights Lead Home".  I might make this one a pillow too or possibly turn it vertically and make a tall narrow wall hanging that would fit on a door.  

My other goals for this week:

** catch up with Week 3 and Week 4 Lori Holt Sew Along 6" blocks

** add borders to a patriotic table runner (UFO) and sandwich for quilting

** kit up 2 new Quick Strippee quilts

** kit up 2 new pillowcases

** kit up 2 new 60 degree runners (geraniums & Halloween cats)

I'm linking up with https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/  Go see a few more design walls this morning. 

Catching up with Saturday Sampler

My goal for yesterday was to finish catching up with my Saturday Sampler blocks, and I'm happy to say the goal was reached.  This month's blocks were simple pieced blocks with kind of a "spinner" look to them.  These blocks were completely made with flying geese.  

I also finished the big block which is 24" square with flying geese circling an applique center.  These flying geese don't have a lot of contrast with the fabrics, but I do like how they look. And since pink is this month's color for RSC, this block fit right in with the other pink blocks I've been working on.

And while I was focused on blanket stitching around the applique on the big block, I pulled out last month's blocks to finish as well.  Last month I ironed on the pieces but then forgot all about doing the blanket stitching to hold them down.  But now all of the blocks we've gotten so far are done - ready for the final couple of blocks in the sampler series.  

This and that

My lilies are both blooming.  I sure wish these would bloom all summer instead of just a week or so.  The orange one is in front of the house is a real show off when we pull into the driveway. It looks great - in spite of the fact we had smoothed the rocks over the spot it was growing because we thought it died last fall.  The red one is next to the deck steps in our back yard.  I didn't choose the location very well for this one as it can't be seen from the deck itself.  This one typically begins to bloom a few days earlier than the orange one, possibly because it's on the south side of the house and warms up earlier. 

Not the best photo, but these 2 fabrics will make some fun cute Strippee quilts for kids.  I need to do a little shopping for some accent fabrics. I'm thinking a black and white check for the Scottie dog print, and maybe black and white dots or swirls for the sheep print.  I'll cut the strips and kit these up (along with the flamingo kit) to work on later.  These kid quilts will be my "reward" when I finish up another UFO or two.

I need to empty out this bookcase sometime today, because it's going to my grand-kids' new house to be filled up with children's books.  

Laura and her family just moved this past week into a charming little 1917 house with more room than they've ever had before.  After 10 years mostly spent in apartments and townhouses, they have become home owners.  As they unpacked the kids' books they realized they really didn't have enough bookshelf space for them.  I have more books and bookshelves than a person needs.  So this short bookshelf will go to their house sometime soon - hopefully yet this weekend because I haven't been inside the house yet.  I've only driven by it before they closed on the house, and have seen lots of pictures.  

Upcoming Quilt of Valor presentation

Our Prairie Winds Quilts of Valor group has essentially been "on hold" since March.  We had 6 quilts and pillowcases done and ready for presentations. We had a group of 4 gentlemen scheduled to come together in early April for the first presentation, but then Covid-19 happened and we had to cancel that little celebration.  So far we haven't been able to reschedule.

But the one quilt presentation that was planned for a small town July 4th celebration is going to happen I think.  One of our members, Louise, originally from that little town - about 300 people - is going to do the honors.  She came over yesterday to get the certificate, speech, and pillowcase.  She already had the quilt as she had bound, labeled, and washed it this spring.  This quilt uses the Ritzy Cracker blocks (Moda Bake Shop).  Together we went through the other blocks we've collected so far and she took some home to assemble another Quilt of Valor top.  

We had a cup of coffee, shared some "show n tell" projects, and just chatted.  It was so good to see her!  We both talked about how much we miss guild, but especially miss our Sew Vintage group.  Sew Vintage is a small group with a shared interest in vintage things.  Hopefully by later in the summer we will be able to safely get together in groups again.  

While on the topic of Quilts of Valor, several of our members have been making blocks while in quarantine and then dropping them off at the local quilt shop for me to pick up.  We had collected enough Patriotic Star blocks (30) for another top, so those blocks went home with Louise yesterday.  And we have nearly enough Bento Box blocks too.  We'll keep making blocks as we can, and even if we can't get together as a group to sew yet we can keep making progress.  And we received a nice donation from a young woman veteran who I had the wonderful opportunity to meet when I stopped at The Pin Cushion the other day.  Ironically once we were introduced, we both realized she was one of my former students quite a few years ago.  Her grandparents were our neighbors when we lived on the farm. It's a small world.  

Unicorns and Stars

Another UFO can be checked off my list.  This child sized quilt needs to be washed and then I can gift it to a new baby girl.  I gave quilts to her older 3 siblings, so I can't leave her out.  

If you've followed me for very long you know that I made most of the parts/units for the blocks for the 2016-17 Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt called En Provence.  However, I didn't choose well when selecting the yellows and greens that went into the blocks along with pink and purple fabrics. So after making a few blocks, I stopped and put it away.  I really disliked how the blocks looked with those colors mixed together.  In 2018 I decided to take the blocks apart and used the parts I liked in other projects.  I made one quilt with them for granddaughter Olivia who requested unicorns to go with that pink and purple.  This is the second (and last) child quilt made from the pink and purple units.  I've used them up. Yay!!

There are a few blocks made with the yellow and green units - and someday I'll use them in something.  But for now I can feel gratified that this one is done and going to a new home. 

Next - I can concentrate on getting my Saturday Sample blocks done, and working on the 3 little blocks for the third week of the Lori Holt Sew Along.  

Beads and binding

The top for the Beads quilt is done. I decided to use the slightly asymmetrical layout in the end because I liked the size best. There are 3 extra blocks remaining, which are tucked in the bag with the instructions.  I believe I’ll make more of these in the future because they are ideal for using scraps.  Call those extra blocks “seeds” to grow another project.

I have a good start on the binding for the other UFO project.  The backing was in the stash and the blocks were leftover from previous projects.  So the only purchases to finish this one were the border and the binding.  I'll show off the whole quilt when the binding is done. 

Design Wall Monday

I finally finished the binding on Smack Dab in the Middle while watching golf on TV yesterday. It's nice to see some live sports again.  It was hot and very windy yesterday, so I decided not to go play golf with my husband. Instead I stayed home and sewed.  And I found myself chuckling because the golf announcers kept talking about the 15 MPH winds impacting the golf shots. We had 30 MPH winds pretty much all day.  And a thunderstorm blew through about midnight last night. 

I'm working on Lori Holt's Bee Patriotic Sew Along and this is Week 3 already.  I forgot to post photos of my week 2 blocks so here they are. And of course once I took a picture of the blocks, then I saw my mistake on one of the blocks.  Can you find it too?  Fixing that will be one of the first things I sew this week.

Check out a few more Design Walls today - https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/

Beads quilt layout options

So far I've tried a couple of different layout options for the bead blocks.  I'm glad I made the extra pink and yellow blocks for this one. 

If choose this layout I'll need to cut the corner setting triangles 2 different sizes.  Luckily I have plenty of the background left to do that.  For the purpose of the photo I've just used the extra side setting triangles to see how it looked.

The other layout option is long and narrow.  It looks OK too, even though I didn't lay any corner triangles out before taking the photo.   I like the size of the top layout better, but like the symmetry of the second layout.  I will have to play with these a bit more to decide which I like best. 

It was a very productive morning.  The other thing I managed to finish is the 6th Grade quilt top.  I still plan to rename this one.  I picked out a fun backing at The Pin Cushion today and left it to be quilted by Bonnie.  The backing is one I've used before and it has lots of the same colors as the quilt top. 

I've linked up with http://superscrappy.blogspot.com/.

RSC20 - Beads

After making 5 of the 7 pink bead blocks I just had to look into the charm packs I'm using and see what is left to use.  There are 2 pink charm, 2 yellow charms, and 2 red charms left in the packs.  And then there are a bunch of multi-colored charms that read very light. I'm not so sure those will have enough contrast with the white backgrounds.  

With 21 completed blocks, it was time to lay them out and see what I actually have.  On a side note, the 2 darker blue blocks were not from the charm packs, but pulled from the scraps during the "blue" RSC month.  And there is that one flowered light background bead block on the left that definitely reads a bit too light and washed out.  

Here is my thinking in order to make a kid sized quilt:  pull out the 1 floral and 2 blue blocks, and then make the 6 remaining pink, yellow, and red blocks from the charm pack.  That will give me just enough blocks to make 8 rows of 3 across.  Add white setting triangles, and maybe find a color to add a final medium sized border and the quilt would be a good size for a child.  

I can save those lighter charm squares and make another set of bead blocks with a darker solid color background.  Or I can add them to the random scrappy charm square container for some other future project.    

I've linked up with Finish (or Not) Friday:  http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/

Kitting up a new project

A pattern I've used several times for a quick baby quilt is the Quick Strippee.  The pattern is free on https://maryquilts.com/.  Mary generously shares her instructions for so many great quilt designs.  The Strippee is made purely from width of fabric (WOF) strips and it goes together so fast it will amaze you.  Thank you Mary - for your inspiration and your pattern!

I wanted to make a little girl type quilt as a gift so I found the cute flamingo fabric at The Pin Cushion.  The wide strip is perfect for showcasing a fun novelty print.  I even used a Noah's Ark border print when I made grandson Jonah's quilt with this pattern. 

I'm not sure exactly when this quilt will happen, but I'm cutting the strips today so it's ready to go as soon as I have time.  I may even see if I have any other fabric choices, and cut a second kit while I'm in cutting and kitting mode.  

Another birthday boy

The oldest grandson Mason had his "golden" birthday yesterday. He was 9 on the 9th and the party was a loud one.  But everyone had fun.

There were cousins from both sides of his family plus a couple of neighbor friends. And dad grilled burgers and hotdogs to go along with the salads and chips. And the cookie cake even had a REAL golf ball on it.

Mason loves to golf, fish and kayak.  They are an outdoorsy family. But he also loves to play chess and put together Legos.  He'll be in 3rd grade next year.

Happy birthday Mason!!

On a side note - it was pouring rain about the time the cake and root beer floats were served.  But mom and dad had tables set up in the garage for all the kids so it was OK.

Stormy day sewing

Beginning about 9:00 pm last night severe thunderstorms with wind, rain, hail, rain, tornadoes, rain and more rain rolled through here.  It's 11:00 am - 14 hours later - and we are still getting waves of wind and rain.  I am one of those people who freak out and sit in the basement during a tornado warning. And I'm married to a guy who stands out on the porch.  I finally went to bed about 2:30 this morning but a little after 6:00 am we got really bad wind and torrential rain again.  I will need a nap soon I think.

And I should say that we were very lucky.  We have one big branch down in our back yard, but people all over town have whole trees down and no power.  Boats flipped over on the lake that is barely a mile away.  So I'm counting my blessings - and spent a little time sewing this morning because it relaxes me.  Now I need to wrap a birthday gift for my grandson before we head to Sioux Falls for his birthday supper later today.  

The binding is attached to Smack Dab in the Middle (a Kim Diehl project).  This little quilt is only 24" square, so it shouldn't take me long to hand stitch that binding down.  I also have a child sized quilt to bind, but that is for another day.

A second pink Twinkle Star block is now added to the growing collection. There are 10 total blocks so far in pink, green, blue, orange, and teal.  Two of each color.  These are 9" blocks finished.  So cute!!!  

And I did a little work on the pink Bead blocks.  I'm using 2 charm packs for these blocks, and will add a few similar types of prints for colors not found in those charm packs.  Ironically there are 7 pink charms.  I cut the pieces for 3 of the pink blocks.  One charm stays whole for the center, and the other matching charm gets 2 corner squares cut.  These go together so fast. 

Design Wall Monday - a lot of pink

On my design wall this morning are a whole collection of pink blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC20).  Only 1 pink Diamond Tile block is made so far, but I'm sure more will follow.  Notice on the right side is the skirt hanger with the previous Diamond Tile blocks clipped on.  I hang up my RSC block sets in the big closet in my sewing room - erather than put them into project boxes.  The patterns for those scrap blocks are in clear sleeves and I run the hanger through one of the binder holes in the sleeve so it hangs with the blocks.  That puts all of my RSC block sets in one place. 

Two gingham blocks, one string block, and one Twinkle Star block joined the collection.  My plan is to make one more Twinkle Star block in pink.  And I have fallen behind with the Bead blocks too.  Yesterday was hot and windy - 97 degrees and 30 mph wind most of the afternoon.  It was a good day to do some sewing and reading - indoors.  

And two rows of this quilt have been constructed.  When I layed out these blocks the other day it was raining kind of dark outside so the bright colors are not highlighted in this picture. But it has a pale grey background and very bright arrow pieces.  I am loving how this is turning out.  Hopefully I'll have the whole quilt top together yet this week and then I'll try to get a better picture.  

I'm linking up with other Design Walls today at:  https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/

All roads lead to the middle

After taking this picture I did rearrange a few blocks, but for the most part this is ready to start sewing rows together.  I did try turning some of the blocks for other layouts but kept coming back to the original design.  

Lori Holt Sew Along

Lori Holt's Bee Patriotic Sew-Along has begun, and these are the 3 blocks for Week 1.  The blocks will all be from her Vintage Christmas book.  I decided to use some bright colors rather than go with her patriotic theme, and I'm doing the 6" blocks.  I love my block #1 (burgundy/yellow star), but am just OK with the next 2 blocks.  I even made a second version of that second block because I thought the first version was too busy.  Now I'm not so sure - see the photo below.  The third block looks a bit out of place because it doesn't have as much white background.  But when all 12 of the blocks are together, I'm thinking it will fit in much better.  

The exciting things to look forward to today - a backyard coffee date with some girlfriends I haven't seen much in 3 months.  And picking up my Saturday Sampler monthly block pattern and fabric.  The Pin Cushion isn't ready to do the big group sessions yet, but we can bring show n tell items to the shop and also pick up our kits this month.  Yay!!!  I believe we have 3 months' Saturday Sampler blocks left to do. 

Home Sew Home pillow

A cheery new bench pillow has taken up residence on my family room sofa, and it has a nice summery feel to it.  This began life as a row kit from the 2017 Row By Row experience. I picked up the kit in Manchester Iowa, and loved it enough to make it very soon after arriving home from my little road trip.  It has been draped over a hanger in my sewing room closet for 3 years waiting to become something.

Mostly it's very traditional blocks - flying geese, house, and bowtie/spool blocks. And then the little section of embroidery was added, to bring out the theme of "On The Go".  I added a narrow border and a slightly wider border to make this fit the pillow form.  This bench pillow is 16" x 38", and I quilted it myself with simple matchstick lines about 3/4" apart. 

Breaking quarantine

No sewing at all happened yesterday but it was still a really good day.  Because both of our daughters work in large hospitals (respiratory therapist and occupational therapist), we have been very careful about any kind of visits during this Covid-19 situation.  Until yesterday . . . when we broke quarantine to celebrate Jack's 5th birthday.   He took a big cookie cake to daycare with him and the daycare teacher posted this wonderful photo of him.  The funny thing is he insisted on calling us at 7:00 am on the way to daycare to make sure we knew it was his birthday and to ask if we were coming to his party.  

We briefly visited - from front yards - both families the week before Easter.  And the older daughter and kids visited us a couple of weeks ago, again from the yard. But beyond that we have not seen each other in person for a long time, like many families.  We've maintained proper social distancing all of this time. But yesterday I got hugs from both grand-kids and my younger daughter.  It was wonderful to be able to do that finally.  My son-in-law also has a birthday this week.  He turns 40 tomorrow and they are celebrating by closing on a house, and then spending the weekend painting.  Next week they'll pull up old carpeting and start refinishing some hardwood floors. Move-in will happen later in the month.  They will miss their old neighborhood friends but wanted to get into a smaller town outside of the city. So the kids will be in a smaller school system, but mom and dad can still easily commute to their jobs.   

Earlier in the day my husband had to visit a job site and meet with the client.  I rode along since the birthday party was on our way home.  I mostly stayed in the car and read while he was talking to workers and contractors.  I did go into the client office but we all maintained proper social distance.  Dave and I talked about this being the longest stretch of time without a face-to-face client visit since 1987 when he began to work for his previous company.  Teams, Zoom and Skype have taken the place of personal visits since early March.  He has always traveled a lot until this stay-at-home time frame so I think he was glad to get out of his home office for the day.   

Lunch hour sewing

Tuesday was a busy day, so my sewing only happened over my lunch hour.  It's not surprising that the days I really feel motivated to sew are the days I have to stay at my computer for work tasks.  I keep reminding myself that continuing to work funds my sewing habits.

A little more progress happened on some of the blocks for 6th Grade.  31 out of 36 blocks are now done.  Slow and steady on these, but I'm definitely ready to have the blocks done so I can play with the layout. 

And the second block for Week 1 of Lori Holt's June Sew-Along is now complete.  Two down and one more to make for this week.  I'm wishing that I had used fewer colors in the second block, making all of the rectangles in 1 color and all of those star points another.  This one is too busy.  I just may make another variation to try out fewer colors.

It is always fun to be challenged to use a block in a different way than originally intended.  Her sew-along this month challenges us to make the star blocks from Vintage Christmas.  She is doing a patriotic colorway but her followers will use lots of interesting options I'm guessing.  Mine are simply brights.