I’m SUPER excited about this 2014 Challenge with the Go! cutter…
As I mentioned on a post in December
Accuquilt sent me a set of NEW dies to play with, for this challenge.
Each month I will CHALLENGE you to make something with your GO! dies.
I’ll highlight a few dies and also make something with these dies to inspire you and show some sketches, pics and projects.
So…. WHICH dies am I showing this month??
-well from the title of the blog post, you’ll know it’s the hunter star AND hexies….
You might also have guessed it by seeing my tutorial Tuesday post about the Hunter star block, lots of different layouts and ideas!
Here’s MY Hunter star quilt!
I used a FQ bundle from Connecting threads
I quilted hearts and dense meandering
I used a chevron fabric for the binding, kind of looks like rick rack, doesn’t it?
A pieced back.
(I’m going to give this quilt to a friend who’s moving and newlywed- to show all the LOVE they have for each other, right?)
Here’s how I made the FQs fit in the GO! cutter.
I ironed and starched (best press) each piece and folded it in half and ironed, then folded it half again and ironed – the long way (so the 20” side)
Then went to work and very quickly cut out all the pieces, had a bit left over on the side of each FQ- I’ll show what I did with those in a bit.
I then matched up sets of light and dark and tried to not have repeats.
One “set” is a large triangle, the trapezoid shape and two diamonds then the same in another color to make one block.
The SUPER great thing about these dies, is that they cut off the dog ears, so sewing them together is SEW easy, they fit together perfectly!
The diamond shape has a right and left side as the dog ear is different on one end than the other, it helps when you sew the triangle units together.
Here’s the first section of the block done
The matching triangle fits on there perfectly too!
And here’s the triangle units done.
And blocks are done!
The quilt layout before adding a border- I found out I had a yard of a red dot also from CT that was the same as one of the FQs so it was perfect for the border!
Here’s my EQ sketch
Now WHAT did I do with the scraps left over from the FQs??
Cut those up too of course!
using the half hexagon die
Lots of tiny hexies! I used those as leader and enders for the hunter star quilt.
A cute mini quilt, either a mug rug or a doll/ doggy blanket.
I used my walking foot on this one and didn’t realize I must have pulled it each time I did it, so it looks kind of wavy- oh well… It’s for Sonja anyways, she won’t mind 
The doggie doesn’t mind
Now that’s NOT all!
I also used the LARGE half hexagon die
and made a baby boy quilt from light blue scrap fabrics (when I was making the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt, hers used the dark blues, so I figured I needed to sort the light blues too and a few whites)
Here I quilted curves from corner to corner and it looks like circles 
The finished size is 36” x 44” so it fit within a WOF.
And a cute little label, the binkie was designed in EQ and the text was made with my embroidery machine.
I LOVED that these are half hexies, so they are easy to sew into rows!
I sort of have a system on how to sew these fast, without just sewing ONE row and then start the next.
First, you match up the 1st row in twos
Iron those seams open. Back on the design wall.
Now take those sets and match up TWO and TWO into 4s
AND take the 2nd row and match up singles into TWOs
Again iron seams open
my table looks like this, I don’t pin anything I just lay them on top of each other in order and know that the bottom of the first strip goes to the top of the strip below it and so on
My design wall looked like this, as the number of hexies on each row was an odd number, but that’s okay, you just keep going.
Of course the 3rd time you match 4 and 4 into 8s
then 2 and 2 into 4s
then singles into 2s.
As long and you keep the piles in order and also cut them apart in order and iron in order they will stay in order (or in reverse) when you have to stick them back on the the design wall, Now I didn’t have a leader and ender, so I left the last one in the machine and just cut the threads and ironed the rest, no biggie at all.
The only time I pinned was when the ROWS went together
See how the top two rows are together and then rows under that are in sections like I described?
quickly the whole top is done!
I didn’t show how I trimmed, but I laid out the ruler on a horizontal seam and match up the inner part of the edge somewhere on the quilt and cut, the very top and bottom edges don’t match because they are not sewn into a seam so don’t line up the ruler with that edge, all the other ones are fine.
Here’s my EQ sketch.
Did I stop there? Nope……
I made a EPP hexie Christmas tree pin cushion in December here
using the EPP hexie dies.
I was actually “sneaky” and used the fabric part of the first die to cut out cardstock and then the paper side of the 2nd die to cut out fabric to have hexagons that were in the middle.
I JUST found this HEXIE BLOG and think I might join her BOMs too… FUN!
I definitely want to do more EPP hexies throughout the year!
I almost forgot that I have a PINTEREST BOARD for GO! quilts
Are you DROOLING yet over new dies??
If you’d like to BUY any of the Hexies dies or the hunter star die.
RHONDA at StitchesNstories is “my” GO! to GO! store (get it?)
She is offering a SPECIAL for YOU!
AC2014 – $5 off any mat purchase w/ the purchase of a feature die
AND
FSAC2014 – Free Shipping w/order (not required if ordering over $100 – in that case shipping is already free)
enter the code(s) at checkout on StitchesNstories
(Rhonda will also show a project next month as a guest blogger)
ALSO……
Accuquilt is sponsoring a giveaway! comment below about WHICH die is your favorite from the NEW section Or old section and I’ll pick a winner some time on Feb 1st. (You have to already have the GO! or Go! baby cutter of course) – then if you DIDN’T win, you know where to buy it!
ALSO you can get a 2nd chance for linking up a project you’ve made in 2013 with ANY GO! die. and comment that you did.
(If you’ve made more than one and blogged about it, go ahead and link as many as you’d like from 2013 to increase your chances)
I WANT you to inspire EACH OTHER and me
I’ll have the linky be open for a month.
Next month I’d love to see something made with HEXIES or the hunter star.
What dies do you want to have featured next month?
(I’m “thinking” about the bowtie one as a leader and ender project)
This looks like fun. I hope to join in.
Your Hunter Star quilt is so pretty…what a great gift for your friend! I'd say that is my favorite new GO! die. Thanks for sharing and for the sweet giveaway 🙂
This is wonderful Bea!! I can't promise I will make anything right now; very busy. But I do have the Baby with a few dies and love them!! I will link something from last year or the year before…lol up for now…and thank you for the link!!!!
What great projects Bea!! The Hunter Star looks like a fun die to work with and so do the half hexagon die.
Hope you enjoy my projects Bea! I'll have another one soon.
I am addicted to Accuquilt GO! Baby quilting projects (obviously by my blog.) My favorite new one (that I can't believe that I didn't get for Christmas) is Hunter's Star. I also like the Bow Tie die. Thanks for the chance to win!
Love the Hunter Star die. Yours is beautiful. I have the GO cutter and really like it. I used about 4 dies for Bonnie Hunters quilt. Thank you for sharing and showing how to create something.
Great projects! I would have to say that the large half hexagon is my favorite new die. Thanks for the chance to win.
I think I have to have the new hexagon dies, but I am still really loving that hunter's star die– it looks awesome!
I am taking a local quilt shop class on Hexie's the end of the month and can't wait. I have the paper templates, but what a joy it would be to have a die to go with my Go Baby…think I will order one just for me!
I would love to win the Hunter's star die. My granddaughter's name is Hunter ans I think this grandma needs to make Hunter a new quilt.Sandy Kgrandmatomato@yahoo.com
LOVE this challenge for the year. I took advantage of the Accquilt sales during the holidays and because my Accuquilt Go my husband bought me was too hard for me to turn, I got one of the new, easier to use/turn Go cutters. BUT, rather than buying all the fun dies I really want, I went with the special package they had which got me the dies which are the basics. It was tough because I want the fun dies like the Hexies and Birds etc, but the basics will help me get more use from the machine I think.Having said that, I just bought the templates a few months ago for the Hunter's Star because it's one of my top 5 favorite quilts. Then Accuquilt came out with the Hunter's Star die so, of course, that die is near the top of my wish list. First I really want the Birds because I won the machine embroidery designs which utilize the Bird dies, BUT the Hunter's Star is edging that out as my top wished for die.
I would love to have the Hunter's Star die. I have had that quilt on my to do list for ages!
The Hunter star is amazing but I LOVE LOVE the one inch finished EPP Hexie Die. How fabulous that they included the paper and fabric sizes in the die!!! A must have for me in 2014.
My favorite right now is the Hunter Star. I don't have it yet but hope to maybe for my birthday in Feb. Thanks for the fun blog.
Wow I would love the Hunters Star. Yours turned out great!!
I love the Hunter Star die. Wow, it makes beautiful quilts
Oh! I like that 9 inch wedge! Would love to get my hands on that one – thanks for a chance to win. Beth in AL
I'm saving my pennies for the Heather Feather Border dies and embroidery designs.
I like the GO! Hunter Star die. This makes the cutting of pieces so much easier than the "old" way. Great Blog!
I love that big half hexie. I'd love to make the quilt that is on the Accuquilt site for it. It's a spinning star type of quilt. Great with scraps!
You've sure been buys. I really like your Hunter's Star quilt. I'm not a hexie kinda gal but your 2 hexie quilts are fun.
This looks like a lot of fun! I will be joining in next month! Sew excited!