I’ve not made this block that I can recall, oh goody!!! Guess what I’m doing today.

V.

I'm going to give this pretty block a try, too. Youngest was bitten by the flu bug, and just returned to school today after being out the whole week. After I do a final round of disinfecting the house, I'm taking the weekend off to sew!

That's a nice variation of friendship star. I like your blue & yellow.

Donna

Yay! Since I finished the January block I've been looking forward to February's! This one looks nice, too. I'll be piecing this one this weekend as well! Thank you, Theresa!

Strike up the band! I was able to sew this block without a hitch in my stitch! :) Fun block. I used the leftover red & white fabrics from last year's Block Lotto. I was so excite to share, I've yet to give it a final press.

Theresa, what sweet blocks! Ever since I saw the artist Monet’s kitchen in France, blue and yellow has been a favorite color combination of mine. And Larri, I love the way you fussy-cut the center block and got the stripes running in the same direction. Very nice.

Nicely done, Larri.

Theresa

I miss my sewing machine and being able to participate! Fun blocks and love them in both

combinations.

On a side note, DH has ridden over 1600 miles on his bicycle so far - San Diego to Burton, Texas so far - on the way to St. Augustine, Florida. I am the support team in our little RV. In May, should be able to get back to sewing!

Sue

Lovely fabrics, Val. A good combination.

Theresa

Thank you, y'all!

Sue, Wow - that's a lot of miles! Does he have to soak in a hot tub when he's finished for the day?

Val, I really like the color combination you used. I especially like the dark corners in this block. Will surely make a pretty quilt when completed.

Well, there was a hitch in my stitch, Lari. I thought I had conquered HST, but I think I do better when I'm working with the triangle, instead of the square. My squares came out too small, so I'll make some more, probably making the squares a little larger and then trimming. I'll have to come up with a block for the small HSTs since I'm using the same group of fabrics each month.

I love the grey block, Valerie. I'm always drawn to grey, especially with yellow.

You did a great job with the symmetry, Lari. At first glance, you only notice the fussy cut center, but then you notice the planning of all the printed pieces.

Sue, I haven't shared your husband's journey yet with my DH, (by the time I walk into the other room, I forget I wanted to tell him), but I know he'll be blown away. He is so proud of the time in biked from our home to Indianapolis - 159 miles. I'm sure he can't imagine what your husband is undertaking.

Enjoy the warmer weather all you Polar Vortex survivors!

Sorry you had trouble with yours, Bev. I'm such a visual learner, I wanted to ensure my directional print was pointing 'up,' so I quickly sketched a plan on some scratch paper. I'm glad I did, because I kept referring to it as I sewed. PS...I cut my squares to 5" and sliced on the diagonal, sewing two triangles together and then trimming to size. Happy Quilting!

PPS...it's supposed to creep up to 60° today. Might throw open the windows and get some fresh air in here. We only had 1 baby in the nursery this AM, down from our average of 6. Everyone's out sick w/flu or stomach bugs. Yuck! Stay warm and healthy wherever you may be!!!

Hey Bev, I’m sorry to read HST are still giving you a head ache...ugh. I thought of a few options you may want to try so the HST cease being annoying for you.

_ try the Easy Angie for cutting HST, tutes can be found on line.

_ try the Missouri Star quilt method, ( take two 5” squares, RST together, sew 1”/4” around the entire perimeter, cut in half, trim to 4. 1/2”...google MSQ HST and you’ll find a you tube video

- Paper piece a HST, PP template available on Freshly Pieced website, it’s a couple of bucks to buy the templates, but you’ll have it forever.

There may be other ways to make theses little devils, these are just the ones that come to mind.

I finished a whole quilt top the other day, stood back and realized 1 of the blocks with 12 HST in the middle of the sampler quilt was bad, points cut off once sewn......seam ripper and 3 hours later, and all we fixed. HST can be annoying!

I hope something works for you to make it easier,

V.

Oh Bev, I am sorry you are having problems with your HSTs.

I always cut my squares a bit larger, on this block, I cut at 5". I would rather trim down than be short. I wondered whether your quarter inch seam might be the culprit? Just to check, can you cut two scrap squares, the size in the pattern, draw that diagonal on the back of one, then actually draw a line 1/4" away from that on both sides. That should be your stitching lines. Sew, cut and then measure the finished block. Worth a try.

I tried the Easy Angle ruler Val suggested and couldn't get it to work for me. I Should probably try it again but I have found the way that is comfortable for me. Old dog, new tricks kind of thing.

Don't give up!

Theresa

I bought a couple of these quarter inch seam markers, and it's truly helped improve my HST accuracy.

Thanks for the suggestions, ladies. I'll give them a try and see what works for me. I cut the other squares down to 4.25. So I wasn't too far off, just far enough I didn't want to stretch the pieces.

Here are my Feb BOM. I stayed with the same fabrics as January.

Oooh, that is nice! And shows what happens when blocks are joined. Thank you.

Theresa

Pretty, Char! You can really see the ribbon effect with two blocks together.

Donna

I really like the effect of seeing the two, Char. On page 2 of the pattern, the quilts the various ladies did are really attractive.

As you know, my first HSTs did not come out so well. So this time I cut the squares a little bigger and that worked just fine. However, I didn't really look at the directions since I had done it once, and forgot that you need to mix up the squares. I put the one beige with all of one print and the other beige with all of the other prints. So I couldn't lay it out as designed. So I did what I could, instead of starting over. It is square, it's just the pic.

And the second one, which is also square. I did this one correctly. :)

I like them both and glad you found a way to get them the right size.

Theresa

I like them both, too. The red one has movement., while the blue reminds me of ribbons. Great finish!

And here's a picture of my February block.

Very pretty. You can't go wrong with blue and yellow!

Thank you, Bev.

Yay for blue and yellow. Good work.

Theresa

Here is my Ribbon Star. I'm using a bundle of fabrics I've had for many years. :)

Donna