Little LeMoyne Stars

After taking several days off from blogging after my 31 straight day blogging challenge this past December - I wanted to blog about something fun and interesting. Plus document on my blog several photos I have been sharing on FaceBook and Instagram!

I've been enjoying being a part of a group of quilters online  that are piecing LeMoyne Star blocks!

If you do a little search on FaceBook or Instagram using the hashtag littlelemoynemonday ~ you will be entertained by many, many photos quilters of all talents are posting.  

I myself am hand-piecing my little LeMoyne Stars.  I have a temporary plan to make a bed size quilt with my little 3" finished blocks. I'm still working on the layout to see if I can make it work, but I believe it just may be do-able!

There are so many excellent photos that many of us are sharing on Instagram of the journeys we are on as we hand piece these little stars.  Actually, I should correct myself in saying that to include everyone - there are some that are making stars in larger sizes.  Come and do a search for #littlelemoynemonday and maybe join the peaceful bliss of hand piecing!

I am using quilt stamps for my blocks. These are special little stamps that I press onto an ink pad that is safe to use on fabrics and completely washes out, then I press the stamp on the back of my chosen fabrics.  And like magic - there are my cutting and sewing lines! The stamps I am using for this particular project  ~ you can view in the upper right corner in the photo below and you can also see the ink pad I am using:

Here is a better photo of the actual set of stamps I am using:

This particular stamp set is called "LeMoyne Star Small" and is item # CRE0152. For those of you in the USA - they can be ordered on the following two websites (the second link is also an actual quilt shop, so those of you within driving distance of Winfield, Illinois can just hop on over there and grab a set of stamps!)

Rinske Stevens

The Quilt Merchant

There are a few other quilt stamps available besides just the brand I've mentioned already - and I'll get to that in a second.  I want to point out my favorite thing about this stamp in particular - it's clear, which means I can see through the stamping area - right to the fabric I'm stamping on.  I can pinpoint different shapes on the fabric if I am wanting to "fussy-stamp" my templates!

Now, here is another quilt stamp company that also offers a huge variety of see-through stamps

Jeanneke

The link is just above to see this gals beautiful work and her awesome quilt stamps!  She has a ton and she is so nice!  I enjoy following her page on FaceBook and Instagram as well, Her photos are so entertaining and gorgeous!

Another personal favorite quilt stamp company is:

Cindy Blackberg

I have several of Cindy's stamps and love them.  Back in the day when I used to sell tons of fabrics on my website and traveled to vend at quilting shows, I sold her stamps and had fabric clubs involving them.  Some of you might remember that!

For those of you that might want to follow along and make a few Little LeMoyne Stars but may not be interested in the quilt stamping world and lean more toward templates (which I love also!)  Here is a fabulous pattern and template set. This pattern has actually started a bit of a "frenzy" in the quilting world with many of us following along on what has become know as the make  "Star-A-Day Challenge"

Star A Day Pattern & Templates by Karen Styles

And lastly another of my favorite (I have many) ways to prepare fabric for piecing.  InkLingo.  This awesome website is full of different shapes and patterns that delight all quilters.  This is a unique type of program as you print the templates right from your at home printer. You can read more on the InkLingo website (linked below) but basically, you prepare your chosen fabrics and "feed" them into your printer instead of paper!

InkLingo

Linda Franz is the creator of the InkLingo system and there are so many different shapes and sizes 

available, not only for the LeMoyne Star but several other favorite quilting patterns!

Well, that's all for me today, I'm off to finish some pattern writing - we have 6 new patterns coming out this month and I have some machine piecing on some other new projects I'm working on!

I invite you to leave us a comment also!  We had a few issues with our commenting system and I think I have it fixed now - so test it out for me if you wouldn't mind!

**** I need to drop a little hint for an upcoming surprise also!  I can't quite let the cat out of the bag yet - but we have a fun and fabulous Quilt-A-Long to share with you very soon!  So get your rotary cutters ready to go because we are going to be cutting into our stashes very soon - together ~~~ now how fun will that be to all "Quilt-A-Long" on a project that is fun and simple and quite pretty if I might add!

Have an awesome day!