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Stitching by the Pool – Six Pointed Stars Antique Inspired

Hello hello Dear valued Friends and Readers. Welcome to today’s post. I just love stitching! I feel like it is such a privilege to have you all visit! My mission is to inspire you to make something today. And to use something you already have. Don’t go shopping. Go to your cupboard. Really. There will be something you can use. This project is done by hand stitching. Even if that is not your regular thing, I believe it is really lovely to have at least one hand stitching project in progress. Why you may ask? Well, for one thing, it is extremly relaxing, Hand stitching is a quiet and rather theraputic pursiut which also travels well, especially when it is small. I always try to take a hand stitching project with me on a holiday or if I have to be somewhere waiting. While We Wait Another advantage is, it lends itself to stitching shapes which may not be machine friendly.

Having said that, these stars could be machine pieced with a lot of care….

The inspiration was provided when my friend Ellie, sent me some of her beautiful scraps. Thank you Ellie! Amoungst them was some jelly roll strips which appear to be antique reproduction prints, at a guess. As I have always wanted to make some six pointed stars it seemed like a logical and obvious use for the strips. So, I cut some delicious diamonds and packed them nicely to take on holidays with me and escape the winter cold for a little while.

Requirements for the Six Pointed Stars Antique Inspired

Do you have some 2 1/2” strips lying around? Or……an “aging” jelly roll somewhere? These are easy to cut into diamonds for this Six Pointed Star Block – Antique Inspired.

Are you ready…the cutting is easy. Nothing special required. Just a cutting ruler with a 60 degree line on it and a rotary cutter.

Cutting the 2 1/2″ strips

It is important that the strips are accurate in their 2 1/2″ width. When I say that I am referring to 2 1/2″ width of fabric strips.

Lay out a strip on the cutting board. A few can be stacked if preferred. If you want to fussy cut – then stick with one at a time.

Make sure the strip/s are as straight as possible. Position the ruler with the 60 degree line aligned with the top edge of the strip. For the first cut make sure the ruler is near the beginning end of the strip. Make the first cut.

Stitching by the Pool – Six Pointed Stars Antique Inspired susies-scraps.com

Move the ruler so that it is 2 1/2″ from the first cut maintaining the 60 degree line at the top edge and the ruler edge is parallel with the first cut. I hope that makes sense.

Continue cutting in the same way for the rest of the strip. At least six diamonds should be able to be cut from one width of fabric strip.

It certainly gives a feeling of accomplishment having a nice stack of diamonds ready for hand piecing.

They can be packed into a nice little bag ready to take with you. I’m using this one. This Patchwork Celebtion Bag can be easily made from scraps. This is the smaller version.

Patchwork Celebration Bags – Antique Japanese Style – Tutorial

Stitching the Six Pointed Star Antique Inspired

Now for the yummy stitching. Choose six diamonds three each of two different fabrics.

Put two different diamonds right side together. Using a quarter inch seam allowance and beginning the seam approximately 1/4″ to 3/8” from the diamond end, use a small running stitch to hand stitch the seam along one side and finish with a couple of locking stitches 1/4″ from the end.