Category Archives: Churning Stars quilt block

I Swear . . .

by Dawn Posted on January 12, 2020

. . . I could make Churn Dash blocks till the cows come home.

The Churn Dash really is one of my very favorite traditional blocks. It’s right up there with stars of any kind — note the Sawtooth Stars above. Last year I spotted a quilt called Churning Stars in a book by Jenifer Gaston (Primitive Style) with this combo of Churn Dash blocks inside Sawtooth Star blocks and was instantly hooked.

I made a couple of test blocks back then, dipping into my collection of cheddar and indigo fabrics from Penny Rose Studio. Then nothing until Quilt Camp in November, when I made a few more blocks. Since then I’ve picked up a few fabrics from other lines to add to the mix.

I stole a few moments last week to make a handful of blocks, all destined to be part of a bed-size quilt. I’m not working with a pattern. I’m just making blocks in different sizes, ranging from the 3″ blocks you see in the upper right corner to the 18″ block in the lower left corner. I’ll play around with them on my design wall when I have enough to make a quilt.

This is my idea of fun! What’s yours?

 

 

 

Posted in cheddar and indigo, Churning Stars quilt block, update | 6 Comments

Suite Stuff

by Dawn Posted on November 19, 2019

With a new Junior Billie Bag in my sewing room and a coordinating tool caddy, it was just a matter of time before I gave into the temptation to complete the suite of accessories. Pictured with the tool caddy below are a scissors case, a rotary cutter coat, and a fabric box:


I love these fabrics and colors so much!

You can find picture-heavy tutorials for the scissors case and rotary cutter coat under the Tutorials link at the top of my home page . . . or you can just click on this link.

Speaking of Junior Billie Bag accessories, I forgot to show you the tool caddy I made recently to go with the JBB completed last spring for a class I was teaching:

My friend Cheryl S. was the surprise recipient of this JBB and tool caddy when we were together at Quilt Camp earlier this month.

I’m so ready to shift gears! There’s a new-ish project I’m eager to get back to as soon as I finish up a couple of ongoing projects. And as my twin sister Diane keeps reminding me, the newly remodeled kitchen won’t be complete until I make those valances . . .

 

 

 

Posted in Billie Bag, Churning Stars quilt block, Junior Billie Bag, sewing tool caddy, tote bags, tutorial, update | 3 Comments

Finally a Finish! Here’s Junior Billie Bag #10

by Dawn Posted on November 12, 2019

I put the finishing touches on my latest Junior Billie Bag yesterday. Take a look at #10:


I can’t decide which view I like better! The block on the left is a Sawtooth Star with a Churn Dash in the center. The block on the right features an inset circle set off by a narrow flange. It’s hard to see from the photo that I used a variegated thread of blues and greens to quilt lines radiating from the circle.

I’ve used both block designs before in other projects (including other Junior Billie Bags) because I really like to make them.

Coco the Cat Inspector approves:

She found it so comfortable that she actually took a little catnap, which is why I don’t have a picture of the inside pockets to show you just now.

This JBB is one that I’m keeping for myself. It’s already loaded with my favorite rulers and other essential tools, as is the coordinating tool caddy I made from the Travel Case pattern from p3designs.com:

I made a few modifications, including the addition of a fourth pocket.

This is what it looks like closed:

I keep it in a plastic brochure rack so that it is always upright, with my smaller tools right at hand.

Still to come: the other accessories I like to make with each Junior Billie Bag, including a rotary cutter coat, a scissors case, and a 4″ square fabric box used as a thread catcher.

 

 

 

Posted in Billie Bag, cats, Churning Stars quilt block, Junior Billie Bag, update | 3 Comments

JBB 3-D

by Dawn Posted on October 28, 2019

A rather cryptic title for a blog post, I know, but regular readers know what it means. My latest Junior Billie Bag in-the-making has gone three-dimensional:

As I’ve mentioned before, this is my favorite part of the process, when a series of flat panels like this . . .

. . . and this . . .

. . . and this . . .

. . . are transformed into the quintessential quilter’s tote known as the Junior Billie Bag.

Junior Billie Bags (JBBs for short) have been a frequent topic on my blog since I started teaching Billie Mahorney’s design three years ago. I have been asked many times about a pattern for this tote but Billie, who owns the copyright on the design, never wanted to create a pattern.

Teaching her design in a hands-on class is by far the best way to go because I can share tips and techniques that have come to me through experience and also troubleshoot problems my students may encounter, just as Billie did when she was teaching. I’m so sorry that quilters across the country and beyond who have seen pictures of various JBBs on my blog don’t have the opportunity to create one of their own.

As I was snapping photos for this post, a little white paw made its way into the frame:


Uh-oh. It can only be Coco the Photobomb!

 

 

Posted in Billie Bag, cats, Churning Stars quilt block, free motion quilting, Junior Billie Bag, tote bags, update | 5 Comments

Junior Billie Bag #10: Panels and Pockets

by Dawn Posted on October 15, 2019

In my last post you saw one of the front/back panels of my current Junior Billie Bag under construction. The second panel is now done. It’s the one on the left in this photo:


I love the look of the small Churn Dash block inside the Sawtooth Star block. I first saw this combination in a quilt by Jenifer Gaston called Churning Stars and liked it so well I used it on my most recent Junior Billie Bag. (Someday I’ll make an entire quilt from this block design but that’s on the back burner for now.)

In the center of the Churn Dash in the photo above is a fussycut square from my focus fabric, a vibrant floral print from In the Beginning Fabrics. You see much more of the floral design in the first panel, which features an inset circle framed by turquoise flanges.

I used the same floral fabric to make two small pockets that go on the outside of the bag on one of the side panels. Those are on the left in this photo:

The other glimpses of fabric are some of the interior pockets. This bag has lots and lots of pockets! It’s been fun diving into my stash to audition these fabric combinations. The most difficult thing is making decisions about which fabrics to use. You may have noticed I like to combine batiks with woven cottons.

The next time you see Junior Billie Bag #10, it will be three-dimensional. I hope you’ll check back soon to see the transformation.

 

 

 

Posted in Billie Bag, Churning Stars quilt block, Junior Billie Bag, tote bags, update | 4 Comments

I Have a Plan. Sort of.

by Dawn Posted on February 20, 2019

Do you ever start a quilt without having a firm plan in mind? It’s a tendency of mine. It seems I am always making test blocks and then deciding to proceed with a quilt without knowing what the finished product will look like. I just start making more blocks willy-nilly until a plan emerges.

Such is the case with my newest WIP (that’s Work-in-Progress for you non-quilters). Starting with my stash of cheddar and indigo prints from Penny Rose Fabrics and the Churn-Dash-inside-a-Sawtooth-Star block that Jenifer Gaston created for her Churning Stars quilt, I made 12″ and 18″ test blocks, subject of my last post. Where to go from there? Should I add some 9″ and/or 6″ blocks to the mix? Might be fun to play around with that.

When the bundle of fat quarters I found online arrived the other day, I got busy cutting 12″ squares from the cheddar and indigo prints:

Why 12″ squares? For the star points in the Sawtooth Stars, I’m making Flying Geese units using the method that calls for two different size squares and yields four Flying Geese units. A 12″ square is needed for the 18″ blocks and it’s also the largest to be cut from a fat quarter so I figured I’d better cut them first. After I had cut all the squares you see above, it dawned on me that I probably don’t want that many 18″ blocks. Oops.

That’s what happens when you don’t have a plan. Well, all is not lost. I can cut those squares into smaller pieces to use in smaller blocks. And I have enough fabric for two quilts anyway. One of the benefits of having an ample stash, right?

You probably know from my previous post that I’m going for a “controlled scrappy” look with my cheddars and indigos. Because of that I decided to make a bunch of Churn Dash blocks and a bunch of Flying Geese units for the Sawtooth Stars but wait to combine them into blocks until I can play around with the components on my design wall. That’s my current plan. If you can call it that.

For now I’ve made a couple Churn Dash blocks and Flying Geese sets in two sizes. The Churn Dash blocks measure 6½” and 9½” square, as they will go in the center of blocks that finish at 12″ and 18″ square:

The Flying Geese units below are half sets (i.e. there are actually four units in each set, not two) as I wanted to combine parts of four sets in one photo. The large units measure 4½” x 9″ and the smaller ones 3½” x 6½”:

The cheddars in this photo are not from the original fabric line but rather fabrics from my stash that I want to include in the quilt.

This WIP is destined to become a WISP (Work in Slow Progress, an acronym I learned just the other day) as I really must turn my attention to some other projects. Because these Churn Dash blocks and Flying Geese units go together quickly — and are fun to make — I’m going to make a few whenever opportunity and inclination coincide.

 

 

 

Posted in cheddar and indigo, Churning Stars quilt block, update | 4 Comments

Along for the Ride

by Dawn Posted on February 11, 2019

When I confessed in my last post that I was tempted to drop everything and start a new project, my friend Vickie responded at once with these words: “Resistance is futile. Give into the temptation.” Thank you, Vickie! All it took was that bit of encouragement for me to abandon my current quilting projects — only temporarily, you understand. I spent a delightful few hours Sunday afternoon petting my stash of cheddar and indigo fabrics, playing with possible fabric combinations, and finally making a couple of blocks using Jenifer Gaston’s Churning Stars block design.

I already knew Jenifer’s block was a winner. I tested it a couple weeks ago for the Junior Billie Bag I’m working on and couldn’t wait to make some blocks for an actual quilt.

Most of the fabrics I’m working with are from the “Cheddar and Indigo” line by Penny Rose Studio, a division of Riley Blake Fabrics. It came out in 2015. Here’s the entire line:


I had eight of the fabrics: four of the cheddars but only two navies and only two background fabrics. How perfectly providential, then, to find a complete fat quarter bundle for sale last weekend on eBay! It was not a bargain but I snagged it anyway. With a full selection from the line plus a few fabrics pulled from other sources I’ll be able to make what I call a “controlled scrappy” quilt.

As you can see, the prints are very traditional but I’m throwing some modern prints into the mix. The first block I made contains a cheddar print from Victoria Findlay Wolfe’s “Futurum” line:

That navy and white print is vintage. There’s no selvage information and I don’t remember where I got it but I had to cut away fabric where the sun had faded it along the fold lines.

The cheddar in my second block is from the “Barcelona” line by Zen Chic for Moda:

The first block measures 12½” square, the second 18½” square. Here they are together:

Apparently I’m going to play around with different size blocks until I land on an overall design. I have no idea where this is taking me but I’m sure going to enjoy the journey!

 

 

 

Posted in Billie Bag, cheddar and indigo, Churning Stars quilt block, Junior Billie Bag, update | 10 Comments

A Bee in my Bonnet

by Dawn Posted on January 26, 2019

Last night I got the proverbial bee in my bonnet and made this 12½” quilt block:

I’ve been wanting to make a test block since spotting Jenifer Gaston’s Churning Stars quilt in her book Primitive Style: Folk-Art Quilts and Other Finery (Martingale Press, 2015):

I’ve always liked the classic Churn Dash block and I love seeing it in the center of a Sawtooth Star block. I could see making an entire quilt using Jenifer Gaston’s charming design. In fact, I have a collection of indigo and cheddar prints that would be perfect for such a quilt.

For now, though, I am sticking with one block because it’s destined to be one of the front/back panels on my next quilter’s tote, namely the Junior Billie Bag.

See how well the new block goes with the star block I made the other day?

Not content to stop after making the block, I added the sashing strips that will make both blocks the correct size for the front/back panels of the Junior Billie Bag:

It’s going to be striking, isn’t it?!

 

 

 

Posted in Billie Bag, Churning Stars quilt block, Junior Billie Bag, tote bags, update | 6 Comments