Welcome to week 3, quilty friends! This week we will create the star points for each of the blocks. If you are just catching up, go back to Week 2 (cutting fabrics and sewing square-in-a-square blocks) or Week 1 (choosing fabric and quilt layout) to catch up on our quilt progress.
Sewing Star Points
This week’s task to sew star point blocks is the most challenging in the strawflower quilt. I’ll walk through my process for sewing these blocks, below, but I have a video to help you too. You can access the video HERE.
The star points are made by first cutting a strip of fabric into equilateral triangles. The pattern includes a template, but I find it much easier to use your cutting ruler. Make sure to place the first cut and the leftover strip into your scrap pile – you do not need these pieces for this pattern. Once you have made the first cut, simply use the 60 degree line on your ruler to cut all four triangles
Next up, we will sew those small 1″ strips onto the sides of the triangles. You can see my process below and the pattern details exactly how to place your strips to ensure you will be able to trim. My best advice for this step is to think of your triangle edge as a straight edge on a rectangle. I know this sounds funny, but there is a tendency to push the triangle through at a slant. Keep this edge straight as it goes under the needle and you will have much cleaner seams.
The last step on these blocks is sewing the half-rectangle triangles on opposing sides of the triangle. Most importantly for this step, make sure the skinny point of the half-rectangle triangle is hanging slightly off the edge of your triangle before sewing. This will ensure that your blocks will be able to be trimmed correctly to 5 7/8″ x 5 1/4″
This is a time-consuming week as we sew these star points, but it is so worth it. The star points give this quilt pattern the extra pop they need. If you fall behind this week, don’t worry, you will have more time to catch up in Weeks 4 and 5.
