STAR POWER BOM/BOQ SETTING IDEA 1 - TWIST & SHOUT

Transcription

1 Below are two deas for settng your blocks together. Of course, there are dozens more! Take your blocks out to play, and decde on a settng that makes you smle! STAR POWER BOM/BOQ SETTING IDEA 1 - TWIST & SHOUT In ths settng, you wll be framng each of your blocks wth colorful power bar copng strps * to make all 12 blocks the same sze, and twstng the blocks to make them dance across your qult. As you wll see, ths method s very forgvng - t doesn t matter f your blocks ddn t come out exactly the rght sze. Ths s a fun way to set together blocks of varous szes. See suggestons at the end of the nstructons for varatons you could try. I suggest you read through the nstructons before you begn. 1. Cut 6 Black strps 1-1/2" wde, across the wdth of the fabrc. Sew the strps end-to-end, usng a straght seam. Cut 8 segments 13-1/2" long, and 8 segments 14-1/2" long. 2. Cut 6 Black strps 2-1/4" wde. Sew the strps end-to-end, usng a straght seam. Cut 8 segments 12-1/2 long, and 8 segments 14-1/2" long. 3. Cut 6 Black strps 3" wde. Sew the strps end-to-end, usng a straght seam. Cut 8 segments 9-3/4 long, and 8 segments 14-1/2" long. 4. Retreve all of your scraps of colored fabrcs from the 12 months of stars. Press the scraps and lay them out so you can see what you have left (whch wll dffer from person to person dependng on how you cut, whether you used FQs or 1/4-yd cuts, whether you made any mstakes and had to recut peces, etc.). Pull out any scraps that are narrower than 1-1/2" wde, or shorter than 6-1/2" long, and put them n your scrap bag (or brng them to a meetng to donate to our charty qult stash). Cut as many 1-1/2" strps as you can get from your colored scraps. Cut along the length of each pece so the strps end up as long as possble. 5. Begn wth one of the 12" blocks (February s Blue-Volet Modern Star, June s Red-Orange Spnnng Star, October s Yellow-Green Pnwheel Star, or December s Blue Mdnght Star). Press the block thoroughly, checkng the back to be sure you don t have any twsted or crmped seam allowances. Select one of your colored strps (n any color) that s at least as long as your block. Lay the strp on top of one edge of the block, rght sdes together, matchng the edges. Trm the strp to the same length as the block, and sew t to the block. Press toward the copng strp. 6. Place the block rght sde up on the cuttng mat wth the colored strp on the left-hand sde. Select another strp, n any color (even the same color as the frst strp - any color wll work), that s at least as long as the block wth the attached strp. Lay the new strp along the top edge, rght sdes together, matchng the edges. Trm t to the same length as that edge (ncludng the already-sewn strp), and sew t to the block. Press toward the copng strp. Repeat these steps for the other two sdes of the block. Your block now should have a colored strp sewn to each sde. 7. Now t s tme to twst and trm the block to 13-1/2 square. If you have a 14" or larger square ruler, you can use that. Angle the ruler on the framed block and trm to gve t a twst, makng sure you leave at least 1/4" seam allowance outsde the corners of the star block. It doesn t matter how much, or how lttle, of a twst you gve the star, or whether you make t twst to the rght or the left. (See dagram below.) * The term power bar copng strps comes from Settng Solutons by Sharon Crag (C&T Pub. 2001). Settng Solutons ncludes lots of tps for settng together varous-szed blocks, harmonzng clashng colors, and usng up those random blocks hdng n your stash.

2 If you don t have a large enough square ruler, here s how to twst and trm your block. Begn on any sde, and place your ruler so the 1/4" lne s at one corner of the star block, and the ruler s long edge runs rght through the opposte corner. (See photos below - photo on rght s closeup of rght edge.) 1/4" lne at corner of star block ö After trmmng, that edge wll look lke ths: Algn that cut edge wth a straght lne on your cuttng mat, and trm the other three sdes to square up the block to 13-1/2" (unfnshed). 8. Retreve 2 of your 1-1/2" x 13-1/2" Black strps. Sew them to two opposte sdes of the block. Trm the block to 14-1/2" wde. Note that you are not twstng the block ths tme; you are just trmmng t straght, wth the Black strp the same wdth across the entre sde. Tp: You want your outer Black strps to end up the same wdth. For that to happen, you must trm the same amount from each of the two Black strps. Lay the block on your cuttng mat wth the Black strps on the sdes. Measure from edge to edge, and subtract 14-1/2". Dvde by 2, and cut that amount from each sde. (Example: If your block measures 15-1/2" from sde to sde, and you subtract 14-1/2", you end up wth 1". Half of that s 1/2", so you would cut 1/2" from each Black strp. Next, retreve 2 of your 1-1/2" x 14-1/2" Black strps, and sew them to the other two sdes of the block. Measure and trm as descrbed above, to make the block 14-1/2" square. 9. Repeat Steps 5 through 8 for the other three 12" star blocks. Note that you can twst the star n ether drecton; f you start at the left sde, nstead of the rght, the block wll spn the other way (so your ruler s 1/4" lne would be at the upper left corner of the star block, wth the ruler anglng up and to the rght, nstead of up and to the left). Each of the four 12" blocks should be squared to 14-1/2". 10. Repeat the above steps to add colored strps to all four sdes of a 9" block. Twst and trm as you dd wth the 12" blocks. After trmmng to make the block twst, then add a second row of strps around the 9" block. When you re ready to twst and trm, use the same angle as before - n other words, f you started by lnng up your ruler s 1/4" lne wth the rght-hand corner, anglng up to the left, do the same thng agan. (If you angle the other way, you ll just brng your block back to straght up and down agan, nstead of havng t twst to the sde. Guess how I know....) After the second trmmng, retreve 2 of your Black 2-1/4" x 12-1/2" strps. Cut the strps to the wdth of the block usng the same method you used for the colored strps. Sew the strps to opposte sdes of the 9" block. Measure and trm the block to 14-1/2" wde as descrbed above n Step 8. Then add one of your Black 2-1/4" x 14-1/2" strps to the other two sdes, and square the whole block up to 14-1/2". Repeat for the other three 9" blocks.

3 11. The 6" blocks are fnshed n the same way as the other blocks, but ths tme, you wll add three rounds of colored strps, twstng and trmmng after each round. After the thrd trmmng, retreve 2 of your Black 3" x 9-3/4" strps; cut to sze as before, and sew to opposte sdes of the block. Measure the wdth and trm to 14-1/2" wde as descrbed above n Step 8. Then add one of your Black 3" x 14-1/2" strps to each of the remanng sdes, and square the whole block up to 14-1/2". Repeat for the other three 6" blocks. 12. Arrange the 12 blocks nto 4 rows of 3 blocks each. Play wth the arrangement - I lke to lay out my blocks n dfferent arrangements, and take photos. It s easer for me to vsualze how the fnshed qult wll look n a photo than t s lookng at the blocks. When you decde on an arrangement, jon the blocks together n rows. Press jonng seams n rows 1 and 3 to the rght, and n rows 2 and 4 to the left. Then jon the rows together, pressng all jonng seams n the same drecton. 13. Add borders as desred. I sttched some of my remanng 1-1/2" colored strps together end-toend, to create a 1" nner border, and then had just enough Black remanng for a 3" outer border. Ths left me wth a dlemma regardng what to use for bndng. I elected to buy another 1/2 yd. of the Black for bndng. VARIATIONS - some dfferent ways to change how you frame your blocks:: If you have lots of the colored fabrcs left over, you mght want to cut your copng strps wder than 1-1/2" to make the qult larger. You could vary the wdths of the colored strps n any (or all) of several dfferent ways, such as (1) alternatng thn and thck strps; (2) placng thn strps on two adjonng sdes, and thck strps on the other two sdes; (3) usng thnner strps on the largest blocks, and makng the strps thcker as the blocks get smaller; (4) pckng certan colors for thck strps, and certan colors for thnner ones. Instead of attachng strps around the block Log Cabn style, you could sew strps to opposte sdes frst, and then the other two sdes (n the same manner as the fnal Black strps are attached). Start by framng the blocks wth Black strps (wth or wthout trmmng to twst the blocks), and then add one or more rounds of colored strps. Ths would make the blocks float n the center of the colored frames.

4 STAR POWER BOM/BOQ SETTING IDEA 2 - FLOATING STARS In ths settng, you wll be framng each of your blocks to make all 12 blocks the same sze. Then you wll add colorful trangles to the corners, and jon the blocks wth Black sashng. Ths s a super easy way to set together blocks of dfferent szes. I suggest you read through the nstructons before you begn. 1. Cut 48 squares 2-1/2" x 2-1/2" from your leftover colored scraps. On the back of each square, draw one dagonal lne from corner to corner. 2. Measure your remanng leftovers of colored fabrcs. Cut several 1"-wde strps from each fabrc that s at least 11-1/2" long. If you have some colors that are shorter than 11-1/2", you can cut 1" strps and pece them together untl they are at least 11-1/2" long. 3. Add a 3" Black strp to all four sdes of each of your 6-1/2" (unfnshed) blocks. Square the blocks up to 11-1/2". Tp: Ths s the perfect tme to compensate for any dfferences n the szes of your blocks. If your blocks ended up a lttle smaller than 6-1/2", then cut your Black strps a lttle wder. If your blocks ended up a lttle larger than 6-1/2", then cut your Black strps a lttle narrower. 4. Add a 1-1/2" wde Black strp to all four sdes of each of your 9-1/2" (unfnshed) blocks, compensatng as you dd for the smaller blocks for any varatons n your block szes. Square the blocks up to 11-1/2". 5. You now have 8 blocks that measure 11-1/2" square. Add a 1" colored strp to each sde of these 8 blocks, choosng one of the two methods descrbed below. In my sample qult, I used Method 1 on the 6" stars, and Method 2 on the 9" stars, so you can see whch you prefer. Method 1: Cut 16 of the 1" colored strps to 11-1/2" lengths. Sew colored strps to two opposte sdes of the 8 blocks. Then cut 16 of the 1" colored strps to 12-1/2" lengths. Sew these strps to the remanng two sdes of each block. Method 2: (a) Cut 8 of the 1" colored strps to 11-1/2" lengths. Sew these to one sde of each of the 8 blocks. (b) Cut 16 of the 1" colored strps to 12" lengths. Use the Log Cabn method to add these strps to the blocks, sewng the strps ether clockwse or counterclockwse around the block, always addng a strp to the sde adjacent to the last strp you added. (c) For the fnal sde of each of the blocks, cut 8 of the 1" colored strps to 12-1/2" lengths, and add these to the last sde of each block. 6. Now all 12 of your blocks measure 12-1/2". Frame each of the 12 blocks wth Black 1-1/2" wde strps. 7. Retreve your colored squares, and select one of the star blocks to work wth. Place a colored square n one of the corners, lnng up the edges of the colored square wth the edges of the block. The dagonal lne drawn on the back of the colored square should run from one edge of the star block to the adjacent edge, rather than extendng out from the corner of the block. Sew rght on the drawn lne. Before trmmng, flp the lower half of the colored trangle up toward the corner to check placement. The edges of the trangle should lne up wth the edges of the block. If placement s correct, flp the trangle back down flat. Algn the 1/4" lne of your ruler just outsde the sttchng lne (toward the corner), and trm. (Take care not to trm on the wrong sde of the sttchng lne! You are trmmng off two lttle trangles.) Press toward the colored trangle. Repeat for the other three corners of the block, and then for all four corners of each of the remanng 11 blocks.

5 8. Cut 8 strps 1-1/2" wde across the wdth of your Black fabrc. Subcut 4 of those nto 8 strps that are 11-1/2" long. Jon the other 4 wdth-of-fabrc strps to make one long 1-1/2" strp, and set asde. 9. Arrange the 12 blocks nto 4 rows of 3 blocks each. Play wth the arrangement - I lke to lay out my blocks n dfferent arrangements, and take photos. It s easer for me to vsualze how the fnshed qult wll look n a photo than t s lookng at the blocks. When you decde on an arrangement, jon the blocks nto rows usng the Black 1-1/2" strps n between the blocks. 10. Measure your rows. If you re a perfect pecer, they should measure 45-1/2", but yours could be a bt shorter or longer. Use the measurement of the shortest of your four rows, and cut three strps that length from your long Black 1-1/2" strp. Jon the rows placng these 1-1/2" strps between the rows, easng as necessary f all rows are not an dentcal wdth. 11. Add one or more borders as desred. Tp: If you want the outer border of a qult to end up a specfc wdth, add an extra nch when you cut and apply the borders. Ths wll allow for squarng up after any dstorton caused by the qultng. 12. Qult and bnd as desred, and enjoy! Varatons: You could make your framng strps wder and the trangles larger. You could make the sashng between the blocks and rows wder or narrower. You could add a sashng row around the outsde, addng trangles to complete the four-trangle unts around the edges.