Lone Star Quilt - Fail

I seem to have come down with some sort of quilting bug.  It's kept me bent over my sewing maching for the last couple of weeks.  As with all viruses, some people are more prone to catching this than others.  If you tend to catch creative infections (or have experienced quilting bug symptoms in the past) you may wish to steer clear of me for a while, as it is highly contagious.  Naturally, I suggested that Jayson quarantine me, as this will limit the scope of the infection to my living room, but he seems convinced that exposure to sunlight and the real world will help to reduce the symptoms more quickly.  We will, of course, keep you apprised if there are any changes in my condition.  : )

I visited the fair last week.  We saw the sheep, the tractors, the bunnies, the horses... and then, we stopped in the quilting house.  After making his third round of the building and returning to find me still inspecting the stitches on the first quilt, Jayson agreed to leave me there, enraptured, and come back a while later.  I spent the better part of an hour carefully studying the quilts and trying to remember each detail that I would like to try, myself. 

My poor log cabin quilt from a few weeks ago... it's sitting patiently now.  Why?  Because I wanted (no, needed) to start this new quilt before I forgot it. 

I could've drawn a diagram, planned it, etc., but I rarely do that.  So I just started cutting and sewing, and this was one of the few times I horribly regretted it.  I've actually made the top twice, because the first attempt was such a disaster that I had to start over (and it was only Jayson coming to my rescue that helped me figure it out the second time!)

After that, I wised up and drew this...

Generally speaking, Lone Star quilts are made up only of 'diamond' shapes, starting with a darker color in the center and lighter on the end.  This much I DID know: you need to cut strips of the fabrics, sew the strips together in order, and then cut them on a 45 degree angle together.

So, that part was right.  And that was all that was right. 

I didn't realize that each point of the star makes one large diamond-shaped piece, which is what you put together first (if I had a diagram, that would've been obvious, of course.)  I started sewing at the place where the large diamonds should meet, and worked my way out. 

FAIL!!!

Looking at this picture now, I can see that it obviously wouldn't work.  But believe it or not, I actually sewed on several more strips before I became completely puzzled as to what the problem could be.  When I finally realized my enormous mistake, I had the choice of ripping a thousand seams, or starting over.  So I started over.   lol

Pics to follow as I encounter more success than I have so far (hopefully!)  : )

~ Sarah