Anna's Stars Quilt Along Week Three

Anna's Stars Quilt Along - Week Three

Hi everyone!

I hope that Week Two was good for you ... playing with those little tiny squares wasn't too bad was it? Like everything ... it's one step at a time ... there is no race and we just need to focus on the end results.

Here we are now at Week Three and this will involve a bit more sewing than last week.  No cutting for the blocks though - that is all done, except for trimming of course.

I am calling these units Star Points, but they are more commonly known as Flying Geese.

If you were preparing your triangles with the drawn line on the reverse side of the print squares, you will need to ensure that you have done that on 104 of the remaining assorted "B" squares.  If you have installed your painter's tape, as discussed in last week's post, you are ready to start sewing!

          

The image above (on the left) shows what we will be doing this week and the image on the right is a reference guide.

Place a "B" square, RST, in the corner of the "A" background rectangle (all measurements are listed in the pattern).  Line up the tip of the unit with the line on your painter's tape, take a couple of stitches, readjust the tip and the drawn line if necessary, and sew.  Chain piece in this manner until all 52 have been completed.  If you have drawn the lines on your squares sew directly on your line.

Remember it is easier to watch the tip of the fabric on the drawn line than it is to watch your needle.

If you were chain piecing, clip the units apart and trim (or cut) as shown below, leaving a 1/4" seam allowance.

Press the seam towards the dark triangle. NOTE:  This is a good time to give another spritz of starch to give the unit more stability.  Spritzing throughout the pressing process does help when it comes time to piece the entire block together.

Once these units are all pressed, you are now ready to add the remaining "B" squares to the other side of the "A" rectangle repeating the above steps.  Press towards the dark triangle.

THIS IS WHAT YOU DO NOT WANT TO DO!

To end the sewing for this week let's add the background squares "E" to each side of 26 Star Point units.  If you know that you are REALLY accurate with your 1/4" seam allowance you might be OK in not setting up for a scant 1/4", but some of us need to sew a smaller seam allowance.

Here is the definition that I found online:

"A scant 1/4″ seam is just a thread or two short of exactly 1/4″. And why sew with a scant 1/4″ seam? Because you need to account for the width taken up by the seam itself."

There is a good tutorial also at We All Sew that you might like to check out.

Set the remaining 26 Star Point units aside until next week when we will complete the construction of the 13 blocks.

SIDE NOTE:  When I am working on a larger number of units I like to break it down and do maybe 12 or so at a time ..... sew, cut, press and stack .... until all are completed and then move on to the next step.  It makes me move around the room and it is easier on the hands when you are only trimming a few units at a time versus all 52.

That's it for this week.  Next week we will be putting these pieces all together .... this is where I put my little design board to good use and also where I get my 1 pin out and use 😆.

Happy sewing!

'til next time,
QB