When the 2009 BOM was introduced, I thought it was great but wan't interested in doing it. I made a Feathered Star before and once was enough. Of course, that was before paper piecing but even after pp became an option, I wasn't interested in going back to the pattern again. Sue's video gave me to "hook" to try it again. I would have confused the fabric placement from the start without Sue's great instructions and pictures. I think I looked at the pictures 50 times before proceeding with each seam.

Thanks Sue!

Kim

I knew there was a very good reason that I waited to late in the month to start this block! I've learned so much by reading all the comments and now the video! Now I feel like I'm ready to start!!

I had a little trouble matching seams as well. I can match the seams that are straight in line with each other because you can "kiss" the seams up to each other. The ones that give me trouble are the ones that come at each other at an angle like the point at the end of each star segment (if that makes sense). Anyway, I have to say this was the first time that I've been able to do paper piecing with this much success so I'm very thankful to Sue for the pattern and instruction.

KT

Hi everyone -

I am just tickled to pieces, looking at all the feathered stars that have been posted so far - what a great showing of creativity!! You should each be really proud of what you've done; feathered stars are notoriously difficult to make, and most patterns resort to templates which can be frustrating for those of us who are "piecing-challenged...."

I have noticed a couple of comments or questions about matching up those seams when you sew the feathered star sub-units together, so I'll offer a couple of tips. I am assuming that many of you are talking about the ring of triangles that surrounds the center octagon of the star. Those triangle seams are tricky! Sometimes even my own stitching left a bit of a dangling triangle... darn it! But take a look at your seam lines, if your triangles dangle. Sometimes just sewing a tiny little bit deeper seam (don't undo what you've already sewn) will do the trick. If the seam is already a bit too deep, frog it (as in "rip it") and re-sew the seam a little less deep. The other thing that I sometimes do is to put a pin into the "intersection" of the two adjoining pieces, just to make sure that when I sew the two pieces together, the intersection is perfectly aligned.

Hopefully, these tips will help a couple of you perfect your piecing - including in areas beyond the dangling triangles.

Best wishes -
Sue Garman

PS - I LOVED doing the videos that you will be seeing -- they can be an amazing teaching tool. Many thanks go to Alex and Ricky for their support and patience with me!

Thanks, I will check that out this weekend. Sandi in FL

Sandi, you might want to check out Alex's Classroom videos from last summer about making the Leymone Star block. She shows how to line up points and get them stitched exactly right. It's a different block, but same principle.

I enjoyed the video very much and it was helpful and will help if I do make another. I would love to see a video of how she matched those darn seams when sewing the fixed sections together. I had more problems with that part then the paper piecing. Sandi in FL

thewebcrow wrote:
That's a good question! Could you post an inquiry to the techs (click on CONTACT on the bottom purple bar) and let us know what they tell you? Thanks!

Would it be possible to download these videos?

Looks like the videos from Sue will really make The Quilt Show membership valuable. I'm sorry I finished my block last week as I encountered some unsewing moments. What a great tip for replacing fabric errors! Now if only she had one for perfectly matching up the outermost blue feather on the final stitiching. All but one vein are near perfect, but the last one gave me fits. I noticed others have had that trouble, so we'll use the galloping horseman rule. Your photos and now videos are outstanding. What a super project. Thanks.

Thanks for doing the video, Sue! I've done paper-piecing before, but the tip on replacing a patch is new to me. That is an invaluable trick
Brita

I think Sue's video on paper piecing is great, I learned a few things from watching it. It sure made things easier, it would have helped me being a bit frustrated while I made my star. I might try more paper piecing in the future.

Margarita in Auburn, CA

tkwritr wrote:
I know that this first one was late because it wasn't filmed until the first week of January, then Ricky had to edit it, and he's been sick with that vertigo thing. I'm not sure, but I think they did all the filming at once, and hope that they will post one each month when they post the patterns.

TQS ROCKS!!

That's cool I have not done my star yet it will help I may ware it out Happy