Tag: Sampler Quilt Class

This is part of the quilt class, but I will use some different patterns and fabrics to demonstrate.

When I started working on the Tarts Come to Tea after a long break I really could not remember how to machine applique’. It was the strangest feeling. I knew the general principles (trace pattern, iron it on fabric, satin stitch around the shapes), but all the details were hiding in some dark corner of my mind. I felt like I had to start over.

Being a good librarian I looked at some books, but could only find references to needle-turn and raw-edged applique’. I developed the following process. This is an overview. A future tutorial will provide more detail.

Supplies:

• pencil
• large sketch pad
• favorite fusible (I like Soft Fuse)
• black marker
• paper scissors
• fabric
• thread
• sewing machine
• applique’ foot

First, I draw the pattern out life size on a white sheet of sketch paper. (I know this doesn’t look like white paper, but see the Weekend Work post for an explanation). I usually draw in pencil to start. When I draw the shapes in pencil I can make small changes until I am satisfied with the shapes.

Next I trace the patterns on individual smaller sheets of paper. If there are parts that need to be in different colors or need to be separated for some reason, then I make separate patterns for them. For example, I made a separate pattern each for the main part of the cup, the coffee, the handle and the inside-back of the cup, above.

I put the Soft Fuse, or other fusible of your choice, over the pattern and trace the pattern onto Soft Fuse.

After that is done, I trim the fabric to the approximate size, then press the Soft Fuse (or other appropriate fusible) on to the wrong side of that piece of fabric.

Repeat for all of the parts of your pattern.

Finally, remove the paper and stick the pieces to the background.

Press the fusible on to the background, according to the directions and satin stitch around the edges.

See the Fusible Applique’ tutorial for more detailed information. See the Machine Applique’ using Directional Motifs for more information on making sure your designs go the right way.

Today we will work through the tutorial on making a LeMoyne Star. This block is also called an Eight Pointed Star. In this class, you will learn to use Y Seams.Y Seams are not difficult. The key is to mark and sew slowly.

The method described below is one of the methods I use to make it and I will walk you through making a successful block. There are many methods and I encourage you to try different techniques.

Alex Anderson has a great tutorial on one of the Quilt Show episodes on making a Split LeMoyne Star.

Before you do anything else, print the rotary cutting instructions below (first item under supplies). All the sizes, shapes, etc are there.

Supplies:

• 8 Pointed Star Rotary Cutting Directions
• 4.5″x 12.5″ Creative Grids ruler
• 4.5 x8.5″ Creative Grids ruler
• Jinny Beyer Perfect Piecer ruler
• Optional: Mary Ellen’s Best Press or similar
• Optional: stiletto
• fabric marking implement (pencil, Sewline, Pilot SCUF, Pigma Micron, mechanical pencil, etc)
• rotary cutter
• mat
• sewing machine
• thread
• iron
• ironing board
• 3 fabrics (I will name them A, B, C)
  • 3″x23″ strip of fabric A for 4 diamonds
  • 3″x23″ strip of fabric B for 4 diamonds
  • 1 fat quarter for the background (fabric C)

Important information:

• Block is 12.5″ unfinished and 12″ finished
• These directions use a quarter inch seam allowance.
• You will be creating Y seams.
• Chain piecing is not part of this tutorial.
• Respect the bias.
• Do not sew into the seam allowance.

Cutting

Cut a 3″x 23″ strips. That should be long enough for 4 diamonds (parallelograms). Cutting a 3″ strip across the width of a half yard of fabric (3″ x ~40″) will generate a strip that is long enough. You will need two of these strips. Using 2 different fabrics looks good.

As shown (above), line your ruler up so the 45 degree angle on your ruler is along the bottom of the strip.The side of the ruler should be lined up right in the corner of your strip.

The idea is to cut off the end of the strip, so you have the correct angle of one of the pointy ends of the diamond. I did try my diamond ruler, but none of the lines were quite the right size, so I couldn’t use it for this particular block.

I used the two rulers to make sure that the diamond were accurate. The first ruler, on the left, should be even with the far left diamond point so that it measures 4.25″ along the bottom edge. I used that measurement to line up the 45 degree angle of the second ruler so I could cut the angle in the right place. I butted the second ruler up against the first ruler (carefully) so everything was in alignment. The second ruler (on the right) must have a 45 degree angle that intersects with a corner or this method won’t work.

I removed the left ruler before I started cutting, as it was easier to cut with just one ruler on the mat. I was careful not to jostle the ruler in the 45 degree angle position. Line your ruler up exactly as shown in the photo. You don’t have to have exactly the rulers I have. You can use any rulers with the correct lines.

I found that the method really does work. You will need to repeat the step above 8 times to get 8 diamonds. After the first diamond, it will be easier, since you can use the 2d cut for each diamond as the first cut for the next diamond.

Aside from having to watch out for ruler jostling, I was really pleased with how easy this was and well these diamonds came out. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t have wanted to cut the 300+ diamonds for FOTY 2010 using this method, but for a LeMoyne Star, it works very well.

I cut all the diamonds at once from two strips of two different fabrics. My fabrics are:

• background: Lil Plain Jane
• red diamonds: Moda Bliss #55021
• aqua dot diamonds: Moda Bliss #55023

Cut the squares and triangles according to the cutting directions on the PDF in the supply list. The triangles are quarter square triangles, which means that you cut the triangles so the straight of the grain will be along the hypotenuse (the long side of the traingle).

If you have some reason for not being able to cut the side triangles as shown, be careful while sewing the block together and then stay stitch the outside of the block once you are finished.

Once your pieces are cut, lay them out or adhere them to your design surface, so you know what you have.

I like to keep them where I can see them because it helps me to know where I am. As I sew, I put the sewn elements of the block back up on the design wall.

Once you have cut all the diamonds, you will need to mark them. You need to mark 1/4″ away from the seam line, because if you want this block to come out right, you cannot sew into the seam allowance. The biggest rule I have for making the LeMoyne/8 pointed star block is NOT to sew into the seam allowance. There are exceptions, but I am not going into those now.

Put your diamonds face down on a writing surface and prepare to mark. As you can see from the photo, I used my cutting mat as the hard surface. You can use a table or whatever else works for your work area. I used the Sewline pencil to make the marks. Pilot SCUF pens, a mechanical pencil, etc also work. A regular pencil might not have a sharp enough point to be accurate.

Get ready to mark the seam allowance on all of your pieces (squares, triangles, diamonds).

I like using the Perfect Piecer ruler by Jinny Beyer for marking weird angles, because I only have to move the ruler once to mark the ‘corner.’

With the Perfect Piecer (they aren’t giving me free stuff, BTW!), you put the ruler in the ‘corner’ as shown in the photo. Where I have placed the circle is a hole. Note it is a small hole, so a regular No.2 pencil usually won’t work. Stick your Sewline (or other fabric marking implement with a very thin point) in there and make a dot. Voilà!

You will need to use two different parts of

the Perfect Piecer ruler to make the marks on all four ‘corners’. There is no angle for the sides of the diamonds, so just use the straight edge (as I describe below). You don’t need to know the angles, if angles make you crazy. Just match up the shape of the ruler with your cut piece.

You can certainly use any kind of ruler. Take your regular ruler and line up the 1/4″ line with the cut edge. Make a line around where you think the quarter inch would be. Make it longer, so you don’t have to go back and make the line longer. Move the ruler to the opposite cut edge of the diamond and cross your first line with a new line. Make sure your lines make an X. I have done this numerous time and there is no problem using an X instead of the Perfect Piecer dot.

In case you were wondering what the marks look like, the photo (red diamond with blue circles, left) shows examples.

The upper left hand mark inside the blue circle is the mark made with a Perfect Piecer and the Sewline pencil.

The lower right hand mark is made using a regular rotary cutting ruler and the Sewline pencil. Either mark works, as I said. You will use these marks to stop and start your seam lines. NO sewing into the seam allowance!

You will need to mark the squares and the triangles, too. You can use the Perfect Piecer to mark those pieces as well.

At this point, use some Mary Ellen’s Best Press to stiffen your pieces since you will be working with and sewing along a lot of bias edges. You can either spray it on all of your pieces at once, or as you are getting ready to sew. If you don’t want to use Mary Ellen’s Best Press or spray starch, no problem. Just keep in mind that you are working with bias edges and you need to work with them carefully. You don’t need to be afraid of bias edges. Just work slowly and carefully. Respect the Bias! 😉

Sew Segments Together

Now you are ready to sew!

First, position one of your side triangles over the diamond as shown, right sides together. You are lining up the diamond with the left non-hypotenuse side of the side triangle.

Line up the marks you have made on the diamond with the marks you made on the triangles.

I used pins. I stick them through the two marks vertically one time to keep them in place until I get to the sewing machine.

You can give the pieces a little press to stick them together, if you want.

Next sew from mark to mark. Start sewing at one mark and stop at the second mark. Stay out of the seam allowance! You can back stitch, if you want, but stay out of the seam allowance. Easy!

An Aside: You are probably wondering about the lemon fabric. Short answer: ignore the lemon fabric. Long answer: I press fabric on my ironing board and if I am pressing a lot of pieces, then I will put a larger piece of fabric so that I can get more bang for my buck. As I press the smaller pieces the larger piece gets pressed as well.

You can press now. If you do, press carefully (remember the bias, respect the bias) towards the diamond. If you don’t want to press until later, that is ok, too. I usually create the entire segment (2 diamonds, one triangle) before I press.

Now you have your first piece. YAY!

Not hard or scary, right?

Repeat this step for all of the diamonds that will be in the same position as my aqua with white dot diamonds.

 

The next step is to sew the second diamond on to the segment (above: aqua with white dot & Lil Plain Jane flower fabrics) you have just made. You will be doing an inset seam. An inset seam is also called a Y seam. A lot of people hear Y Seam and panic. Y Seams are not difficult, but you can’t chain piece them and you have to pay attention. This method is similar to sewing hexagons together. Y seams really expand the number of quilt block designs you will be able to make.

As you can see I have lined the red diamond up with the segment I sewed and am ready to line up the pieces, pin and sew.

First, line up the marks on the triangle and the diamond.

I used pins to make sure that everything was lined up before I sewed. I placed the pins through the marks on both pieces of fabric vertically. I put a pin in the middle of seam line, once all the pieces were lined up, right before I sewed to hold everything together.

You will be sewing in two stages. I like to sew the triangle to the second diamond before I sew the two diamonds together.

 

Next, place the group of 3 patches (2 diamonds and a triangle) under the needle, lining up the marks so that the needle misses the seam allowance and goes straight into the first mark. Only sew through 2 layers of fabric.

Sew from mark to mark. The triangle and the second diamond will now be sewed together.

Second, line up the new diamond with the diamond you have already sewed to the triangle.

Match up the marks on the top and sides of the diamond and pin vertically. Right sides should be together.

Put the top of the 2 diamonds into the machine. You will start sewing at the mark, which is 1/4″ in from the top of the diamond. Sew between the two marks, avoiding the seam allowance. I sew towards the triangle.

Sew down to the mark at the bottom of the diamond. If the pressed seam allowance looks like it will go under the needle, move it out of the way with your finger, the tip of some sharp scissors or a stiletto.

Stop at the second mark.

Remove the piece from the machine.

 

Once you have sewed the the three patches together, you will have one full segment completed.

Next, press the 3 seam allowances into a swirl. This is similar to what you did with the hexagon block. As a guide, use the first seam that you pressed after sewing the first diamond to your triangle.

The reason I suggest the ‘Swirl’ is that it reduces bulk later. This particular pressing point isn’t as important in terms of bulk as the center, which has a crazy number of layers, once finished. Consistency is good, though.

Repeat to make four of the above segments.

Sew Quarters into Halves

Line up the square to the [red] diamond, matching the marks.

Arrange your pieces like I have done.

Line up the marks in the square with the marks on the outside side of the bottom (red in the picture) diamond.

Press, if you like.

Pin, if you like. Go back to the sewing machine and sew from mark to mark.

Repeat this step for all four segments.

If you just look at the next photo, you might have a heart attack. Please don’t. Adding the square is not hard. The key is to NOT sew into the seam allowance.

Nota bene: You can actually sew into the seam allowance on any seam that will end up on the outside of the block. If this thought is going to make your head explode, then just remember my mantra: don’t sew into the seam allowance and you will be fine.

 

 

Sew the [red] diamond to the aqua diamond on the bottom. Stay out of the seam allowance and sew mark to mark.

 

It looks weird once you have sewn the diamonds together, but it will work out.

Pin vertically as discussed.

Line up the square with the [aqua] diamond and sew from mark to mark.

 

Two Halves of Block

Finally, we are ready to sew the two halves together. You should have pressed in such a way that you can nestle the diamonds together using your pressed opposing seams.

Match up the marks with pins. I used really thin ones this time. I normally use the kind shown in the center detail photo, but switched to thinner ones as I worked on this step, because my normal pins weren’t giving me the accurate results I needed for this exacting piecing. Note that I don’t pin right in the center. I pin well where I am not going to sew and may put another vertical pin in the center temporarily. There are so many layers in the center that it doesn’t always make sense to pin there. Do what works for you.

Line up your piece carefully.

Hold on to your pinned halves tightly.

Sew over the center only . Start about an inch from one side of the center and stop about an inch after the center- ~2″ with the center point at the 1″ mark.

Sewing only a couple of inches makes it much easier to rip out. You might think that this will be a piece of cake, which it might be for you. It can be tricky also, because of the many layers of fabric that you are sewing through. My sewing machine did not want to go straight over that center section, which is why I had to rip the stitching out the first time.

Take the piece out of your machine, open it and see if you were able to match the center.

Once you have the center matched to your satisfaction, sew from the edge of one diamond across the entire center to the edge of the opposite diamond. Remember the mantra? Refrain from sewing into the seam allowance.

Once you have sewn the squares to the last sides of the last diamonds, pressing becomes very important. I have indicated with the circles how your pressing should look. If you need to re-press, spray the piece with water and that will make it easier.

By creating a swirl during the pressing of the center, you will reduce bulk for your later quilting step. You will thank yourself if you quilt your own quilts. Your quilter will thank you, if you have a longarmer quilt your quilts.

 

Once you have sewn the squares to the last sides of the last diamonds and pressed the piece, you should have a gorgeous block and feel very proud of yourself.

Here is the next block in our Sampler Quilt Class. These directions are for machine sewing your hexagons.

Supply List

• Hexagon Template
• mechanical pencil
• thin Pigma pen (or similar)
• template plastic
• glue stick
• foreground fabric
• 13″ x 13″ piece of background fabric
• Perfect Piecer ruler by Jinny Beyer
• Small rotary ruler such as the Creative Grids 4.5″x8.5“
• Fabric scissors (see note on using a rotary cutter**)
• thread
• pins
• Design surface or sandpaper board
• Wooden kebab stick, stiletto or similar item you can use with your iron
• sewing machine

Optional

• Mary Ellen’s Best Press
• hand sewing needle
• hand sewing thread

Important information:

• Block is 12.5″ unfinished, 12″ finished
• These directions use a quarter inch seam allowance.
• You will be creating Y seams.
• Chain piecing is not part of this tutorial.
• Respect the bias.
• Do not sew into the seam allowance.

Templates

1. Prepare pattern for your hexagon template by printing two copies of the pattern.

Place one copy of the pattern with your other notes for reference or in your binder. Use it as reference first. Rough cut the hexagon pattern out of the other sheet.

Nota bene: Sometimes the seam allowance doesn’t print out, so you may need to add 1/4″ seam allowance to the pattern before rough cutting.

Create Template

Glue the paper pattern (with seam allowances), using the glue stick (or other suitable adhesive), to the template plastic.

Create an Accurate Pattern

Fine cut the paper pattern you have adhered to the template plastic so you have an accurate template.

Gather your fabric and press it all. You can rough cut some pieces and press it with Mary Ellen’s Best Press to help keep the bias from stretching. The MEBP won’t prevent the bias from stretching, but it will add a bit of stiffness and help.

Cutting

Place your template face down on the wrong side of the fabric and trace carefully around your template directly on to the fabric.

Cut using scissors.**

**PLEASE Do not cut around your template plastic template with a rotary cutter. I want you to be able to finish the block with no blood. There is not enough protection for your fingers. A rotary ruler gives your finger some protection from the blade of your cutter cutter. If you use a rotary cutter, you may want to use a hexagon ruler, such as the Fons & Porter Hexagon ruler. The smallest hexagon on that ruler is larger than my template, but you can alter the pattern slightly by using 19 of those hexagons, which fit in the 12.5″ block. You can also cut using a rotary ruler and rotary cutter by lining up the ruler on the line you drew around your template.

Cut 19 hexagons from your fabric.

Marking

Now, mark your hexagons so that the Y seams will be easy to sew. As mentioned in the supply list, I use the Jinny Beyer Perfect Piecer.

 

Line up your ruler in every angle in every hexagon and make a dot.***

You can also make a cross at the seam allowance by lining up a regular ruler along your cut edge and drawing a line near the angle. See the tutorial called Hexagons -Preparing to Sew, which gives more information.

***Nota bene: I used a different color fabric so you could sort of see the dot.

Sewing

Remember: you will sew between the dots only NOT into the seam allowance. This is how you sew Y seams and we have done that in other tutorials.

Arrange your hexagons in a pleasing manner on your design surface or on a sandpaper board.

Take two hexagons, that will be next to each other in the final block, place them right sides together.

Put them under the presser foot, lining up your Perfect Piecer mark under the needle

Sew a few stitches, then backstitch.

Sew the entire seam to the second Perfect Piecer mark. Backstitch*+ to secure.

*+Nota bene: You want to backstitch even though it is a bit tedious, because no other seams will cross the seams stitching the hexagons together. If you do not backstitch, there is a chance your stitches will come out before you get to the quilting part. You can also leave long tails and make a knot at every intersection.

I like to to sew my hexagon patches together in groups of three, thus we will need to add the third hexagon to the two you just sewed together.

Lay the piece of two hexagons you just sewed on the table and place the third hexagon patch on top of top one, right sides together. Sew the third hexagon to the piece of two hexagons starting at the dot marked Start and stopping at the Perfect Piecer mark indicated as Stop. Backstitch as described above.

Remove from the machine and clip your threads.

Now you are ready to sew the last seam to make a larger patch out of the three hexagons. Line up your third hexagon with the hexagon you didn’t sew a minute ago.

Pin. I put the pin in a place closer to the stop mark, so I can fit the sewing machine foot on the Perfect Piecer Start mark.

Nota bene: I don’t normally pin small hexagons, but when I am sewing the last seam it is useful.

The second hexagon will be kind of rolled up. Just keep it out of the way of the needle. You don’t want to sew it to the underside of the other hexagons.

I keep my pieces on the design wall as I sew them in order to keep them in order.

Keep sewing your patches together in chunks, then into larger chunks until you get all of them sewn together. Sewing groups of hexagons together is like sewing 2 or three together. Sew between Perfect Piecer dots. You just have to be carefully to keep the other, already sewn, hexagons out of the way. Just keep looking at the finished pieces to make sure they are in the right shape.

Nota bene: It is useful to have a digital camera handy and take a photo of your layout in case of confusion while sewing. You can also number your patches with numbered pins or Post-it notes.

More on sewing hexagons can be found in a previous post.

Press

For small hexagon blocks, I usually don’t press until I am done sewing all of them, because I want all the swirls to be orderly.

Press from the back, one seam at a time so all of the seams look like they are pressed in a circular motion. While pressing from the back you will need to make sure the front is smooth. The center where the patches meet will look like a mini hexagon.

When finished the block will have a lot of mini hexagons on the back.

Applique’

In order to prepare for applique’, you have to do something with the edges. If you want to do raw edge applique, you will need to trim the seam allowance off the outer edges, using the Perfect Piecer marks as a guide.

My preferred method is pressing the seam allowance on the outer edges in to make a clean edge.

Lay your hexagon piece right sides down on your ironing board.

Use the Perfect Piecer marks as a guide. Fold and finger press the outer edges in.

Next, get your fingers out of the way and press using a hot iron so the edges are pressed permanently under. Use a stiletto or kebab stick to hold the edge under the iron.

Once all of the edges are pressed under you are ready to place your piece on the background.

If you have not already done so, cut a background piece 13″ x 13″. It is cut a little larger to accommodate any take up from the applique’. You will trim it to 12.5″ x 12.5″.

Fold in quarters and finger press just so you can see the lines. DO NOT press with an iron. These press lines are a guide and shouldnät become permanent.

Using your finger pressed lines, center the hexagon piece, right side up, on the background.

Sew down either by hand or by machine using the applique’ tutorial.

Finish Line

YAY! You have completed your block! Good job!

You can find more information in the Hexagon Clarification post.

Remember: no sewing into the seam allowances!

 

This is a daunting tutorial. You have made it to the last section! Good job!

This segment discusses sewing the block together. In order to get to this point, you should have completed parts 1, 2 and three as well as part four.

Like piecing all other blocks, you want to sew smaller pieces together to make larger pieces, then sew the larger pieces together to complete the block. In part three, you should have cut any fabric for templates that did not have matching fabric patches already cut. Inventory your templates and make sure you have a fabric patch to match each template. If you don’t, go back to part three.

In part 4 you also pinned:

Now, following the skills you learned in the curves tutorial, sew the two patches together. Remember that the edges are not quite as smooth on the other (blue) side, but that is ok. Just remember to sew slowly and carefully.

Once those two patches are sewn, they might look a little rumpled, but once you turn them both right side up and carefully press the section, they will look great.

Press which ever way you think will work best for your block.

Next, we will sew the corner section to the small pieced strip (Section D).

Nota bene: if you did not foundation piece the small strip, follow the directions in part 4 or part three to do so. If you haven’t done any foundation piecing you might want to start with this piece as it is smaller and less complex than the pointy triangles section.

Again you will need to pin. This time you are pinning your quarter circle corner piece and your small foundation pieced strip.

Take your quarter circle corner piece and your small foundation pieced strip and pin them together. Line up the straight edges on the ends and pin them together (horizontally-see photo above). I make sure the horizontal pins are out of the way of other pins and the sewing machine foot. They are used just to make sure my piece is in place while I put the other pins in.

I use a lot of pins. It works for me. I know there are other tutorials that are pinless or use minimal pins, but I want precision and pins give me precision. Put these two pieces together the way it works for you. Remember: you only have two hands.

Once you are happy with your pinning, get ready to sew. I put the non-pieced corner quarter circle on the bottom and the pieced part on the top. I try to make this a habit, though it doesn’t matter with this particular foundation pieced section. In some sections, like our spiky triangle section, it matters.

You can rip off the paper before you piece or not. I was having some other problems, so I ripped it off, but normally, I leave it on until the very last second, e.g. before I took the pieced top to the quilter!

Attach your quarter inch foot and sew your small foundation pieced strip to your corner quarter circle. If you don’t know how to sew curves, take a look at the curves tutorial.

Once you are finished, press carefully. I press to the side with the least number of seams, or to the side that the fabric seems to be naturally inclined to lay. Your corner will look gorgeous like the one above.

Once you have the small foundation pieced strip attached to your quarter circle, you will sew it to your spiky triangles piece. You will, again, pin a lot, using the horizontal pin trick to stabilize the piece.

Again, as shown in the photo above, I put the foundation pieced part on top. In this case, you are sewing two foundation pieced sections together, so you can choose which you want on top. I chose the spiky triangles section to go on top, but it doesn’t really matter, since there are no points to worry about cutting off.

Next sew the two remaining sections together, press, again, towards the piece with the least number of seams and you should have a piece like the one below.

After all that work, you have a beautiful foundation pieced block. Pat yourself on the back!

We are nearing the last part of the foundation piecing class. I know this is a long tutorial, but there are a lot of steps and it is difficult to explain when I am not in the same room with you. I also don’t have a crew, so photographing every single step with only two hands is a challenge.

Mostly this segment discusses getting ready to sew the major parts of your block together. Yes, there is more prep before you can sew your blocks together. I will give some template tips as well. In order to get to this point, you should have completed parts 1, 2 and part 3. All of the supplies are listed in part 1.

Like all other parts of piecing, your goal is to sew smaller pieces together to make larger pieces. First, inventory your templates and make sure you have a fabric patch for each template.

For any templates that do not have matching fabric patches, cut your fabric.

Based on the photo above, I need to cut 3 pieces. In some New York Beauty related patterns, these are pieced, but in ours we are using one fabric. You can certainly modify any of these pieces to do more foundation piecing.

To cut out these templates, I place my fabric right side down and the template right side down and draw on the back of the fabric. This is the same for all three of the templates.

Your patches should look similar to your template once cut out. All of these templates have an element of bias, so handle them carefully.

Once you have drawn your template shape on the fabric, you can cut it out. Where possible, I use a rotary cutter and ruler. If I cannot use those tools, e.g. for the curves in the pieces of this block, I use very sharp scissors and cut slowly and carefully. Above you can see that I have cut as many parts of the patch as possible with my rotary kit and am ready to cut the curve with scissors.

As with the previous piece, lay your fabric right side down and place the corner template on top, also right side down. Draw around it with a thin point Pilot Scuff, Pigma Micron, or similar, pen.

Once you have drawn carefully around the template, remove it and make sure your line is continuous. If it is not continuous, carefully replace the template and fix the missing segments.

Line up your ruler with the corner of the fabric patch. You may need to rough cut your fabric first, if there is too much yardage skewing the fabric as you try and cut.

The corner quarter circle template has a quarter inch seam allowance, so you don’t have to do anything, but cut the line you drew (and all the fabric on the other side) off. You will want to cut so that the line is cut off, but you need to cut ONLY the line off.

Also, these pieces are large, so make sure you can hold your ruler down tight as you are cutting. You want to avoid ruining a whole large piece of fabric because your ruler shifted.

Cut any other pieces you might need.

Once you have cut out your fabric patches, you will have pieces that look like those in the above photo.

After seeing the above patches laid out, I decided to sew the two outer pieces together first. Again I want to join smaller pieces into larger sections. Also, the very outer piece has very skinny ends. I want to stabilize them a bit by sewing them to another piece before sewing them to the foundation pieced Section C.

The first order of business is to pin them together. I apply horizontal pins on the ends and a lot of pins in the middle. My goal is to make the seam smooth. You are working on the bias, so don’t yank too much.

For my advanced students: if you put the horizontal pin in the two fabrics as shown above, the horizontal pins on each side should be out of the way of your 1/4″ foot.

It is not quite as smooth on the other side, but that is ok. Set this piece aside for now, but remember that when you are ready to sew, sew slowly and carefully. Next, we will sew the corner section (quarter circle, Section D) to the small pieced strip.

If you don’t know how to sew curves together, check out the curves tutorial.

Nota bene: if you did not foundation piece the small strip, follow the directions in part 3 or above to do so. If you haven’t done any foundation piecing before you might want to start with this piece as it is smaller and less complex than the pointy triangles section (Section C).

I use a lot of pins and I know there are other tutorials that are pinless or use minimal pins. Put these two pieces together the way it works for you.

Now you are ready for part 5, which is the last part, I promise. 😉

Tips:

• If you have to rip out stitches, rip them out from the fabric side, not the paper side.
• Pay attention to putting the next fabric piece on the foundation.
• Avoid the bump by pressing!

Resources:

• Christine Thresh’s Paper Piecing Primer
• Cindi Edgerton’s How to Foundation Piece instructions
• Foundation Piecing video
• Paper Panache’s Foundation Piecing Instructions
• Paper Piecing the Carol Doak way
• Johanna Masko’s Flickr-based Machine paper piecing tutorial

We are midway through the foundation piecing class making a New York compass block. This is a long tutorial, but there are a lot of steps and I want all of the parts to be clear.

This segment discusses more foundation piecing. In order to get to this point, you should have completed parts 1 and 2. All of the supplies are listed in Part 1

Remember our goal:

Next, we need to foundation piece the small strip called Section D.

Cut 4 pieces of fabric that coordinate with the fabrics of your block. The pieces should be about 2.5″x 1.75″, which is generous. You may be able to use scraps for these pieces.

As you did in Part 2, you will work on placing 2 fabrics on the line between D1 & D2 with about a quarter inch hanging over into D2 as a seam allowance. Note the printed part of the pattern (the lines on which you sew) are face down for this step.

I like to pin the first piece of fabric to my pattern. It helps keep the fabric from shifting as I work on the second piece of fabric. Note the printed part of the pattern (the lines on which you sew) are face up for this step.

Flip Section D back over and position the second piece of fabric over the first. I often hold the pieces up to the light (or use a lightbox) to position the second piece.

When you have both of your pieces placed like you like them, pin in place. I like to use thin pins. Your piece should now look like the above photo.

With the applique’ foot on your machine. Sew on the line between D1 & D2. Do not cross the perpendicular line at the top or bottom. Back stitch one stitch at the beginning and the end.

Once you have sewn on the line, your piece should look like the above photo.

Open up both pieces and make sure they cover D1 & D2. Once you are convinced that you have covered both D1 & D2 with your fabric and there is a 1/4″ seam allowance, press your piece. Press with the pattern on top. Note the pattern is face up and you can see the sewing lines. (Nota bene: if you have taped your pattern, use a press cloth so that you do not get melted tape on your iron)

Flip your Section D over again, so you are ready to trim.

Lay your pattern, with sewn fabric, pattern side up (fabric down) on your cutting mat. The inside part of the curve will be facing your body. You may want to flip Section D around if you are left handed.

Fold the longer piece of the pattern over to the left using the seam line as the fold line. This will expose the fabric that will be your seam allowance.

Line up your ruler’s 1/4″ mark on the seam/fold line and trim your seam allowance to 1/4″.

Trim seam allowance to 1/4″.

Go back to the ironing board and position your piece so the fabric is up, pattern side down and smooth the fabric towards D2, lightly finger pressing.

Take the piece to the iron and press carefully towards D2.

Place your next fabric with the longer part towards D2 and the future seam allowance closer to D3. Hold the whole piece up to the light to make sure your placement is correct.

Pin in place.

Get ready to sew on the line between D2 & D3.

Once sewn, your piece should look like the photo above.

Check to make sure your fabric covers pattern section D3. You do this by folding the fabric over and looking to see that you have about 1/4″ on all sides.

Now, get ready to trim. Put your piece on the cutting mat pattern side up.

Fold your pattern to the left again, like you did before.

Line up your ruler’s 1/4″ mark on the seam/fold line and trim your seam allowance to 1/4″.

See that bump in the photo above? You do not want that bump to show once you have pieced D4 on to the parts of Section D you have already pieced. Press again, this time towards D4. Avoid the bump by pressing!

Press towards D4. No ironing!

We are heading to the home stretch!

Position your last piece as you have done before. It is going to look at little weird and out of alignment, because you are working with a curve. Remember to position the fabric so it covers D5 plus 1/4″ seam allowance. Pay no attention to the edges of the other pieces, such as D4, that you have already sewn.

It is easier for me to see whether or not piece D5 was in the right position by pinning it. Note, I would pin it on the pattern side to sew, because then I can see where the pin is in relation to where my sewing machine foot and needle are. The pin in the photo is temporary.

Once you have the placement finalized, go ahead and sew.

Now you have to fold back the pattern one last time and prepare to trim the seam allowance.

Trim!

Now your piece is done. Fold back the D5 fabric and press. Place your ruler on the lines at the end of the pattern and trim a 1/4″ seam allowance. I know you can do this without photos.

Now you have to trim the curved parts of Section D

It is too difficult to sew the untrimmed Section D, so you will have to trim.

To trim, mark 1/4″ away from the dark line. The dots in the photo above mark 1/4″. I have trimmed the straight ends with a rotary cutter and I am ready to play “dot to dot” with my scissors. I am going to cut from dot to dot to create a 1/4″ seam allowance.

On to part 4!

Tips:

• If you have to rip out stitches, rip them out from the fabric side, not the paper side.
• Pay attention to putting the next piece on the foundation.
• Avoid the bump by pressing!

Resources:

• Christine Thresh’s Paper Piecing Primer
• Cindi Edgerton’s How to Foundation Piece instructions
• Foundation Piecing video
• Paper Panache’s Foundation Piecing Instructions
• Paper Piecing the Carol Doak way
• Johanna Masko’s Flickr-based Machine paper piecing tutorial

We are learning foundation piecing (also called paper piecing) using a pattern called New York Compass. If you are just finding this tutorial, go to part 1 to see the supply list and learn how to prepare your pieces.

I am using an aqua with white dots for my background and a red with white dots for my foreground. You should have already cut your rectangles for both foreground and background at 2.5″x6″. If not, do it now, as you will need them almost immediately.

The sections of Section C are marked in the order in which you should piece them. Start with C1. Odd numbers are the background and even numbers indicate you should use the foreground (spikes) fabric.

You will be piecing from one side (C1) towards the middle to the other side, ending with C17.

1. Set up your sewing machine with an applique’ foot or similar. You will not need your quarter inch foot for the foundation piecing part of the process.
2. Shorten the stitch length. If you can’t shorten the stitch length, remember to backstitch at the beginning and end of each line of stitching.
3. If you are a speed demon, and the option is available on your machine, slow down your machine a little bit. You will need to control the speed at the beginning and the end of the stitching lines.
4. Place your Section C pattern face down on a flat surface.

5. 

   Cover piece C1 on the paper pattern with one of the background rectangles you cut in Part 1. Place the fabric in such a way to leave at least 1/4″ of fabric around each piece. You get extra bonus points if you line one long straight edge with the straight line at the end of the pattern.

6. Now, hold the pattern and the foreground fabric in one hand (optionally you can clip them together with a WonderClip) and hold the whole piece up to the light (facing a window or a lamp or on a light box). Take note of where the line is between C1 and C2.

7. 

   Still holding your pieces up to the light, take one of your foreground rectangles and place one of its edges 1/4″ from the line between C1 and C2. This will be the seam allowance and that quarter inch should hang over the line into C2.

8. Put all the pieces carefully back down on your table.
9. Pin the two fabrics to the paper, keeping the pin well away from the line between C1 and C2. You want enough space so the pin doesn’t interfere with the foot on your sewing machine. I also like to pin parallel to the sewing line and within the seam allowance to so I can test to see if the fabric covers the other pieces. I like to pin on my cutting mat so I don’t damage the furniture.
10. Fold the foreground piece back to make sure that it covers C2. You will fold it on the line between C1 and C2. That will be your sewing line. You can move the pins to the front for easier sewing.

11. 

    Flip the whole thing over and take a look.

12. Once pinned, check again to make sure that you have at least 1/4″ all around C1 (background) and C2 (foreground).
13. Take your piece to the sewing machine and sew on the line between C1 and C2. Do not go over. Only sew on that line.

14. 

    Back stitch at the beginning and the end. One backstitch is fine.

15. 

    Remove the piece from under the presser foot and fold your foreground over to check and make sure it covered C2. You might need to hold it up to the light.

    

    You can see the foreground fabric through the background, which is why you need to trim. Depending on the colors you use, this may not be the case, but you don’t want to build up so many layers that you cannot quilt through the piece.

16. Take Section C back to your cutting mat and place it so the paper part of the pattern is on top.

17. 

    Fold the paper back on the seam line so the excess seam allowance is exposed. You are going to cut this off, so it is worthwhile to take a minute and make sure you are not cutting off the wrong part, eg the part you need to cover your background and spikes.

18. 

    Line up your ruler with the 1/4″ line on the seam line and trim the excess seam allowance.

19. 

    Take your piece to your ironing surface and place it with the paper down. Press towards the foreground, so you get rid of as much of the “bump'” from the seam as you can. Press towards the middle of your pattern. You want the foreground fabric to be as flat as you can get it. Pressing is very important. It is possible that there will be a bump when you put the next piece over the previous one, if you don’t press well.

20. Your foreground piece should cover the line between C2 and C3 and give you a 1/4″ seam allowance.
21. Once you have pressed the foreground flat, you are ready to put on the next background piece.
22. Take one of your background rectangles and place one of its edges 1/4″ from the line between C2 and C3, smoothing (without stretching) the foreground piece you sewed, so it is as flat as possible. Again, this will be the seam allowance and that quarter inch should hang over the line into section C3. You may need to hold it up to the light again to position the piece correctly.
23. Once you have the correct placement, pin in place.
24. Once pinned, check again to make sure that you have at least 1/4″ all around C2 (background) .

25. 

    Take your piece to the sewing machine and sew on the line between C2 and C3. Do not sew beyond the end of that line. Only sew on that line.

26. 

    Repeat this process, alternating between foreground and background until you reach the other end of Section C. As you move down the pattern, your Section C will start to look like something you could put into a block.

27. 

    Use your rotary cutting kit to trim the straight edges of Section C.

28. 

    From the paper pattern side of Section C, I eyeball a 1/4″ and trim the curves with very sharp scissors. There are some serious layers here, so I am not fooling when I say sharp.

The finished Section C is a sight to behold. Even after making several of these sections, I amazed each time it turns out.

Tips:

• If you have to rip out stitches, rip them out from the fabric side, not the paper side.
• Pay attention to putting the next piece on the foundation.

Resources:

• Christine Thresh’s Paper Piecing Primer
• Cindi Edgerton’s How to Foundation Piece instructions
• Foundation Piecing video
• Paper Panache’s Foundation Piecing Instructions
• Paper Piecing the Carol Doak way
• Johanna Masko’s Flickr-based Machine paper piecing tutorial

Part 3 is coming soon.

I hope you are enjoying this class! I am really appreciating the opportunity to update the tutorials. I hope to do more updating and keep making them better.

Today we are going to start another series of tutorials to learn foundation piecing. Foundation piecing is a technique where the pattern is printed on paper or fabric (the foundation) and the maker sews directly on to that foundation.

The block we will use is called New York Compass, a variation of the New York Beauty pattern. It is a little more complex than the patterns we have been working on, but I decided to throw caution to the wind and nudge you to step up. You have done curves, so I am confident you can sew this block.

In part 1, we will prep everything.

Supplies:

• Notebook for notes
• Pen to take notes 😉
• Sewing Machine
• applique’ foot (preferably one with a mark showing where the needle will stitch)
• 1/4″ foot
• thread
• fabric
• fabric scissors
• paper scissors
• foundation piecing paper like Toni’s Disappearing Paper or Carol Doak’s Foundation Paper – you can just use printer paper, but it might be harder to rip off. Tracing paper can work, too, but it is good to be able to send the paper through the printer
• pins
• Rotary cutter
• rulers
• template plastic
• template plastic friendly pen (Bic works)
• glue stick
• iron and ironing surface
• thin pressing cloth
• New York Compass pattern
• Optional: Wonderclips
• Optional: Lightbox

1. 

   Print the pattern sheets (all 4). I only have 8.5″x11″ paper so the pattern comes out on 4 sheets. Use some kind of foundation piecing paper to print the pattern. Nota Bene: I keep a folder for all of my projects, so I like to print at least 2, if not 3 copies of the pattern. One I use to make the templates (yes, we will need a few templates), one I will tape together and keep whole (you can use regular copy paper for this one) and one I will use for the foundations.

2. 

   Trim off the margins and tape the parts together. Note, the tape will not play nicely with your iron when you press the foundation pieced parts so USE A PRESSING CLOTH. A scrap of fabric or ugly fabric work great. Guess how I found this out?

3. 

   Above is how the templates shake out: 3 regular plastic backed templates and two foundation templates.

4. 

   Cut the parts of the pattern apart. You will have 5 parts. Two of them will be foundation piecing patterns and 3 of will need to be made into regular templates with template plastic.

5. 

   

   I am going to refer to the skinny spikes piece as Section C. Section C is in the middle.

6. Make your templates. You must add a quarter of inch to your paper templates (not the ones that will be foundation pieced. If you don’t know how to make templates with template plastic, refer to my tutorial on Machine Applique’ Part 1. Make sure you place the template on the wrong side of fabric when tracing. Set the templates aside

7. 

   Cut rectangles for foundation piecing 2.5″x 6.5″. This is a generous rectangle. You aren’t going to save any fabric with this technique and you should worry more about coming up short, because ripping out stitches when using this technique is a real pain.

8. There is one tricky part about these templates. You will need to add a 1/4″ to the curve. The way you do that is to: A) glue the paper template to the largest piece of template plastic you have (you may have to piece the template plastic). B) Take your ruler and start at the left end of the paper template. Line the ruler’s 1/4″ mark up with the dark outline on the paper template (you should still have a rough cut paper template before you glue the paper to template plastic). C) Make a mark with a template plastic friendly pen at the 1/4″. D) Move your ruler slightly to the right and make another mark at the 1/4″ point. E) Follow the curved line of the paper part of the template with your ruler until you reach the far right side of the ruler. F) Cut along the dots you have made in as smooth a motion as you can using your paper scissors. You should now have a quarter inch seam allowance along your template. Repeat for all curved templates.

9. Cut your fabrics. Nota Bene: When you cut the fabrics for Section C, cut rectangles for these spikes at 2.5″ wide.

10. 

    Check to make sure you have cut your rectangles large enough. Take your Section C and lay it face up. Cover the first section (labeled C1 on my pattern) to make sure your rectangle covers the entire section C1 plus 1/4″ seam allowance around all sides.

Part 2 will be posted soon so you can learn the actual foundation piecing.

Tips:

• If you have to rip out stitches, rip them out from the fabric side, not the paper side.

Resources:

• Christine Thresh’s Paper Piecing Primer
• Cindi Edgerton’s How to Foundation Piece instructions
• Foundation Piecing video
• Paper Panache’s Foundation Piecing Instructions
• Paper Piecing the Carol Doak way
• Johanna Masko’s Flickr-based Machine paper piecing tutorial

As mentioned in part 1, above is the current block in our Sampler Quilt Class. These directions are for machine sewing your Flower Basket and include a little applique’. The applique’ can be done by machine or hand.

Are you playing along? If you are just starting, below is the complete supply list. You won’t need everything for this step, but you will need to start with part 1 and that part requires more supplies.

Supply List

• Flower Basket Directions & Templates
• paper scissors (part 1)
• mechanical pencil
• thin Pigma pen (or similar) (part 1)
• template plastic (part 1)
• glue stick (part 1)
• 2 (or more) foreground fabrics
• 12.5″ x 12.5″ piece of background fabric, which you will cut in half
• FQ of same background fabric
• Rotary ruler, including a long one, such as Creative Grids 4.5″x 18.5″
• Rotary cutter
• Fabric scissors
• thread
• pins
• Stiletto
• Design wall or sandpaper board
• sewing machine in good working order
• Sharp or top stitch sewing machine needle

Optional

• Mary Ellen’s Best Press
• hand sewing needle
• hand sewing thread
• Judy Martin’s Point Trimmer
• tearaway stabilizer
• mini iron
• numbered and lettered pins

Important information:

• Block is 12.5″ unfinished / 12″ finished
• These directions use a quarter inch seam allowance. Check your seam allowance before you begin. If you don’t know how to do that, there are resources available, including one from Connecting Threads and Craftsy. Search the web for others if you don’t like these tutorials.
• You will be directed to use the Triangle Technique. Make sure you have the chart as well as the instructions handy.
• Respect the bias.

After working through part 1, you have already chosen your fabrics, made your templates and cut your pieces. You are ready to sew.

Sewing

Carefully stitch along the hypotenuse of the large background triangle, about 1/8″ from the edge, to stabilize it. This stitching will be covered up when you stitch the handle part of the block to the basket part of the block.

Triangle Technique

Use the Triangle Technique to make your half square triangles. Make sure you have the HST Size Chart available to confirm sizes. A brief overview is:

Draw an X from corner to corner diagonally on the wrong side of each of your 6.25″ x 6.25″ squares.

Place them right sides together and sew 1/4″ on each side of the diagonal lines.

Nota bene: Pin far away from any of the diagonal lines.

Now you have a piece with four seams forming an X.

Next cut the ‘Plus’ of your sewn piece. This means that you are cutting horizontally down the middle and vertically down the middle using the center of the X as a guide.

• Line up your ruler with the edge of the fabric and the point in the middle where the two lines forming the X come together.
• Cut vertically.

Do NOT move your fabric.

• Reposition your ruler and then cut the piece horizontally.

After you cut the “PLUS” (the vertical and horizontal cuts), you will have four squares, each with a line drawn diagonally across the middle. Cut the squares in half diagonally. You can use the line as a guide. It is more important to line your ruler up corner to corner.

The result is 8-2.5″ half square triangles. The above are actually a thread or two larger than 2.5″, which leaves the perfect opportunity for trimming to make them an absolutely perfect 2.5″.

• Trim your HSTs to an absolutely perfect 2.5″.

Now you have 8 beautiful HSTs. You will need to make one additional HST.

Of course, you can use whatever technique you like to make the half square triangles.

Layout and Assembly

Now that you have cut all of your pieces, lay them out on your sandpaper board, or put them up on your design surface. It is great to be able to see where all the pieces belong and adjust any pieces that need adjusting before you sew.

Sew Handle to Background

Because I decided to use the method described below, I made another handle template with NO seam allowance. I placed it on the handle I had cut from the striped fabric carefully so there was an even seam allowance on all sides. Then I traced around it with my thin black pen. I thought the template was a little wide at the end so I adjusted the line a bit to make the seam allowance larger.

My pieces look a little weird-not the right size, etc when I laid them out. Have no fear! They will improve.

I was using my stiletto to adjust the seam allowance, but it was impossible to hold the stiletto, the camera and the iron all at once. Press carefully, so as not to distort your pieces. This is where a mini iron comes in handy.

Pay attention to the corners. The layers of fabric will want to pooch in weird directions. Again, this is where a mini iron comes in handy. I used my regular iron and a stiletto.

Take your handle and press the the seam allowance under on both sides of the piece. Press so that the drawn line is on the inside of the handle and is covered by the piece once the handle is sewn.

Nota bene: the orange fabric is laying on my ironing board and was selected for good contrast so that the steps would show up well

Fold the handle in half with wrong sides together and finger press on the midpoint. Unfold.

Fold your large triangle in half with right sides together and finger press. Unfold and layout.

Nest the handle into the triangle with the right sides up using your finger pressed marks.

Line up the bottom edges of the handle with the hypotenuse of the background triangle. If the handle ends are a little over, it will be fine. You can trim them later.

Eyeball your piece to make sure everything looks good and even.

Pin the handle to the background down the center of the handle. Remove the pins as you sew. Try not to sew over them.

• Using a lot of pins will help keep the handle in place as you sew

Sew slowly and carefully along the drawn line around the curve. I chose a matching thread, an applique’ foot and a topstitch/sharp needle.

You will either need to hand applique’ the other side down or using a machine stitch that suits you.

Sew both sides down with a straight stitch.

Optional: You can satin stitch (see the Machine Applique’ tutorial) or blanket stitch or use some other decorative stitch to machine sew the handle to the background triangle piece. If you use one of these stitches, you may need some tearaway stabilizer

Optional 2: you can hand applique’ the handle to the background triangle.

Once the handle is sewn you are ready to move to sew the woven part of the basket.

Sew Basket Together

The block can be broken down into two pieces: the top half with the handle and the bottom half with the basket.

The parts are labeled as follows:

• HSTs: 1-9
• Single triangles A-G
• Square: 10
• Background pieces: B1-B3

Get ready to Chunk it, Baby! This is where numbered pins would come in handy.

Sew A to HST/1. Press towards Triangle A.

Sew B to the A-HST/1 combo. Press.

The two colored HSTs are supposed to give the illusion of a woven basket.

Trim off dog ears from the A,B-HST/1 combo.

Sew HST/2 to HST/5. Press towards HST/5.

Using the diagram above to confirm placement, sew your A, B-HST/1 combo to your HST/2-HST/5 combo. Press towards the red.

Sew HST/8 to Square 10. Press towards the Square 10.

Sew HST/6 to HST/9. Press towards the red part of the HST.

Using the diagram above to confirm placement, sew your HST/6-HST/9 combo to your HST/8-Square/10 combo. Press towards the HST/6-HST/9 combo.

Using the diagram above to confirm placement, sew C to HST/3. Press towards the red.

Using the diagram above to confirm placement, sew D to your C-HST/3 combo. Press towards D.

Trim your dog ears.

Sew HST/4 to HST/7. Press towards HST/7, making sure your seams will nest with the seams you have already pressed.

Sew HST/4-HST/7 together and then sew the HST/4-HST/7 combo to E. Press towards E.

Using the diagram above for placement, sew your HST/4-HST/7-E combo to your C-D-HST/3 combo. Press.

Trim dog ears.

Sew your A,B-HST/1-HST/2 segment to the HST/6-HST/9 segment.

Trim your dog ears!

Sew the last two segments of the basket part together. You may have to re-press some seams.

I didn’t move the borders the whole time I worked on the quilt See how much the basket part shrank? That is seam allowances for you! The more seams the more the piece shrinks!

Trim the dog ears, if you haven’t already.

Now you have two halves of the basket. Sew the woven part to the handle part by placing the woven part on top of the handle part, lining them up and then sewing carefully. You can fold the two sections in half, bisecting the handle, to match them up if you think that you need to trim the handle portion later.

Now you are ready to sew on the borders.

Sew the B2-G background section by placing the red triangle (G) face down on top of background piece B2 and sew the short end of the background to the triangle, as shown in the picture.

Take the basket piece that you sewed together above and place the B2-G background section on top of the basket section. Line up the red triangle’s seam from the B2-G background section with the HST/8-Square 10 section. You want the seams to match, so pin. Press towards background piece B2.

Only one more border to go.

Take the basket piece that you sewed together above and place the B1-F background section on top of the basket section. Line up the red triangle’s seam from the B1-F background section with the HST/9-Square 10 section. You want the seams to match, so pin. Press towards background piece B1.

Now you are ready to sew the last piece.

First, trim the dog ears.

Your basket is almost complete.

Complete your basket half by sewing background piece B3 to the basket. You have already snipped off the corners using a Judy Martin Point Trimmer.  Just line up the triangle piece with the borders already sewn to the block. Press towards the background piece B3.

Your half is complete.

Take the top half of the basket, the piece with the handle, and carefully sew it to the basket half.

Your block is complete! Hooray.

The Flower Basket block is the next block in our Sampler Quilt Class. This is a three part tutorial, so be sure to come back for the next parts.

These directions are for machine sewing your Flower Basket and include a little applique’, which can be done by machine or hand.

Supply List

• Flower Basket Directions & Templates
• paper scissors
• mechanical pencil
• thin Pigma pen (or similar)
• template plastic
• glue stick
• 2 (or more) foreground fabrics
• 12.5″ x 12.5″ piece of background fabric, which you will cut in half
• FQ of same background fabric
• Rotary ruler, including a long one, such as Creative Grids 4.5″x 18.5″
• Rotary cutter
• Fabric scissors
• thread
• pins
• Stiletto
• Design surface or sandpaper board
• sewing machine

Optional

• Mary Ellen’s Best Press
• hand sewing needle
• hand sewing thread
• Judy Martin’s Point Trimmer
• tearaway stabilizer
• numbered and lettered pins

Important information:

• Block is 12.5″ unfinished, 12″ finished
• These directions use a quarter inch seam allowance. Check your seam allowance before you begin. If you don’t know how to do that, there are resources available, including one from Connecting Threads and from Craftsy. Search the web for others.
• You will be directed to use the Triangle Technique. Make sure you have the chart as well as the instructions handy.
• Respect the bias.

Templates

You really only a need a template for the basket handle. If you are using templates for all of your pieces, then prepare all the templates for pieces in the patterns as directed below.

Prepare pattern for your basket handle template by printing two copies of the pattern. I prefer to do this first so when I get into the throes of sewing I don’t have to stop and fiddle around with templates.

You will eventually place one copy of the pattern in your binder, but keep it handy so you can use it as reference.

Nota bene: You probably know how to make templates. However, I am including a quick refresher.

• Rough cut* the handle pattern out of the second printout.

• Glue the paper pattern (with seam allowances) using the glue stick to the template plastic.

It is okay to use scraps of template plastic. Put a piece of tape on seam lines to keep the joins stiff.

• Fine cut** the paper pattern and template plastic you have adhered so you have an accurate template, cutting off any seam allowance that may have printed.

If you plan to machine sew the handle, prepare another basket handle template, in the same manner, without seam allowance.

Fabric

Gather your fabric and press it all. Rough cut some pieces and press them with Mary Ellen’s Best Press to help deal with the bias. Treat the large background triangle and the basket handle in the same manner.

Cutting

Basket Handle
In my example basket, above (same as at the beginning of the post), this fabric is the medium blue.

Place fabric large enough for your basket handle wrong side up on your table or cutting mat.

Place your handle template right side down on the wrong side of the fabric.

Trace around the template carefully with your Pigma pen. Trace carefully without pulling or tugging at the fabric. You will be dealing with some bias on the curves. You will need to carefully move your hand along the template to keep it in place while you trace. Use the Pigma pen with a light touch.

Using your fabric scissors, cut around the traced image, cutting the drawn line off. If you are using a template with no seam allowance, leave approximately a quarter inch seam allowance on all sides.

Set the handle aside.

Background:
In my example, above, this fabric is the blue Michael Miller Ta Dot with white dots.

Measure the template for the large triangle of background fabric. It should be 10″ on each of the outside edges WITH seam allowance. Cut a square 10.5″ x 10.5″. You can trim it later. Better safe than sorry. Press the square with Mary Ellen’s Best Press.

Cut the square in half along the diagonal.

Cut the following additional pieces according to the measurements given:

• 2 patches: 2.5″x8.5″

• 1 patch: square 4 7/8″x 4 7/8″. Cut in half. Nip off the bunny ears with the Judy Martin Point Trimmer
• 1 square: 5″ x 5″. Cut in half on the diagonal and set your second triangle aside

You can cut some of the background pieces out of the leftover triangles.

Foreground fabric:

The foreground fabric is used for the basket. You will need at least two fabrics for this part. In my example I am using a scarlet red and a medium blue. See picture above for placement of foreground fabrics.

• 1 square: 2.5″ square
• For the HSTs, you will need 2 squares from different fabrics, according to the HST Size Chart, 6.25″ x 6.25″.
  • Nota bene: The above Triangle Technique only yields 8 HSTs. You can make another set using the Triangle Technique directions and have some extras, or you can cut the triangles themselves
• 1 square 2.5″ x 2.5″

• Cut 4 squares 2 7/8 in. by 2 7/8 in. the second background fabric (red in my project). Cut in half. These are the base and top line of your flower basket.

You should now have all of your pieces cut. Look for the next part of the tutorial on sewing the block together. It will be available tomorrow.

Terminology:

* Rough cut means that you cut around the outside line and a little away from it, leaving some extra paper. This helps to position the template properly and eventually cut it accurately.

** Fine cut means that you cut the template out very exactly and carefully getting rid of any extra paper and template material used when you rough cut. This is the shape you will use to cut your fabric so prepare this step with care.

The next block is the Dresden Plate, which we are making using templates. As you have probably guessed, there are a large number of methods of making blocks. If you would like to see a wide variety of Dresden Plates, you can do a Flickr search to see what others are doing.

Supply list:

• pen
• heat resistant template plastic
• Glue stick
• paper scissors
• Pilot SCUF black thin point pen or Pigma Micron or Sewline pencil
• magazine subscription postcard or small piece of scrap card stock
• pins
• 12.5″x 12.5″ or larger square rotary cutting ruler (I like Creative Grids)
• fabric
• Mary Ellen’s Best Press (or similar)
• stiletto or similar (skewer might work)
• sharp fabric scissors
• thread for piecing
• sewing machine
• basic sewing kit

1. Select your petal fabrics. You can use 2 or many. You want to be able to see the work you have put into this block. Above are all of my options. I didn’t end up using all of them.

2. Print 3 copies of Dresden Plate Templates pattern. Two you will cut out and one you will keep for future reference.

3. From one pattern sheet rough cut around the petal and the circle including the seam allowance.

4. From one pattern sheet rough cut around the circle template and the petal template excluding the seam allowance. On the petal, cut off the thick black line. For the circle, leave the thick black line on the template.

Optional: Write ‘Dresden Plate” on each piece (or some way of identifying why you made these templates for later). Make a notation on the circle with no seam allowance so you don’t it mixed up with the other circle.

5. Glue circle and petal templates to template plastic

6. Carefully cut templates out of template plastic just outside of thin outside line.

7. Extend the straight line into the seam allowance with a ruler and a very sharp pencil or pen.

8. Right where the curve starts to move away from the straight line of the template, draw a line between those two points.

9. At the intersection, poke the corner of the petals to mark sewing start and stop points. I used a pin and then enlarged the holes with a seam ripper.

Cut your fabric into rectangles larger than your petal templates.

Optional: Spray rectangles of petal fabric with Mary Ellen’s Best Press to control the bias.

10. Place fabric wrong side UP on your table or cutting mat. Trace around the petal template, which is face down on the wrong side of the fabric. In order to keep that template still, hold the template tight down on the fabric with your fingers near where your pencil or pen is moving around the template.

11. Use at least 2 different fabrics to trace 16 petals. You can use many more. If you use two, alternate them. You want to be able to see the work you have put into this block, so select fabrics with contrast.

12. Trace a circle using the template with the seam allowance. Cut out the fabric circle with a generous seam allowance (more than 1/4″).

13. Cut fabrics using very sharp fabric scissors OR cut straight lines with rotary cutter and curved seams with fabric scissors.

Mark the holes you cut near the curves.

14. Choose your background fabric by laying the petals on the possible background fabrics, approximating the shape of the Dresden plate.

15. Cut a larger block, because the sewing of the block may make it shrink up. Cut a 13.5″x13.5″ background piece. Your Dresden Plate will be appliqued to this piece. Make sure it is square. You will trim the background piece once your block has been completed. Set this aside for now.

16. Line up two petals, right sides together.

17. Pin pieces together by lining up the holes you made when you traced around the template.

18. Sew from point to point, back stitching at each end. DO NOT sew into the seam allowance.

19. Press seams open.

20. Sew petals together in groups of 2, then sew the groups of twos to each other to make groups of 4, etc.

21. Sew between points, back stitching at each end. DO NOT sew into the seam allowance.

22. Sew all petals to each other, back stitching at each end, making a ring.

23. Press all seams open.

24. Trim threads.

25. Lay petal ring face down on your ironing board.

26. Lay the petal template without the seam allowance (which must be made from heat resistant template plastic or cardboard. Don’t use something that will melt) on the back face up.

You probably won’t be able to get the seam allowances flat, but press enough so the fabric knows where the curve is. It will help you when you are ready to stitch it down.

27. Press the curve into the outer edge of each petal. Use the stiletto to hold down the edge and iron right over the stiletto tip and the template. This is the miserable step, so intersperse eating some chocolate or some other sewing. Lay aside.

28. Take your cut piece of background fabric. Fold it in half and press lightly.

29. Fold your background fabric in half again (in quarters) and press lightly.

30. Open and you should be able to see the cross you have pressed into your background piece.

31. Take your plate of petals and line up 4 of the seam allowances with the pressed cross on your background fabric. This will center the plate on the background. Make sure you pay attention to the vertical as well as the horizontal.

32. Pin in place

33. Use thread that matches the plate or is neutral for hand applique’ or a blanket stitch to sew plate to background. You can also machine applique’ the plate to the background. We will cover that technique in another lesson, but there are many other tutorials available.

34. Pin curved edges of plate as you move around the plate to applique’.

35. Knot the thread sufficiently so the knot does not pop through the background.

36. Bring the thread up from the back through the fold of the plate (where you pressed the seam allowance).

37. Tug gently and put the needle into the background, just catching it, and pull the needle tight through the fold of the plate again.

38. Go around the entire plate in this manner, using the needle to tuck in the seam allowance so it has a smooth round shape.

39. Trace the circle template without the seam allowance onto the magazine subscription card.

40. Cut out the magazine subscription card circle, being sure to cut off the pencil/pen line.

41. Take the circle fabric you have cut and wrap it around the magazine subscription card circle.

42. Using any thread, take a running stitch in the seam allowance of the circle fabric and tighten it, keeping the magazine subscription card circle flat. If the magazine subscription card does not have enough body, you can also use the circle template without the seam allowance.

43. Press the drawn up circle well, so it is flat and a perfect circle. You will need to tug on the thread to draw the circle up as you press the first time. Once the fabric knows it needs be pressed you can pull the thread tight and make a knot.

44. Pin the circle to the center of the block, covering the raw edges of the center petals.

45. Applique’ using the same directions you used to applique’ the plate.

46. Trim block to 12.5″x12.5″. You might want to wait until on this step until you start assembling the quilt.

The green, turquoise, black and pink sample Dresden Plate was made for the class I taught in 2006/2007. I did this one a little differently. I machine stitched the plate to the background and the circle to the center.

As you can see, I also fussy cut fabrics to take advantage of larger spaces in the quilt block.

In the solid Dresden Plate, I placed like fabrics into groups of two for a slightly different look. The center circle was a good showcase for a bit of hand quilting.

 

I store my templates in a ziploc bag with a picture of the block or a label with the name and size of the block on it.

There is a link to this tutorial from the Artquiltmaker Info–>AQ Tutorials link under the header (see above).

In this lesson, we will make a block called The Dove. It is a baby version of the Drunkard’s Path. I like to use the Drunkard’s Path block in this class, but is very fiddly and be frustrating for new quiltmakers. The Dove gives you practice in sewing curves and has larger pieces. If you make this block, the next logical curve practice piece would be a Drunkard’s Path block.

Supplies:

• The Dove pattern
• paper scissors
• template plastic
• glue stick
• fabric (at least 2 different)
• pen (I like the Pigma Micron & the Pilot Ultra Fine Point)
• Fabric scissors
• pins
• Sewing machine
• quarter inch foot or other marking system
• thread
• Iron and ironing surface

Use a quarter inch seam allowance.

This block, as well as the Drunkard’s Path block is made from two types of pieces: a concave ‘L’ and a pie shape. The pie shape forms the circle in the center and the concave ‘L’ can be considered the background. This design has a very strong focal point.

1. Take the The Dove pattern and rough cut the paper templates.
2. Use the glue stick to stick the paper templates to the template plastic. You won’t need heat resistant template plastic as we won’t be ironing over the templates. It is fine to use, though, if that is the only kind you have.
3. Rough cut the templates you have glued to the plastic.
4. Carefully cut out the template on the seam allowance line, cutting off the rough cut paper and plastic.
5. Place your fabric wrong side up on a hard surface.

6. 

   Place the templates wrong side up on your chosen fabric. Nota bene: If you are using symmetrical templates, then it doesn’t matter whether they are right side or wrong side up, but it is good to get in the habit of doing it the right way in case you use non-symmetrical templates in a future project.

7. Draw around the template with your marking implement of choice. You will need to hold your template firmly so it doesn’t shift. You can also rough cut out the fabric pieces if trying to cut precisely with a long length of fabric draped over the cutting table is too difficult.

8. 

   Cut the fabric out carefully using your fabric scissors, especially the curves. Cut the drawn line off the fabric. I used a rotary cutter for the 90 degree angles.

9. Check to make sure that the fabric you just cut out is the same size and shape as your templates. You can lay the template over your fabric to check.

10. 

    Take a pie shape and a concave ‘L’ shape and fold them in half. Line up the edges carefully. The halfway point that you create will be used to make sure the pieces are sewn together evenly. You will want to make the marks so the patches nest. That means you fold the concave piece in half with right sides together and the pie shaped piece in half with the wrong sides together. Mark the halfway point with a pin or through finger pressing.

11. Nestle the pieces right sides together.

12. 

    To do this, line up the middle mark where you have finger pressed to align the blocks accurately.

13. Place a pin in the middle at the finger pressed center

14. 

    Line up the outside edges and place a pin close to the two outside edges. Because of the seam allowance, the piece will look misshapen.

15. Fill in the area between the middle pin and each outside pin with pins. Ease the area between the outside and middle pins into smoothness with your fingers, lining up the edges of the fabric as you do so. Place as many pins as you need between the middle pin and the outside pin. Make sure the fabric is flat and there are no pooches. You may have to ease a bit, but do it very gently so as not to stretch the pieces. If you have to stretch and tug and pull, there is something wrong and you should check to see if your templates match your fabric pieces.

16. 

    Do the same with the second section between the middle and the other outside edge until you have used a lot of pins.

17. 

    Sew Pie to Concave piece, removing pins before you sew over them. You may want to use a stiletto or the point of a pin to keep the edges of the fabric lined up until you sew over the area where the pin was. I also use a seam ripper as a stiletto to keep the two pieces in place after I remove the pins.

18. 

    Press carefully.

19. Repeat for all of the quarter blocks. Once you have sewn the four curves. you have a four patch.

20. 

    Sew 2 quarter blocks together to make a half, then sew the other 2 quarter blocks together so you have two halves.

21. Press so that the center seams nest
22. Pin the two halves together, paying careful attention to the center.
23. Sew the two halves together.
24. Press carefully.

GREAT work! You did it!

In a previous class, I did a tutorial on laying out a Drunkard’s Path. The fabrics and the block are different, but you can get an idea of the opportunities available to you with different fabrics by taking a look at the tutorial.

Resources

Fresh Quilting: Curves Survival Guide by Jen Carlton Bailey – she uses glue instead of pins, which is interesting. I haven’t tried it. I don’t wash my quilts because I pre-wash my fabric, so I am not sure I want a bunch of glue in my seams. It is worth a try especially if you are not a fan of pins.

Some time ago, I saw an episode of Love of Quilting where Jo Morton was the guest. She was showing a technique for making half square triangles that blew my mind. Based on what I saw Marianne and Jo do on the show, I tried the technique and was pleased with the results.

I found this half square triangle (HST) technique to be one of the best I have seen. It is straightforward, there is a minimum of dealing with bias and the squares magically appear all at once.

There are a number of different tutorials for making HSTs (half square triangles/triangle squares) and I link to some of them below. My technique below makes 8 HSTs at a time and can be used for the Double Pinwheel that is part of the Quilt Class tutorials.

This is more of an informational tutorial than a tutorial related to certain blocks. HSTs are a component in many, many blocks designs, so learning to make HSTs using this method will come in handy

I started with 5″ squares, which is the size they used on the show. The 5″ squares make 8 HSTs. I thought it would be a great way to use charm packs. For other sizes, I have created the AQ HST Size Chart. You need this chart to find the sizes of the various pieces to make other block patterns.

Supply list:

• AQ HST Size Chart
• fabric
• rotary cutter
• rotary cutting ruler large enough to cut 4.5″ squares
• rotary cutting mat
  • Optional: rotating cutting mat** (very helpful)
• fabric (2 different)
• Optional: Mary Ellen’s Best Press (or similar)
• pins
• sharp trimmers or scissors
• thread for piecing
• sewing machine
• Iron
• ironing surface
• Sewline pencil** or mechanical pencil

First, I cut two squares according to the AQ HST Size Chart.

Next, using a ruler and my Sewline pencil, I drew an X, corner to corner, on the lighter square.

Place the 2 squares right sides together and press them.  Pin far away from any of the lines.

Next, sew 1/4″ away from each line. I place the guide of my 1/4″ foot on the pencil line, which ensures my needle is 1/4″ away. Sew on both sides of all of the lines.

After sewing, I measured 2.5″ from the side of the square and cut. Don’t move the two pieces. Position your ruler 2.5″ from bottom and make another cut.

Cut the square in a plus configuration 2.5″ – use the middle of the X as a guide. This is called the PLUS cut on the chart. You can draw pencil lines in a plus configuration and cut on those, if you want.

After you cut the PLUS you will have four squares, each with a line drawn diagonally across the middle. Cut the squares in half diagonally on the line. Use the line as a guide. It is more important to line your ruler up corner to corner.

The result is 8 2″ half square triangles. The above are actually a thread or two larger than 2″, which leaves the perfect opportunity for trimming to make them an absolutely perfect 2″. If you trim, you get rid of the bunny ears as well.

Trim the squares to 2″. Line the 45 degree angle line on your ruler up with the diagonal seam line on your HST and trim on all four sides. Trim on all four sides. Don’t be tempted to trim just on two sides.

Now you have 8 beautiful HSTs. The bias edges shouldn’t be scary for you when you use the regular HST method, but this method makes HSTs much easier. This is a fabulous method when you need to make a lot of HSTs in a short amount of time. It is similar to a tutorial that p.s. i quilt posted, but times 4.

My DH came up with a chart showing the different sizes you can make with this technique. Look at this chart to find the correct size for your project.

AQ HST Size Chart

Links:

1. Jo Morton website
2. Jo Morton blog
3. Jo Morton on Andover
4. Wet Canvas tutorial
5. Carole’s Quilting Adventures tutorial
6. B’s Modern Quilting Fish Tutorial
7. p.s. i quilt HST tutorial

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.

Today we will be making the Sawtooth Star block. You will use your newly formed bias skills as well as cutting. You will also learn to make Flying Geese.

I love this block. I could make tons of them and never get bored. Like the Nine Patch, there are a lot of variations of this block to keep it interesting. I made about 1,000 of them for the Star Sampler quilt. Yes, I got tired of making them, but the end result is spectacular and I would make that quilt again.

In the large size (12 inches or larger), it is good to use large prints, like I did, especially with the center. Alternatively, make one of the variations (see Star Sampler for examples of the variations) with more pieces. For now, if you have large prints, use those for this block.

Flying Geese are a unit comprised of two different kinds of triangles. One of them is the same and the other is different from the triangles we used yesterday. The Flying Geese are also used as a component in many types of blocks as well as as a design component by themselves and in borders.

This is a thinking girl’s tutorial to making flying geese. Knowing how to make Flying Geese allows you to make, not only, Sawtooth Star blocks, but also Dutchman’s Puzzle blocks, borders and many other other parts needed for your quilts.

We will be learning the very basic way to make Flying Geese – no special rulers or tricks. There are many other ways to make flying geese and I use a specialty ruler now that I know the basic method. I’ll see about a tutorial using specialty rulers another time.

Supply list:

• Cutting instructions for Sawtooth Star
• fabric
• rotary cutter
• rotary cutting ruler large enough to cut 4.5″ squares
• rotary cutting mat
• fabric (2-3 different)
• Optional: Mary Ellen’s Best Press (or similar)
• pins
• sharp trimmers or scissors
• thread for piecing
• sewing machine
• Iron
• ironing surface
• Sewline pencil or mechanical pencil

First print the cutting instructions (pattern) for the Sawtooth Star block.

Cut your pieces according to the instructions.

The above is the fabric I will use for the ‘wings’.

Turn the squares wrong side up and draw a diagonal line from corner to corner. You will need to do this on all of the squares for your Flying Geese.

Cut the goose, fabric. Nota bene: above is a different fabric than I used in the final block. In the finished block I used an aqua with red dots.

Lay first square that will be a wing on the goose (blue) fabric. The diagonal line should be pointing to the center of the blue piece.

Pin the square to the larger patch. Make sure the pin is out of the way. You will be sewing on that drawn line, so you will need to pin far enough away so the pin doesn’t interfere with the operation of the machine.

Sew along line and trim threads. I use a foot that has an arrow on it. I can line that arrow up with the drawn line and sew away.

Trim 1/4″ away from the sewn line as shown above. You will cut through the wing and the goose.

Press the wing so the front of the wing fabric is showing. You must press the wing into its final position before you sew the other background on to your block.

Place the second wing on the other side of the background fabric. Again, the diagonal line will be pointed towards the center of the larger patch.

Sew and trim as above. Sew so that you cross the previous sewing line.

Press back the 2d wing and, voila’, you have a Flying Geese element.

Now make 3 more and cut your squares for the rest of the block.

You can also make these with various rulers. I often use the Deb Tucker Wing Clipper ruler and also have the various sizes of the Quilt in a Day Flying Geese ruler. I teach this basic method so you know how to do it and don’t have to purchase a specialty ruler. If you plan to make many Flying Geese, I suggest you buy either of the rulers listed above.

You need four of these to make a Sawtooth Star or eight of them to make a Dutchman’s Puzzle.

Bonus pattern: Dutchman’s Puzzle

I found an interesting border on Instagram using Flying Geese.

Now it is time for triangles. Triangles are not hard but you do have to pay attention to the bias. There are different types of triangles and in this block you will make Half Square Triangles. Understanding how to sew triangles expands your repertoire of designs by leaps and bounds.

You will make a 12 inch finished Double Pinwheel block. This block is also a 2×2 grid, just like the Double Four Patch. The pinwheels make up one square in each row of the two by two grid. Plain blocks make up the other squares.

Supply list:

• fabric
• rotary cutter
• rotary cutting ruler
• rotary cutting mat
• fabric (2-3 different)
• Mary Ellen’s Best Press (or similar) is very helpful with the bias
• pins
• sharp scissors
• thread for piecing
• sewing machine
• Iron
• ironing surface
• Optional: numbered pins

Steps:

1. Cut:

• 4 squares 4in. x 4in. for the blades of the pinwheel AKA the triangles. Mine are red in the above photos
• 4 squares 4in. x 4in. from the background fabric. My background fabric is aqua in the above photo. This size will allow you to have enough extra fabric to trim the half square triangles before you sew them into the pinwheel. I like trimming
• 2 -6.5in. squares from the background fabric for the plain background squares.

2. Cut all of the 4in. squares in half on the diagonal.

3. Lay out all of your patches on your design surface so you can see how the block will look.

The cut patches look like they won’t fit.  That is because of the seam allowances. It will all work out in the end. I promise.

4. Put one background triangle and one pinwheel triangle right sides together matching the hypotenuse (longest side) of the triangle.

4A. Spray the two fabric patches with Mary Ellen’s Best Press. Handle the triangles carefully by not yanking on them.

5. Sew one background triangle and one pinwheel triangle together along the hypotenuse of the triangle. I sew them with the background patch on top.

Sew all patches with the same color fabric on top. It will help you keep them organized.

My fingers are just keeping the hypotenuse up against my seam guide. The feed dogs are moving the fabric.

Sew one triangle after the other without clipping the thread between them. This is chain piecing. I use chain piecing to piece all of the triangles. I try and prevent them from falling off the back of my table so the falling triangles don’t yank on the ones still under the presser foot.

6. Sew all triangles needed to make pinwheels. Take them out of the machine and clip the threads between.

7. Take all of your sewn triangles to your pressing surface. First, I set the seam like Fons & Porter suggest and then open the seam and carefully press the seam towards the pinwheel fabric (red dot in my case).

8. Take the pieces to your cutting mat. Line up the diagonal line on your ruler (hopefully you are using a square ruler with a diagonal line) with the diagonal line you have sewed and trim your new half square triangle (HST) block to 3.5in.

• You will need to make this cut twice for each patch as you cut two sides. Trim the top and the right side first. Then, turn the block 180 degrees and then trim the other two sides, which are, once again, the top and the right side.

9. Arrange your sewn HSTs on your design wall to you can be sure that they are arranged in a pinwheel block.

10. Make a note to yourself (use a pin, eyeball it, pinch it) which sides you are going to sew together. Nota bene: This is where numbered pins come in handy, if you decided to buy them.

11. Take 2 half square triangles and place them right sides together underneath your machine’s presser foot.

• The seam allowances on the diagonal should be nested together. This will work if you have pressed all of your HSTs towards the pinwheel fabric. In the above photo you can see how the diagonal seams are lined up when I lift the corner of the fabric to show you. (Professional stunt quiltmaker! Please do not try this at home with your machine running!!!)

12. Making sure you are sewing them in the right orientation, sew two half square triangles together.

13. Press these half pinwheels towards the background.

• You should have 2 pieces of 2 half square triangles ready to sew into a pinwheel.

14. Nest the 2 half pieces together. In the above photo I have put the pin in just to show you about where you should sew. Sew along the middle of the pinwheel

• When you sew try not to cut off the point of the pinwheel center. You will see a V made by the seams you have sewn previously. Make sure you err towards the seam allowance (on your right looking at the needle of the sewing machine) and don’t cut off that V. Ideally, you want to sew one thread towards the seam allowance on top of that V.

• You can just sew over the middle (.5in. on either side of the middle point) to make sure your points match, then you can go over the whole seam once you decide if you like the way the center looks. The ripping out is easier if you only have an inch to do.

When you open the block (with just the middle sewn) you can tell whether or not the center point will match.

A NOTE ABOUT POINT MATCHING: It is really important that you know your tolerance level for points not matching. My points don’t always match and either I leave them or rip them out. If my points are 1/4inch apart, I usually rip them out. If they are 1/16th of inch from one another, I will probably leave them. It is important to know:

• what you are trying to achieve (practice block or show quilt)
• if you are going to think about that seam not matching late into the night and it is going to prevent you from sleeping.
• deadlines
• whether the quilt is a gift to a prize winning quiltmaker or a baby who will drool all over it.
• How busy the fabrics are (can you actually see the seams matching?)

Be kind to yourself when you think about whether to agonize over a seam not matching. Have fun, there is always more fabric and don’t make yourself crazy.

15. Sew the halves together, along the whole side, for both pinwheels. If you have sewn along the middle for an inch, make sure you stay on that line when you sew the whole side together.

• See that nice little square that the pinwheel makes in the center? That means you did it right!

16. Press the pinwheels patches in the same direction as the other triangles. It will look like the seam allowances are spinning. It will also make less bulk in the center of the block.

17. Sew the large 6.5inch background square to each of your pinwheels. Pay attention to which side of the pinwheels they are sewn.

18. Press towards the 6.5inch square/background.

19. Nest the two pieces (which are made up of a pinwheel and a background patch).

20. Sew over the middle  starting from about .5inch on either side of the middle to make sure your seams match and you have not cut off points.

21. Sew the 2 pieces together starting on one side, sewing over the middle where you have already sewn and continuing to the end of the block.

22. Press whichever way the seam seems to want to go. I like to press each half of the seam towards the background. It makes for kind of an ugly pressing job, but I am not going to quilt over that center anyway, so, for me, it doesn’t matter. Pressing this seam open also works.

• You could trim the seam in the middle, but I don’t do that. Jo Morton talks about doing that and you might want to check out her website and YouTube videos.

  

Look how nice the 3 blocks look together!