Bella Skill Builder - Starburst

I can't believe it is already September.   The Bella Skill Builder crept up on me this month without me even realizing it!!  I am having such a blast with this awesome quilt along hosted by the Fat Quarter Shop and Sherri McConnell and this month was no exception as we got to play with the Starburst ruler and I had some fun changing it up to create a new look to the Starburst Block!!! 

For this month's tone on tone blocks, I must have been thinking Christmas is coming, because I ended up choosing lovely reds and greens in warm Christmas tones.    For the "small" version of the block I used Bella Christmas Red and Bard Door .  And for the large version of the block I used Bella Christmas Green and Dill.  See what I mean by the Christmas blocks this month ;)     

So this month making a "smaller" version wasn't going to work all that great as the Starburst ruler is set for a certain size.  So I thought about it for a while and  decided I could piece the strip before cutting out my kite shapes.   And I just have to say,  thanks Sew Sampler for the awesome GE Designs Ruler Stickers that came in this month's box.  It made it so much quicker to see where to line up my ruler each time ;)   And before you knew it, I was ready to sew up my blocks.   

You just sew up the kite shapes into sections of 3, and then sew the quarters into halves, and then the halves together.   And that is important, because I tried first to just sew the kites into sets of 2, and then sets of 4, and then when I went to sew the three sections together I ended up with a mess as the center overlaps to much and you have nothing to line it up with.  Silly me.  So learn from my mistake and just follow the way it says to piece it and then you won't find yourself needing your seam ripper ;)  

It's just a quick trim up with your 12 1/2" square ruler and then you end up with this cool Starbust block.   I just love how it really looks like it is bursting from the center.   And I was pretty happy with how this center came together ;)

This center needed a little work, but like I said, I didn't follow the directions and then with all the unpicking to try and selvage it, it didn't quite line up as well.   But all in all, I am still pretty excited with it, and I just love the look the pieced pieces created.   It's making me want to try it now with more pieced stripes, how crazy is that ;) 

And that is the Starburst block, the eighth set of blocks in the Bella Skill Builder!!!!  Be sure to download  the free pattern and watch youtube video.  And also pop on over to the  Fat Quarter Shop's blog, Jolly Jabber  for lots more Starburst Block details and wonderful Block eye candy from lots more blogger friends ;)  I hope you are enjoying the  Bella Skill Builder fun as much as I am!!! 

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!