Hand Piece Miss Elizabeth’s Star

One of my favorite star designs is named for Miss Elizabeth Bennet, probably the best loved of all of Jane Austen’s heroines.

This 5-pointed star has some brilliant advantages for hand piecers.

It is diamond # 1 in Quilted Diamonds 2.

I chose it to be one of the diamonds demonstrated in the two-hour QD2 DVD lesson.

This diamond has inset seams, and the entire diamond can be stitched continuously by turning a corner at the end of every seam!

(Hand piecers LOVE inset seams. Machine piecers, not so much.)

“Continuous stitching” is one of the delights of hand piecing with a running stitch.

Sewing with a running stitching is reassuringly repetitive and the method is the same for straight seams, curves, insets, and pieces of any shape and size.

(By the way, there is a video showing how to hand piece inset seams on the Main Hexagon Page on the website, so you can start now even if you don’t have QD2 yet.)

The method in Quilted Diamonds 2 uses freezer paper templates in the FINISHED size.

It is much better than using acrylic or plastic templates that include the seam allowance!

With freezer paper templates, you can draw the seam lines with crosshairs at the seam endings and matching marks along the seam.

It removes all the stress of sewing “dot to dot” or English Paper Piecing.

Quilted Diamonds 2 is the book that inspired me to invent Inklingo!

I prefer to print the shapes on fabric when I can, but when the shapes are not “inklingoable” yet, freezer paper templates are the next best thing!

Jane Austen referred to Miss Elizabeth Bennet as “the most delightful creature ever to appear in print.” The slightly off-kilter lines represent Elizabeth’s independent spirit and her willingness to think for herself.

This 5-pointed star is similar to the one in Willyne Hammerstein’s Passacaglia quilt.

Passacaglia is the quilt on the cover of Millefiori Quilts, published by Quiltmania.

I show pressing suggestions for every diamond in the QD2 book and demonstrate this pressing technique in the DVD lesson, so if you haven’t watched the DVD for a while, this is a good time for a review.

Quilted Diamonds 2 with DVD was reprinted this year, so you can learn to pleasures of hand piecing whenever you are ready.

This is one of the images I posted on Facebook last week. Hand Piecing with a running stitch is the same for curves!

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This is one of my favorite Facebook images, posted a few days ago.

Facebook only shows my photos to about 20% of the quilters who have “liked” the Inklingo Facebook Page, so the best way to stay up to date is to subscribe to the blog (top of right sidebar).

If you are on Facebook, please  post photos of your Inklingo and QD blocks on my page and please “like” and “comment” and “share” my photos. When we interact, it makes it more likely that Facebook will show you my next photos too.

Are you following the EQ7 Seasons Row-A-Long? Please click on the logo for all the details—the schedule and especially the fabulous prizes! You will want to see what the other talented designers have prepared for you.

Thank you for visiting!

Linda & Monkey

New to Inklingo? Order and download free shapes and start sewing in the next few minutes. Quick Start (Always FREE.) There are triangles, diamonds, and squares in the free collection—great for dozens of different blocks.

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