Folded Star Ornament

Well, it's done.  The colors in the picture look more purplish and blue than they really are but you get the idea.  Here's 5 things I learned from making this.

1. Fabric selection is probably most important in this project.  I used the same striped Christmas material in the hotpad but with 2 different results.  By the way the back has white in the center, then the same fabrics in the other rows.  The center of this is an old counted cross stitch design I made and found in a drawer.  It worked perfectly I thought.
2. Another thing that is important is being precise but with this I felt it wasn't necessary to be fanatical about it.  I could have been more particular with better results but this was fun.  I enjoyed pinning instead of all that sewing for a change.  You can always cover up the pins, which I found out 2 rows in.
3. For the first time I used some tube turners that I bought.  I saw them on one of my sewing shows and thought the purchase would be helpful.  Boy was I right.  I was still turning things with a safety pin.  This consists of a cylinder which is pushed inside the tube of material then a rod is used to push the material down through to turn it right side out.  What an improvement!
4. To finish off the ornament and cover up the 1/2" of Styrofoam that wasn't covered by the material I put a strip of red, then a narrower strip of the striped material.  I hot glued this in place and learned to make the tube with one end sewn shut which will be glued on first.  I started gluing about 1/2" in from the end so when I came around with the raw edge, I could tuck it under and hide it.  Worked out great.
5. When I was done with this project my head was spinning from all the math I had to do.  I realize most of this is because I make up my own patterns as I go along.  It would be so much simpler if I just followed a pattern.  But I got it all figured out and I understand the process much better.

My next project will be new pillows for the new couch.  My denim rag ones just don't make the cut.  I'm going to do a rail fence pattern in brown, beiges and a contrasting blue.  All the more reason to finish that ornament so I can start a new project.