Welcome quilters! Thank you for stopping by Shadows of the Blue Ridge as you travel Quiltmaker's Road Rally! I hope you're having a great time this week visiting all the stops and soaking in the quilty goodness.
Today I get to share with you my newest block, Boxed Star. Boxed Star came about as I was experimenting with creating secondary design using the background space on a quilt block. The first few blocks I designed had plain backgrounds, but I've enjoyed learning how to add secondary patterns to my newest blocks. Here is what Boxed Star looks like as a single block:
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| Boxed Star |
Not bad, and it can certainly be used as a stand alone block as it is here it is in my Random Sampler quilt (center of left edge-made using caramel and tan fabrics)
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| This is a sampler quilt top that I've recently finished |
However, the magic really happens when Boxed Star is used across a quilt top either with or without sashing added. I created these two mock-ups by copying a picture of my block into Google Drawing and then copy/pasting it several times.
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| Boxed Star quilt top without sashing |
When the Boxed Star block is used without sashing the background elements become the focus and the stars becomes the secondary design element. It's always so interesting to see this happen in a quilt. When sashing is used between the blocks (see picture below) the star remains as the focal point and the various boxes are the secondary design element.
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| Boxed Star quilt top with sashing |
Boxed Star is my sixth block to appear in Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks. When I first thought to design a block I was a bit afraid to actually submit something. After all I'm not someone schooled in design. However, once I pulled out my colored pencils and graph paper and just started sketching ideas I had fun with it - and surprised myself! We all have things we're afraid of, or that make us nervous. Of course, the silliest fear I have is parking in a parking garage. Can you believe it?!? I'm so afraid I'll get my car parked in there and not be able to get back out again. I mean, what if it's an unmanned garage that only takes cash and I don't have correct change? Do you see where I'm going with this? I could be stuck in there with no way to get out! It makes my hands sweat just thinking about it...but, I digress.
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| Fat quarter giveaway! |
Giveaways:
I think it's time for a couple of giveaways! I'm holding a drawing for a copy of 100 Blocks, Volume 15 plus this little spring-time inspired fat quarter bundle (shown above).
In addition, the editors of Quiltmaker's are generously giving one of my blog readers a free issue of 100 Blocks, Volume 15.
For a chance to win just leave a comment telling me about your silliest fear :o) I'll draw random winners on Sunday morning, May 7. Note: If you suspect you may be a "no reply" blogger please make sure to include your email address in your comment.
Well friends, thanks so much for stopping by and letting me tell you all about Boxed Star. I'd love to see you back here again. If you'd like regular updates from Shadows of the Blue Ridge consider signing up for an email subscription (top right of your screen), or you can follow me on Bloglovin'. You can also find me on Instagram.
I hope you soak in a lot of inspiration as you visit all the blogs on the tour. You can read about the tour and find links to the featured blogs on Quiltmaker's blog, Quilty Pleasures.
I am afraid of flying things. Especially birds.
ReplyDeleteauntie.clark@gmail.com
I think the only thing I am afraid of is heights.. When I first learned to drive as a teenager, I practically hyperventilated every time I drove over a bridge--pretty silly. But I knew I was going to have to get over that if I was going to keep driving--LOL! I am still fearful of heights (no ferries wheels or standing near windows in skyscrapers for this girl) but I can safely say I can drive over bridges easily now!
ReplyDeleteI am afraid of snakes. Though I'm getting better about little ones like garter snakes.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid of waves! My family can never understand why I don't go body surfing with them when we're at the beach--I love swimming, but only in calm water!
ReplyDeleteMy silliest fear is looking under beds, I'm afraid I'll find something that I'd rather not know was under there while I was sleeping, like a big spider.
ReplyDeleteI'm not crazy about parking garages either :)
Great block - I love the 'no sashing ' version!
ReplyDeleteMy silliest fear is driving somewhere new - if I'm going to a workshop I'll often drive there a few days early to make sure I know exactly where I'm going!
I fear taking a shower during a thunderstorm. Is that silly, I don't know!! Love your log cabin. I've signed up to follow you via bloglovin. Nice to meet you.
ReplyDeleteDebbie, I love the Boxed Star block! Your fear reminded me of a story, please allow me to tell you! I decided to take my car through an automatic car wash, the kind that grabs onto the front tire and sort of pulls you through. Well, after I paid and drove up into the area that grabs the tire, I could not get my power window to roll up! I was about to be taken through a car wash with my window down!! No, no. no!! I put on the brake and tried putting the car in reverse, but nothing was working. Finally the man in the store saw what was happening and came out and shut the car wash down so I could back out. Not a parking garage but scary nonetheless!
ReplyDeleteI understand your fear....I went around one level several times once before finally figuring out how to get to the exit. Pretty embarrassing since my teenage daughter was in the passenger seat! We still laugh about this years later! I think sometimes when I get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, I have a fear that a snake somehow got in the house and will slither out of the shower and scare me!
ReplyDeleteI am very scared on high places. Is is silly, I know, but thats me and everyone knows
ReplyDeleteMy silliest fear is also heights. I can work through it by climbing on a ladder, but I must say that standing on the edge of a cliff (even with guard rails) is still a no-go. Silly, but progressing through.
ReplyDeleteIf my shopping habits are any indication, I apparently have an irrational fear of running out of fabric!
ReplyDeleteHa,ha,ha. I guess we all are afraid of this tragedy!
DeletePretty block and quilt layout. Heights sometimes get to me. 24Tangent@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteSuch a pretty block! My silliest fear is getting stuck in a traffic jam. I was stuck in one on the New York Thruway for four hours once. Not a great experience.
ReplyDeleteLove your block! Silliest fear was going back to college after 50. It's been a great experience though!
ReplyDeleteI love Boxed Star !! Will try to make it. My silliest fear is spiders. We live in the north and they are not dangerous-but I still scream when I come near one.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great block! It looks wonderful in the quilt designs.
ReplyDeleteMy silliest fear might be body of water fears....I'm sure there are sharks or monsters of some sort to "get me"....whether it be a river or a swimming pool where I can see the bottom!
My greatest fear is snakes. Your block is just beautiful. I will put it on my to make list!
ReplyDeleteMy fear is heights - even looking at a rooftop view in a picture creeps me out!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I don't believe that all fears are silly. They can sometimes be debilitating. With that being said, I greatly fear chainsaws. And my silliest fear is is being late for an appointment, so much so that I leave 1/2 hour earlier than I need to.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love your block. It looks fantastic in the quilt with or without sashing. Thank you for sharing and for the giveaway.
ReplyDeleteMy silliest fear is being in a dark room or space. As old as I am you would have thought I would have out grown being afraid of the dark. LOL
I have all of the above and then some, but the "silliest" is that I will find the perfect color or print of fabric for the quilt I just finished the binding on!!
ReplyDeleteI love your block! I am a bit directionaly challenged. My fear is that I will have a panic attack and get lost. When I was a kid I was afraid of a monster under my bed so at the BR doorway I would take a running jump onto my bed so it wouldn't grab my feet.
ReplyDeleteI like the block you designed and the secondary patterns crated with and without sashing. My fear - heights. Sometimes, it can be difficult to ride in a car down the coast when the road is narrow and hugs the ocean and is high up. I get a little sick thinking about going off the edge.
ReplyDeleteI used to have a fear of running out of fabric whilst making a quilt, so much so that I would delay starting altogether, but now I look on it as an opportunity to buy more!
ReplyDeleteI like blue and stars, so I love your block! I don't think your fear is silly at all, because I've seen it happen. I really don't like those pop-open biscuit cans--maybe because once I had one explode in the refrigerator. Just typing it, it sounds so silly--but it's true.
ReplyDeleteMy silliest fear, and this relates to quilting, is paper piecing. I really should just plunge right in. Others who feared it and tried it are now sold and tell me to go ahead and try it. Love your block; I'm a big fan of stars.
ReplyDeletePat K
yfg3749@yahoo.com
My silliest fear? it's kinda gross...a toilet backing up and overflowing (with mess in it)! Did happen once, when I lived in a downstairs apartment. We had raw sewage back up not only in the toilet but also the tub! Ugh! Into the hallway, also. Double Ugh!!
ReplyDeletekinderpam@gmail.com
My silliest fear is of rodents! I love your block! Thanks for the giveaway.
ReplyDeleteMy husband thinks my silliest fear is of spiders. After all, I have a shoe (or two) and can always step on them. And I am so much bigger than them. But I really get the heebie-jeebies and need to be rescued when I see one.
DeleteI'm afraid of June bugs. I don't like how they hiss at me!
ReplyDeleteMy fear is of snakes, especially if I find them in the garden.
ReplyDeleteI love this block! And my silliest fear is probably catterpillars, of which there are many recently. I'm afraid to go outside.
ReplyDeleteI love your block plus the secondary design. Very pretty indeed. I am afraid of heights. I don't remember being scared of heights before. Maybe it's because when you are young you never give it a second thought. As I get older, I just don't take chances anymore. Thank you for being a part of the QM's 100 Blocks Blog Tour and the chance to try and become a winner of this fabulous magazine plus fabric. Nothing like seeing a package in your mailbox waiting for you to pick up and you know at that moment that you are a QM winner.
ReplyDeleteSandi Timmons
sandit1@sbcglobal.net
I don't know if my fear is truly silly because it is related to claustrophobia, but I can't stand to have my face covered. It makes me feel as if there isn't enough air to breathe. My logical side knows that there is, but the rest of me is afraid.
ReplyDeleteIf my husband is on a trip and I have to turn out the lights and go upstairs, I run up the stairs because I imagine that someone or some thing will grab me as I go upstairs. Once I get up the stairs I feel safe. I guess I watched one too many scary movies when I was younger. Love your block, especially sashed!
ReplyDeleteI have a fear of becoming too poor to have fabric to sew. Got over that when I lost my eye sight. Thank heaven I can see after three years of medicine, but you never know it can happen again. So be thankful for each day and the borders blocks that make that star a star. Love your block.
ReplyDeleteStunning block with secondary patterns, gorgeous colors in the no sashing version.
ReplyDeleteSlithering big snakes are pretty scary, I can do without seeing any snakes.
Thanks for giveaway.
djcutting2(at)gmail(dot)com
Great block with a secondary design! I'd rather drive up a mountain than down!
ReplyDeleteMy silliest fear is being asked to dance--I have no rhythm.
ReplyDeleteSuch a fun block! Congrats! I have a silly fear of driving behind car carriers - I think the cars will roll back and off etc...
ReplyDeleteReally nice-love the differences! My silliest fear is I will walk into the mens bathroom by mistake! Thank you, Susan
ReplyDeleteGreat block. My fear is bridges - driving across them and even worse: walking across them. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI am really afraid of snakes. Love your block and esp. the shades of turquoise.
ReplyDeleteMy fear is driving up Pike's Peak. I'd rather take the Cog Train. Love your block. Thanks for a chance to win.
ReplyDeleteMy fear is talking in front of groups, I have forced myself to try to get over it over the years. I do better now days but please do not ask me to do it!
ReplyDeleteMy silliest fear is getting locked out of the house in my pj's. Unfortunately it has happened. I am so glad I have neighbors with a great sense of humor who let me call a lock smith and wait at their house.
ReplyDeleteI'm totally chicken about anything (other than restaurants) where tips are expected--cabs, cruises, etc.)--so I don't make use of them or go where I would be expected to tip. How much? when?
ReplyDeleteSmall conference rooms with no windows make me crazy, especially when there are a lot of people in the room. I've gotten over the spider thing.
ReplyDeleteMy silliest fear is failing to try a new project for fear of messing it up but when I finally do try, it all works out. angielovesgary2 atgmail dotcom
ReplyDeleteYou may think this is a silly fear but I'm afraid to drive on bridges! My sister lived near me but I had to cross a bridge that was way too long (the Narrows Bridge over Puget Sound). Most often she visited me or picked me up and drove me to her house.
ReplyDeletenikilsend(at)outlook(dot)com
I'm not sure I need the prize, but I just have to express my delight of your star! eye-catching, gorgeous colors, love the secondary designs with the sashes. And I love to paper-piece. It was hard for me until I found Peggy Martin's Quick Strip book and Craftsy class...Inshare her method with everyone I can, because it really took away the headaches and backward geometry, and constant shifting patcheand seam ripping....there are no individual patches to cut with the Quick-Strip method!
ReplyDeletereillyr2(at)hotmail(dot)com
oh yeah, and I used to be afraid of free-motion quilting. Mostly because I was afraid of my own inadequacies and was afraid to mess up the beautiful quilts I had just made!
DeleteI'm afraid of knives; I rarely use anything bigger than a 6" chef's knife. But your block is terrific. reply to pjrquilter(at)msn(dot)com
ReplyDeleteI guess thinking about crawling into a small enclosed space would be one.
ReplyDeleteI have a lot of fears, and I resist calling any of them silly. :) But I do feel very panicky if I'm on the freeway and get stuck under an overpass. What if there is an earthquake? I know the chances are minuscule, but I get edgy--and perhaps a bit more than that--the longer we wait there, under that looming overpass. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteMy fear is heights,like to keep my feet on the ground. I love star blocks and yours is a winner.
ReplyDeleteYour block is fantastic! I love all the secondary design possibilities. (Snakes are scary!)
ReplyDeleteYour block is my favorite so far on the hop. I can see a cornerstone in the middle of the sashings, though sewing the blocks together is such a graphic delight. It makes me want to overcome the matching of all those seams...
ReplyDeleteAnd my irrational fear is driving over bridges that don't have concrete barriers on the sides. Seeing that water in my peripheral vision is just numbing.
My silliest fear? I have irrational fears; but, I don't know if any of them are silly. For example, I fear flying. It's so bad that I will get panic attacks and physically sick. :-/ By the way, awesome block!
ReplyDeleteI have a fear of heights. I just really panic when I'm in high places, even sometimes on a ladder. Thank you, peterstankovich@comcast.net
ReplyDeleteSilliest fear.... large crowds.
ReplyDeleteI love your block and could see it as a great way to use precuts... gotta reduce my stash!!
I love your block and congrats on being in the book!!! My fear is public speaking...not just in front of a big room, but at a ladies baby shower of all things, especially if we have to go around the circle and give advice! I have panic attacks just thinking about talking on the phone to anyone other than a friend. Unfortunately, sometimes it's quite embarrassing.
ReplyDeleteI don't like walking over grates on the sidewalk.
ReplyDeleteAside from my fear of heights, I am terrified of gas station car washes after getting stuck in one for almost an hour! Love seeing the lay outs for your fun block!
ReplyDeleteOh Debbie, this block is SO great! I'm usually not a fan of star blocks, so perhaps it's the aquas that pulled me in, but I do love it. I'm picturing it as one block to make an oversized quilt. Did you think of doing that? In any case, you've shown some great layout options. As for a silly fear... I don't think I have any. My fears seem justifiable: flying; being criticized by a student who takes a class from me (that terrifies me more than flying, as I have been on the receiving end of some pretty awful nastiness); and... I honestly can't think of any others. Oh, maybe eating a worm or bug! Or, chicken livers! :-)
ReplyDeletewhat a cool block! I think I like it best without the sashing,, interesting patterns develop,, i'm imagining all sorts of different color ways.
ReplyDeleteMy silly fear was trying out my friends long arm. A big machine, it was new, it wasn't mine, OMG what if I broke it!
eventually she talked me into trying it. I did a quilt on it.
just one quilt
nope, not for me.
But i'm not afraid of it :)
Love your block and colorway. I hesitate to get in elevators as I fear it getting stuck in no mans land. rozz01 at cox dot net
ReplyDeleteMy silliest fear - bridges - the higher the worst off I feel even though I know they aren't going to fall down! mumbird3(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteLove your block. I don't like to park in parking garages either...what if they fall down! But I fear those big spiders you find in sinks and the like...they just should be somewhere else. Thanks for sharing your talent.
ReplyDeleteYour block is really cute. Thanks for sharing. I fear getting really old and not being able to do things on my own. Diane
ReplyDeleteMy silliest fear: Eels! Thank goodness I don't come across them very often, but I can't go into a fish market without having a panic attack.
ReplyDeleteallisonpogany at gmail.com
I am afraid of bugs. Yuck! cknapp3626(at)sbcglobal(dot)net
ReplyDeleteI do not like heights. So watching the men put a new roof on the house was hard! Stars are my favorite and yours is a winner. Thanks for the chance to win!
ReplyDeleteMy biggest fear is heights so in a tall building I stay back from windows. I have to tell you....i see many scrapes on pilars in parking garages so your fear is very real!!
ReplyDeleteMy biggest fear is heights so in a tall building I stay back from windows. I have to tell you....i see many scrapes on pilars in parking garages so your fear is very real!!
ReplyDeleteI think my silliest fear is being in the bathroom on a plane when turbulence starts.
ReplyDeleteI love this block and I like it with the sashing best - that way you can really see the stars. My silliest fear is being nervous that I'll walk out of the bathroom with my skirt not being totally pulled down in the back.
ReplyDeleteI love you block and the way it looks when it's repeated; the aqua quilt is beautiful, as is the sampler. I am afraid of driving over long bridges.
ReplyDeleteYour block is great. My silliest fear is crowds. Guess since I am a short person and I can't see around for over people.
ReplyDeleteDrhodes9@cox.net
DeleteMy biggest fear, and some might think it silly, is of snakes. Even really tiny ones.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteTruly a silly fear when considering I don't now and never have, lived close to the water-getting tangled in seaweed. I used to have nightmares about it. Yikes rjc2cam(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteLove the aqua in your block, one of my favorite colors. One of my silliest fears is bugs in the house, outside not so bad.
ReplyDeleteMy silly feel is paper piecing. ..I haven't tryed it be use I feel it..lmao...so bad... happyness04431@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteMy silly feel is paper piecing. ..I haven't tryed it be use I feel it..lmao...so bad... happyness04431@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteVery nice block!!! I would love to make this one. I think the secondary pattern that is created really makes the quilt interesting. My silliest fear is cutting into fabric..especially the really good stuff that I don't get on sale...I fear making a mistake or that I won't like it when it's done or the indecision of choosing the right fabric. Oh, gosh, I have silly fears. kthurn@bektel.com
ReplyDeleteLovely block. Guess my fear is snakes ugh!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your block :) Um... ok... silliest fear that I deal with every day (because I have a 9 yr old son who loves them) is the fear of flying a kite. I know? right!!! I cannot look at that sucker in the sky. I lose my stomach every time. I guess I'm afraid gravity is going to let go and I'm going to be thrown into the sky abyss. My palms are sweating just typing and thinking about it LOL! So silly!!
ReplyDeleteI am afraid of heights, terrified really. I love your block. I also love the Blue Ridge mts. Was born and raised there.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid of birds -- terrifies, really. I have no idea why. I love your block..
ReplyDeleteYour block is beautiful! I like all the options you shared for setting it. It looks especially awesome in your sampler!
ReplyDeleteMy silly fears are probably mostly about making mistakes. : - /
I absolutely love this block, and what a great quilt top this makes with just that one block! You're stretching out in your designs...before you know it, you'll be a household name in the quilting world ;) I adore your Random Sampler too, what a beauty!
ReplyDeletemy fear is my dreams might come true! Keep up the good work and enjoy your log house. kathy in colo
ReplyDelete