March 29, 2010 – Freedom Star Block #13 – Fool’s Star Block
Fool's Star Block
April Fool’s Day is this Thursday…so get ready to play some goofy April Fool’s jokes on your friends and loved ones.
I have made a simple pieced block for us to make in honor of the day. This block is adapted from a traditional block named Fool’s Square. The original block was based on a 10 inch square, I have adapted and re-created the block so it will work for a 12 inch square and easily join in with the rest of our Freedom Star Blocks. When made up in spring colors, I think the star points look like tulips!
Click here for complete directions or click on Free Block Patterns – 2010 Block of the Week “Freedom Stars”. (Corrected on March 30th).
If you have been following along, please send me pictures of your blocks and I will post them on this website.
Happy Quilting, Betty Dietz
Fool's Star Block - Spring Colors
March 22, 2010 – Freedom Star Block #12 – Signs of Spring Star Block
What happened to this past week? For us it just flew by! We were in Minneapolis, Minnesota watching our daughter dive at the NCAA Div III Nationals. We arrived on Wednesday and the weather seemed pretty nice. A light jacket or sweatshirt was good enough to keep us warm. But the weather changed quickly and by Friday night the air temperature was down to 32 degrees. We were bundling ourselves up against the colder temperature and the wind. I was very glad to get home on Sunday and see the daffodils and crocuses. Spring has Sprung!
Signs of Spring Star Block - Spring Colors
This week’s block will help us all get in the mood for warmer weather and brighter colors. It is an easy block made, once again, using paper-piecing techniques. The block was first published in Farm Journal as Signs of Spring (Barbara Brackman – Block Base for EQ6). I have redesigned it just a bit to make the paper-piecing patterns work better.
Click here for complete directions or click on Free Block Patterns – 2010 Block of the Week “Freedom Stars”.
If you have been following along, please send me pictures of your blocks and I will post them on this website.
Happy Quilting!
Betty Dietz
Signs of Spring Star Block - Freedom Star Colors
March 15, 2010 – Irish Star Quilt
Wow! Look what happens when you put nine of the Irish Star Blocks together – and add a border in the same dark green. I love the way that you now see the gold chain and you lose the definition of the original block. This would make a great wall hanging or gift for a friend.
Happy Quilting,
Betty Dietz
Irish Star Quilt
March 15, 2010 – Freedom Star Block #11 – Irish Star Block
Irish Star Block
In Honor of St. Patrick’s Day – March 17th and for everyone who claims to be Irish this week, I have designed an Irish Star block based on a traditional block named Irish Logs.
My maternal grandfather’s name was McGoldrick, my grandmother’s maiden name was Loughery, My paternal grandfather was named Tucker (although possibly English in origin, he always claimed to be Irish) and my grandmother on that side was a Keeley. So I figure I have a lot of Irish blood in me and I usually manage to celebrate on St. Patrick’s Day!
Click here for complete directions or click on Free Block Patterns – 2010 Block of the Week “Freedom Stars”.
I have also made a Freedom Star version of the same block in Red, Blue and Gold.
Happy Quilting,
Betty Dietz
Irish Star Block - Freedom Star Version
March 8, 2010 – Freedom Star Block #10 – Alaska’s Star Block
Filed under: Block of the Week, Free Patterns, Uncategorized, quilting
Alaska’s Famous Iditarod Race is under way. For the next 10 – 17 days, 71 teams of dog sledders will race from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska a distance of more than 1000 miles. This is one of the world’s last great road races. The Iditarod trail was originally used as a mail and supply route to the most rural mining towns in Alaska. In the late 1800’s, over 300,000 people risked life and limb traveling to the rugged Yukon Territory, many in search of gold! The only way to get there was by dog sled. Today the race is run to commemorate the tough, rugged settlers in this the coldest State of the Union. If you want to track the race you can go to the official Iditarod Race Site.
Alaska was purchased from the Russian Empire on March 30, 1867, for $7.2 million , that is about 2 cents/acre. The land was originally a government owned territory and officially became the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959.
Alaska's Star Block
Today’s block is a variation of the Alaska block published in the magazine Hearth and Home (1885-1930) . As Sited by Block Base (TM)
Click here for complete directions or click on Free Block Patterns – 2010 Block of the Week “Freedom Stars”.
Happy Quilting,
Betty
March 5, 2010 – Mammogram Day
This morning I went in for my yearly mammogram. It was a simple, quick procedure, fully paid for by my insurance company. It took me just one hour, from when I left my house to when I left the medical building. My sister was first diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 42 , she opted for a full mastectomy. She is a survivor, now 56 years old. Ever since her diagnosis, I have been diligent about getting my yearly mammogram.
In the past three years I have had three close friends diagnosed with breast cancer, they all underwent various different surgeries, chemo, and hair loss, but so far, all have survived. All three women were under the age 50. I hope that this means that women are not getting cancer at an early age, but that they are being vigilant about getting their yearly mammograms, and that we are catching the cancer earlier, when there is still time to fight it and win the battle.
I generally reward myself on Mammogram Day by taking myself out to lunch. Today’s appointment was early in the day, so I stopped off at the local food store, and treated myself to some of my favorite comfort foods! That works for me.
We all need to learn to take as much care of ourselves as we do the rest of our families. So if you haven’t done so yet this year, make your appointment today.
Happy Quilting,
Betty Dietz
March 3 , 2010 – No More Painting
re-modeled Bay House kitchen 2
Re modeled bay house kitchen
I have just spent the last 48 hours painting the walls and trim in the kitchen of Pieceful Cottage -our vacation home….and I realized that taking off the painter’s tape is a little like finishing the binding on a quilt – it’s the Woo Hoo! moment. When the work is almost completed and you get to see the results. I thought I’d share a few pictures with you. It’s not my dream kitchen, but it’s way better than the old one with pink formica counters and dark oak cabinets. The flooring is next to be done, so try to image the floors as Oak, not the pink carpet and 1980’s laminate floor….well at least the wallpaper with the tiny pink tulips is all gone!
Happy Quilting
Betty
March 1, 2010 – Playing with the Freedom Star Blocks
Large Ohio Star with Fifty Four Forty or Fight Star Block
I wanted to see what would happen if I played with just two of the Freedom Star blocks…I created a this quilt with the Ohio Star blocks and today’s Fifty Four Forty or Fight! Star Block
You can make many quilts just playing around with the Freedom Star Blocks already posted on my blog.
Happy Quilting!
Betty
March 1, 2010 – Freedom Star Block #9 – Fifty-Four-Forty or Fight! Star Block
Border Wars! The USA vs Canada. Generally, we think of America and Canada as friendly neighbors. We share a common border and there is free trade and travel between both countries. The story was very different at the Olympics this week…. when the American and Canadian Hockey teams were in an all-out battle for Gold. BOTH the men’s and women’s teams! It was a shining example of how too very close neighbors can” play to win” on the neutral battle field of the sports arena. This time, Canada overcame our great athletes to take the gold medals. And we will just have to have to settle for the silver which isn’t all that bad. Both games were great and I’d rather see the Canadians win than the Russians (only because they always seem to win it). Not to worry, we’ll get them the next time.
Back in the early 1800’s there was a real border dispute between the US and the then British Colony (now know as Canada). The land area in question was the Oregon Territory. President Polk and the Democratic Leaders in the US believed that we should control the parcel of land that now includes the city of Vancouver and the Western Canadian Province of British Columbia. The parcel in dispute ran from West of the Continental divide to the Pacific Coast and from the 42 nd parallel to 54′40′ North. The common political slogan of the day was “Fifty-Four Forty or Fight!” referring to the northern most border line. The US had just annexed Texas and relations with Mexico were strained, to avoid conflict on both borders, a comprise was made and the territory was divided along the 49th parallel with Britain getting the Strait of Juan de Fuca including Vancouver. I am glad that we have a strong relationship with our Northern neighbors and hope someday to visit the beautiful city of Vancouver, B.C.
Fifty-Four-Forty or Fight! Star Block
It’s fun to learn about the origins of some traditional quilt blocks. The Fifty-Four- Forty or Fight! Star Block must have been designed in the early 1800’s when the border dispute was Front Page news. So today’s block is taken right out of the pages of history. It’s a fairly simple block with a little paper-piecing and easy 4-patch blocks.
Fifty -Four-Forty or Fight! Star Block - Click here for complete directions or click on Free Block Patterns – 2010 Block of the Week “Freedom Stars.
Happy Quilting,
Betty