Catching Up….

Actually, this post is on time. It’s still May, and this month’s Island Batik challenge is “Playful Pillows”. I stuck with the Hourglass, or Quarter-Square Triangle (QST) units I used in my quilt “Plenty of Time.”

I decided it would be a good opportunity to do a quick tutorial on one of my essential rotary cutting tools. The Tucker Trimmer® makes constructing accurate quarter-square triangles a breeze. For the record, I am not affiliated with Studio 180 Designs, just an enthusiastic devotee of the Trimmer and several other tools Deb Tucker has designed.

To make the Time Shift pattern, I started with four 4.5″ squares each of blue, green and cream Island Batik fabrics.

Note: The Tucker Trimmer formula is simple: Take the finished size of your QST, and add 1.5″ to determine the size of your beginning squares.

Cut each square diagonally twice, to make four triangles from each square.

Rearrange the triangles and sew into three combinations as shown. Make four of each combination.

I press my seams open. Press to the darker fabric if you prefer.

These squares are just a bit larger than we need, so we will use the Tucker Trimmer to trim them down to size. (I’m cutting right-handed. The tool comes with instructions for left-handed cutting as well.)

Lay the Tucker Trimmer on your square, with the solid diagonal line along the SW-NE seam line. I’m cutting 3.5″ QSTs, so you’ll notice I have the dashed diagonal line labeled “3-1/2″ lined up with the NW-SE seam line.

The left and lower edges of my square extend just a little beyond the 3-1/2” dashed vertical and horizontal lines on the Trimmer.

Trim the right and top edges.

Now rotate the QST, and lay the tool down again, aligning the same  diagonal lines with your seam lines.

Notice that the left and lower edges now line up with the 3-1/2 dashed vertical and horizontal lines.

Trim the right and top edges.

 

You now have a perfect 3.5″ QST, with no dogears to trim later!

Trim each of your QSTs.

 

 

Lay your QSTs out as shown. Sew into three rows, then sew the rows together into a block.

Your block should be 9.5″ x 12.5″.

I had a 16″ pillow form, so I added 2.5″ x 9.5″ (cut size) strips to the ends of the block, and 4″ x 16.5″ strips to the top and bottom.

I did not quilt this pillow cover, in the interest of time. I may go back and do it later.

For the back, I cut two 12″ x 16.5″ rectangles of the cream fabric. I hemmed on long edge of each rectangle, the pinned them wrong-sides-together, to the pillow top, so that the hemmed edged overlapped. I sewed all the way around the perimeter of the top, then trimmed the corners and turned it right-side out and stuffed the pillow form inside.

The fabrics used to make the “Time Shift” pillow cover were provided by Island Batik, and the thread was provided by Aurifil. Hobbs is also a sponsor of the Island Batik Ambassadors. To see what my fellow ambassadors have been up to this month, check out their blogs:

Den Syende Himmel

Busy Hands Quilts

PamelaQuilts

Ark Angel Creations

Desert Bloom Quilting

Freemotion by the River

Yellow Cat Quilt Designs

Quilting Affection Designs

Inquiring Quilter

Bejeweled Quilts by Barb

Clever Chameleon

Sarah Goer Quilts

Mania for Quilts

Steph Jacobson

Inchworm Fabrics

Kauffman Designs

Moosestash Quilting 

BeaQuilter

Gateway Quilts & Stuff

Carole Lyles Shaw

Sally Manke

Mary Mack Made Mine

Kathleen McMusing

heARTs Creations

Sew Karen-ly Created

If These Threads Could Talk

The Quilt Rambler

Devoted Quilter

Slice of Pi Quilts

Creative Blonde

Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting

Masterpiece Quilting

Patterns by Jen

Powered by Quilting

Quilt in a not-Shell

Dizzy Quilter

Curlicue Creations

Lizard Creek Quilts

Little Bunny Quilts

MMM Quilts

Sew Increadibly Crazy

Adventerous Applique and Quilting

Sweetgrass Designs

Living Water Quilter

Whispers of Yo

 

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A Wee Little Quilt

“Mini Love” is the theme for my second project as an ambassador for Island Batiks Fabric. For this project, I wanted to make a mini quilt, which is usually defined for competition purposes, as a scale model version of a full-size quilt pattern, usually a scale of 1/4″ = 1″. That means a miniature version of a 12″ traditional quilt block would be just 3″ square.

Believe it or not, a miniature quilt block is harder to make than a full-size block, because while accuracy is important with a full-size block, it is crucial in a mini block. By their very size, mini quilts invite close inspection.

For my mini quilt, I chose a version of the Ohio Star, and chose to celebrate the Irish portion of my DNA by using greens and oranges from the “Stash Builder” collection of 5″ strips that was included in the lovely box of fabrics that Island Batiks sent me. I’m using Aurifil 50-wt thread, courtesy of the company, and Heirloom batting provided by Hobbs.

 

I have a friend who likes to count the number of pieces in a block, and she would be quick to point out that there are 29 pieces in each of these mini Ohio Star blocks. I prefer to think in terms of units. Each block has four quarter-square triangles, and four half-square triangle units with a little accent corner. Plus, of course, the center square. It seems not quite so intimidating. Still- that’s a lot of pieces.

 

There are nine blocks in this quilt. When I have blocks with those accent corners, I will usually carry that out into the border. To do this for this mini quilt, I cut sixteen 3.5″ squares. I added orange on two corners of twelve of the squares, and one orange corner on the remaining four.

 

 

 

It took me a while to decide how to quilt this little gem. I decided to trace around the octagons in each block, and crosshatch the border, using the star tips as my starting points. To keep my lines straight, I used a square ruler, with the diagonal line placed along the border seam, drew a very (very) light line with a #4 drafting pencil.

When machine quilting, I adjust my stitch length from 2.5mm to 3.0, and loosen my top thread tension just a tad.

After quilting, I added a binding that was similar to the fabric in my center squares, and here is “Indiana Irish,” celebrating my family roots in the Emerald Isle and the Hoosier State. This little treasure will be hanging in the kitchen while the corned beef and potatoes are cooking on St. Patrick’s Day.

“Indiana Irish”  2018 by Anne Wiens

Check out the blogs of my fellow Island Batik Ambassadors:

Den Syende Himmel

Busy Hands Quilts

PamelaQuilts

Ark Angel Creations

Desert Bloom Quilting

Freemotion by the River

Yellow Cat Quilt Designs

Quilting Affection Designs

Inquiring Quilter

Bejeweled Quilts by Barb

Clever Chameleon

Sarah Goer Quilts

Mania for Quilts

Steph Jacobson

Inchworm Fabrics

Kauffman Designs

Moosestash Quilting 

BeaQuilter

Gateway Quilts & Stuff

Carole Lyles Shaw

Sally Manke

Mary Mack Made Mine

Kathleen McMusing

heARTs Creations

Sew Karen-ly Created

If These Threads Could Talk

The Quilt Rambler

Devoted Quilter

Slice of Pi Quilts

Creative Blonde

Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting

Masterpiece Quilting

Patterns by Jen

Powered by Quilting

Quilt in a not-Shell

Dizzy Quilter

Curlicue Creations

Lizard Creek Quilts

Little Bunny Quilts

MMM Quilts

Sew Increadibly Crazy

Adventerous Applique and Quilting

Sweetgrass Designs

Living Water Quilter

Whispers of Yo

Our next challenge: “Try a Technique”. I’m looking forward to that!

 

 

Twinkle, Twinkle, Scrappy Star….

My, how colorful you are!

      Recently I was cutting some fabric leftovers and discovered I was winding up with a lot of 4.5″ and 2.5″ squares. a few months ago, I finished a quilt with Sawtooth Star blocks made with fabrics from each of the projects I’ve made over the past couple of years.

“My Colorful Life” 2016 by Anne Wiens

      After I finish a project, I cut up any leftover strips of fabric less than a quarter-yard into Thrifty Quilter pieces for use later in scrap quilts. I decided to go ahead and make up an 8″ Sawtooth Star or two, and set them aside, adding to the stack until I had enough for a quilt. All the rest of the pieces went into my TQ bins. I was surprised at how quickly I collected the 35 blocks I needed for this 44″ x 60″ quilt!

     I like this little quilt. It’s really a material diary of my projects for 2015 and 2016!

     I decided to do another star quilt “diary” for this year’s projects, which will include class samples, demo samples, a challenge project, and charity quilts.

     Looking at my growing collection of 2.5″ squares and 4.5″ squares, I decided on a variation of the classic “Ohio Star” block. I’m thinking this quilt will become a class for the Tucker Trimmer® rotary cutting tool, because I’ll be making a lot of half-square triangles (HSTs) and quarter-square triangles (QSTs).

For each block you will need:

Two 4.5″ sq for background (White-not shown)

Two 4.5″ sq for star points (Dk Teal)

Three 4.5″ sq for star background (Lt Teal)

One  4.5″ sq for accent diamond (Lt Orange)

One 3.5″ sq for star center (Red)

Four 2.5″ sq for optional corner accent (Dk Orange)

Let’s begin construction by making the HST. For this, you need the two 4.5″ background (white) squares, and two of the 4.5″ star background (light teal) squares. Cut each square diagonally and sew into two HSTs.

Step 1. Lay the Tucker Trimmer® on the HST, aligning the diagonal line with the seam line. Be sure the HST extends beyond the 3.5″ vertical and horizontal dashed lines on the tool.

Step 2. Trim the right and top edges.

Step 3. Rotate the HST, line the diagonal line up on the seam again. This time the cut edges snug right up to the 3.5″ vertical and horizontal dashed lines. Trim the right and top edges.

You now have four perfect 3.5″ HSTs. To be honest, you can do this with any small ruler that has a diagonal line in the corner.

The Tucker Trimmer® earns its keep when we make QSTs, and we’ll do that now. Cut the remaining 4.5″ star background (light teal) square, the 4.5″ accent diamond (light orange) square, and two star point (dark teal) squares diagonally twice, and sew into four QSTs as shown.

When you look at the tucker trimmer, you’ll notice that in addition to the solid diagonal line from corner to corner, there are dashed diagonal lines running in the opposite direction.

When making QSTs, you line the solid diagonal line with one diagonal seam, and the appropriate (3.5″ in our case) dashed diagonal line with the other seam. Trim two sides, rotate and trim the other two sides, as you did before.

Ohio Star – Variation 1

Lay out your center square, star point units and corner units as shown at right. This would be one variation of this block, and you may decide this is the look you want.

I’m going to set my blocks side-by-side, which will leave large white diamonds in the corners where the blocks come together. If I were going to send this quilt to a certain longarm artist I know, I’d leave that as a canvas for her to show off her mad skills. Instead, I’m going to add accent triangles to those white corners.

We’ll use the stitch-and-flip method for these accent triangles.

Step 1. Draw a diagonal line on the back of the 2.5″ accent (dark orange) squares. Align the square with the white corner on the HST, and sew on the drawn line.

Step 2. Trim 1/4″ outside the seam line.

Step 3. Press the corner into place.

Now you can lay out the center square, corner units and star point units. Sew into rows and sew the rows together to complete your Ohio Star block.

Ohio Star Variation 2 – 2016 by Anne Wiens

My plan is to make and collect these Ohio Star blocks until I have about twenty. I have a pretty interesting border treatment in mind that would be kind of traditional, but kind of modern. In my mind, it’s a great quilt. Time will tell if it translates to fabric!

 

A Mini Block for a Maxi Cause

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

Each September my friend Beth Helfter of EvaPaige Quilt Designs hosts a swap based on a pretty teal fabric to raise money to fund research to find a cure for this ugly disease.

Blank Quilting, which produces a line of teal prints each year for Ovarian Cancer awareness, has generously donated a bolt of a beautiful teal print to the swap. Each participant will receive a piece of this print, which must be used to make a mug rug or mini quilt to swap with another member of the group. Click HERE for more details on the Teal Mini Swap.

You’re probably wondering what the photo at the top of the page has to do with this topic. True, there is no teal in it, but it is a miniature quilt, and gives me a chance to show off a neat little tool I picked up at Quilt Market in Portland, Oregon a couple of years ago. It’s called the Mini Maple Leaf template, and was designed by Patricia Nowak of Cutting Edge Quilts.

The “Mini Maple Leaf” tool, designed by Patricia Nowak, Cutting Edge LLC

This tool is designed to make 2″ or 4″ (finished size) Maple Leaf quilt blocks.

To make one block, you need one dark square and one light square.

For a 4″ finished block, start with 5″ squares. For a 2″ block, start with 4″ squares.

Step 1

Step 1 – Place the two squares right-sides-together and draw a diagonal line. Sew a 1/4″ seam on both sides of the line. Cut on the drawn line and press open for two half-square triangles (HSTs). Trim to 4-1/2″ squares.

Step 2a

Step 2a – Note: There are two sets of markings on the tool. For demonstration purposes, I’m using the markings for the 4″ finished block in these photos.

Lay one HST on your cutting mat as shown. Lay the tool on your HST as shown, aligning the full-length black line with the left side of the HST, and cut this strip from the HST. Set aside.

Step 2b

Step 2b – Rotate the remaining piece as shown and align the tool with the solid line on the left edge and the dotted line “C” on the bottom edge. Cut this square from the piece and set aside.

Step 2c

Step 2c – Cut a “C” square from the remaining white scrap. Set aside.

Step 3a

Step 3a – Lay the second HST on your mat as shown and align the tool with the solid line on the left edge of the HST and the “B” dotted line on the bottom edge. Cut the strip from the HST and set aside.

Steps 3b and 3c – Repeat Steps 2b and 2c.

You should have the pieces shown above.

Step 4

Step 4 – Sew the pieces into rows.

Step 5

Step 5 – Sew the rows together to complete your Mini Maple Leaf block.

Mini Maple Leaf blocks

If you start with a 4″ square (you can get by with 3-1/2″ squares) and use the other set of markings, you can make a 2″ finished block. You can embroider stems on your leaves, but I just drew them in with a Pigma® Micron pen.

Mini Maple Leaf Quilt – by Anne Wiens – 2015
(14″ x 14″)

I used 12 2″ Mini Maple Leaf blocks (2-1/2″ unfinished) and alternated them with 13 2-1/2″ print squares for this mini quilt. The borders are cut 2″ wide, and I used a faux piped binding technique to finish it with a little flair.

For more information about the Teal Mini Swap Beth is organizing, click HERE.

Registration closes August 29th, and we are halfway to our goal of 200 participants, so there’s room for you and a friend or two!

Question: What Do You Give a Quilter Who Has an Overflowing Scrap Stash?

Answer: More scraps, of course!

A while ago my friend Elaine shared with me a stack of fabric samples a shop down the Hi-Line (that’s U.S. Highway 2 in Montana-speak) had given her. There were some great tone-on-tones and small prints perfect for cutting into Thrifty Quilter pieces. Several of them were fun novelty prints that were just too cute to chop up, so I chose a baker’s dozen of them and decided this would be a perfect chance to try out my newest tool from Studio 180 Designs – The Corner Pop® trim tool.

This tool is designed to help you put triangular corners on right-angle corners, and do so more accurately than with the standard stitch-and-flip method.

The block I had in mind is one I called “Showcase B”. Yes, there is a “Showcase A”, but I think I’m going to save that one for a special block in September.

Parts & Pieces for the Showcase B block.

For each block, you will need:

Novelty Print: one 8.5″ square

Dark: eight 2.5″ squares

Accent Color: six 3.5″ squares

White: two 3.5″ squares, four 2.5″ squares and four 2.5″ x 4.5″ rectangles

Note: Perhaps you have noticed that the novelty print shown in the photo above does not match the one in the finished block at the top of this post. I can explain.

WARNING: Do NOT lose the chart that comes with your Corner Pop tool!

There is a chart in the instruction sheet that comes with the Corner Pop® tool, and I had marked it for use on another project…with larger corners. Don’t do that.

Okay, back to business:

Step 1a

Step 1a- I pressed diagonal creases in my 8.5″ novelty print square.

Step 1b

Step 1b- Use the chart to determine the size of the triangle you need to trim from the  corners of the novelty print square. For this block, I needed a 2″ cut on all four corners. Double-check the chart. You only get one chance make this cut!

Step 1c

Cut two of the 3.5″ squares diagonally to make four triangles. Center a triangle on the cut edge of the novelty square. I folded the triangle in half, then aligned the crease with the crease on my large square. Sew a 1/4″ seam and press.

Step 1d

Step 1d- Now you can use the Corner Pop® tool to trim the corner to its finished size.

That’s it. By the time you get to the 4th corner on this block, you’ll be an expert!

Click HERE for Deb Tucker’s tutorial on this handy tool.

Back to the block:

Step 2- Cut the four 3.5″ white squares and four 3.5″ accent color squares diagonally. Sew into eight half-square triangles (HSTs) and trim each one to 2.5″ squares.  I illustrated this in the July 5th blog.

Step 3- Use the eight 2.5″ dark squares and the 2.5″ x 4.5″ white rectangles to make four flying geese units. This post from last fall will explain the stitch-and-flip method.

Step 4a

Step 4a- Sew the HSTs to the flying geese units as shown. Make four of these strips.

Step 4b

Step 4b- Sew two of the strips to the sides of the novelty square.

Step 5a

Step 5a- Sew the 2.5″ white squares to the ends of the remaining strips.

Showcase 2 – Anne Wiens 2015

Step 5b- Sew these strips to the top and bottom to complete your Showcase B block.

Now I KNOW It’s Spring…

My sinuses tell me that the weather around here has finally caught up with the calendar. It is indeed spring, and of course, in the end, the beauty of it outweighs a stuffy head and sore throat. So enough with feeling sorry for myself.

Let’s “plant” some Morning Glory blocks!

This block uses the same “split rectangle” units we used in last week’s Crocus block. However, this time we’re going to use the Split Recs® tool from Studio 180 Design to make the units. Let’s get started.

TQ pieces for the Morning Glory block

For one Morning Glory block you will need:

Print for flower petals (orange): two 3.5″ x 6.5″ rectangles

Print for flower center: one 2.5″ square

Green for leaves: two 3.5″ x 6.5″ rectangles and one 3.5″ square

Background (off-white): Two 3.5″ x 6.5″ rectangles, one 3.5″ square and five 2.5″ squares.

Step 1a

Step 1a- We need to cut the half-rectangle triangles we need for the petal and leaf units. Layer the two background rectangles wrong-sides-together. Use the markings for a 2″ x 4″ finished unit to cut a triangle from one end of the rectangles.

Step 1b

Rotate what’s left of the rectangles and cut another pair of triangles from the  opposite corner. Because you had your rectangles layered wrong-sides together, you now have two pairs of mirror-image triangles.

Step 2- Repeat steps 1a and 1b with the green rectangles. You will only need one pair of mirror-image triangles for this block. Set the other pair aside for another block.

Step 3a

Step 3a- Sew a background triangle to a green triangle. They are a little larger than they need to be, so we use the other end of the Split Recs® tool to trim them down.

Lay the tool on the unit so that the line that reads 2″ x 4″ finished unit lines up with the diagonal seam. trim the right and top edges.

Step 3b

Rotate the unit, re-align the diagonal line and trim the right and top edges. Your unit is now a perfect 2.5″ x 4.5″.

Step 3c

The diagonal seam on the other unit will slant in the opposite direction.

Step 4a

Step 4- Layer the two print rectangles wrong-sides together and cut a pair of triangles from one end. Cut a 2.5″ square from the other end of the rectangles. You will only need one of these 2.5″ squares for this block. You can use the other for the flower center in another block, or toss it in your bin of 2.5″ TQ squares.

Use the print triangles and the two remaining background triangles to make a pair of split rectangle units, as in step 3.

Step 5

Step 5- It’s time to make the Morning Glory “blossom”. Sew the 2.5″ print square and three of the 2.5″ background squares into a 4-patch, then lay out with the split rectangles and print square as shown, and sew the blossom unit together.

Step 6- Oops. I forgot to photograph this one. Use the 3.5″ green and background squares to make two 2.5″ half-square triangles (HSTs). If you don’t know how to do this, click HERE for another blog post that shows you how. It’s Step 1 in that block.

Step 7a

Step 7- Lay out the green split rectangle units, the HST and the remaining two 2.5″ background squares as shown. Sew the background squares to the ends of the split rectangles, and sew the HST to the green end of one of the split rectangles. Sew the leaf units to the blossom unit to complete your Morning Glory block.

My next planned blog post will be on day 1 of the Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks Volume 11 blog tour. I’m proud to be a part of this latest edition. I think you’ll enjoy my “Telstar” block and what I’ve been able to do with it. You’ll also have a chance to win a free copy of the publication!

If At First You Don’t Succeed

In my Facebook group, Thrifty Quilters, I like to post photos that have interesting color combinations, and then make quilt blocks using those colors. Last month, I has a winter scene with a little gray and white bird on a branch with red berries. Then I got into my bins of Thrifty Quilter scraps and came up with this block:

Diamond & Pinwheel – Anne Wiens (2014)

I like the pattern, but decided there needs to be more contrast between the gray in the diamond and the gray in the corner triangles. Because you can’t see the print in the grays, you really can’t tell they are two different fabrics.

This month I posted a photo of a colorful little bird with  purple wings, yellow neck and tail feathers, and a bright orange head and then I took another run at this block, which I call “Diamond & Pinwheel”.

Here’s the recipe:

Materials

For each 12″ (finished size) block you will need:

Yellow: Four 3.5″ squares

Orange: Four 4.5″ squares

Purple: Four 3.5″squares and three 4.5″ squares

White: One 4.5″ square and four 3.5″ x 6.5″ rectangles.

Step 1a

Step 1 – Use two 4.5″ orange squares and two 4.5″ purple squares to make four orange/purple half-square triangles (HSTs). Trim to 3.5″. You can do this with any ruler that has a 45° line in a corner. The photo shows a Tucker Trimmer®. Lay the ruler on your HST with the diagonal line on the seam and trim the top and right sides.

Step 1b

Rotate the piece, align the diagonal line with the seam and trim the top and right sides. Set these HSTs aside.

Step 2a

Step 2 – Now we need to make four units that I call “triple triangle squares” (TTSs), because they have three triangles in them…two small and one large.

Start by cutting one 4.5″ white square and one 4.5″ purple square diagonally twice. Cut two 4.5″ orange triangles diagonally once. You should now have four small white triangles, four small purple triangles and four large orange triangles.

Step 2b

Sew the triangles into four units that look like the one in the photo above. Be sure your white and purple triangles are in the correct positions. Trim unit to 3.5″. If you’re using the Tucker Trimmer®, notice that the solid diagonal line is on the long seam, and the broken diagonal line marked “3-1/2” is on the short seam. Trim the top and right sides.

Step 2c

Rotate the piece, align the diagonal lines with the seams, and trim the top and right sides again.

Step 3

Step 3: Sew the HSTs to the TTSs as shown, and set these four units aside.

Step 4a

Step 4 – Now we need to make four “blade” units, using the stitch-and-flip method. Draw a diagonal line on the back of each of the 3.5″ purple squares and 3.5″ yellow squares. The dark lines in the photo are for illustration only. To mark my squares for sewing, I use a drafting pencil with a #4 hard lead. Your lines should be just dark enough that you can see them.

Step 4b

Align the yellow squares with the right edge of the white rectangles as shown above. Sew on the drawn line, trim 1/4″ away from the seam*, and press open.

Step 4c

Rotate the units and align the purple squares with the end of the white rectangle, sew on the drawn line, trim 1/4″ from the seam* and press open.

*Note: If you don’t want to waste those cut-away triangles, sew the bias edges and trim them to 2.5″ squares for use in other projects. You’ll find several ideas in previous posts on this blog.

Step 5

We’re nearly finished. Step 5 is to sew the units you’ve made into four quarter-units as shown above.

Step 6

Step 6 – Sew the four quarter-units together as shown, to complete your Diamond & Pinwheel block.

Season’s Greetings

Christmas is coming on like a bobsled, and I still have gifts to finish, but I stopped today to whip up a little something for you.

Surprise…it’s a quilt block! :0)  It’s a 10″ (finished) block, and I called it “A Christmas Wreath”.

Here’s the recipe:

For each block you will need:

One 6-1/2″ square novelty print

Three 3.5″ red squares

Three 3.5″ light green squares

Four 3.5″ dark green squares

Six 3.5″ white squares

Four 2.5″ white squares

I used a Tucker Trimmer® to make the half-square triangles (HSTs) and quarter-square triangles (QSTs). If you’re not familiar with this tool, CLICK HERE for a previous post that goes into more detail on its use.

Step 1a

The first step is to put white corners on the novelty print square.

Draw a diagonal line on the back of each of your 2.5″ white squares. Lay a square on a corner of the 6.5″ novelty print square and sew on the line, then trim 1/4″ outside the line. Repeat with all four corners.

Step 1b

Press the corners open. Set this center section aside.

Step 2a

Step 2b

Step 2 is to make four red and white HSTs. Cut two of the red 3.5″ squares and two 3.5″ white squares in half diagonally, and sew the red and white halves together. I press my seams open, but you can press to the dark side if you prefer. Use the Tucker Trimmer® to trim the HSTs to 2.5″ as illustrated. above.

Step 3a

For Step 3, we need to make QSTs. Cut all of the remaining 3.5″ squares diagonally twice.

Step 3c

Step 3b

Sew eight QSTs, each with two dark green triangles, one light green triangle and one white triangle, then use the Tucker Trimmer® to square them to 2.5″ as illustrated above.

You will also need four QSTs, each with two white triangles, one red triangle and one light green triangle. Square them to 2.5″ as well.

Step 4a

Sew the QSTs into four units as pictured above.

Step 4b

Sew two of the QST strips to the sides of the center unit.

Step 4c

To finish your block, sew the HSTs to the remaining QST strips as shown, and sew to the top and bottom of the center unit.

Of course, just because I called it a wreath and used red and green fabrics, that doesn’t mean you have to.

Merry Christmas!

A New Morning Star

I love autumn. Someday I hope to see a New England autumn in person, but if that never happens, I’ll be content with ours here in Montana… as brief as they can be.

I recall one fall day several years ago, driving on U.S. 2 along the southern edge of Glacier National Park. The leaves (aspens, I think) were so golden they were glowing…and the sky was cloudy!

This block – which I call “Morning Star” reminds me of that moment.

To make your own 12″ (finished) Morning Star, here’s what you will need:

Materials for a 12″ Morning Star block.

We start with sixteen 4.5″ squares

3 yellow, 3 orange, 4 gray, 4 white, 2 green

Tucker Trimmer ™

If you don’t have a Tucker Trimmer ™ , consider adding it to your Christmas wish list. It is the handiest tool out there for making accurate half-square triangles (HSTs) and quarter-square triangles (QSTs). I’ll use it for all three units in this block.

Step 1a

First, we’ll make the HSTs. Cut the two green squares and two of the white squares in half diagonally. Sew together as shown. You will have four HSTs that are larger than they need to be. We use the Tucker Trimmer to trim them to size.

Step 1b

Lay the Tucker Trimmer on the HST, lining up the diagonal line with the seam line. Notice that the left and bottom edges of the HST extend beyond the 3-1/2″ lines on the trimmer. Trim the top and right edges.

Step 1c

Rotate the HST (if you’ve been really good, ask Santa for a rotating mat, too), and line up the diagonal line on the trimmer with the seam line again. This time the edges you trimmed should align with the 3-1/2″ dashed lines. Trim the top and right edges. Set these four HSTs aside.

Step 2a

Now we need to make eight QSTs. To do this, cut two gray squares, two white squares, one yellow and one orange square diagonally twice, as shown above.

Step 2b

Sew all of these triangles into eight QSTs. Notice the QSTs pictured here: both have a white triangle on top and gray on the bottom. In one, the orange triangle is on the left and the yellow on the right. In the other, the yellow is on the left and the orange on the right. Make four of each.

Step 2c

Lay the Tucker Trimmer on the QST so that the solid diagonal line is on the seam line. The dashed 3-1/2″ line should line up with the other seam. Just like we did with the HSTs, trim the right and top edges.

2d

Then rotate the QST, re-align the diagonal lines with the seams, and trim the top and right edges. Set the QSTs aside.

Step 3a

To make the final unit, cut the remaining yellow and orange squares diagonally twice, and the last two gray squares diagonally once. Sew together into four units that look exactly like the one in the photo. Notice that the lower left corner does not match up. That’s okay.

3b

Back to the Tucker Trimmer. Line up the solid diagonal line with the long seam, and the dashed 3-1/2″ diagonal line with the short seam. Trim the right and top edges.

3c

You know the drill by now…flip the unit around, realign the trimmer and trim the top and right edges.

4a

You now have 16 units – four of each shown above – and each one should be a perfect 3.5″ square. Lay them out as shown, and sew together into four quarter units.

4b

Sew the quarter units together to complete your “Morning Star” block!

Bon Bon, Anyone?

It’s probably a good thing that the Montana Chocolate Factory is 4-hours and a mountain pass away, because I’m not certain I could be trusted to set foot in the place. Look what they posted on their Facebook page the other day:

The Montana Chocolate Company – 2014

It just so happens that blue, brown and white is one of my favorite color combinations, and I just happen to have some scraps left over from a quilt block swap among members of Quiltmaker Magazine’s 2013 Scrap Squad, so I made a Bon Bon of my own. Here’s the “recipe”:

Ingredients for one 12″ (finished) Bon Bon block

For a 12″ (finished) Bon Bon block, you need:

One 6.5″ square of a novelty print.

Two 4.5″ squares background (off-white)

Four 4.5″ squares brown

Two 4.5″ squares accent color #1 (light blue)

Four 3.5″ square background (off-white)

Four 2.5″ squares accent color #2 (navy)

Step 1a

Step 1: We’ll use the stitch-and-flip method to put a navy corner on the 3.5″ off-white squares. Draw a diagonal line on the back of the 2.5″ navy squares. Lay a navy square on the corner of an off-white square, right-sides-together and align the edges. Sew along the drawn line and trim the corner away 1/4″ from the seam line.

Step 1b

I like to press my seams open, but you can press toward the dark triangle if you prefer. Set these squares aside.

Step 2a

Step 2: We need to make eight quarter-square triangles (QSTs). I use a Tucker Trimmer ™ for this step. Cut the 4.5″ brown, light blue and off-white squares diagonally twice. Use the triangles to sew eight squares that look like the one pictured above. These will be a little larger than we need them to be, so we use the Tucker Trimmer to trim them down to size.

Step 2b

Lay the Tucker Trimmer on the QST so that the solid diagonal line is on the SW-NE seam line. the 3-1/2″ dotted diagonal line should be on the NW-SE seam line. Notice that the left and bottom edges of the QST extend slightly beyond the 3-1/2″ vertical and horizontal dotted lines. Trim the right and top edges

Step 2c

Now rotate the QST and line up the solid diagonal and 3-1/2″ dotted diagonal lines. This time the left and bottom edges should line up with the 3-1/2″ vertical and horizontal dashed lines. Trim the right and top edges. Do this with all eight QSTs.

Step 3a

Step 3: Sew the QSTs into four pairs as shown above.

Step 3b

Sew one pair of QSTs to each side of the 6.5″ center square as shown above.

Step 3c

Sew the corner squares from step 1 to the ends of the other two QST pairs.

Step 3d

Sew these strips to the top and bottom of the center square unit to complete your Bon Bon block.

Enjoy!