2023 Betsy Sawtooth Star Sewalong

Happy New Year!

I know I have messaged my email subscribers about this (Twice!! And I rarely email!) but this is for anyone who wants to join in the 2023 Betsy Sawtooth Star Sewalong and still doesn't have the details.

First though, can I ask that please do sign up to creatives newsletters! It isn't always easy to just resend information, depending on your hosting site. It also allows creatives to communicate with you if social media keeps directing attention to content creators rather than makers sharing their projects.  

On to the sewalong:

Over the course of 2023 I plan to make a complete quilt of sawtooth stars made from my treasured Betsy prints, ginghams and a low volume - I'm using a micro dot. (I do not have any more it sold out incredibly quickly - sorry.)

If you would like to join me here is my plan:

January - June: make 10 or 11 Blocks each month (measurements and instructions are below) totalling 64 Blocks.

July - August: lay out your Blocks into a pleasing layout and stitch together to form a flimsy.

September - December: quilt in your preferred method and bind your quilt!

You will need:

- A collection of Betsy - I will be using my favourite colourways from my stash or new additions to the stash!

- Fabrics to complement the Betsy and allow the Star to be deliniated in each Block

I've chosen to use a rainbow of different sized ginghams and the micro dot fabrics to complement the Betsy.

These fabrics will allow me to bring out the colours in the Betsy featured in each Block and provide a range of fabric volumes (light and dark fabrics) which will help delineate the Sawtooth Stars.

It should come as no surprise that I plan to go scrappy with my Betsy Sawtooth Star Quilt!

If you plan to do the same, here's some tips for increasing the scrappy vibe:

- Each Block will require at least two fabrics. One to make the Star and one to provide the background. In some Blocks I will use 2 fabrics but in others I will use 3 fabrics so that the points of the Star are made from a different fabric to the center of the Star. In the photo above, the top two Sawtooth Stars illustrate that difference.

- Use both high volume (dark) fabrics and low volume (light) fabrics for the Sawtooth Stars, and the backgrounds. In the photo above, the bottom row shows a low volume background in the Block on the left, and high volume background on the Block on the right.

- Mix in some Blocks where the gingham colour chosen is a counterpoint to the Betsy colourway rather than a matching colour. I haven't made any Blocks to demonstrate this yet, but I intend to!

- I also intend to add any gingham from my stash or that I purchase ( I adore gingham) into my quilt if it enhances the Betsy colourway.

There are some elements that I will be keeping constant throughout all the Blocks, to give the quilt a cohesive, but happily scrappy, feel to my quilt:

- I am only going to use a single Betsy colourway in each Block.

- I originally planned to not use multiple gingham colourways in each Block. However I forgot about this and made a block with yellow and pink gingham and I love it! It's the block in the first photo.

Of course, these are just suggestions and a guide for how I am intending to make my Betsy Sawtooth Star Quilt.

Use this link for a printable instruction page for how I make sawtooth stars and for the dimensions I am using. Also check my instagram reels for a tip on how you can create a little scrappy extra as I love to use all the scraps!

Hope to see you making a Betsy Sawtooth Star Quilt in 2023!!!

Bec x