Star Crazy

In October of 2009 I had the opportunity to work in the booth for The Quilt Show (with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims) at International Quilt Festival in Houston.
I stood for 3 days by Star Crazy, their Block of The Month Quilt that would be premiering in 2010.
It was L.O.V.E. at first sight!

I was so taken with Star Crazy, that I started the blog Star Crazy Log and invited anyone who would like to piece the quilt with me during the 12 month process.

I had responses from all over the world, and made many wonderful friendships through our months of working and learning together.

 Sue Garman is the designer of Star Crazy, and it was an honor to meet her in Houston.
Our Star Crazy Log group downloaded the patterns each month from the Quilt Show Web Site, and we communicated via the blog on our progress.

I completed the top by January 2011, and then with our move to Arizona, it was tucked away in a box.
When I met Pat Roche, an award winning long armer who also recently moved here from Oregon, I knew immediately who I wanted to have quilt my Star Crazy.

 I can't tell you how happy I am to have Star Crazy officially finished and beautifully quilted by Pat.

 She did an amazing job!  I couldn't be happier!

 Each section is filled with perfect details.

 I chose to sew a white binding, allowing the quilting and all of the bright colors to be the focal point.

Alex Anderson provided a kit with her fabrics to make Star Crazy, but I opted to use my scraps instead.
I did follow most of her color planning as a guideline.

 For the back I placed a section of fabric that matched the colors on the front, along with additional Kona white to show the beautiful quilting.

My Star Crazy is officially finished now, and will become an heirloom to be passed along to my family :)
If you would like to read more about our group that participated in Star Crazy Log, and to see other examples of Star Crazy, you can visit the blog HERE

Star Crazy Gallery

I wanted to share with you some of the finished Star Crazy quilts that have been posted recently over on Star Crazy Log.
After working together for the last 12 months, a finish requires a big celebration!
It's only January, and many more participants are still working away, but I wanted to acknowledge the accomplishments of these talented ladies.

The very first to finish Star Crazy was Felicity, from Utah. Would you believe she figured out Sue Garman's pattern way ahead of the release dates for each Block of The Month, and had her top completed in July?
I'm impressed.
Beautiful job Felicity!

Merete, from Norway added an International perspective in the making Star Crazy. One of the delights of hosting this group was getting to know so many people from all over the world.
Merete was so good about posting her progress, and was an important contributor to Star Crazy Log.
This is the largest quilt she has made so far, and in order to get a picture of the entire quilt, she had her sweet daughters help with the hanging out the windows. Great photo shoot idea!

Karen (Karenfae) from Arkansas gets the AWARD for persistence in overcoming obstacles to finish Star Crazy in a timely manner.
At Christmas time Karen was injured in a car accident when she was hit by an uninsured teenage driver.
Through the pain and recovery of healing, Karen found a way to continue work on Star Crazy. This is a great example of how therapeutic it is to quilt, and the wonderful support offered through fellow quilters.
Thank you Karen, for your giving nature and for sharing with us along the way.

Deanna from Utah named her quilt "Granny Went Crazy". I love the autumn colors Deanna chose from her scrap bags to make this quilt!
Look how wonderful Star Crazy turned out in oranges, browns and greens. Notice how she chose various backgrounds for each block, and then a consistent color for the Irish Chains. Deanna really mixed things up, and it turned out so well.
I love seeing how quilts turn out in different color ways, and Deanna led our group in visualizing a new approach to Star Crazy.
Great job ladies! Thank you, and congratulations again on a finish!

Star Crazy Finished!

In October 2009 I had the opportunity to go to International Quilt Festival/Houston and work in The Quilt Shoppe booth for The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims.

For three days I stood by Star Crazy, TQS's pieced 2010 Block of The Month.
And fell in L.O.V.E.

Star Crazy was designed by the extremely talented Sue Garman.
It was a thrill to meet Sue and to talk to her about Star Crazy.

From there an idea was born. I knew I wanted to make Star Crazy, but I didn't want to make it alone.
I started Star Crazy Log, a blog devoted to 12 months of working together.
The response was more than I had hoped for.
We had 31 participants from all over the world. Spanning most the United States to Australia, Sweden,United Kingdom and Norway, we have spent a year getting to know each other through our love of quilting.
We have shared our cultures, our family activities, and become good friends.
To date, we have 119 followers,
with 15,635 visits,
and 28,716 page reviews.
What an adventure!

I chose to make Star Crazy from my scraps.

I tried to follow Sue's suggested color design as closely as possible.

Many of you worked with your own color pallet. I will share some of your pictures on a future post.

Now, it's time to get the finished top off to the quilter.

After having the blocks up on my design wall for the last year, the space will look a little lonely now.

I will have many fond memories of 2010 every time I look at Star Crazy.

Thank you to all who participated in Star Crazy Log! I have been inspired by your talent and creativity.
Your excitement prompted me each month to stay current with every BOM release.

And thank you to Sue Garman, and The Quilt Show for creating such a beautiful quilt, and inviting us to play along.

Even though I am now finished with Star Crazy, I will continue to manage Star Crazy Log where we will see postings of finished quilts continue to trickle in.

Star Crazy December BOM

I was so happy yesterday to have an opportunity to work on Star Crazy.
I really didn't think there would be time in December, but now with Christmas over, I snuck in a day of "do what you WANT to do, not what you HAVE to do."

Four Patch Stars & Quad Stars
The last 6 blocks are now complete and ready for their placement along the outside borders.

And the inside Irish Chain is sewn together.

I love how this quilt is coming together.

Sue Garman really did a great job with the design.

My thanks to The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims for letting us participate in their Block of The Month 2010.

And remember all those 1 1/2" half square triangles we have been making each month along the way?

I think there are 320 of them all together.

I've started sewing the 8 rows needed for the borders.

A little tedious and time consuming, but I put on a good movie and I was in my happy zone.

Remember Star Crazy will eventually grow up to look like this.
Star Crazy has been such a great quilt to make together with so many of you. This is the first time I have hosted a group, and I have been inspired by your work! And, it's been delightful getting to know quilters from around the world.

I have a feeling we are going to be seeing a lot of wonderful posts about Star Crazy in January.

Happy New Year!

Star Crazy November BOM

Do realize that in 4 days we will have ALL the instructions for Star Crazy?

What a fun year this has been making the Block of The Month with The Quilt Show. I have thoroughly enjoyed hosting our group, and watching your progress. You have inspired me!

For November we made 12 (4 1/2" X 8 1/2") Half Chain Blocks.

And the last of the full Irish Chain blocks.

They now sit snugly on my design wall, happily playing together...

...and looking forward to the day when they can all grow up to become something like this.
Do you think with December and all the holiday festivities we will have a chance to put Star Crazy together?

(oh well, it was a nice thought)

Star Crazy October Blocks

Star Crazy is coming along!
I decided to start laying out the blocks on my design wall that have been finished so far.

A few gaps here and there, but in a little over a month we will have all the downloads available.

For October:
(5) Irish Chains

(4) Evening Stars

We only have one more Irish Chain and the inside will be complete.

Are you as antsy as I am to start putting things together?

**We now have 102 Followers on Star Crazy Log!!

9 Blocks For The 9th Month

The September blocks for Star Crazy are finally finished. I don't know what took me so long this month. I think it must be that my friend Jan wasn't able to join me in making our blocks. She is still healing from surgery on her hand, and I'm missing her enthusiasm and encouragement.

Have you noticed that you get much more done when you have a quilting friend by your side, keeping you on track?

There were 9 blocks this month, which is a very appropriate number for September, which is the 9th month.

(3) 6" Shoo Fly Stars

(3) 6" Road Star blocks

(3) 6" Double-X Stars

People e-mail me frequently asking if they can still join us in making Star Crazy.

The answer is YES!

The only requirement is that you are a member of The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims. This is necessary because Star Crazy is their Block of the Month, and membership is needed to download the patterns each month.

If you are not currently a member, it's easy to join. Go to

http://www.thequiltshow.com/os/join.php

Catching Up

My days have felt mixed up since we got back into town late Tuesday night. Wednesday felt like Monday.
Is it the weekend already?
The last few days have been spent trying to catch up. I've completed 3 backs for quilts that are long overdue to be sent off to the quilter.

And all these paper pieced sections will hopefully soon turn into the September blocks for The Quilt Show's BOM.

August Star Crazy

It always feels nice to have your Block of The Month blocks finished in the month they are released.
I usually print the patterns off at the beginning of the month, and then sense that "come play with me" haunting until they are completed.

We had 9 blocks for August Star Crazy.

Jan came over yesterday, and she always helps motivate me to stay on task with Star Crazy. Isn't it wonderful to have a friend to work with on a project? By the way, even though Jan doesn't have a blog or post of her progress, she has completed all of her blocks so far.

There were 3 Pinwheel Stars

3 Shadow Stars

And 3 Evening Stars.

Usually, each month we make a large stack of 1/2 square triangles that will eventually be used in the construction of the outside border.
Did you notice that this month we only made 4? They look a little lonely sitting all by themselves.

This 12 month journey with The Quilt Show is a lot of fun.

I often have people e-mail me, asking if they can join us in the making of Star Crazy.

Yes! We would love to have anyone join in with us!

As a reminder, Star Crazy is The Quilt Show's Block of The Month. In order to download the patterns, you need to be a member of The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims. If you are not a member already, it's very easy to join

http://www.thequiltshow.com/os/join.php