May 2, 2010

A Feathered Frenzy

I have always wanted to make a Feathered Star quilt. When I would see the quilts and look at the patterns, I was just always so intimidated and overwhelmed -- all those points!!!!!
My quiltin' Sista, Molly, is the Feathered Star Pro in our group. She has made several and is even a 'pattern tester' for Masha McCloskey. Below is a picture of Molly's FS quilt. The picture does not do it justice. It is absolutely beautiful!!!







SEW, after some asking and begging, etc., Molly consented to teach us the Feathered Star. Us means our Wacky Sistas. So we set a date to go to the Fryer Deer Camp and the five of us would make the feathered star.
Molly was nervous about teaching us -- and rightfully so!!! We can be mean and outspoken, and sometimes just plain ditzy. But boy did we surprise her. We were all very studious and paid attention, did our pre-class work and we were even nice to the teacher!!! LOL

SEW, on with the class, here is our teacher "Molly, Molly, Molly".




Molly convinced us that if we look at the block as a 9-patch and tackle each little section and treat it as a quilt, we would not be so intimidated. She was right!!!!
Now I don't remember what she was telling us in the picture below, but I'm sure it was very important. She was either telling us "get your hands around just one section at a time" or else, "I'm going to choke you if you make any smart comments to me". Not sure which -- LOL!



The one thing that really helped me was to use the diagram of the block, letter the pieces and then put a snippet of fabric on each area to help keep me straight.





Then the cutting of the pieces began:





It is important to put your pieces in baggies that are numbered so you don't get them all mixed up.




Here is my work station. Having the flannel board also helped to lay out my block.






We did it! We completed our blocks! We all used the same pattern, but different fabrics. Look how different they all look.





And here is the group with our feathered star quilts.



L-R -- Annale, Kathleen, Rhonda, Me, and kneeling is the teacher, Molly.

And, finally, my finished top. I ran out of the original background fabric I was using, but I think the fabric I found to put the block on point works. Now to get this baby quilted!

12 comments:

Colleen said...

Your feathered star looks wonderful. And what a great teacher, Molly did a super job breaking the block down to a 9 patch. I have made only 1 feathered star and it is a center medallion in my Underground Railroad quilt. It is on my blog and slideshow. I would love to get the book and made some of the different layouts. Someday!!!
Colleen

Pat said...

Your quilt turned out nice. I had been seeing this on both Rhonda's blog and Molly's. And a little birdie said you were the teacher's pet. LOL

Contented Caroline said...

Wow, it looks great - I am always amazed by how fantastic the feathered star looks and hopefully one day I'll bite the bullet like you and give it a go - now to find me a tutor as good as Molly!!!

Not Lucy said...

Feathered stars are on my list of quilts to do someday. But first I have many other things to finish! Yours looks great!

hetty said...

Wow! Your feathered star looks great! I love the colours you used. A feathered star is on my list of future quilts too. I love they way they can look completely different depending on the fabrics used.

Angela said...

Beautiful - I love the way you set it on point! Always makes a block more interesting, to me!
I like the way she showed you the block broken down into smaller segments - it makes it alot less intimidating!

Cathy M said...

I have the same fear--all those triangles. Yours looks great. Are you ready to do a full size quilt?

Julie said...

They are all so pretty! But it doesn't look like a hard one with all those points!

Karen said...

She did a good job of teaching your group how to make the feathered star pattern. It is not an easy thing to do. I made Marsha's sampler one several years ago.

Cornfield Quilter said...

Absolutely gorgeous, all!!

Teresa said...

Wonderful job - you all did outstanding. I really like your finsihed top too.

Michelle said...

Your feathered star looks beautiful!! I love it!! I've always wanted to do one but have been very fearful!