Thursday, May 3, 2012

BLOCK TWO of Morning Star, Morning Bright

MSMB-2-JPA Finally ... block two! I am so sorry it has taken me months to post this. First I had to find the blocks I had already finished. I couldn't find them anywhere. How does someone lose five huge 12-1/2" blocks? I finally had to enlist my {tall} husband to help ... we spent an hour searching through my studio. When he took a break to play with the dog I grabbed a stepladder and looked on a shelf I hadn't searched yet. Yep - there they were. Pretty much his eye level but under something. Whah - I could have been sewing!


So ... to make things quick and simple I stuck with the Quick 45° Angle Method for making this block. I promise to show you another method soon but I thought this was best to get us back in the groove. A little refresher. Don't forget you'll be able to use a bunch of those leftover triangles later - I promise!

Yep, no pic of the finished block yet ... sorry. I'd thought I'd give everyone a little more time to win that chocolate. As soon as the drawing is closed, I'll replace this pic with the real one! The winner was announced here.  But never fear I'll do it again, Belgium will not run out of chocolate any time soon ... and next time I'll give you more warning and put a deadline for leaving a comment.

These cutting instructions make a 12" Double Morning Star block.

You'll Need:

Block 2 - Morning Star, Morning Bright
Big Star Background:
   A  FOUR 3-1/2" squares
   B  FOUR 3-1/2" x 6-1/2" rectangles

Big Star Points:
   C  EIGHT 3-1/2" squares

Little Star Background:
   D  FOUR 2" squares
   E  FOUR 2" x 3-1/2" rectangles

Little Star Points:
   F  EIGHT 2" squares

Little Star Center:
   G  ONE 3-1/2" square - you might want to play around and try different options.

Use pieces B & C and pieces E & F to make FOUR flying geese units using the Quick 45° Angle Method.  Then you're ready to assemble your block - after you decide what to put in the middle of that little square.

If you need a refresher for the Quick 45° Angle Method just pop back to BLOCK ONE and grab the handout. Mark a diagonal line from corner to corner on the back of each "background" square. I lay a piece of fine sandpaper on my table to keep the fabric from sliding and use a standard mechanical pencil.

Marking Geese

For the small flying geese (2" x 3-1/2") I trimmed my seams to 3/8" (it's marked on a standard 1x12" omnigrid ruler). A tad less bulk but ample seam allowance for these smaller units.

Narrow Trim

I have pics of the block - including how I pressed the back. I'll post them as soon as the chocolate drawing is over.

In the meantime you can piece at least the little star ... I pressed it just like Block One.

So ... Teri Leigh won the chocolate - congratulations!

I thought I'd pop back to reveal my finished block  and show you how I pressed this it ... yes, it got a little weird ... but only a tad ... you know how I don't like pressing seams open.

So I did my little twisty thing again like I did with block one. Worked like a charm. Everything is flat and smooth.

First I made the little star and pressed it just like Block One. Then I added the geese to the left and right (see below). I pressed away from the little star in at the edges but the point of the goose toward the star in the middle.

MSMB-2-back-JPA


Then to add the geese I did this ... it seems weird at first but it did work. And it meant that my seams match and the points of the geese don't go all weird.


MSMB-2-goosedetail-JPA

Here's a bit of an angled close up so you can see how it all worked out.

MSMB-2-backddetail Pin It Now!

1 comment:

  1. My vote for the center is red gingham! I love to mix checks with florals with stripes, etc. Such a pretty block! But then all of your work is just scrumptious.

    -Letty
    lettybarnes@gmail.com

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