Block of the Month - March | Cotton Patch Quilters

Feb

2010

Block of the Month - March

Written by Carol Smith

Tips for constructing the Starflower block that we will be drawing for at the March meeting.

CLICK ON IMAGES TO SEE FULL-SIZE.

Once again I cut my fabric a little different than the directions on Quilter's Cache. Cut four 3½" background squares; four 4" background squares; four 4" wine squares; and four 4" gold squares.

Cut each of the 4" squares in half along the diagonal. Now you should have four 3½" background squares, and eight triangles each of background, wine and gold.

Chain piece the trianges right-sides together along the longest side in the following combinations: four wine and gold, four wine and background, and four gold and background.

Press each of the wine/background pairs toward the wine triangle. Press each of the gold/background pairs toward the background triangle. Press each of the wine/gold pairs toward the wine triangle.

Now since we oversized the squares earlier, we need to trim each of the half-square triangles to exactly 3½" square. This is a two-step process. Start by positioning the ruler with the 45 degree line along the diagonal seam. Be sure the 3½" marks on the ruler are inside the square. Trim along the right and top edges.

Now rotate the square so the edge that was at the top is now at the bottom. Position the ruler with the 45 degree line along the diagonal seam and the bottom and left edges right at the 3½" marks on the ruler. Trim along the right and top edges.

You can see after trimming all twelve half-square triangles there is very little waste. But the best thing is we know that each square measures exactly 3½" square.

Now arrange four of the half-square triangles as shown in the photo.

Lay the right square over the left, right-sides together, and sew along the right edge with a scant quarter-inch seam.

Stop after the first one and check to make sure this rectangle measures 3½" by 6½". Adjust your seam allowance if necessary.

Sew the rectangles together to form the square shown below. This square should measure 6½" square.

Remove the vertical stitches on the front and back of this four-patch.

Now you can swirl the seam intersection. Make four of these four-patch blocks.

Arrange as shown and again lay the right square over the left, right-sides together, and sew along the right edge with a scant quarter-inch seam.

Remove the vertical stitches and swirl the seam intersection.

Sew the last seam and swirl all three seam intersections.

Tadahhh - a beautiful Starflower block! And if you've checked your measurements along the way it should measure 12½" square.

Happy quilting and check back next month for tips on making the Saw Toothed block.
Carol

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Roberta said:

	BOM demo Carol: I think you are doing a wonderful job on these demos. Perhaps this could be a new career for you!! Such detail should help anyone make perfect blocks. I would love to have you in my pocket for the project I am doing now. Keep up the good work, my friend. Bravo!!! and Thank you......
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