In August, 2002, I took my "summer vacation at home." My main accomplishment was to design and make a Triple Feathered Star block: a Feathered Star within a Feathered Star within a Feathered Star! The smallest feather triangles on the innermost star measure 3/8"; there are 88 feather triangles around each star and the block measures 38" finished. I haven't had so much fun in a long time. I've been wanting to do a "triple" ever since my Feathered Star Quilts book was published in 1987, but I just didn't have the skills to draft it. But, now, my drafting skills via the computer and Adobe Illustrator have caught up with my desires, and I did it! I sat next to an executive type on the airplane once, and we talked about making decisions. He said "If you can't make up your mind, you need more information." I've applied that to my quilt design decisions: if I can't decide what to do next, I've learned to wait until I know more and have a few more skills. When the time is right, there will be no question about what to do next. The Triple Feathered Star is one of the designs in my new book, Feathered Star Quilt Blocks I: Really Hard Blocks That Take a Long Time to Make. The book as first planned turned out to be a really large project that was taking a long time, so I divided the material into two volumes. The first one contains the Favorite Le Moyne-Based Stars: Radiant Star, Double Feathered Star, Triple Feathered Star, etc. The second book will have patterns for Best of the Grid-Based Stars: Star of Chamblie, California Star, Star Spangled Banner, etc. It's pretty dense material, and by dividing it up, I am able to offer some drafting exercises, have more room for basic sewing instructions, and offer templates as well as rotary cutting instructions. Click on the little photos below to see more of the blocks from these two books. -- Marsha McCloskey |