Carpenter’s Star

First I need to apologize and let you know that, yes part 2 of the appliqué by machine tutorial is still coming!! My whole family has been sick off and on, mostly “on” since the last week of March. Whatever stomach virus has been going around we got, two different rounds of it! We are doing much better and I’m hoping it stays that way.

I have a project that I decided to do last minute. It needs to be done by May 3rd and with an almost two year-old 3 weeks is considered last minute by my book. The Young Women of our church are putting on a fun dinner and are hosting a silent auction to raise money for them to go to Girl’s Camp. I have such fond memories of Girl’s Camp that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to help these girls get there.

I decided to make a queen size quilt for them to sell off at their auction. I won’t lie, I’m a little nervous about donating such a large expensive item. What if people don’t bid on it? What if no one likes the colors/pattern etc? What if it goes for $20?!! (Actually I made it a point to ask if they would start the bidding on a quilt at a moderate price before committing to make one.) I did actually worry about putting in lots and lots… and lots of hours and have it go for less than $100. I’m really keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that it will actually go for what it is worth or even more. A queen size handmade quilt is worth at least $400 right?

Anyway… feel free to share any stories with me (good or bad, hopefully good) about charity quilts you have made/donated. I’d love to hear them.

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I choose to super size the traditional “Carpenter’s Star” quilt block for a super easy high impact quilt. I added a few borders and I’ve got a quilt size quilt finishing at around 86” x 86” I also simplified the construction by using HST’s (half square triangles.)

I couldn’t decide on the color scheme so I did a few mock ups in EQ6 and colored them lickety split. I did an impromptu poll on FB amongst my non-quilting friends and the blue and green version won out.

I’ve already started and I’m ready to piece the blocks together to make the star. Make sure you follow me on FB to see the progress. It’s much easier for me to find the time to take a picture and add a caption with hubby’s iPad than it is for me to sit down and write a blog post.

Just out of curiosity which version would you be more likely to bid on?
You’d be most likely to find the blue and green on my bed, but I also like the American version for holidays.

~ Norma