Patriotic Star Swap

The votes are in, and we're going to work on Patriotic Star Blocks for our first ever block swap. This will be a great project for beginners and over-achievers alike. There are oodles of free star block patterns online, and they range from Nice&Easy to Yikes!

So far, we have 10 people signed up. We're working on finding 2 more people who are interested, so that would give us each 12 blocks, which is a nice round number for making a quilt.

Here are the requirements:

1. Find a 12-inch star block pattern - any star you like. It can be a regular or paper-pieced pattern. It can have 4 points or 15 points. It just needs to bear a reasonable resemblance to a star. There are literally hundreds of free patterns available at The Quilter's Cache website. You can browse them by size to see just the 12-inch patterns.
   
   
2. We're going to go with a "country patriotic" fabric theme since they are easy to find and easy to match. So you are looking for more of a country/barn red, navy blue, and cream/tan (rather than true red, white, and blue)
   
   
3. Each person needs to make 12 blocks (if we can find 2 more people). So you will make the same block 12 times, and then we will all trade. Each block does not need to be identical - so if you wanted to use different fabrics in each version of your block, that's fine.
   
   
4. We will be using 12-inch block patterns. However, keep in mind that this means the blocks you turn in will actually measure 12.5 inches, allowing for a 1/4-inch seam allowance all the way around.
   
   
5. Make sure all fabrics are color-fast before you sew with them. I would for sure stay away from the fabric at Walmart for this project.
   
   
6. Blocks will be due the week before July 4th (we haven't settled on an exact date yet).
   

We'll be taking a field trip to a local quilt store sometime next week for anybody who would like help choosing fabric, or for anyone who just wants to come along for fun. Once you have chosen your block pattern, please email me the link or a description of the block, just so we can make sure there are no duplicates.

That's all I can think of for now. Please let me know if you have any questions or ideas! Here's a gallery of stars, just to get the creative juices flowing.

PS - It looks like the PQ Quilters are doing a star swap as well - you might get some ideas from their blog.