Penny Halgren asked:


Since the star is a traditional symbol of Christmas, star quilts make great decorations and gifts for the Christmas season.

If you want to make a special holiday quilt, you will discover that there are many quilt block patterns with stars from which to choose. Simply integrate your Christmas fabrics and colors into any traditional star pattern and you are certain to have a quilt that will delight your family or its recipient for many years.

The Ohio Star is very popular among quilters. The Ohio Star is a nine patch quilt block pattern. The center is a square. Patches to the top, bottom, left and right of that center square are pieced to form the star’s points.

Another quilt block pattern features the center square with two triangles on each corner stitched together to make the points. This traditional pattern is gorgeous in any number of fabrics and colors, but is especially pretty in Christmas fabrics since the star is such a big symbold of the Christmas season.

The Lone Star quilt is another popular quilt design. The star looks as though it is made up of tiny diamond shape pieces of fabric. The diamonds alternate from the center to expand the large star out. Again, this very detailed quilt is remarkable in any fabric. Holiday inspired colors and prints will make your Lone Star Quilt a treasured holiday heirloom.

If you see a Lone Star quilt and think it looks like one you’ve seen before that had a different name, you are probably right. The Lone Star quilt is also recognized as Star of Bethlehem and Morning Star.

Another popular pattern to try is the Eccentric Star. Be creative when you piece this one. You could use a fabric with a Santa, manger scene, angel or other theme for the center square of each star. Or maybe you could tell a story though the series of center squares.

For example the first star’s center would be a child looking out the window waiting for Santa. The second star would be a stocking hanging on a wall. The third center could be Santa coming down the chimney. The fourth could be Santa distributing presents. Fifth could be Santa going up the chimney. The sixth could be the sleigh taking off. The seventh star could be a child waking up to find his toys. Stars eight could say “Merry” and star nine could say “Christmas.”

There are many options for the Eccentric Star block. Let your imagination take lead!

Your holiday quilt patterns do not have to be full size quilts. While they would certainly make festive holiday bedding, smaller versions would make great wall or door hangings to celebrate the holiday.

Decorate your mantel with star runners or make a wall hanging to place over it.

Don’t limit your star quilt blocks to home décor. Decorate clothing with them. Try stitching your favorite block to the front of a sweatshirt as a great gift for a quilting friend.

They also make nice additions to the backs of jackets. Surprise your favorite ladies (young and old alike) with star quilt shirts or jackets.

You might also use your star blocks to make holiday tote bags and purses. No matter which star pattern you choose or which item you decide to make, you know you will have a popular item when you piece star quilt blocks.



Douglas

Penny Halgren asked:


Quilters who are not already a machine embroidery enthusiast just may find themselves engrossed in the craft once they realize they could incorporate machine embroidery into their quilting.

Embroidery is a traditional way to add special decorative touches to quilts. Whether by hand or machine, a quilter may accent his or her creation with embroidered flowers or other accents. But today’s machine embroidery – for those willing to try it – can make quilting quite different.

For instance, a quilter may use a simple embroidery design to let the machine “quilt” the project. Simple designs that can be stitched in one color work best, especially for the beginning machine embroidery quilter.

If you want to give this a try, look for an embroidery design that’s simple – one that you can visualize stitched into a quilt. Some redwork inspired designs work well. Other simple designs like flowers, circles, sun/moon, houses, hearts – there are all sorts of designs to choose from – can work well as quilting stitches.

Be sure to keep your quilt top’s theme in mind. We all know and love the traditional beauty of the double wedding ring quilt. While the quilt top is beautiful with its color variety, the quilt back is just as pretty with its simple stitching that follows the design on the top.

What if you used an embroidery machine to quilt hearts into the quilt design? That one unexpected touch would truly make your quilt unique.

Have you ever needed to throw together a quick quilt? Many quilting pros laugh at the notion, but sometimes we need a quick gift to give and want to make it personal. Lap quilts and baby quilts are very easy to create on an embroidery machine.

Simply hoop your top fabric, batting and backing fabric into an embroidery hoop. Pick a design and get to work! Even if you are quilting solid color fabrics, you can complete a quick, beautiful quilt with the embroidery machine in no time!

Some ideas for a baby blanket for a boy would be to use outlines of footballs, airplanes, trucks, trains, etc., for your quilting pattern. The hardest part of your job will be re-hooping fabric and pushing the “start” button!

Ideas for a baby blanket for a girl include outlines of flowers, baskets, dolls, kittens, etc.

The method above uses machine embroidery on relatively small quilts. Larger quilts can be done the same way or may be quilted with machine embroidery by individual quilt blocks. Experiment to decide which method is easiest for you and remember that the machine embroidery quilting method may change with each unique project.

If you can’t find a pattern you like already on embroidery file, ask a digitizer to help you create one. A digitizer is someone who takes art images like line drawings, clip art and fonts and alters them to become a stitch pattern. So if you’d like for your family tree wall hanging to be quilted with a tree pattern, a digitizer can create one for you.

Be sure to let your digitizer know you plan to use the image for quilting. The digitizer will need to plan stitches accordingly.

Quilting is rich in tradition and therefore many true-blue quilters do not like the idea of using machine embroidery to quilt their projects. Isn’t it great to try new ideas and techniques? Remember, not to long ago quilters refused to consider machine quilting at all! Embroidery machines will never take the place of quilters, but it can be a fun and rewarding sewing technique to try from time to time.



Lucille

Penny Halgren asked:


two kinds of necktie quilts. In one, fabric is cut to resemble neckties and sewn into the quilt block. The other actually incorporates men’s neckties into the quilt design. Using men’s neckties in quilts is an extremely popular trend.

In addition to being a current trend, the necktie quilts have enjoyed popularity over many decades due to the fact that they can be great memory quilts honoring the men in your life.

If you want to make a necktie quilt using men’s ties, you have several options. First, you need to decide if you will use the tie as is, incorporating the entire tie into your quilt design. Your other option is to use the ties as scrap fabrics, cutting pieces from each to complete a traditional quilt pattern.

Quilters who like to use neckties in traditional patterns often choose to use them as fabrics in Dresden Plate, Double Wedding Ring, and block patchwork among others.

If you opt to use the entire necktie in your quilt, you might start off by arranging them to form a starburst in the center of the quilt. Fill empty spaces with other fabrics, or more neckties if you have them.

You could also choose to use the neckties in your quilt’s border.

In addition to full size quilts, you could use the neckties to make wall hangings, Christmas tree skirts and stockings, or pillows.

If you have the urge to make a necktie quilt, but don’t have enough ties on hand, ask friends and family to save them for your project. Also, visit thrift stores and yard sales to grow your own collection of men’s neckties.

If you have plenty of ties on hand, but are having a tough time finding a starting place, visit your favorite free quilt pattern site to see what it offers. There are many free or low cost quilt patterns available on the Internet. You have a world of options at your fingertips if you are planning to use the old neckties in piecing your quilts.

If your necktie quilt is a memory quilt for a friend or family member, make sure to incorporate other mementos into it. For instance, if your father loved golf, try working a golf tie or golf themed fabric into your design of the quilt you are making for him or in honor of him.

Quilters who are low on neckties or time can create a wonderful memory lap quilt. Smaller in size means it takes less time to complete. While smaller in size, the necktie lap quilt can still be big on memories!

To make a quilt featuring fabric cutouts of men’s neckties, you have a couple of options. You may make the traditional neck tie or you may choose a bow tie pattern. Both are popular and widely available on the internet.

Applique quilters over piecing can use that method in making necktie quilts. If using the entire necktie, it may be appliqu?onto the quilt top wherever the quilter chooses. Using tie shaped pieces of fabric, the quilter may choose to appliqu?hose to a quilt top. The bowtie quilt design may also be appliquedd, but part of its novelty is how the blocks actually piece together to create a bowtie.

Once your necktie quilt project is complete, you can use any remaining neckties you have left over for other projects. Popular ways to recycle neckties include wearing them as belts or headbands or making skirts from them. You can find various instructions and patterns for those projects on the Internet as well.



Daniel