Danish Stars for the Folk School

In just a week I'll be on my way to the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, No.Carolina!
The class I'm teaching is a sampler quilt that I designed to tell the story of John and Olive Campbell and the founding of the school. There are eight traditional 12" blocks with a space in the center for your own part of the story.
Ever since I made the first one five years ago, I have been adding to the collection of blocks because there are so many that can refer to Folk School activities.
And I am always looking for a new and easy method to sew any block! Danish Stars is one.


SCALE is an important part of good design, so the fewer, simpler shapes in a block, the better it looks in a small size. Danish Stars is much better as a 6" block than a 12" one. This pattern has been included since the beginning, but as an applique block. Lately I saw a version that was pieced, and decided to add that, too.
A pieced 6" block has units that are 2" finished.
(listen carefully, and you can already hear Cherry-cherry laughing at me working with such tiny pieces)
I had some idea about avoiding bias edges by just laying on some shapes by eye and doing a sew & flip method...pretty much what Free Form Quilting is all about.

Not exactly as nice as hoped for!

OK, time to balance laziness with a bit of helpful work...if I cut the triangle, then maybe I can still just slap on a background and trim the thing to square. But it better be a good triangle...so I actually went to my collection of rulers and got out this set:

The Tri Tool set from EZ Quilting by Wrights
Designed by Darlene Zimmerman and  Joy Hoffman

I've had these for years, and so far the only use they've had is to be loaned to C.C.
At least it didn't take a lot of studying to use them...all I wanted to do was cut the "big" triangle. The side wasn't necessary. Heaven forbid I not use some little pieces I'd already cut!

This picture is worth all the words to describe the process

No, you can't use the cut-off sides for making another unit. You could use them on something smaller, but I just can't go there.

I just matched up the edges and sewed.

Whenever you add a piece to each side of something to create a triangle shape (like  Flying Goose) you must finish one side before doing the other...sew and press it into place.

Plenty to trim to make this square soon!

Add the second piece and square up the entire unit to 2 1/2". It seems like a no-brainer.

Even more space to trim!

 Sorry about the glare

You can see the 2 1/2" line at the bottom of the triangle. The most important part is the dot at the top of the triangle. That dotted line means when I cut there will be 1/4" seam allowance over the top of the triangle. Since you can't see that when the unit is sewn into a quilt, it's easy to make the mistake of cutting right at the point.
You trim two sides, then turn the unit and trim the other two.

Blocks are sewn as rows first

It's looking better. The center unit is easy, but I'll have to describe that another time.

Better but not good yet!

Darn. It takes so much work to be lazy....
I guess I'll have to use the other part of the Tri Tool set after all!

The side piece has a nice pre-trimmed point for matching

I really don't like tiny pieces. And I was amazed to find I could turn this around and cut another piece from the original rectangle!
Of course, there are 2 layers of fabric there. The only thing worse that cutting tiny things is cutting them one at a time!
A NOTE TO MINIATURISTS: Thank you for making miniature quilts. I wouldn't try one in 1,000 years, but that only increases my awe and fascination at your skills!

Wonky to almost perfect

Alright, I give in...I have to use the rulers to get this straight.
Even though I love the wonky ones, people tend to look at what I'm doing and wonder if I'm a good teacher when things don't match up too well! So the rulers are going with me to Campbell...
...and if anyone in the class likes wonky, that's OK by me! 
In my classes, the only person you need to please is YOU.


I'll try to do some blogging from the Folk School, but there will still be lots to show & tell when I get back. 
One of the things I'll be using these blocks for is to show how to make pieced borders, and how to arrange a quilt top with blocks of different sizes.

Quilting at the Folk School

What a wonderful week at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC!

The rain came and went while we were in nearby Murphy NC, and every day was exactly like the Sunday beginning of the week:

This is a true sight-for-sore-eyes from Florida!

Each day was cool & beautiful, and each evening the full moon rose from the mountains:

I just couldn't get online while I was at the Folk School (though others did just fine), so I'm sorry I couldn't share the day-by-day experience. I must admit, though, when I am teaching it's the students & studio that come first. It's much easier to find blogging time as a student!

The class was filled at 12 people, and all week I heard from others who wanted to take it but couldn't get in. They ended up learning how to weave Shaker Rag Rugs and Open Hearth Cooking (with recipes from the 1800s!) and had a good time.

The full class allowed me to have an assistant, and I was fortunate to have Cherry-Cherry in that role. She did a super job catching all the details and answering questions so everyone in the class could be constantly taken care of. She is the best!

We got to be roomies, and were assigned to The Farmhouse.

Our room was upstairs, behind the two dormer windows on the right.
This is where the first classes were held at the Folk School, and the home of Olive Campbell, one of the school's founders. It has several pieces of her furniture still in place, and is a bit like staying in a museum! The other window must end up in the room next door. Our neighbors were Les and Gwen Gustafson-Zook, from Goshen, Indiana. He taught the autoharp class, and they both gave a fun & uplifting concert on Friday night.
Cherry-Cherry & I had these matching beds (sorry, no maid service at the Folk School!). I thought they might be original to the Farmhouse...maybe Olive Campbell or Marguarite Butler slept in them sometime!
Can't say that my contribution was very authentic...that's my really bright pillowcase. I like to have my own pillow when travelling, and that case helps me see it to remember to take it home! The quilt is the Spicy Mystery Quilt, which I taught at the 2003 SSQA Symposium. It's like a Mexican Cross pattern.

But we didn't have time to hang around the room much. It was off to the Fiber Arts building every day (after MorningSong and a breakfast worthy of Cracker Barrel!). The Quilting Studio is the door on the right. Come on in!

Spacious, light-filled & very well-equiped, I cannot think of a better place to spend a week with fabric and new friends! Each person had an eight-foot table for her own project, and there were cutting tables up at standing heigth, plus several ironing board stations. I think it is a good idea to have built-in reasons to get up and move around during your sewing time!

The building's restrooms are on this side, so the weavers came through to check out our work, as well as partake of the bowl of chocolate I had sitting on the counter by the door.

It was fun teaching the Campbell Folk School Quilt, or MorningSong, as I now call it. This time it was not a mystery quilt, and everyone jumped right in on the traditional patterns that tell the story of how the Folk School was founded, inspired by Director Jan Davidson's story.

We all started with "Fair & Square" (lower left corner in the picture below) as an easy block, and one that says how things work at the school...no competition, lots of respect for individuals, plenty of give & take.

The amount of patchwork generated was totally amazing!
With the 9 blocks in the original quilt, plus alternates for personal choice, each student had patterns for 30 blocks. And on top of that, I found a pattern to represent all the different subjects taught, so there pictures of 48 more! To be selected, a block had to be published at some place and time with a name I could relate to the Folk School, and it had to be possible to make...not one of those un-tested drawings or blocks with 1, 000 pieces!

Some of the students (it seems funny to call them that, now that we have come to be more like friends!) had quite a bit of experience in quilting. One owns a shop in Blue Ridge, GA, Country Stitches. C-C and I stopped there on our way north, and had a lovely time in the "old pink house", including finding a much desired Moda jelly-roll for Cherry-Cherry.
Other students had less experience but that didn't hold them back! Here's the completed top for a wall hanging by a first time beginner:

Civil War reproductions were a big favorite of the class, but we also had a chance to see the same blocks done in mostly batiks, with a close-color scheme:
This ended up with the blue as a tiny inside border and went home looking for a darker outside one.
Then we also had an inspired choice of bright yellow for the background:
OOPS! I neglected to turn this the right direction....that block in the middle is really a basket, designed on the spur of the moment by the maker! I love it when that happens in my class!
More beautiful batiks by someone who travelled all the way from Washington state! Her husband came to take the Arborsculpture class with Richard Reames, since Campbell is one of the few places teaching that remarkable gardening form.

As I said, Cherry-Cherry was busy with her own sewing while still finding time to be my more-than-able assistant! Her top is a study in blue & browns:

Check out that mosaic sashing! The royal blue just glows in this piece. It's getting a border in the same style, but with larger pieces.

This one below has the blocks from the original quilt design, but a T-Shirt in the center! I suggested that if anyone wanted to use a shirt in that way, we could learn the basics of making a T-Shirt quilt...and so we did!

The plan to finish this one includes many more blocks surrounding the part done here, maintaining the special block in the center position.

The Spools pattern was a popular block, and several people were planning to make borders with that pieced design.
One person is making a 25 block quilt for a queen bed, and I am sure she will finish it!

With a place like this to work in, all meals cooked for you, and lots of inspiring & entertaining people around, you can't help but have a good time!
I always feel sorry to leave, but look forward to going back....as a teacher OR a student!

And I'm also looking forward to seeing many of my new friends somewhere "around the Quilt Block".