Block 27

Since we were having so much fun with Y-seams last week, I figured we could continue the practice.

This block is a little simpler than last week's but basically the same construction.  Here is everything a laid out and ready to go.

First I attached the parallelograms.  I pressed towards the dark for this star.  It doesn't really matter except that you want to be consistent so that your seams stay out of the way.

I then sewed the quarters into halves and then the halves into a star.  Then onto the Y-seams.

First I did the outside corners.

Then the middles.  The order really doesn't matter.  (I just like the optical illusion that forms when you do the corners first.  Yup, I'm a geek)  Finally, you wind up with our next block finished.

I was counting blocks the other day.  Next week's block puts us at the half way mark for this quilt! 

I hope everyone has a great week.

Block 43

This block is a little deja-vu.  Apparently Salinda Rupp was a fan of Lone Star blocks.

Once again, I traced everything out onto freezer paper, numbered and labeled (Dark, Medium, Light) each piece.  I numbered two copies.  One that I cut out and used as the template and one that I left intact so I could figure out where the tiny pieces went when I lost track of things.

Here is everything for the star set out and ready to go.

First I assembled the 8 star points.  You'll need to pay attention to your pressing.  I made sure the seams were going different ways to minimize the bulk.

Here is the flip side.  Attach the star points together.  Remember to stop sewing on the outer side of your seams at the 1/4 inch seam allowance (and backstitch).  

Here are the star points attached and the corners ready to go.  Each one of these is a Y-seam.  Attach each of them using the instructions in this link.

And here is the finished block!

Block 68

We have a couple more people who have decided to join us.  Please join me in welcoming Rae Anne and Julianne.

This week's block is not too bad.  Which is good because we've got another doozy coming up.

Here is everything cut and laid out ready to go.  The pile of squares are for making 1/2 square triangles for each side.  

Here I've started piecing the centre strip and all the 1/2 square triangles are all ready to go.

I've now sewn each of the squares together to make up 5 strips.

Now the 5 strips are together and we have our next block.

Block 19

This block has quite a few 1/2 square triangles along the edge.  I really didn't want to leave the square with all sorts of biased edges exposed.  So, I made the corner blocks using the regular formula for 1/2 square triangles but, for the edges, I cut 1/4 square triangles.  To make them large enough, I measured the short side of the triangle and added 1 3/4" inches to the measurement to get my measurement for the square.  Then I cut the square into 4 triangles as shown below.

Here is the block laid out and ready to go.  I've done the 1/2 square triangles for the centre pinwheel.

Once I completed the centre pinwheel, I approached this block as a little mini quilt set on point.  First I created strips.  The trick here is to pay attention to your pressing.  I made sure I pressed away from the pinwheel (to minimize bulk) and then made sure for each row I alternated the direction of my seams.

I then sewed the strips together.  Then I added the corner triangles.  I left them to last just because I like to.  There is no real reason they couldn't have been done as part of the strips.

And here is our next finished block.

Block 26

We have a few new people who have drunk the koolaid!  Welcome Merumo and Gwendie.  I hope you have a great time on your journey.

There was a question on how to use the line diagrams to figure out what to do.  It's a little daunting, isn't it.  I remember when I finally picked up the book, all excited to start and then found pages and pages of line diagrams and no further directions.

Within the book, the line diagrams are drawn to scale.  It just shows the finished measurement for each block and corresponding element.

As a general rule:

- for Squares and Rectangles - add 1/2" to each of finished height and width measurements.  (1/4" seam allowance for each side)

- for 1/2 square triangles - Cut a square 7/8" (1 inch if you want a little wiggle room and are willing to trim your squares) larger than one of the short triangle sides (not the hypotenuse).  Then cut the square in half diagonally.  You'll end up with two triangles.

 (If this doesn't make sense, please let me know and I'll try to show things with pictures.)

Those two simple rules of thumb were everything required to figure out how to cut everything for this block. 

This block shows the outer small (white & red in the picture below) squares as partially cut off.  I didn't bother trying to figure out that measurement, I just cut the full square.  It'll work itself out when I trim the finished block.

The first thing I did was sew together the centre 4-patch and added all the posts to the borders.

Now I've added the first border to the centre.

Then I added the second border.

And finally the third border.

Finally I added the outer 1/2 square triangles to wind up with the finished block.