Summer Stars Quilt Bee Quilt

 I finally got some pictures of my finished New Friends Quilt Bee quilt

and today, I'd like to share all the details of this project with you!

In January of 2021, I reached out to a bunch of people on 

Instagram and asked them if they wanted to join a quilt bee with me.

Some said yes and some said no.  In the end, I got 9 people

that wanted to join - for a total of 10 people including me.

I think there are usually 12 people in this kind of bee but I

thought 10 was okay so we wouldn't have to worry

about it during December and we had already missed January.

I assigned each person a month and set up a google doc with everyone's 

names, emails, Instagram handles, shipping addresses, ship dates, and a place for notes/instructions.

Everyone needed to email out their pattern instructions a week or two before their month started.

We started making blocks in February.

I chose my pattern, Summer Stars which you can find in my Etsy shop HERE.

I asked everyone to use peaches and greys to give it a 

nod to Halloween without screaming "Halloween".

I asked the ladies to make 1 Large Star block.

And if they so desired, a small star block center or two.

It was so fun when the blocks started rolling in!

I'm really happy with the way the whole thing came together.

For the back of the quilt, I used Blooming Soul in Nectarine from the line, 

Nectarine Fusion by Art Gallery.  I saw someone post about it on

Instagram and fell in love!  I liked that it had a few shades of peach

and that it looked like an old vintage sheet!

I bound it in this woven gray stripe fabric

(sorry, I'm not sure what it's called - there was no info on the selvage.)

My friend Jen Ostler in Highland, Utah quilted it for me

with straight lines.  She is seriously the best!  She always does a fantastic job and

then trims my quilt, ties it up with a coordinating ribbon, and attaches a chocolate to the

receipt.  What more could you want!?!

I really wanted a label on this quilt so I could capture all the information for

this project: the pattern name, the bee name, the year, and all

of the participants' names.  I ended up splurging and ordering

one from Ever Emblem ($16 + shipping).  They charge by the sheet so it's $16 

whether you get 1 large label or 20 small labels.  It seemed like a lot for just

one label but to be fair they did send a few extra labels with just my name and city 

(which was very nice of them!  I wasn't expecting that!)   My label measures

about 3" x 4".  If you ever order a large, single, custom label from them - 

ask if they can fit some other labels on the sheet to get the most bang for your buck!

This is the queen-size version of Summer Stars.

The pattern includes instructions for a lap and twin size version, as well.

Click HERE to visit my shop.

I'm so thankful to my new friends for participating

in this quilt bee with me!  It was a fun way to try new block patterns and

we even emailed out bio's about ourselves with our pattern instructions 

so it was a great way to get to know each other.  Thank you:

Natalie Jacob (@fijimamaquilts)

Mariana Diaz (@sewmariana)

Andy Knowlton (@abrightcorner)

Jessica Dayon (@jessicadayon)

Deidra McCollum (@quiltyobsession)

Emily Milke (@egmquilted)

Kelli Rummel (@thewillowmarket)

Brittany Davis (@bmariedavis)

Tavia Donaghe (@heytavia)

for joining me on that journey!

Check out the #newfriendsquiltbee hashtag to see

everyone else's bee quilts.

2 Stars A Day Quilt

 At the end of January, I got an itch to play with my
Liberty of London fabric stash again.  It's been a while since 

I made a quilt using Liberty fabrics and it's such a shame to have such beautiful fabrics 

go untouched for a substantial period of time.  (If you want to see

my first Liberty quilt, click HERE and scroll down.  It's one of my favorite quilts.)

So I started playing around but ultimately didn't love the direction I went 

so I set everything aside for a few months to regroup.

As I was eating lunch today (leftover baked penne pasta if you must know...) 

I was inspired to make a Star block; with my Liberty fabrics. 

Which evolved into the idea of making 1 Star block every day for an extended

period of time and to see if you guys wanted to join me!

So I went upstairs to my computer.  Mocked up a 6" Star block in my EQ software.

Made TWO Star blocks.  Liked my Star blocks.

Mocked up a quilt with Star blocks.  And asked if you guys wanted to join me

on Instagram.  It all happened really fast.  When I want to do something I just.get.to.it.

It's a blessing and a curse...

I thought it might be fun to play with two different color backgrounds for the blocks

but you could go as scrappy or unified as you want!  

You are welcome to use this 6" block anytime, in any configuration, and

to make as many as you want!  You can join me for this Two-A-Day

challenge or if now is not a good time for a new project - you can

save this post/pattern for another time.

Here is the simple quilt I mocked up.  

I figured if I upped my original plan from 

1 block a day to 2 blocks a day I could have it done in about a month.

(And if you're going to go to all the effort to pull out fabric and cut said fabric - 

you might as well make more than 1 block.  

But I still wanted to keep this a quick, daily project.)

This quilt finishes at 60-1/2" x 75-1/2".

Here's my plan:

Make: 2 Star blocks a day

Start date: 4/18/22

End date: 5/18/22

Total Star blocks: 63 

(1 is extra - could use as a label on the back?)

Materials needed for the above layout:

Cream background and sashing rectangles: 2-1/2 yards

Tan background, sashing squares, and borders: 2-1/8 yards

Assorted bright prints: approximately 2-1/4 yards

Binding: 5/8 yard

Backing: 4-1/4 yards

Batting: 68” x 83”

Click HERE for the very simple instructions.

Oh, and I just decided I will try to do a lot of the cutting prior to next Monday.

That will make it a lot easier to sew 2 blocks a day!

If you decide to join me on this project, tag me on Instagram @gigis_thimble.  

Be sure to use the hashtags #gigisthimblepattern and #twostarsadayquilt when posting 

about this quilt so I don’t miss your version.

I hope you'll join me and I can't wait to see what you make with your Star blocks!

Let me know if you have any questions and if you want to see the finished quilt click HERE.