LONE STAR BLOCKS WITH NO Y SEAMS

I like Star blocks like Lone Star and Lemoyne Star. Traditionally they are made with Y-Seams. While that is not particularly difficult, it is not fast, it takes time to stop at the right place, backstitch, double check it's all right, etc.

Here is a way to make the Lone Star block without Y-seams. It does require an extra seam in each of the background pieces. Essentially, it is made as a Four Patch:

I found a great video you will find helpful for this process. It is for a much larger star made from 2.5" strips but the process is pretty interesting. It does waste a bit of background fabric but it only requires one size of background squares. I used two different sizes to minimize waste. I just needed to keep the two sizes organized where they needed to go.  

LONE STAR QUILT BLOCK WITH AMANDA CASTOR

 I was very glad I found this great video--I am planning to make a Quilt of Valor from these blocks with the instructions in this video.

Back to our 10" LONE STAR BLOCK. I only used 3 fabrics for the star, the green outer tip, the yellow inside tip (center) and the blue middle round. 

The star fabrics are cut 1.5" wide. Green and yellow each require one half a full strip, about 21". Blue requires a full strip since it is used twice.

The background squares I cut 4.5". There are 8 of those needed.

Be sure to watch the video above. Here are photos of my process:

Press toward the green, and toward the yellow

Be sure to cut at a 45 degree angle, 1.5" segments

Pin and Peek--be sure the center is as good as you want it to be. It is helpful to machine baste the intersection if you have trouble getting it to align with just a pin, an inch of basting stitches is easy to remove and retry if necessary

Maintain the 45 degree angle and trim off the tails

I decided to sew the background triangles on two different ways--the way shown in the video, and the way I did it on my previous 4 blocks. 

The Video method

One half sewn together with the Video triangle method

My original method--I just changed it to use one size triangle

One half sewn together with my method

Two halves

Sewn together

Very carefully trim the complete block to 10.5". Using a large square ruler really helps. 

Let me know what you think of this block. It is the way I made the one star block for my small sample of Oh My Stars!:

All of the stars in this large quilt were made the traditional way, with Y-seams:

The "No Y-seams method" is so much easier to me. It's your quilt, you get to decide.

Let's quilt.

Barbara

ALTERNATIVE BLOCKS FOR LAUREL RIDGE

 I was asked about the two alternative blocks I made for my Laurel Ridge quilt, the 2025 BOM quilt designed by Lynn Wilder exclusively for The Quilt Show

Any 5" blocks can be substituted for any 5" blocks in the quilt. I wanted a simple block to help me finish this project. And I wanted a more complex block to add interest.

The EASY BLOCK -- Five Patch Shoo Fly:  Brackman #1847

For a 5" finished block, there are 4 Half Square Triangles (HST) 2" finished, and 4 Rectangles 1" x 2" finished. And a center square 1" finished.  

Make HST as you like. I made two blocks at once by cutting a 6" square of background and the green fabric. Draw a diagonal line in both directions, then sew 1/4" on either side of the drawn lines. Cut apart into 8 sewn triangle pairs. Trim HST to 2.5" and you have 8 HST, 2.5" with seam allowance.

This is the same way we made HST for the Basket Blocks in Month 5: Month 5  These are two different sizes but the process is the same:

Cut 4 rectangles 1.5" x 2.5", and 1 center square 1.5". Sew the block together, in 3 rows, very easy. The block is 5.5" with seam allowances.

There are other ways to make HST. See my TUTORIAL here: Half Square Triangles

The MORE COMPLEX BLOCK -- Mosaic, Brackman #2123:

What I liked about this is the Flying Geese are the same size as those made in Month 1: 1.25" x 2.5" finished. See my blog about that here: Month 1

The HST corners are 1.25" finished. I made 8 of them at once from two 4.5" squares, one background, one dark pink. The process is the same as described above. 

The center square can be made a couple ways. I pieced it. The plaid square is cut 2.25". The background triangles that surround the plaid center are cut from 2 squares cut 2.25":

Sew two opposite triangles to the square, press toward the triangles. Add the remaining two opposite triangles, trim center block to 3" square. 

Now assemble the block in three rows. There are a lot of seam allowances on the back. Here is how I pressed mine. You might prefer to press seams open. I starched it and set two heavy clappers on the block to dry flat:

So there you have the two alternative 5" blocks I made. 

Next week I will show how I made four 10" Lone Star blocks, that take the place of sixteen 5" blocks:

Let's quilt.

Barbara

I MADE IT!

 An extra, non-quilty post today to celebrate a date I've been looking forward to:

Today I turn 71!

Last year I wrote about the significance of turning 70, read that here: BIRTHDAYS 

Both my parents died, years ago, at age 70. I wanted to see 71 and today I can say I made it.

Ready for a birthday dinner with friends:

My mom and dad have been gone a long time, 30 years for my mom, 28 for dad:

Their wedding day, 1950, Mom's high school photo, late 1930's, Dad in the Navy, mid-1940's 

1994, last photo of them taken on a cruise vacation

Mom and Dad were married almost 45 years. Will and I are headed to 50 years on our next anniversary. They lived long enough to see their grandchildren born, and so have we. 

When I reflect on the major changes I have made for my health in the last few years I am grateful and happy. This photo was taken 13 years ago, at about my worst. I won't delete this photo as it tells part of  my story and shows how far I have come:

Lauren and Andy Wilkins wedding day, 2012

To read more about this journey, see the tab above: HEALTH JOURNEY

As I look forward to a long, happy future, I leap out of bed each morning, determined to exercise hard, each day. And to eat smart, most days. My plan is to BE STRONG, BE PATIENT, and BE HAPPY. 

As I told my family last year, once I make it to 71, each additional day is a gift. That's why they call it the "present". 

I am hopeful the BEST IS YET TO COME for me. That is what motivates me to keep my spirit, mind,  and body as fit as I can. The future awaits and I plan to be ready.

And, now, let's quilt.

Barbara