Anna's Stars Quilt Along - Week Five
Wow. Here we are at week #5 already! How is everyone holding up? Are you ready to show us your pretty stack of blocks ... we don't judge here .... remember I'm only showing you my good ones 😉- I've got little ones hidden away underneath the stack that are not all that pretty. A little uneven here and a few seams that could have been readjusted ... but I'm happy with my progress. I hope you are happy with your progress also!
This week we are going to take all of our "G", "F" and "H" background pieces and the little "I" print pieces and get everything sorted out on the floor, the design wall, or wherever you lay out your quilts to admire, fine-tune and arrange.
I use a combination of my design wall, floor and cutting table depending on which sections of the quilt I am working on. The photo below shows all of the pieces arranged on the design wall. This is where I audition where I decide where everything will go and get a really good idea of how things are going to fit together.
Set the four corner background triangles off to the side right now as those will be the very last pieces to be sewn on.
I started off by constructing the two small corner sections. Sew the three sashing strips and two print sashing blocks together as shown in the photo below. Press seams to the light sashing strips.
Next sew a sashing strip to each side of the star block and then add the edge triangle to either side. Press seams to the light sashing strips again.
Note: The pattern photo shows a background sashing strip sewn to the bottom edge of this corner star block and then the corner triangle added. You DO NOT need that extra sashing strip.
Now it is time to add the sashing strips to the block rows. I'm not a pinner so I didn't use any pins when I sewed these rows together. The reason we pressed the seams to the light side (as shown above) was so that when these rows are sewn together the seams will be the opposite of the other row. When matching the seams you will be able to "lock" them together (see photo) .... you can actually feel them link together. Give this a try and see how it works. Feel free to use pins if that is what works for you 😃.
When sewing the rows together it is a good idea to have the star row on top so that you can see the star points. The photos above show how the stitching should go through each of the star points ..... we want to keep as much of the point as we can.
It is also a good idea to put a pin in the top of the row to identify which is the top so that you won't need to rethink which way it is supposed to go.
As I was getting ready sew the longer rows together I found that pinning them (as shown) kept everything in the order that I had planned out. Yes, I know, there are quite a few pins in there and I did get a jab or two as I was sewing, but it kept everything organized and it really didn't take too long to sew together.
The photo below shows how the seams are pressed towards the background fabric.
Add the side triangles to the long rows before sewing the sashing strips on. I like to pin these in place just so that they don't get turned the wrong way when I get to the sewing machine. Just slip a pin in anywhere to hold in position.
Once the row has been sewn, press towards the light sashing strip again. I press from the back and carefully make sure that nothing is twisted up, and then press from the front. Remember to not tug and pull too much - there are bias seams here and they will stretch.
The photo below, and also above, show the weird little "holes" on the ends that are created when the next row is sewn on. Do not fret - these will all be trimmed away.
Now these two ends of the quilt can be sewn to the center row of the quilt.
Finally the corner triangles can be sewn in place. Fold them in half and make a crease on the top edge with your thumb nail. Line that crease up with the center point between the two star points - nothing exact - just estimate it and then put a pin there to hold it in place. Pin out from this point, in both directions, to help ensure that there will be no stretching on this bias edge when sewn together.
As you can see in the photo below the ends of the triangle do not go all the way out to the edge .... do not fret! This will get trimmed off also.
The quilt top is now all sewn together - raggy edges and all.
The final step for this week is to get everything squared up. Place your ruler along one of the sides of the quilt and line up the 1/4" marking with one of the star block corner (or more points if your ruler is long enough). Carefully trim all the way around the quilt top ensuring that the 1/4" is maintained and the the quilt corners remain square.
'til next time,
QB
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