Half Star Quilts

Hi All. Here’s for another episode in the life of Half Star Quilts designs! Continuing on the the theme of fusing different classic patchwork blocks, after Granny Stars Quilt and Cushions, I had a play around and came up with my next pattern. Now what to call it???

I received a great amount of support from the lovely ladies in our Zoom group, and local friends and family through lockdown, so the only way to pay tribute to that would be to name it Circle of Friends.

I duly browsed through the Christmas fabrics available and found the perfect range from Makower called Joy, and some great co-ordinates in the Makower Linen Texture range. It sews up so quickly and easily, so you can have this quilt of a decent size made in no time.

When it snowed I dragged my poor unsuspecting husband out for the obligatory quilt photograph, whilst dodging being spotted by neighbours and dog walkers! This has got to be one of my favourite images as the colours are fairly true too.

I had a couple of fantastic pattern testers too who deserve a shout out.

Heather Cunnah is such a creative and encouraging person, and besides having a large family to look after has a business making memory bears and keepsakes that are so fantastic.
Her version is rainbow inspired and suits her personality so well!
I encourage you all to visit her website and be inspired by her talent and enthusiasm.

Jenny Gibson also made an opulent Christmas version and quilted all 3 of our quilts on her fabulous Longarm machine. Just look at the detail and richness of the colours and quilting.
I would highly recommend her quilting services!
You can visit her website by clicking the button below ..

Here’s a good close up of the Christmas themed quilting on my quilt, and the cute Christmas fabrics. I had to make sure that I kept them all facing the right way with such a directional main fabric..
The friendship stars that you see aren’t constructed as blocks, but instead are incorporated into the logs of the log cabin.
The instructions are in full colour and are step by step and easy to follow. So, if you’d like to make one, perhaps with a group of friends in mind then pop along to my Etsy shop where you can purchase and download it straight away.

I really love this range of fabrics, and so just couldn’t resist making a Hopscotch cushion to match - well, why not!?
It looks quite different to the original Tilda version, and again having to be careful to keep those directional fabrics the right way up :)

All patterns are available as digital downloads and so you can start making them as soon as you’ve purchased them – no waiting for the postman. To see these patterns and more, please visit my Etsy Shop here

Now for a bit of crochet...

To unwind and relax, if I am particularly anxious about something, I find the repetitive action of crochet perfect. To date I have mainly made granny squares and small heart and flower motifs in the round. When a friend at work showed me a blanket that she had made I knew that it was one that I wanted to try.

With a new baby due in the family soon (not me, don’t panic Mom!) this Twinkling Star pattern by Crochet Dreamz seemed perfect. I’ve still got a way to go yet but I’m pleased with how it is coming together, especially with the use of pretty variegated wool.

Once you have completed a set of rows it is easy to see where to create the stitches without having to reread the pattern over and over. Just be aware that it is written in US stitches so for single and double read UK double and triple crochet.

You can find the free pattern here https://crochetdreamz.com/crochet-blanket-free-pattern, and there’s a useful youTube video too.