Oh, please DO join the swap! A couple of my other blocks are simple, and I love the variety and creativity that many people bring to swaps! Stars are wonderful in patriotic colors..... Go for it! I'd love to get one of yours!

wraez, simple blocks lend balance, so PLEASE join the swap!

Kaleidoscope Block
 

This block reminds me of the off air television screen when I was young or Twilight Zone music. I want to rework it in RWB for my patriotic quilt. Is it too much?
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Hello all! I have had to stray away from working on my sets for this swap. Several others have to be finished and in the mail before this one. Hope to be done with them tomorrow so I can get back to peicing. Love everything posted hope to have one of each!!!

" was thinking of doing a simple star, not sure now that I wanna join in the swap ..."

Please do join in with us! The blocks that I did are not complicated. We need every kind of block there is to balance our quilts. I personally love stars of any level. Even a simple 9 patch would fit in. I would never even attempt some of these blocks that have been shown here, but I sure would love to receive one of each of them. Every quilt needs places to rest the eye. Your fabrics can make even the simplest block gorgeous. The red, white and blue is what will tie everything together with this quilt. Please join us!!

"This block reminds me of the off air television screen when I was young or Twilight Zone music."

You know, that block could be done by sewing strip sets and cutting with a specialty ruler. Since I don't have any of the specialty ones, I'm not sure if it would be a 30 or maybe 45 degree ruler? Maybe one of our ladies who have the rulers could enlighten us as to the correct one to use for it. (I have got to get some of these rulers for myself.)

Libster,
It would also help if I could iron properly! LOL

" It would also help if I could iron properly!"

I always iron each seam as soon as I sew it, before I do another seam. I always press to the dark side.
With the block that you showed above: If you'll sew all your pressed units together into a completed block, then go to the center of your block (where all your seams come together)and UNSEW almost 1/4 inch, you can then fan out or swirl your seam ends a lot flatter. (Wow- that sentence sure was a mouthful, wasn't it?) That way you won't have a big lump in the middle of your block. It'll lay a whole lot flatter that way. Someone else may know an even better way to do it. Personally, I'm always up for learning something new or an easier way to do it.

Libster,
I appreciate you very much. I'll give it a try!!!

This seems odd to me, but it works. According to Jan Krentz and Alex Anderson (Star block queens), you could press the seams open in these cases so that way there is much less bulk all the way around. I thought crazy, but when I was doing my star quilts and 8 point stars, they were correct, made it lay much better. I do only press when the block is assembles. I do mean PRESS. not iron. I also do not use a lot of steam, it seems to distort it on me. Once my quilt is assembled, then I do some steam pressing. Libster has the center right. Eleanor Burns has a You Tube video on it and I think a couple other people do as well if you do not understand the directions that Libster wrote so well.