My Stars!

G6 - Papa's Star

Of the nine central blocks in the Dear Jane quilt, four are stars. Click on this photo for a closer look or visit my Dear Jane Blocks set on Flickr where you will find individual photos of each block -- or, click on the teal text below for links to (bigger) individual photos of each star block.

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Note: once these blocks are sewn into place, they are 4.5" square.

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G8 - Justin's Comet

G6 - Papa's Star is likely one of the most difficult blocks in the whole quilt. I made this block quite some time ago and remember redrafting the block so that it more closely matched Jane Stickle's blocks -- versus the draft in Brenda Papadakis' book. I also remember struggling to piece the tiny star inside the star. Finally, I cut out the tiny pieces with extremely large seam allowances so that I had something to manipulate -- and locate. It was all too easy to lose the pieces just because they were so tiny.

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F7 - Star Struck

Because it's hand pieced, G8 - Justin's Comet looks really wonderful from the back where all the pieces swirl around the central point. In machine piecing, it's common to sew into the seam allowances, however with handpiecing, the stitches go right up to -- but not into -- the seam allowance.

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H7 - Bennington Star

The other two blocks are relatively common. They are F7 - Star Struck and H7 - Bennington Star. The latter is named for Bennington, Vermont where the Dear Jane Quilt now resides at the Bennington Museum. Jane was born and lived in the nearby town of Shaftsbury, Vermont.