Originally Posted by
nancylee
Hi all,
I am working on two quilts right now, and also want to start a blue and white for myself. I like stars, but am still pretty much an advanced beginner, don't want to paper piece, and I get BORED easily! Do you know of any samplers that are not too hard and I could do in blue and white? Also, it is always hard to tell in pictures, but in most traditional blue and white quilts, are there shades of blue? They often look like one shade of blue.
Thanks,
Nancy
there are dozens of 4X4 star blocks that use squares and HST. Some bear the "star" name and come don't.
I'd pick a pretty white on white background fabric-----------maybe with stars. Then a couple differnet tones of blue print.
Some of my favorites are
Annie's Choice (yes, it's a star!)...........
Clay's Choice...............
Simple star....................
Star and pinwheel.....................
trailing star........................
8 point star (you'll find all sorts of names for this one block.)...............
Saw Tooth Star...............
Shooting star
On some such as Annie's choice the named block is a solid background and one print. But you can customize the block and change it a bit by using a different blue print for the outside corner pieces. If a second solid is shown, you can easily substitute a 2nd blue print.
If you use a site like Quilter's Cashe, she tries to claim ownership of hundreds of patterns. She does not. Most of the 4x4 star patterns were in the public domain long before she was born.
These are all simple blocks----------about as simple as you're going to get. They can easily be adjusted to make whatever size of block you want-----------from 2 inches to 2 feet, or even more.
Good luck. Your blue & white is going to be pretty.