Let's have a Sew-along!

Since I discovered "sew-alongs" this past year, I've been contemplating hosting my own here at Through Rose-colored Trifocals.  And this past week, I made the decision to go ahead and do it!

 

The Diamond Star Playtime Sew-Along is based on a workshop I teach and designed to introduce more quilters to my DVD workshop, Set-In Piecing Simplified and Marti Michell's rotary cutting templates and tools.

Diamond Star Playtime Sampler made with Marti Michell's Set H templates.
 

It will begin the first week of March and while my timing outline isn't firm yet, I'm thinking it will run for about 8 weeks.  It will focus on 6-pointed stars and be a free-form sampler so you can choose your size of star, make as many as you are inspired to create, and set them together in a your own style.

 

The photo above is a straight setting using Marti's Set H and the photo below is a honeycomb setting using her Set G.  I'll take you on a tour of the template options over the next couple weeks to help you decide the route you'll take.  And we'll explore the fabric requirements so that by the beginning of March, you'll be ready to start. 

 

Pieceful Constellations made with Marti Michell's Set G templates

We'll begin with basic stars and then add variations each week until we have enough stars to think about setting options.  It's an exciting array of shapes to use and once you understand the simpler set-in piecing technique, you'll never back away from a design because it requires set-in piecing.

 

I have a stash of ideas on my Pinterest board -- http://www.pinterest.com/huey0314/60-degree-diamonds/ -- that continues to grow and I invite you to peruse it -- but be warned, there is a danger that you'll become over stimulated.   In my post, The Importance of Sharing Our Quilts on January 31, I discussed the inspirations for Pieceful Constellations and you may recognize some of those inspiring quilts when you visit my Pinterest board.

 

In the next two posts in this series, I'll introduce you to Marti Michell's relevant templates.

 

Mary Huey

All material Copyrighted by Mary Huey Quilts!

 

While I don't have an on-line shop that sells the templates, I do stock all of them for my workshops.  So if you are having trouble finding them, please don't hesitate to e-mail me at maryhueyquilts@hotmail.com and I'm happy to sell them to you directly.