Hi fellow quilters, here's the final post of the Secret Santa gifts I have for you. It the Folded Fat Quarter Stars you probably see in many quilting shops. Here's how they're made.
You’ll need :-

Three Fat Quarters (approx 18” x 22” square)
1 meter of pretty tying ribbon

This pattern makes a five pointed star using three fat quarters.

Firstly you need to press each fat quarter to remove any sign of winkles or lines.

Have the fat quarter wrong side up on the table in front of you with the 18” side running along to top, and the 22” side running down the side. Now taking the left side of the fabric and fold it in half, being as exact as you can. Now take the two edges at the right and fold them over to the left side. You now have a long strip of fabric, made up of four layers of fabric. Press the edges to get nice crisp folds. You can even use ironing spray to make them extra crisp.

Now, starting at the bottom end, fold the end of the left side strip up to form a right angle triangle. Now fold upwards, in the same shape you’ve just folded. Continue to fold up until you have the last rectangular fabric showing. Tuck this remaining rectangle of fabric inside the fold of the triangle. You shouldn’t be able to see any unfinished edges. As you practice you’ll get better at it, believe me!

So that’s the first of the three “star arms” made. Make another two “star arms” and now it’s time to assemble the star.

Place the first fat quarter “star arm” with one long arm pointing north (thus the other long arm will be pointing south west). The second fat quarter “star arm” is placed over the first, with both long arms pointing east and west. Take the final fat quarter “star arm” and place it over the other two, with one long arm pointing to the north (and thus the other long arm will be pointing south east).

There, your five pointed star is assembled. Using the pretty tying ribbon, gently tie the three fat quarter “star arms” together finishing with a pretty bow in the centre.

It’s done!! A lovely Christmas Secret Santa gift for a quilter.

If you’re having trouble deciphering my instructions, Google “Folded Fat Quarter Stars” and you’ll probably come up with various sites offering diagrams.

Here's the latest article from the Quilting site at BellaOnline.com.

Quilting for Charity
How to use up that excess fabric stash for very good causes. Helping both our two legged and four legged friends in need.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art1193.asp

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Well, fellow quilters, this is my last newsletter for 2007. My husband and I are heading off on a journey that will take us across the breadth of Australia, from Brisbane in Queensland to Perth in Western Australia. We’re traveling by car to Sydney, where we put the car on the train and over three days and nights eventually arrive in Perth Christmas Morning. (Christmas Eve on the Indian Pacific train will be an experience). Then we get the car from the train and plan to tour about 10 days from Perth, north to Geraldton and west to Kalgoorlie. We’ll travel about 2000 kms all up, then put the car back on the train and travel the reverse. We intend to be home by the middle of January, when I’ll commence my 2008 newsletters to you.

I will be posting my usual weekly article on the Quilting website right over the holiday break, so don’t miss out on those. I do hope that each and every one of you has a great holiday break and 2008 brings you everything you wish for.

Until mid January, cheerio for now and have fun quilting!!


Judie Bellingham, Quilting Editor
http://Quilting.bellaonline.com

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