Blog Post 7 – Ohio Star
Hello, everyone! HAPPY NEW YEAR! Your usual Dafty here (@thatcraftydafty) with my monthly update on the Patchwork and Quilting variant of the My Guilty Pleasure Subscription Service.
The Patchwork and Quilting option for the My Guilty Pleasure Subscription Service is designed to have you make a block each month, and by the end of the twelfth month you will have enough blocks to make a sampler quilt.
The seventh Block of the Month is the Ohio Star.
As always, inside this month’s box I received the following:
x 4 Fat Eighths of a new Lewis & Irene collection
x 1 Fat Quarter of a background
Fully printed instructions for the Block of the Month, complete with helpful illustrations
x 1 spool of thread, in a coordinating colour
x 1 surprise!
The Ohio Star block is a classic, and it’s one I recommend everybody makes at least once in their life. It’s made up of Quarter Square Triangles (QSTs) and whole squares, giving a design that’s super satisfying. Especially when you manage to get all your intersections matching and aligned.
Now, there are a few things I’d like to recommend to you all before you get started. Firstly, I’d recommend sewing with an accurate or scant quarter inch seam when you’re making your “2 at a Time” HSTs, as this will make it easier when it comes to making your QSTs.
If you’re like me and have a presser foot with a guide attached to it, then make sure that you’re marked line is on the inside of the seam guide. That will help keep the seam allowance consistent.
As you can see above, this method really helped keep my seam allowance accurate, which will help me further down the line. Now, preferably I like to trim my HSTs down before sewing up my QSTs because the blocks are then the same size when it comes to making your QSTs. However, it’s not entirely necessary so long as your seam allowance is consistent. You can trim them to size before the final pressing.
Secondly, I’d recommend you pay attention to Fig. 1 in the pattern (Version 1 Ohio Star) as it tells you to press towards Fabric 3. This really helps when it comes to making up your QST units as it means the seams nest, aiding the sewing process, and it is a good rule to keep when making HST/QST units that feature a repeated print or colour. You can also put a little pin in the centre here to help keep them nested.
So, you’ve sewn your QSTs, now comes the time to trim. As previously mentioned, I tend to square up between steps, but I have a really handy tool that works just as well at any stage.
It has measurement lines like most other squaring up tools for HSTs, but also it has a centre line that you can use to keep your unit centred. This helps particularly when it comes to making QST units as you will end up with perfectly squared, perfectly centred units once you’ve trimmed them up.
I’d definitely recommend adding this ruler to your kit, it’s paid for itself so many times.
Hopefully all these tips will help you in making this block. I also found that the pressing pattern helped when it came to making up the whole block as when sewing rows together, some of my rows nested with each other on the diagonals. As you know, I’m not a stickler for perfection, but it’s always advisable to pay extra attention to intersections and points as you’ll thank yourself when you see the final outcome.
As always, I hope you’ve found this helpful. I’ll be providing updates every month via the Little Miss Sew ‘n’ Sew blogs on their website, but you can check out any little sewing updates via my Instagram account: @thatcraftydafty. Hope to see you there.
Happy sewing!
H.