Matthew 2:1-2 “Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
I have modified this Blazing Star tablecloth pattern by Eleanor Burns into a Christmas tree skirt and have given it as a gift to several friends and family members over the years. Sometimes I will name it Blazing Star, Northern Star or as a Christmas gift, Star of Bethlehem.
Eleanor Burns created several patterns using strip quilting. The Blazing Star is one in which you sew all of your strips together and then cut at a 45° angle into another set of strips.
I usually start with my mock up page because even though I’ve made several of these Blazing Stars, I always want to make sure I get my colors in the right order. I change the color order every time I make it. There have been times that I’ve made the pattern and had fabric left over. SHOCKING I know!! Sometimes I will go to my fabric bin with seasonal Christmas fabrics and see what I have on hand. Typically I will buy a yard or two of the fabric that I like to use in this pattern, so if I used 3/4’s of a yard for ‘H’ the last time, I might have enough for the eighth of a yard for ‘A’ this time.
I cut and sewed my strips as directed and pressed the seams in the direction listed. It was time to cut my strips into 45° angle strips.
This cutting tool is probably not designed for cutting the 45° angle strips that I need, however it works quite well. It’s the Simplicity Studio and called Simpli-EZ Flip N Set by Darlene Zimmerman. As a sidenote, it was a bargain at $2.00 at one of my favorite stores!! For this cut, I keep the flip closed, and line up the bottom straight edge with the straight edge on my cutting board to get my diagonal cut. I try to keep the first cut as close to the selvage as I can. For the star you need eight strips, if I keep my cut close to the selvage I will get eleven strips.
I prefer to get at least 10 strips so that I can make the tree skirt using eight strips and a matching table runner with two others. That leaves one in case my cuts are off and I need to replace a strip.
Here the flip is open to show the name, I used it closed.
Next I lined up on my 3” line …
… then ‘eyeballed it’ as I carefully moved my ruler over to 2 1/2”.
Each line up I would again eyeball it to make sure my cut was 2 1/2” the entire strip. Realign as needed.
I do these strip cuts one layer at a time, because the strip set could move quite easily, especially on my white cutting board. You also cannot fold the strip and cut two at once because the cuts will be opposite.
Be sure to line up your cuts around the breaks in your cutting board!! I should probably get a new board!! I seem to rotary cut through them!! I wonder if that lifetime warranty is still good?!!
The strips are cut and ready to sew together. Select one strip from each pile. I start with the single diamond on the right, and add the other rows on top. That puts my longest rows on top. It is much easier to start with the long rows first and end with the short rows.
Right sides together, I do pin each seam where it will meet so they line up perfectly, or at least near perfect. I get better perfection when I pin 45° angle seams.
A quick look to make sure my diagonal points are lined up otherwise the whole wedge will be off.
Add the remaining six rows. I’ll press later.
One down, nine, maybe ten to go!!
The stack of wedges ready to be pressed.
Press toward row “H.”
Trim the dog ears.
Trim bottom edge, lining up points for 1/4” seam allowance.
Trims that I keep even though I probably won’t use them. Just in case!! You never know when you might need to splice something!!
Next, the borders.
I didn’t get into quilting for the math!! Every once in a while, I have to do a little adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing.
Borders on, ready to be pressed.
My fancy rack holding the eight pressed wedges. There’s only a half a dozen other projects hanging there too!!! In case you’re wondering, there’s, ‘Tiptoe Through the Tulips,’ ‘Turkey Tracks,’ and a sunflower panel yet to be started. I’ve got a couple ideas for the sunflowers, but I’m still in think mode!!
Borders on, time to trim.
I think I can trim two at a time. Right sides together, I just need to pin and I’m ready to sew.
All trimmed.
Quick check.
Two halves done!! I sewed two wedges together for four quarters, pressed the seams, then two quarters together for the halves.
Time for the embroidery, batting and backing.
The tree for the table runner appliquéd on with a tree trunk and star. It ended up the tree was too wide so I cut the bottom for a better size for this runner. For the machine quilting, I stitched in the ditch on the diagonals in the tree and did horizontal rows on the background.
For the binding I used some leftover diagonal strips.
The 2 1/2” strip pressed in half ready to put on the runner.
O Christmas Tree
COPYRIGHT
The Nose Bump 