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Starry Block of the Month
The Story Behind Carol Doak's Starry Block of the Month
Carol Doak's Starry Block of the Month is available at your local quilt store, online at various sites including at Amazon or C & T Publishing.
Now that my latest book has been released, I thought I would send out a newsletter and share some of the history of these blocks and some tips and tricks for using my latest book.
First a little bit about the background of these new block designs. When I was anticipating the release of my 60 Fabulous Paper-Pieced Stars book, I decided to create a Facebook Group called Carol Doak's Bonus Block of the Month to introduce the concept of making these paper-pieced stars. I began the group in June of 2023 and released the first block, July the following month. So it is not necessary to begin a block of the month in January.
Another thing about these blocks, although they are presented as blocks to be used in a sampler style quilt, each block on its own will make a wonderful quilt. This is the January block. Look at what a spectacular quilt it would make with just 4 blocks. Every block in this book shows you not only the single block but also what 4 blocks would look like together in a quilt.
But the options for your creativity to make each block your own by using your favorite fabrics is boundless. The huge surprise was how different each block looked when members made their version of the monthly block.
This is just a sampling of some of the hundreds of January blocks that were posted to the group.
Another aspect of how each block is presented is the cutting list that tells you how many pieces to cut for each piece and what size to cut to make your paper piecing so easy and efficient.
Doing a block of the month with a group helps to motivate you to complete your block, but also to see how others will interpret the design.
This sharing of blocks, encouraged our group to grow by leaps and bounds! We are now over 18,000 members worldwide and have just begun our third block of the month. We accept new members daily, so feel free to click on the name to join in the fun. Carol Doak Bonus Block of the Month
The response to the book has been wonderful.
One thing I have not mentiond yet is that this book comes with all the information you will need to make your first paper-pieced star. All of my tried and true methods developed over the past 30 years are included with step-by-step pictures. As a long-time teacher, I know most people are visual learners so seeing clear pictures is crucial.
During the year, members from the same guilds began joining and were not only sharing their pictures with our group, but also at their monthly guild meeting. This would make a fun guild program throughout the year.
I just heard of a quilt shop that is going to do an online block of the month using this booklet. It could also be a monthly project for quilt shops to offer the book for sale and have members come back each month to share their block. There are so many ways to use this booklet.
It is has also been suggested that a group of quilters could get together and make the same block for the members in their group and then swap blocks turning it into a friendship quilt.
Until next time, may all your points be sharp and may you wake each morning with a smile.
All the best,
Carol Doak
Table runner in Carol Doak's Starry Block of the Month