North Stars Show n Tell

Today -it's all about Reggie. Reggie is the name of the reindeer in the North Stars pattern.

This is one of our year-long projects at The Hobby Horse. The pattern is by Elizabeth Hartman. It's super cute. There are 9 blocks and we're going to have the final show n tell at the end of November.

North Stars pattern by Elizabeth Hartman

Elizabeth has designed a line of fabric for the quilt and a few of the class participants had purchased kits. But many did not and it's super fun to see what fabrics they picked for their blocks.

Let's start with my block. I'm using a blue background that looks like cracked ice or snow. The colors were randomly chosen from my stash of brown fabrics.

Elaine's blocks

Now let's have a look at what the students did. OH MY GOD - this is Kathi's block. I know that she was a wee bit tentative with her fabric choices, but she did an amazing job!!!!!

Kathi's block

Look at the fabric that she chose for the body of the reindeer. It's got little reindeer on it. That's so cute!!!

Reindeer fabric for the reindeer!

I'm trying to remember whose block is whose. I believe this next one belongs to Jo-Marie. Lots of great contrast in the block. I didn't think that some of the fabrics in the kit provided enough contrast to the background. I love the fact that we can take chances and do our own thing!

Jo-Marie's block

Sara threw all caution to the wind (as usual). I love the fabric she used for the reindeer. I think she threw in more fabrics than the pattern called for which is great. No need to follow the pattern exactly. Each block is 24" square and there are 7 fabrics as per the pattern, but as you can see, more can be added without throwing the block into chaos.

Sara's block

Did you see the fabric that she used in the big squares??  Yep - it has deer on it. That's super cute.

Sara added fabric with deer on it to her block

Nancy is using the kit which is very convenient. No need to search for colors. You can see how some of the flying geese near his feet are very low in contrast to the background. A totally different look - but nothing is wrong and that's part of the lesson that we're all learning.

Nancy's block

Valerie is also using the kit and here's her version of the block. For a minute, I thought it was the same block, but look at the position and direction of the fabrics in that arrow looking block - they are different!

Valerie's block

I didn't think I got a picture of Jana's block but then realized that I hadn't forwarded all the pictures from my phone. The fabric for her block is super cute. Many dots! The background has dots on it, the reindeer is also a print with dots. And notice that she did NOT include all those fussy triangles along the bottom, side, and top.

Jana's block

I know - you can't see the top of the block. Here's the picture she sent me when I thought I hadn't taken a picture of her block. Now you can see that she didn't add the extra stuff along the edges.

The second picture of Jana's block

I believe this block is Marg's. The plaid fabric is adorable on the antlers and other parts of the block. And I love that blue background!

Marg's block

This one is Linda's who also used the kit. I thought it was funny to see how people cut the directional print. Some of those mountains (the brown/gray fabric) are pointing inwards and some are pointing up. Linda also changed some of the fabrics in the bottom star. Even with the kit, they have managed to make their blocks unique!!!!

Linda's block

Next up is Sharon. She's got some very rich colors happening in her block. She used a metallic fabric for the reindeer body and if you look close, you can see that she fussy cut that fabric. Notice how light his tummy is compared to the rest of his body. It was a graduated print that she used. Very clever.

Sharon's block

Then we have Rosemary's block. I absolutely love the fabric she used for the reindeer. It's a very mottled print and it's perfect!!!!

Rosemary's block

Diane is also using the kit. Notice that all her mountains are pointing in toward the center. That requires a bit of concentration during the cutting process!

Diane's block

Lynn is using the fabrics from the kit to make the stars and the reindeer - well she's using some of the fabrics and then using the same background that I'm using.

Lynn's block

That was it for blocks that were at the class. However, I do have a few other blocks to show you. The class was on a long weekend and several people couldn't make it.

This one is Sheila's. Now, how neat is that background fabric? And the reindeer fabric is gorgeous. She was working on the block at our Monday sewing and this is as far along as she had gotten before I had to leave.

Sheila's block

This belongs to Colleen. She's using a lot of Northcott Toscana in her block. A totally different look. And look at the color of the reindeer. It's gorgeous!!! 

Colleen's block

And the last block belongs to Lynne. This is gorgeous and looks very Northern and frosty. Love the colors in this one.

Lynne's block

This is one of the reasons why I love this kind of class. You get to see so many different color/fabric combinations that you wouldn't normally see if you were working on the project by yourself. I love them all!!! 

I think there are six blocks missing. Hopefully, we'll see them at the next class. I do know that some of the participants were out of the country.

What's the next block??  That's Lucille the Seal!!  I could have used a slightly darker fabric for the body so I may end up outlining that with a bit darker thread for some contrast. I do not have a lot of this color in my stash and this is the block that I needed to hit the scrap box to find one missing piece. Thank god for organized scrap boxes.

Homework for next month - Lucille the Seal

After the class, I had to pop to another store to teach - Brampton Sew n Serge. And look what I found???  Yep - this was perfect for the backing and even though I shouldn't buy more fabric for quilt backings, I couldn't resist.

The backing for my quilt

It's Polar Hugs by Northcott if you're interested.

I've got to run. I have an adventure today - well at least this morning.

Much more to share with you tomorrow.

Have a great day!!!!


Ciao!!!!