** NOTE - This post is part of a series of posts for the Starstruck Quilt Along. If you would like to join (and have a chance to win one of three $75.00 Gift Certificates from Fat Quarter Shop ) you can find a list of the post links here :) Here is the schedule
October 23rd - Queen/King Piecing and Grand Prize Linky!!! (That's Today!!)
November 13th - Starstruck Parade and Grand Prize Winners
Now, first off for this week, we need to pick a winner for the Picnic Section Assignment. And way to go everyone that finished the Picnic Section as this was the biggest weekly assignment to get done!!!!
And if you are just finding this QAL, it's never to late to join in the fun :)
The Picnic assignment winner who will get a
$25.00 Gift Certificate from Lou Lou's Fabric Shop is
#11 - Amy!!! - Congrats :)
And this week, we are back to making our Lattice Units. And just like before, we will be doing the instructions slightly condensed, but you can always look back to the Lap Section instructions for further details. So with that, let's get piecing!!!
THIS WEEKS ASSIGNMENT - QUEEN/KING SECTION
And just like last week, we will piece all our Units, and since the units are pretty much the blocks as well, we can get right from the Units to putting together the Queen Section. An if you are making the Fat Quarter Friendly layout today is all about scrappy, so have fun mixing up those prints ;) And to make a Queen Size, it is just adding the Lattice Units and to make it King Size, add the final background border. So let's get started with our only unit of the day. And it is the . . .
LATTICE UNITS
Gather (88) Background Triangles that were cut from 44 of the 7" squares in the cutting stage. Also gather (44) 3 1/2" x 13" Print (Assorted) rectangles.
Place a Background Triangle onto the Print Rectangle just eyeballing the center and Pin all 44 sets. Chain Stitch a 1/4" seam on the pinned edge sewing from the top of the print rectangle to the bottom as shown.
Then clip your threads and stack your units again. And again, Place and Eyeball Center a Background Triangle onto the other side of a Print Rectangle and pin all 44 sets. You can reassure the triangles are centered to each other by matching the points horizontally ;) Then once again, Chain Stitch a 1/4" seam along the pinned edge of all 44 units, stitching from the top of the print rectangle to the bottom.
Then clip your threads and move to the ironing board. Press the seams of all 44 units open. This will make it easier to sew the units together and avoid bulk where the seams line up.
TRIMMING LATTICE UNITS
And now, it is time to trim these Lattice Units Square.
Click on this Link, Download and Print the Queen size
Trimming Template , that is on the second page. And be sure to print it at Actual Size (Custom 100% Scale) and not Shrunk to Fit the Paper. Double check the 1" square to be sure you printed the template correctly. The Template is 8 1/2" square, but if your printer is like mine and won't print to the edge, you might have to use a ruler to finish drawing the lines to the edge of the paper ;)
Now use the template to mark your ruler. It is best if you have an 8 1/2" Square Ruler as you only have to mark the seam lines. But a larger square ruler will work as well, just be sure and mark the two 8 1/2" lines as well.
And now the fun part, trimming. You will be trimming your blocks to 8 1/2" square using your marked ruler. Be sure and align the marked seam lines on your ruler with the seam lines on your Lattice unit and trim all 44 of your units to 8 1/2" square.
You should now have 44 Lattice units that all measure 8 1/2" x 8 1/2" with perfectly centered Print rectangles. So fun and fast and such little waste, I love it !!!
So you are now ready to move on to the final step.
SEWING THE QUEEN/KING SECTION
And this quilt has become so large, I couldn't fit the remaining pictures in my camera frame. So from here on out is digital and slightly condensed instructions. But no worries, by now you are pro's at making these border rows and adding them on to your centers ;) And if you need any helpful hints, just pop back to the
Lap Section instructions for more details :)
We will start by turning our Units into Rows!! Layout your Lattice units in the Four rows as shown below. 2 Rows of 12 Blocks (top and bottom) and 2 Rows of 10 Blocks (sides) , and be sure to follow the same orientation of blocks.
Sew the rows together and press the seams open.
And now your ready to add your Queen border ;) Layout the Picnic Section, the two Side Rows (shorter ones) , and the two Top/Bottom Rows (longer ones) as shown below, again taking care that the block orientation is correct.
Sew the two Side Rows onto the Picnic Section and press the seams open. Then sew the Top and Bottom rows onto the Picnic Section and once again, press the seams open. And your Queen section is done and it should measure appx. 96 1/2" x 96 1/2".
And all that is left is to add the King Background border to your Queen Section. Start by sewing the (10) 4 1/2" x WOF strips together end to end to make one long strip. Cut (2) 4 1/2" x 96 1/2" strips and (2) 4 1/2" x 104 1/2" strips from your long strip.
And as always, you can make your border strips a little longer and trim the excess if desired.
Layout the Pieced Queen Center and the 4 Background rectangles as shown below.
Sew the two Side Background rectangles onto the Queen Section and press the seams towards the Background rectangles. Then sew the Top and Bottom Background rectangles onto the Queen Section and once again, press the seams towards the Background rectangles Trim excess if needed. And your King Section is done and should measure appx. 104 1/2" x 104 1/2". And we are done!!!
So Now It's your Turn :)
Get your Queen/King Section sewn together and we are done!!! And that means, time for the Grand Linky!!! And again, if you have any questions at all please don't hesitate to ask in a comment or email me at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com :)
And regardless of what size quilt you made, it's time to enter your completed Quilt Top to the Grand Prize Linky!!!! So exciting!!!
GRAND PRIZE LINK UP
Remember this from the start?? All those that finish their quilt top will be eligible for the
3 Grand Prizes. The Grand Prize's are sponsored
Fat Quarter Shop and huge Thank You goes out to them for the generosity of these prizes.
The three Grand Prize Winners will each receive a $75.00 Gift Certificate to Fat Quarter Shop!!! That is going to be some awesome fabric goodness!!!!
In order to be eligible to win the Grand Prize you need to Link Up your completed quilt top (not quilted yet, just the quilt top) at the end of this post!!! You have until the early, early morning of November 13th to get your quilt top sewn together and linked to be entered :) And again, you can enter any size from the Wall Hanging up to the King :) And no need to enter each size you made, just enter the size you finished at. Just be sure you link up as . . .
You have to have a link at the end of this post to be entered to
win one of the Grand Prizes.
STARSTRUCK QUILT-A-LONG PARADE
Now, as just mentioned, you only have to have your quilt top done to enter into the grand prize link up . . . However, I wanted to encourage you to finish these quilts and not set them in a pile of "to be quilted" so I am planning a Parade for the 13th of November :) The parade will show off all quilted and bound Starstruck Quilts!!
So, how do you finish up those quilts???
Baste It, Quilt It, and Bind It!! I know, I make it sound all so simple. If you are new to quilting, and need some help with these last few steps, you can see my Video Tutorials that go over the basics of how to do this ;) Also, there are some helpful free motion quilting tutorials if you are stuck on how you want to quilt your project ;)
Once you have your project Basted, Quilted, and Bound it is ready to be showcased it in the Parade. And again, any size can be entered into the parade, just so long as it is quilted and bound. In order to have it in the parade, I need you to please send me an email at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com with your favorite finished Starstruck Quilt picture attached as well as your name the way you would like it listed with your photo, where you are from, and a blog, instagram, or flickr photostream link if applicable. You can email me anytime from now until the evening of November 12th and I will get you added to the Parade!!!
I am so looking forward to seeing everyone's finishes!!! It has been so fun to watch your quilts grow each week and I can't wait to see them all quilted and bound ;) Grand Prize winners will be announced on November 13th along with the amazing parade filled with all of your beautiful quilts.!!! I can't wait!!! I know this is just going to be an amazing parade with so much Starstruck Goodness!!
So, in summary, Link up your quilt top (not quilted) at the end of this post by early morning November 13th to be entered for the grand prize linky. Email me a picture of your finished quilt (quilted and bound) with your name, where you are from, and a place to link your picture, if applicable, by November 12th to be part of the parade.
Alright, I know that was a lot. If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to email me at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com, I don't want any one to miss out on the grand prizes or parades because of confusion ;)
I can't wait to see your Starstruck quilts all done!!! Thank you so much for quilting-a-long with me!!! It has been so much fun and I have loved watching your quilts grow from week to week!!!! Now, off you go to turn those quilt tops into quilts :)
Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!