Paper-Pieced Stars

Class Preview

Create professional-quality patchwork without precision cutting or perfect sewing. Achieve sharp points & accurate seams as you paper piece six eight-pointed star designs.

Introduction

Meet your instructor, award-winning quilting teacher and paper-piecing author Carol Doak. You’ll gain sneak peeks of the beautiful blocks you’ll make over the course of this class, learn what paper piecing is all about, and gain valuable insight into how to use the measuring and cutting instructions that are included in your downloadable materials.

Twinkle Star

Start the Twinkle Star, an 8-pointed star block that’s perfect for paper-piecing practice. Carol explains how to set up your machine before walking you through the preparation and construction of the block, including pinning, cutting, pressing and sewing techniques that are easy to follow and yield perfectly aligned blocks.

3-D Star

Move on to the second block, the 3-D Star. You’ll learn how to take color into consideration as you plan your fabric pairings, and sew along with Carol as she carefully walks you through the block’s construction. You’ll gain valuable troubleshooting tips along the way that will help you back up and fix mismatched stitches and seam alignments without having to rip out hours of work.

Pointed Posy Star

Put your new paper-piecing skills to work as you try a more complicated star, the Pointed Posy. Carol’s patient and friendly demonstrations help you match different “A” and “B” sections and adjust the block’s complexity to your comfort level and preference. Next, you’ll piece your fabrics together, sew the components and reduce seam bulk using smart pressing techniques.

Twisted Tulip Star

Get creative with the Twisted Tulip Star, another block that presents mixing and matching opportunities that will inspire and delight you. Carol shows variations that you can try for your A and B units, and shares different ways to merge multiple block designs. Next, she walks you through the steps you need to know for constructing and completing the Twisted Tulip block.

Windmill Star

Jump into your next star, the Windmill. You’ll love creating this design, which consists of neat points that are surrounded by a swirling fan effect, and choosing a range of colors that will make your blocks pop. Carol demonstrates additional sewing and pressing techniques that make even increasingly complicated blocks line up in perfect symmetry.

Starburst Star

Explore secondary patterns as Carol shows you how to create star blocks that accompany on-point squares. You’ll learn what colors will accentuate your favorite parts of this design and apply Carol’s helpful equations to calculate yardage for your quilt. Finally, you’ll sew, press and trim your blocks to complete your Starburst Stars.

Quilt Assembly

Your piecing, sewing, pressing and trimming efforts have paid off, and it’s finally time to assemble your quilt! Follow along with Carol’s professional tips for constructing and quilting your project. You’ll use Carol’s Star Light, Star Bright pattern or the alternative 9-block pattern that are provided in class to create a gorgeous, vibrant quilt that is likely to become a treasured family heirloom.