Are you ready for the next Moda Blockheads 5 block release? If you’re all caught up with the quilt-along schedule, you should have all blocks through Group Two – #7 complete, leaving you with a total of 17 finished blocks all together. Adding to our collection with Group Two – #8, is fellow Moda sister, Crystal Manning with her block, “Sparkle.” Crystal feels that the eclectic collection of star blocks going into the Blockheads project this year are the perfect representation of the connection we all share through our love of quilting and desire to be creative. I love this, and couldn’t agree more!

If you like a pattern with lots of variety, you’re going to love “Sparkle!” This dazzling block is made up of a series of four-patches, flying geese, and half-square triangles – a little bit of all of our traditional favorites! Such a great combination of units makes “Sparkle” an excellent block to experiment with different colors, fabrics, and placement ideas. The possibilites really are endless! I can’t wait to see what you all come up with… Grab the pattern for “Sparkle,” plus tips, tricks, and a video tutorial on how to complete the block from quilt blogger Anna Dineen, by clicking the button below!

One thing I will always recommend when you’re able to use it, is the strip piecing method. This fast and efficient process is done by sewing long strips of fabric together side by side, and then using your rotary cutter to cut across them. This results in units that are already pieced called “strip sets.” The strip sets are then cut to the size needed to become segments of your block. I love strip piecing and consider it one of the best time-saving hacks out there when it comes to quilting! It reduces your need to cut and sew many small individual pieces of fabric, thus saving you loads of time and effort – which I’m all about! “Sparkle” just so happens to be a perfect example of a block that strip piecing works well on. If you’d like to use the same method I did, here are the changes I made to the original instructions:

In case you’re wondering, for my blocks I’m using Bella Solid Silver (9900 183) for the background of my quilt, and Bella Solid American Blue (9900 174) consistently throughout the entire thing. For any additional colors I’m using a combination of the soft, muted collection of Bella Solids that we put together for this project called “Sundown,” along with a new playful and vibrant Bella Solids collection called “Cozy.” Both collections are available for purchase on our website by clicking the buttons below!

As always, if you have any questions regarding “Sparkle” or any of the MBH5 blocks, please feel free to leave me a comment here on the blog! You can also visit the Blockheads 5 Main Page for more information on Moda Blockheads 5 and how it all works by clicking HERE. I also recommend hooking up with the virtual Blockheads community for even more support by checking out their Official Moda Blockheads Facebook Group.

I don’t know about you but I’m starting to feel a bit impatient to see this quilt in its entirety. I think it’s going to be a super fun and unique looking piece, and I’m really looking forward to seeing it done. The same goes for a few other things I’ve been hard at work as well… Speaking of works in progress, if you’d like to get a sneak peek on some of the projects I’ve been devoting my time to lately, tune in tomorrow – Thursday, February 22nd, for STITCH with Lisa Bongean on YouTube at 1:00 p.m. CST. You can watch by clicking the STITCH icon below! Then directly after STITCH (at approximately 2:15 p.m.) is our next fun-filled hour of CommentSold. Join us for all the fun, and maybe you’ll even win a prize if you’re lucky. Come hang out! You won’t regret it. 🙂 ~Lisa