Paper Princess,

Your profile quilt is lovely; can you please post a larger version of it (or point me to where I might see a larger version of it)? Thanks!

-- Jillaine

Another fabulous way to do a Lone Star (although limited to a 4x4 tp 6x6 grid) is using the Quiltsmart interfacing. It's quite ingenious, NO diamonds. Nada, not a one. And as long as you read the directions BEFORE you use it, you don't have to worry about any bias.

I've used it quite a few times, and it is most certainly worth the price in time and aggravation.

They also have mini size. Plus, if you get adventurous and really understand the concept, you could combine some of the foundations for larger stars.

I see that now they're selling it by the panel.

NAYY.

http://www.quiltsmart.com/khxc/index...ring=lone+star

I just wanted to add that even if you do it the Quiltsmart way, Jan Krentz's Lone Star book is worth every penny. Her directions and hints for settings are really helpful and spot on.

Good morning Jillaine, I'm sure you had a restless night over this one.

This board is an excellent example of good minds coming together.

MTS has the right idea, Because there is such a large discrepency in the sizes, go the muslin template way.

Size up each triangle, add a strip to the sides that is needed to bring it to the correct size, and MTS is also correct in making the strips a little longer to be trimmed later.

Starch the heck out of it, let it dry and then do the next one.

Your colors are sooooo beautiful it would be a shame to not use it. If you don't want to take it apart I would also try adding the strips as suggested by gal288. Good luck and please let us see how it turns out.

Love your colors! It will be beautiful when you get it fixed.

As long as the star is closely quilted, washing won't be a problem even if you have used starch to re-block everything. Quilting will hold the alignments in place.

Other Sharon Schamber videos show how to make a firm pressing surface. She draws the correct shape on a piece of muslin, pins the muslin to the ironing surface, then blocks the piece to the marks on the muslin.

If you draw off your diamonds the right size, you can pin your fabric to the grid and then steam press it.

Bias will reform itself if you pin it to the size it should be and then steam press it.

Another related question: in one of her videos, Sharon spray-starches BEFORE pinning/stretching/reshaping; in another she does it AFTER pinning. As someone who has never used spray start in my quilting/sewing, and in this case, which should I do? Thanks.

The water in spray starch relaxes the fibers so they can stretch.

I would say spray starch first if this is a piece where you will need to stretch it to meet the template marks. It will be easier to stretch the fabric if it is already wet.

Spray starch after if this is a piece that is too large for the template. Pin the dry piece to the template, spray to relax the fibers, then steam with the iron to get the fibers to shrink. (Drying wet fabric will tempt it to shrink.)

I don't think it makes a huge difference either way, just maybe a little easier.

They call it the 'lone star' because most of the time once you make one, you will never make another.

I didn't take time to read all the responses, but my 2 cents is
that I had this happen to me way back about 30 years ago
when I started quilting. I ended up re-cutting my strips and
what I learned is that the secret to a perfect lone star is in the cutting - not the piecing. When you make your strip sets,
you have to cut each strip with no wobble or curve. That means that you have to cut one or two strips, then place your
ruler on the previously cut line and trim a sliver off to give you a straight edge before you cut the next two or three strips. It is amazing how much one can get 'off' on making the strips straight, even though you are using a mat and cutter.

Then, when you sew your strips into sets, they have to be staggered on one end. I don't know why that matters, but it does. Then, if your strip sets have a bow in them, even a slight one, the diamonds will be off.

Finally, it is very important to cut each set with a true angle,
whether it be 45 or 60 degree angle, it must be true. Again,
after cutting two diamonds, you need to straighten the cut edge as described above, before cutting the next two, to make sure the diamonds are straight and have no bow or wobble.

I know this is long, and perhaps hard to understand, but if you follow these cutting steps, your diamonds will match perfectly. Oh, one more things is to never iron your strips sets, or your diamonds, but 'press' them with a dry iron,
which means to just put your iron on top of the sets and leave it there a few seconds - never iron back and forth because it will distort the bias.

This may be more confusing than helpful, but I have successfully made several loan stars after my fiasco, just
by following these methods of cutting and pressing.
Have a Great Day!
Marcia

Marcia, your response is perfect and perfectly understandable. I actually wondered why Krentz recommended the little scrap strips in between strips and you've explained it beautifully. Lesson for next lone star I do (if I ever do one again...). Well, for any diagonal cutting. -- Jillaine

Since they are mostly bias seams, try what one quilter above suggested.
Take each diamond to the ironing board, and place on a drawn diamond that is
the right size. Spray with starch to moisten. I use Mary Ellen's Best Press
since it leaves no residue. Pull the defective diamond until you approximate
the correct size and press.
I apologize if you have already done this ad nauseum.
If it didn't work then you should do what gal288 suggested with the sashing
and outlining suggestion.
Best of luck.
I found Jan Krentz's book on Lone Star Qlts from C&T publishing to be
very helpful.I at first thought it was wildly obsessive-compulsive, but it
works. She also has patterns that have diamonds around the outer edges
of the central Lonestar so if all else fails you could redo some of the
Lonestar diamonds over and use the misfits for the outer area.
I don't know how to upload pictures but your library might be able to get you the book. If you Google Jan Krentz Lone Star Quilts and beyond, the cover quilt shows a star with 8 edge diamonds. Her site charges $25 for the book.
Amazon has a used copy for $12.79 - Judy

wow I would find a way to make it work. i would be sick to do all the work and not be able to fix it. good luck

Lady RedHawk, yes, it was my "illness" that led me to find this message board. -- Jillaine

Thanks, Jillaine. I really encourage you to give this
another shot, maybe with fewer fabrics until you get
the hang of the technique. I wish I lived close to you, because I know I could show you in a New York minute
how to do it. Anyway, if you decide to try again, maybe
do it with 4 - 6 fabrics, and do a smaller size, (cut your
initial strips 1 1/2" x 22"), just to get the hang of it.
The smaller strip width and length are much easier to manage the first time around. You will end up with a
nice wall hanging if you cut your strips that size.

If you have any other questions if you decide to give it another shot, feel free to PM me and I will send you my phone number so we can talk it through. I feel very confident that once you make on successfully, you will
see how relatively easy it is and you will want to try a
larger one.

I actually taught a class on a Lone Star and one of my students made a queen size right off the bat. That
scared even me a little bit, because I thought it would be
too big to handle, but she did a great job and it turned out
well. Truthfully, it really is all in the cutting and pressing.
Have a Great Day!
Marcia

Thought this, too...WORTH A TRY !!

Great idea...we all have to cheat once in awhile.

Wish I could help - but I am bookmarking this page - to review in the future - great tips

I would separate the large diamonds and applique them on a dark background - sort of a "broken star" approach. You could even quilt some lines radiating out from the center. It's a star on the move...the "big bang"!

Everyone is right....much too pretty to burn!

I'd try rechecking all of my seam allowances. They sure make a difference in a lot of patterns. Make sure they are exactly 1/4 inch

I think this is a brilliant solution.

Colors are beautiful---u can't throw it away. Leave it sit for awhile and then go bac k and try to rescue it.

I agree, check out Sharon's tut and startch and reposition, I think that would work. I would try that before ripping and resewing which will be disasterous with bias edges.

that's what i'd do, using black bias 'leading'. you'd have to go all the way around each of the star pieces, but that should be okay. i think it would have the look of stained glass. you only need a very narrow strip between the pieces to make it right.

(i would never have the patience to unsew and resew. i give credit to those who do.)

Update: trying the starch-blocking approach first. Three diamonds down; eight more to go. (I only have room to do one diamond at a time and it takes about 20 minutes to pin, spray, iron, spray, iron, spray, iron; then I let it sit for an hour.)

If this doesn't work, I'll next try the "cheating" approach suggested by Peg.

It looks kind of like my first. Mine was actually cut at the wrong diagonal. I had enough fabric to make another but still have the miscut diamonds that someday I will just sew in another pattern for a scrappy quilt! Someday...after I finish all the other fun ones that I've done over the years and plan to do!

If they absolutly dont fit and look good dont use them as a large star just use the diminds on their own put binding between them and have them as floating dimaonds. as last resort.

If you don't want to re - sew to make sure the seams are all the same width, try cutting them up ,add a few solids and other stuff and make a crazy patchwork quilt that will look fine.

I just now saw this; somehow missed it. VERY funny.

By the way, I'm creating a tutorial from this experience.

-- Jillaine

Marciacp,
I don't know where Crowley TX is but next time you teach a class on this I think it would be worth the drive from Austin to attend!!! I have never attempted the Lone Star but your advice sounds perfect.

Three hours, ten minutes.

Crowley is only about 2 hrs north of Austin, straight up
I-35 North. We are right off the freeway, about 5 miles
South of Ft. Worth. You are so kind to say you would
come up here to take a class from me. It seems like
the quilt shops in our area are pretty much saturated
with teachers and most of the quilters in the area have
already taken about every class they want to. So, not
much need for classes, it seems (at least not the shops
closest to me). I have also taught classes in my home,
so if there were enough interest, I could do that.

To tell the truth, I could easily teach the technique in one day, because it is all in the cutting and pressing. However,
I have found that most students that are learning a new method like to have several classes so they can have someone to guide them through the whole process.

I do like what one teacher I have just learned about does - she teaches an all day class on the technique of cutting and making a block (Judy Neimeyer's techniques), then she makes herself available at the shop for three days the next week for anyone that wants to come and continue making the quilt, with her there to answer questions, etc. She charges $10.00 for each day someone comes for additional help. I think that is a great idea, and one I might use if I teach another class like the Lone Star that is more challenging. If I do teach another class, I'll let you know.
Have a Blessed Day!
Marcia

Thanks to you all helping with my Texas geography! Now I know!! Keep me posted on Lone Star quilting. Once I retire from full time job I hope to make it to more classes. Did one two weeks ago in Fredericksburg, at Pocketful of Poseys. We did "Circle A Round" where you cut out circles and sew them into another circle you cut in your base fabric. Pretty awesome. With that I have a UFO to get back to plus one more Circle quilt in my brain, another future project. I will get to a Lone Star though, one of these days!

Place the corners (not the points) together, then when folded diamond over diamond cut the center points to match the smallest diamond.

Both good ideas. I would try the starch first, and if that doesn't do it, then use these over a background as suggested, and start with new ones for your quilt.

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Don't dispair. I did a Lone Star and pieced it twice on the machine and once by hand before I was satisfied. Turned out to be a very nice quilt but I shudder when I look at diamond shapes to this day!

Update. I'm halfway through blocking my eight lone-star diamond arms. Some are going worse than others. I am following closely S. Shambers (?) video instructions.

One of the things she does not cover is how much of a difference can you have before you cannot use the blocking/starching method to "shrink" a piece.

I have tried very hard to get the shrinking results she demonstrated, but it's not going well. many puckers (although they ARE starched to hell and back.)

-- Jillaine

Please take another look. I really think you can save yourself a lot of trouble if you re-sew just a few seams for those diamonds that are much too large. You can pick them out just by eyeballing. You could also use a ruler to quickly check their width, but some look much to large in the pic.