Sharon Rexroad's Diamond Stars

Hello Everyone, I know it's been five months but I am back as usual with lots of good stuff to share. I will be sharing the process of this fabulous quilt by Sharon Rexroad.. I have had the book and the paper piecing packet for some time and as you quilters all know, we will get to it some time or the other. This will be my first quilt for 2013.

I liked the quilt that Sharon pictured inside the book called the Fairy Ring but that particular quilt is not in the book

I had studied the quilt now and then and I knew it was just the pineapple diamonds and then also pineapple square blocks and half squares etc. I printed out a 15.5 pineapple pp block from Block Base . My quilt won't be the exact same one as Sharon's but the idea will be the same to me. I will call my quilt the Fairy Garden.

Here is a pic of the book  and paper patterns and the fabrics I pulled to pick from.

The star is actually a Lone Star or a Bethlehem Star and I am sure you know the ropes with this star. Lots of set in's and matching your strips.

This quilt is going to be a lot of work. I have to make more pineapple pattern pp blocks. I ironed some freezer paper to one block and carefully traced the pattern and I will use that to make as many blocks as I can and then switch to the paper ones that came in the package.

I have finished the starter block. I always do one block of any quilt that I am unfamiliar with. Already I can see a couple things I must do for the next blocks. I very pleased with the way the block came out. After working out the details and doing a lot of notes on the pattern (to avoid confusion) I can now proceed without caution lol.

The block is made out of four cross over section and these are done with your lightest colors, the ring, which goes accross the middle of the block, it is a choice of dark colors, then the point to point is also a choice of dark colors. One end of the point is part of the fairy garden fabric and the other point will disappear into the square pineapple blocks. Even tho a pineapple block in the square is easy to make, doing it on a diamond is a bit challenging but can be accomplished by following the numbers and tagging your fabric strips to match.

Here is a pic of the pattern itself where I have scrolled red down the four cross over light strips. I also added an extra dark strip to the point ends. I will think about adding another strip in the next block and see if I like that even better.

This pic shows my strips organized and labled in the way they go on the block.

This  shows the beginning of the block.

I finished another block, they are going more smoothly now and I may be able to do two or three a day depending on my day.

You can see the square P B pinned between the diamonds.

Half the diamonds are done now. I hope to do two more today. It takes about 2.5 hours to do one block. Each strip has to be pinned at each end. I don't press the strips. I finger press the strips. I sew on two strips at a time, one on each opposite end. Then finger Press and trim and then another two. I get up after each two strips, which is a good thing to do. It wouldn't be good to sit through a whole block.

These are just pinned for now.

Here  are the two section. Four diamonds sewed and set in, waiting for the squares.

Here is one square set pinned in.