Hey Blockheads! Wednesday is back and so am I with not one, but TWO pretty little blocks to share. As you know, last week I was stuck sick at home in bed on Wednesday, so I’m playing a bit of catch up for this round. Kicking things off with block release #10 is “16-Patch Star,” designed by Alexia Marcelle Abegg of Ruby Star Society. When designing quilt blocks, Alexia loves to combine bits and pieces of different traditional blocks for a more unique approach. She often uses the 16-Patch Block within her designs because it can be scrappy or coordinated, and done in any way you like with stunning results. For “16-Patch Star” she did just that by combining a traditional 16-Patch Block to a Star Block. This adds a nice visual texture to the center of the star and in turn also makes the perfect excuse to bust out your favorite scrap stash.

If you’re following along with me, please note that I made a couple of small changes to the instructions for this block because as you know, I prefer to avoid unnecessary trimming when I can. By cutting units exactly the size that I need to begin with (rather than oversized as the instructions suggest) I am able to skip trimming all together. These are the changes that I made:

Next up is block release #11, “Shooting Stars” by Stacy Iest Hsu. Because there are there are so many color combination possibilities for this block, Stacy wanted to take advantage and create a design that has both movement and fun. Inspired by shooting stars and making wishes, her unique looking block does not disappoint. It features two bright yellow stars that seem as though they could be falling from the night sky from a spectacular summer meteor shower. In other words, it looks really cool!

You probably already know that 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!

Looking for some entertainment while you stitch? Click the STITCH button below to watch me LIVE tomorrow – Thursday, March 14th, 2024 on my YouTube channel STITCH with Lisa Bongean at 1:00 p.m. CST. Don’t forget that tomorrow is National “Write Your Story” day so in addition to all our usual jazz, we’ll be talking a little bit about my story and how Primitive Gatherings came to be. As a special treat, I’d really love it if you would let me know how Primitive Gatherings has become part of YOUR story. If you’d like to share your story with us and the rest of the Primitive Gatherings family, please send an email to heidin@primitivegatherings.us describing how PG has affected you in a positive way, and you might just be featured during our LIVE show. I’m willing to bet there’s a few people here that have a quilting/stitching/sewing story to tell that has Primitive Gatherings somewhere in it – now’s your chance! Who knows, there might even be a prize in it for you. Have a wonderful evening and I will see you tomorrow! ~Lisa