Star blocks are some of the most beloved designs in the patchwork quilt community. I’ve been drawn to them since my earliest days of patchwork. Foundation Paper Piecing and English Paper Piecing can bring precision and complexity to the process of getting sharply pointed stars. In the week’s to come, I will be sharing more stars, and even a compass. There will be a flower or two thrown in for good measure, but stars will dominate.
This week’s block is the seventeenth in my thirty block collection. Fittingly, for the season, it is known as the Bethlehem Star, named as such in 1938. It was also called the Star of the Magi in 1937.
When I made my first gingerbread doll, I used fabric from an old vest. Later I used hand-dyed wool to make the larger doll, and cream muslin for my tree topper. My first pattern was derived from a coloring page I had, then with time, it was modified a bit. Simple shapes like these are great places to begin ornament crafting. They can be sewn so that the raw edges are hidden inside the doll, or they could also be made using felt so that the raw edges could stay on the outside. Cookie cutters are a wonderful way to create the shapes for a whole host of ornaments similar to my little Ginger Doll.
The idea to create a tiny kitchen towel came as I prepared for this week’s video. Christmas and baking go hand-in-hand, and I thought I could make more cookie cutter shapes. However since I have been making towel toppers this year to bring more festive fun into my kitchen, it seemed only natural that I should see if a miniature was possible. With a bit of experimentation, I was able to make my newest ornament. Yes, I will admit, I made my prototypes with my embroidery machine. It stitches so much more accurately than I do, but when I put the pattern together I found the traditional method of paper pattern and sewing machine easy and quick.
So this week, in addition to the English Paper Piecing block, I will share two more patterns with you.
A hexagon? A wagon wheel? A snow flake? A Christmas Wreath? Sometimes a simple shape can be the most confusing to name. This week’s English Paper Piecing block is an example of how the humble hexagon can be transformed simply by changing the fabric colors and placements.
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Pattern for this block with both the solid and segmented centers.
When I started my journey into English Paper Piecing just over three months ago, I never envisioned how much joy I would find in the process. While not my first slow-craft (the trendy way to call traditional crafting), it has been the most surprising. Yes, it is true, my aging eyes need excellent lighting to manage, and a needle threading tool is quite helpful, but the joy of creating with needle and thread is abundant.
Finding balance seems easier now that I have added an additional slow-craft to my life. Without the slower hand work of crafts like EPP, it is easy to feel everything in life needs to be high-speed production in order to have value. Life, yes even crafting life, can speed out of control until one unexpected obstacle or turn derails you. Recovery is then required before the journey can continue.
This week I share three EPP projects: one that took weeks to make, one that is a component of something bigger, and one that is full of holiday joy. Each brings with it the benefits of slow-crafting.
A block that benefits from the use of light, medium, and dark contrasting fabrics for greatest impact. It is also stunning when made with a low contrast collection of fabrics.
Still using 4 different fabrics, the blues are low contrasting for a subtle effect. Another option is to make it using one star fabric and one background fabric.
When the background fabric is changed to a dark contrast, the effect is dramatic.
This quilt layout uses 4 of the North Star blocks and a thin 1 inch border. Its finished size is 22 inches square.
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This week’s vlog shares my finished Halloween Quilt and some handy zippered bags. I include resource link in the vlog description for those wanting to try the zippered bag either with machine embroidery or with traditional sewing methods.
The countdown to Christmas is fully underway. This year for Vlogmas, a YouTuber’s countdown, I decided to find a way to take a break from the hectic pace of Christmas, at least for a few moments each day.
With that goal in mind, each day I am spinning a small bundle of fiber, enjoying a tiny chocolate treat, and choosing a rejuvenating suggestion from a jar I filled with suggestions back before Vlogmas began. So far in the first days of December, I have crafted with beads, made a savory treat, tried a new embroidery design, and started reading a new book. Today when I withdrew the small folded paper from the jar, I was delighted to see that it suggested I make a sweet treat. I’ve been looking forward to this suggestion appearing because I have a brownie recipe I have been wanting to share.
A few months back during the heat of summer, I invested in a small convection oven, marketed as an air fryer, it really is just a fancy toaster oven, but with excellent versatility that past toasters lacked. There didn’t seem much sense in heating up the house by using the large oven during the summer months, now that my husband and I are empty-nesters again. A smaller oven would heat up the house less and would correspond with our smaller food preparation needs. It was the perfect solution with just one hurdle to cross – smaller batch recipes. Cooking, and especially baking, just for two is not the easiest thing to accomplish. Most recipes are designed for feeding 4-6 people. Cakes and pies are especially difficult. The humidity and the heat of Virginia makes sweets treats fuzz up quite quickly unless they are refrigerated, and there is nothing that makes a crisp pastry go limp like refrigeration.
So with new mini-oven and a goal to make smaller portions of favorite foods, I embarked on an Autumn of culinary experimentation. In my previous blog, I share some of my Autumn favorites, but now the temperature have turned cold chocolate is what is needed.
After years of a love-hate relationship with the classic American dessert, the Brownie, I have finally figured out a recipe both my husband and I will consume with joy. It has both crisp bits and gooey bits, and is small enough to bake in an 8″ x 8″ (200mmx200mm) baking pan that fits just perfectly in my Instant Vortex Air Fryer. I am sure the recipe would also work in a regular oven or full-sized convection oven with just the minimal baking time/temperature adjustments.
I hope you find joy in this basic, but tasty comfort food.
Happy Holidays
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If you choose to take a few moments and watch my Vlogmas video, you will also hear how I stumbled upon a second chocolate delight when a foggy brain necessitated making a second dessert.
By simply adding extra sour cream (about 3 tablespoons total) and steaming it in a pressure cooker for 60 minutes, rather than having a Brownie, you will have a Chocolate Steamed Pudding instead. If you have never made a cake in a pressure cooker, I highly recommend looking up Instant Pot recipes by Amy & Jacky at https://www.pressurecookrecipes.com/
Pithy Ponderings 