Kaleidoscope Stars

Ever since I was exposed to Stack-n-Whack about 10 years ago, I've loved the concept - and collected fabrics that I think would make an interesting block.  I now have many projects waiting to be extracted from interesting pieces of fabric.  Over at Inklingo, there has suddenly been a renewed interest in fussy-cut stars, and since I finished the Sapphires and Stars block I needed something new to work on.  I pulled out this piece of fabric and set to work:

Since I'm using Inklingo to print the cutting and sewing lines right on the fabric, I will have a very easy time hand-piecing the blocks and having them come out perfectly.  Only challenge - getting the fabric through the printer.  The idea is good, but my printer is finicky.  It isn't even the fabric that is a problem, it is the corners of the freezer paper curling up and getting jammed.  I read a tip to add a second layer of freezer paper on the leading edge, and that helped.  So now, I have 32 sets of 2.25" diamonds printed for Kaleidoscope Stars.  I still have more to print, but was getting tired of dealing with the printing and cutting and wanted to see a finished star!

Oh, I like that.  While sitting with L, trying to coax him through the last sheet of his summer math packet, I sewed a second star:

Hmm - anyone see a problem?  Maybe I shouldn't try to sew these while dealing with a stressful situation!  Unfortunately, I had already ironed it, and it was impossible to see which seams I would have to take out - I was afraid I would literally have to take the whole thing apart.  In the end, I found the main seam all the way across, and the "v" seam that included this piece.  So I had to redo 4 of the 6 seams.

Much better.  And a good lesson to the kids about "Do it Right or Do it Over!"

One more - this one went together just right.  Based on this block, I'm thinking about calling this project something about peacocks.

It's fun to lay out the stars with the kids and take votes on which way to orient the pieces.  Some are obvious, but some result in a split decision.

This will be a long-term project, but it is so nice to have it all ready to go, with those perfect lines printed on the fabric, and each star only takes about 15-20 minutes to sew, meaning instant gratification!