Trying to Work on the Sew Many Stars Quilt

Life is absolutely crazy right now with the upcoming band fundraiser, the church Christmas program, and plain old Christmas. I sat down at the end of November and planned out my crafty schedule for December, but have been only been able to put a pittance of effort into my projects because all the Christmas music is getting in the way! Maybe I need to call December a wash every year because Christmas music will always be a huge part of my Decembers?

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I did get some time to work on the Sew Many Stars Quilt last week, which ultimately led to disappointment when I realized that the batting I had for it wasn’t large enough. So I’m waiting on a bigger batting to arrive in the mail, and it’s supposedly going to get here tomorrow. Fingers are crossed that there can be a couple of hours I can squeeze out of the remainder of this week to do a little bit of work.

Not enough batting border for quilting!

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My original schedule had me possibly finishing this quilt by Christmas Eve, but with no label, which I’d get to in the week after Christmas, but I do not know what to expect from this project at all anymore since losing out on the last week’s sewing time. We shall see…

Crystal Quilters Block of the Month: Sew Many Stars! Finishing Instructions

We made it to the end of the sew along! We’ve made it to the end of 2020! When I volunteered to take on this task at the beginning of the year, I didn’t imagine in my wildest dreams how this would end up going this year. But I’m glad we at least had this little block of the month to keep us connected. Thanks for going on this journey with me, and thanks for the little texts and Facebook messages with pictures of your blocks! I love seeing them!

So here it is, the finishing instructions for this quilt:

I hope your quilts come together with ease and I look forward to seeing them in actual real life AT SOME POINT when all this craziness has passed us. Pat yourself on the back for finishing this up! Good job!

As always, if you’re posting your block to Instagram, please make sure to tag it with the #crystalquiltersbom (If you’re a member of the guild) and #sewmanystarsquilt hashtags so we can find your blocks!

Happy sewing! (And thank you!)

Crystal Quilters Block of the Month: Sew Many Stars! Block 9: Martha Washington Star

THE LAST BLOCK! WE MADE IT!

When I volunteered to do this Block of the Month, I don’t even think I’d heard of COVID-19, and we got a late start on it because of quarantine and not knowing what the heck was going on. But here we are, nearing the end of a very long year, and I’m so glad to have been able to offer this little spark of light to you throughout it. Hopefully your quilts are looking good, and I hope that the time when we can finally gather in-person to see each others’ blocks arrives sooner than later.

I left this block until to the end because I didn’t know how I was going to be able to “draw” it in the PDF. I gave up and just threw in some actual photos on the second page of the pattern. If the directions are a little unclear, this block has a lot of pattern explanations all over the internet…I did my best.

You can download the instructions for the Martha Washington Star block here:

Good job, everyone! Keep sewing and look for the bright side in these murky times!

Crystal Quilters Block of the Month: Sew Many Stars! Block 8: Rail Fence Star

OK, let’s see if my blog is finally going to let me publish an actual post…it’s being weird this week, and coupled with how lousy I was feeling yesterday, I decided to just wait out the bug. A few hours late shouldn’t hurt anyone’s plans, I hope…

We are getting so close to the end, you all! How exciting!

You can download the pattern instructions here:

If you’re posting your block to Instagram, please make sure to tag it with the #crystalquiltersbom (If you’re a member of the guild) and #sewmanystarsquilt hashtags so we can find your blocks!

Happy sewing!

Crystal Quilters Block of the Month: Sew Many Stars! Block 7: Shoofly Star Block

We’re starting to get close to the end of our sew along! School has started, and hopefully that means a little extra time in your sewing rooms! Alright, this month’s block is the Shoofly Star Block:

You can download the pattern instructions here:

If you’re posting your block to Instagram, please make sure to tag it with the #crystalquiltersbom (If you’re a member of the guild) and #sewmanystarsquilt hashtags so we can find your blocks!

Happy sewing!

Crystal Quilters Block of the Month: Sew Many Stars! Block 6: Friendship Star (in a Star)

CQ BOM Main

Welcome back for the sixth block of our sew along! [insert confetti here]

This month’s block is pretty easy, which I find I need during the summer months because there’s not a lot of time for indoor sewing when the kiddos are quarantined at home with no distance learning to keep them entertained. (Oh my word, this year…)

Friendship Star within a Star:

Friendship Star block

PLEASE NOTE: If you’re following the original pattern’s color choices, the star points have been red up until now, but as of this block they are now the lime green color.

Download the instructions here: Sew Many Stars BOM Pattern_Block 6 Friendship Star

If you’re posting your block to Instagram, please make sure to tag it with the #crystalquiltersbom (If you’re a member of the guild) and #sewmanystarsquilt hashtags so we can find your blocks!

Happy sewing!

Crystal Quilters Block of the Month: Sew Many Stars! Block 5: Checkerboard Star Block

CQ BOM Main

Happy July, everyone!  Yay, we made it to the point where we’ll only have a new block every month now!

This month’s block is another easy one, the Checkerboard Star:

Checkerboard Star Block EQ8

Download the instructions here: Sew Many Stars BOM Pattern_Block 5 Checkerboard Star

If you’re posting your block to Instagram, please make sure to tag it with the #crystalquiltersbom (If you’re a member of the guild) and #sewmanystarsquilt hashtags so we can find your blocks!

Happy sewing!

Crystal Quilters Block of the Month: Sew Many Stars! Block 4: Broken Dishes Star Block

CQ BOM Main

Block 4, using a Broken Dishes block for the center of the star is now available!

Crystal Quilters BOM Block 4

Download the instructions here: Sew Many Stars BOM Pattern_Block 4 Broken Dishes Star

Block 5 will be available on July 3rd, and then we’ll go to one block a month.  (Whew!)\

If you’re posting your block to Instagram, please make sure to tag it with the #crystalquiltersbom (If you’re a member of the guild) and #sewmanystarsquilt hashtags so we can find your blocks!

Happy sewing!

Crystal Quilters Block of the Month: Sew Many Stars! Block #3: Variable Star

CQ BOM Main

It’s time for our third block, the Variable Star block.

PLEASE NOTE: Because these blocks will be set on-point in the finished quilt, any fussy-cut center fabric will rotate.  I’ve pointed it out in the cutting directions in the pattern, but thought it’d be a good idea to wave a red flag in front of your faces from the beginning: You have to cut the original fussy-cut square on-point.

Crystal Quilters BOM Christmas Variable Star

Download the block pattern here:  Sew Many Stars BOM Pattern_Block 3 Variable Star

If you’re posting your block to Instagram, please make sure to tag it with the #crystalquiltersbom (If you’re a member of the guild) and #sewmanystarsquilt hashtags so we can find your blocks!

 

Happy Sewing!

Crystal Quilters Block of the Month: Sew Many Stars! Block #2: Four Star

CQ BOM Main

Welcome back for our second block, the Four Star block!  I’m introducing this block early on in the sew along so that you have time to make FIVE of them and not feel rushed.  Make them all at once or make another one with each successive block unveiling; it’s up to you!

Crystal Quilters BOM Christmas Four Star Block

 

Download the block pattern here: Sew Many Stars BOM Pattern_Block 2 Four Star

If you’re posting your block to Instagram, please make sure to tag it with #crystalquiltersbom (if you’re a member of the guild) and #sewmanystarsquilt so we can find your blocks!

Happy Sewing!