Starburst Quilt-A-Long - Making Blocks

**  NOTE  - This post is part of a series of posts for the Starburst Quilt-A-Long.  If you would like to join (and have a chance to win one of the $75.00 Gift Certificate grand prizes sponsored by The Intrepid Thread ) you can find a list of the post links here :)  Once again, here is the schedule, but if you want to work ahead you can use the tutorial  just be sure to take pictures of your weekly assignments so you can link them up for weekly prizes :)

January 14 - Cutting Post
January 21 - Goose in the Corner and Half Square Triangles
January 28 - Flying Geese
February 4 - Building Blocks - At least 2
February 11 - Finish Blocks and Sashing
February 18 - Baste it, Quilt it, Bind It
March 4 - Starburst Parade and Grand Prizes

Now, before we get into this week's assignment let's get a winner from last week!!

The Flying Geese winner who gets a Honey Honey Charm Pack  is . . .#49 -Liz- Congrats :)

I am so excited for this week!!  This weeks assignment is to make at least 2 of your Big Blocks!! I just love seeing it all come together!!    

THIS WEEKS ASSIGNMENT  - BUILDING BLOCKS

Now all of the building units are made and we can get to making the blocks.  Start by sorting your building units into the block groups that you decided before cutting.  

Each grouping should have 2 sets of flying geese (1 set of 4 with the "sky" in print fabrics and 1 set of 4 with the "geese" in print fabrics), 16 half square triangles, 4 goose in the corner blocks that match the "geese" print fabrics, and a larger center square that matches the "sky" print fabrics.  Then to each set add 4 background squares and 4 background rectangles.  

When sewing these blocks together placement is key!!  Place close attention to the direction of each piece.  I find it easiest to lay the entire block out first as follows.   

We'll start by sewing the center star first. Lay the center star out as follows.   

First, lay your background squares onto either side of the flying geese unit with right sides together on the top and bottom row.  Sew a 1/4"seam along all 4 sides.  Press towards the background fabric.  

Now, lay the flying geese units onto either side of the center square with right sides together aligning raw edges.   Pin in place and then sew a 1/4" seams along pinned edge. See next picture for tip on sewing.   Press towards the center square.

To get a perfect point on your geese unit be sure to sew directly through the center of the x created from your geese seams.  Even if you sew a little larger or a little smaller than a 1/4" sewing through the center of this x is going to give you the perfect point finish.

Now simply sew the 3 rows together.  Start by placing the top row onto the center row with right sides together taking care to nest the seams and then pin them in place.  Now sew a 1/4" seam along the pinned edge, once again, taking care to sew directly across the x created by the goose unit.  Press seams open.  Repeat for the bottom row.  

And your center star is complete.  So pretty!!!

Next, you will create the Side Bursts. Start with your HST's.  Lay 2 HST's out in the layout of the top row and two in the layout of the bottom row as shown below.  They look a lot a like, but they are different.  Lay the top HST onto the bottom row with right sides together and raw edges aligned and pin for both the top and bottom row.  Sew a 1/4" seam  along the pinned edge.  Press the seams open and Wha La.  Burst Points.  Now repeat to make a total of 4 Burst Points for each of the 2 layouts.  

Now to make the centers of the Side Bursts.  Grab your Flying Geese with the print as the "Geese" and your background rectangle and lay out as follows.  Lay your background rectangle onto your geese with right sides together and pin.  Sew a 1/4" seam along the pinned edge.  Press towards the background fabric.  Repeat to make 4 units total.

Now it is just a matter of sewing the 3 units together.  Lay your 3 units out as follows.  Place your Burst Points onto your geese unit with right sides together and pin.  Sew a 1/4" seam along the pinned edge.  *See the following picture for hints on how to keep the perfect point when sewing.  Press the seams open.  

When sewing these units, you are lining up 2 points. So to ensure that they are perfect I like to do the following.  Place a pin right through the point of where the background fabric meets the print fabric, then continue to push the pin through the second unit right where the point of the geese unit is.

Now straighten your two units so the pin is directly facing up and down.  This means your two points are aligned.  Pin the edges and then pin the center seam.  Remove the guide pin.  When sewing your 1/4" seam make sure to cross your sewing line directly over the bottom of that tiny background fabric triangle where you placed your guide pin. 

Repeat this little process to make a total of 4 Side Bursts.  

Now it's time to sew the entire block together.  Hooray!!    Layout out your sewn units and Goose in the Corner blocks as follows.  Start by sewing the pieces into three rows by adding your Goose in the Corner blocks to the Burst Units in the first and third row.  Then add the Side Burst's to the center star in the center row.  Use the same techniques as you used to create the units to ensure that you get nice perfect points.  And like always, use a 1/4" seam and press seams open to avoid bulk.  (I am sorry, I forgot to take a picture of this step :)

Once the three rows are created it is simply a matter of sewing them all together.  Start by laying the top row onto the center row.  Align and pin your seams.  Sew a 1/4" seam along the pinned edge taking care to use your techniques of sewing over the ends of those bitty background triangles to ensure perfect points.  Press the seam open and then repeat to add the bottom row to the center.

And your block is complete!!  Now repeat to build your other blocks!!  This week's assignment is to build just 2 blocks, but if you get in a groove and want to work ahead your welcome too :)

 So that's it!!!  Get your 2 blocks made and your assignment is complete!!!  And now you can enter to win the weekly prize :)

The Weekly Prizes are sponsored by the Fat Quarter Shop and a huge thanks goes to them for their support of the Starburst Quilt-A-Long.

This weeks  prize is a $25.00 Gift Certificate to Fat Quarter Shop, so you can buy whatever you like!!! 

So what do you have to do for a chance to win??  Simple . . . Just link up your 2 Blocks at the end of this post :)  You can link to a blog post or a flickr picture, or whatever.  Just make sure to link up by next Monday morning as I will be announcing a winner at the beginning of next weeks post :)

**If you are only making one block for a pillow or wall-hanging, please link up next week instead of this week, that way you will still be entered for the "Grand Prize".

Like always, if you don't get your blocks done by next week you can still link it up :) (just not in time for the prize :)    The linky will remain open until the end of the Quilt-A-Long.  Link up when you can :)

And don't forget to add your blocks to the Happy Quilting Quilt-A-Long Flickr group!!!  

And remember - Questions??  Please don't hesitate to send them to me at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Major Procrastination

I found out about 8 months ago that I would be teaching a class on my Braided Irish Chain quilt.  I was so excited!!  First thing I realized was that I was going to have to write a pattern for the class, especially because when I first submitted the design for the class, I changed the size options to make it more  "bed size friendly"  .  Well, I procrastinated, and procrastinated.  And then I procrastinated a little bit more.    And finally, the week before the class, I sat down and started writing the pattern.  I finished a day before the class :) Yup, all about last minute around these parts ;)  And I am so linking this finish up to Amanda's ;)

 I originally intended to write this pattern for just a California King size and a Queen size, but once I got going I couldn't stop.  So the pattern actually has 6 sizes, others sizes include Baby, Lap, Twin, and King.  The pattern also goes over detailed instructions on how to strip piece each size to help save tons of time in stitching.

I am so happy to have finally finished this!!  I will be honest, pattern writing, not so much fun for me.  But I loved seeing all of the finishes from my class yesterday so that makes it worth it ;)   I have always loved this quilt design and now I totally want to make it in a baby size for a good friend who is expecting.  I just need to wait to find out if it is a girl or a boy.

I have listed this pattern at a temporary discounted price of $6.00.  I will keep it at this price until Valentine's Day, and then it will be listed at my regular pattern price of $7.50. Patterns can be found here.

Purchase pattern from Craftsy - Instant Download

Purchase pattern from Etsy - Emailed within 24 hours.

I so appreciate all of the kind comments that I have been sent my way on this design.  It really is one of my favorite designs I have created and will always have a special place in my heart as it was my first official teaching opportunity.  I hope you like it too :)  Have a Happy Quilting Weekend!!

I Loved It!!!

So the nerves lasted for about 5 minutes, and then, it was pure quilting delight :)  I Love Teaching!!!  (Teaching quilting that is, trying to teach my kids to read, not so much:)    It was so much fun.  I loved seeing everyone's fabric choices, their different ways in sewing their blocks together.  I loved jumping from table to table to answer questions and share little tidbits.  And most of all, I loved getting to know the amazing ladies in my class through a medium that we all love.

I hope all of my class members enjoyed being in the class as much as I enjoyed teaching it.  They really were a great bunch of ladies.  I used my hanging quilt as a "posting board" as there was no where else to hang it.  It was kind of fun to see it come together as we added piece by piece :)  This is what it looked like towards the end of class. (And my MIL said I needed to be in at least one of the pictures so I jumped in this one :)

Here are half of the ladies in my class.  My MIL is the one in the middle in the blue jacket.  She and another guild member were the official "helpers" for my class.  They did a lot of pressing and cutting and were such a huge help to so many members of the class!!

Here is the other half of my class.  We had 21 ladies total and I really do think they all enjoyed it. They close the class as 20 members but we let one extra squeak in :) We pinned, pressed, sewed,  and chatted.

By then end of the 3 hour class there were over half that had their first block done and one super speedy class member that had 2 blocks done.  It is so much fun to get to see everyone's finishes!!

All in all, a  spectacular experience!!! I am so looking forward to my class on Saturday and then to teaching 5 classes in June at the Panguitch Quilt Walk, which happens to open registration tomorrow.  Got a few spared days in the beginning of June and in the vicinity??  I would love to see you there :)  It will be so much fun!!!

EDIT - To answer the question . . . The plan is to have this PDF Pattern available tomorrow :)

I'm Teaching Today!!

I am so totally excited, and a little nervous, but mostly totally excited!!!!    I can't believe I will be teaching in just under an hour.  I mean, how awesome is that I get to share with others one of my all time favorite things to do.  Squeal!!!

I spent most of yesterday printing my patterns for the class members.  This took way longer than I anticipated and it was a little crazy before dinner last night. (I was trying to keep the patterns cheap for class members so I printed them at home on my printer vs at Staples, cheaper but time consuming :) It probably didn't help that I had to spend the first few hours of the morning writing the end of the pattern.  Ya, writing the actual pattern is not so much fun, so I tend to procrastinate that part.  What ya gonna do :)  I have to admit though, it looks cool to see a huge pile of them :)  (I will be uploading these patterns in the next few days, stay tuned ;)

Last night before going to bed I made a big pile on my sewing room floor of everything I could possibly think of that I would need for my class.  I have my quilts set to display at the front of the class.  

I have my samples all put together and ready to teach with.  Shout out - Thanks again Mom for helping me with these. She is making a Braided Irish Chain so I wouldn't end up with a bunch of widow blocks, and is letting me use her fabric and pieces for the samples.   Isn't she the greatest!!

And then I just started to add to the pile.  I threw in anything that I thought would aid in the class, mostly in case someone forgot something.  Irons and boards, since that always seems to be the hold up when people are sewing in large numbers.  My cutting mat, rulers, and rotary cutter.  And then a bag full of extra seam rippers, scissors, thread, pins, and extension cords.

I think I have everything covered.  Did I forget something??  Oh well, to late now.  I am out the door and off to teach!!  Yippee Skippee!!  Wish me luck :)   Oh, and I will try to remember to take some pictures so I can share,  (But don't hold me to that :)

Starburst Quilt-A-Long - Flying Geese

**  NOTE  - This post is part of a series of posts for the Starburst Quilt-A-Long.  If you would like to join (and have a chance to win one of the $75.00 Gift Certificate grand prizes sponsored by The Intrepid Thread ) you can find a list of the post links here :)  Once again, here is the schedule, but if you want to work ahead you can use the tutorial  just be sure to take pictures of your weekly assignments so you can link them up for weekly prizes :)

January 14 - Cutting Post
January 21 - Goose in the Corner and Half Square Triangles
January 28 - Flying Geese
February 4 - Building Blocks - At least 2
February 11 - Finish Blocks and Sashing
February 18 - Baste it, Quilt it, Bind It
March 4 - Starburst Parade and Grand Prizes

Now, before we get into this week's assignment let's get a winner from last week!!

The GC and HST winner who gets a $25.00 Gift Certificate  is . . .#41 -Izzy - Congrats :)

Wow, can you believe January is almost over already!!  Time flies :)  This weeks assignment is to make a whole flock of Flying Geese.    My fabric finally arrived after it's scary postal ordeal so I am super excited to have new pictures for this week!!  Yippee Skippee!!  

THIS WEEKS ASSIGNMENT  - FLYING GEESE

The great thing about making flying geese this way is that you don't waste any fabric and you never have to sew a triangle.  Double bonus!!  So let's get to it.

Start by gathering those piles you have marked as FG (Flying Geese)  You should have 4 large squares cut from your background fabric and 4 large squares, 4 each from your 4 different print fabrics (all measuring either 7 1/4". 9 1/4", or 11 1/4").  You should also have 16 smaller squares cut from your background fabric and 16 smaller squares, 4 each from your 4 different print fabrics, (all measuring either 3 7/8", 4 7/8 , or 5 7/8 ).  Separate the fabrics into 2 piles with the small background squares matched with the large print squares and the large background squares matched with the small print squares.
NOTE** Once again,  To save time, repeat each of the following sub-steps in an assembly line fashion making a whole flock of geese, vs 4 at a time.   I will be showing  an example of the print as the "sky" on the left hand side of the pictures and an example of the print as the "geese" in the right hand side of the picture.

With right sides together, lay two small squares onto your large square as shown.  Using your ruler, draw a pen line diagonally from the top left corner to the bottom right corner.

Now pin both sides of each square adjacent to that drawn line.  Make sure to put them out far enough that your presser foot won't hit them as you sew on by :)  Stitch a 1/4" seam along EITHER side of the drawn line (the black lines represent your stitching lines :)  Remember, you are doing these assembly line, so like the HST's,  first chain stitch all the 1/4" seams on the right hand side of the drawn line then clip threads and proceed to chain stitching all the 1/4" seams on the left hand side of the drawn line. 

Once again, clip your threads and then align your ruler along the drawn center line.  Cut along the edge of the ruler creating 2 large triangles.

Press the seams up towards the 2 little triangles.

Now, take 2 more little squares and align them on your two stitched pieces as follows with right sides together.  Once again, draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of the little squares from corner to corner.

Now pin each piece far enough to leave room for the presser foot, then once again, stitch a 1/4" seam along either side of the drawn diagonal line.  (Remember to chain stitch all the left and then all the right sides :)

Clip your threads and then using your ruler aligned along the drawn line cut your 2 pieces in half to create 4 pieces.

Press up to match the other seam.  Lastly, trim off the little corners at either side and the top of your unit.

And you are done!!!  Perfectly precise flying geese blocks without throwing away any scraps and without sewing a single triangle.  Fabulous!!  You should have 32 Flying Geese total, 16 with print geese, and 16 with print sky.  

Here are my 32 geese, all ready to fly away!! 

EDIT -   For those of you that are new to this method of No Waste Flying Geese,  I wrote a previous tutorial on  No Waste Flying Geese that also goes over the math of making them so you can make any size Flying Geese you like.  thought you might like it :)

  And that's it!!  Get your Geese made and your assignment is complete!!!  And now you can enter to win the weekly prize :)

The Weekly Prizes are sponsored by the Fat Quarter Shop and a huge thanks goes to them for their support of the Starburst Quilt-A-Long.

This weeks  prize is a Honey Honey Charm Pack by Kate Spain for Moda.  This is a beautiful line!!!

So what do you have to do for a chance to win??  Simple . . . Just link up your "Geese" at the end of this post :)  You can link to a blog post or a flickr picture, or whatever.  Just make sure to link up by next Monday morning as I will be announcing a winner at the beginning of next weeks post :)

Like always, if you don't get your blocks done by next week you can still link it up :) (just not in time for the prize :)    The linky will remain open until the end of the Quilt-A-Long.  Link up when you can :)

And don't forget to add your blocks to the Happy Quilting Quilt-A-Long Flickr group!!!  

Next week we will start to make blocks!!   So exciting!!!!

And remember - Questions??  Please don't hesitate to send them to me at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!