Textile Hugs: Star Ornaments for Pittsburgh

Handcrafted tokens of love appeared on bushes, trees, lamp posts, statuary, street signs and benches in Pittsburgh last week - more than 2,000 six-pointed Jewish stars. Each incorporated a heart, and they were made from: twigs, or popsicle sticks, or yarn, or felt, or other stuff.  They were crocheted, knitted, stitched and/or glued, by people of all ages, from elementary school classes up. My contribution was made from quilting fabric and a large button. (OK, maybe the button is too large, but I liked that it's transparent).

The back is felt: 

Two articles about the project were just published; one in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, here, and another in the Jerusalem Post, here. The Pittsburgh paper explained the origins:  

" ...[T]he stars were the inspiration of Hinda Mandell, an associate professor of communications at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y. A former Boston Globe journalist, she is editing an anthology titled 'Crafting Dissent: Handicraft as Protest from the American Revolution to the Pussyhats.'

"Ms. Mandell’s determined, energetic handmaiden is Ellen Dominus Broude, a dedicated crafter and saleswoman who lives in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y. After Ms. Broude saw an online post by Ms. Mandell, the two women set up a Facebook group on Oct. 30 called Jewish Hearts for Pittsburgh. That was just three days after 11 people died when a gunman opened fire before Shabbat services at Tree of Life/or L’Simcha. Ms. Broude set up a post office box to accept the handmade stars. Soon, contributions arrived from 12 countries, including New Zealand and Qatar. " 

The newspaper photos, and those on the group's Facebook page, may put you in the mood to make a star heart ornament. The project is continuing; and it's adding  another dimension, inviting participants to make visual representations of community (get details when you join the Facebook page ).

Or, you just might want to make one as a gift for someone who needs a textile hug for whatever difficulties they're enduring. After I posted my star on the group's FB page, several people asked me how I made it. I steered them to a blog post from 2015 that explained how I used a specialized kite-shaped acrylic template, which not every quilter owns. 

But a simpler method that doesn't require a specialized template, is English Paper Piecing.  

All you need is a regular diamond-shape (two equilateral triangles base to base), which you can draft yourself. Print or trace six of them on cardstock or paper, and then trace it one more time onto translucent template plastic.

When planning the star, maximize fun by sliding a double-sided hinged mirror (an inexpensive sewing notion), opened to about 60 degrees, around on the print fabric until you find a location you like. Here's an example of how it looked on my star fabric. (You don't HAVE to have the mirrors to do this project, but it is the most fun part!)

The hypothetical fabric below is much simpler, for demonstration purposes. Once you like the location, place the plastic template there, and with a  pencil (erasable!), trace a few lines from the printed motif onto the plastic. You don't have to trace every line, just enough so you can find the same location again. 

 Cut out six pieces, 1/2" bigger than the template all the way around (the red line above). 

Place a paper or cardstock template on the back of each fabric piece, center it, and baste the raw edges inward.

In English Paper Piecing, "basting" means folding each edge inward, being consistent about which side you fold in first. (Move clockwise or counterclockwise, and stick with that decision for all six pieces.) Some people like to baste with long stitches on the back (and an extra tacking stitch at each fold). I find it's easier and faster to use a glue stick and an iron to turn and hold edges, at the ironing board. Tip tip: my favorite way to baste diamonds is to fold the sharp ends inward first. (no need to do this with the two remaining non-acute angles.)

Then go clockwise, or counter clockwise, to fold in the four edges. I went counter-clockwise in this example.

(Other people prefer not to turn in the sharp points first; they will have dog ears at each acute angle, which they can turn under later.) 

Sew the points together in groups of three. By hand, whipstitch the edges; by machine, sew from the good side, with a zigzag stitch and matching or invisible thread. I start with a middle piece, then attach a diamond to its right and its left side.  

Once you have two groups of three, stitch them together along the midline. 

Now you can remove all the templates. Lay the star on top of a piece of felt. Then straight stitch, 1/8th inch from the edges, most of the way around, leaving a gap along one edge. If there are "dog ears" sticking out from the outer angles, tuck them in just before your needle reaches them.

Cut out the felt carefully, just beyond the edges of the star. Stuff, and hand- or machine-sew the gap closed. 

To learn more about the ongoing Jewish Hearts for Pittsburgh project, see photos of many more stars, and sign up, join their Facebook group, here.