Feathered Star QAL: Week Seven

Next up are the 20" Fierce Feathered Star blocks!  You'll notice there is no paper used to sew these pieces together. ;)

Welcome to Week Seven! There are no more paper piecing stars to tackle, so we're getting FIERCE this week!

Week Seven instructions: Complete two 20" Fierce Feathered Star blocks. There are only two in the quilt.

I would encourage you to look through the Fierce Feathered Star instructions in total before you begin. Notice how the Fierce block goes together in the end just like the No Y Seam Feathered Star block.

If you are using the fabric kit or a similar coloring scheme as mine, I've laid out the cutting instructions for you on page 4 of the Feathered Star QAL pattern. Because we're no longer dealing with foundation paper piecing, it's important to get the cutting measurements exact. I really, really want you to use washi tape or some other method to mark rulers for easier cutting. When it comes to using 16th of an inch measurements, it's very easy to make a mistake!

Once the fabric cutting is done, follow the Fierce Feathered Star block pattern to make two blocks. You will need to print and cut out two templates for the 20" star. Like with the paper piecing templates, make sure these templates are printed at 100%. Use the inch square provided on each template page to test accuracy. You will tape these templates to a rotary ruler to easily trim (pictures of each step in the pattern).

I also recommend doing a lot of pinning throughout.

In the photo above, notice how I use the same pinning technique as I did with the NYSFS pattern for lining up points, even though there's no paper. Pin liberally to get great results!

YOU CAN DO IT!

Hop on over to my closed Facebook group to join the discussion, share pictures, ask questions, get encouragement. We are a community and we'd love to help you out!

Feathered Star QAL: Week Six

Here's one of Kristen Lee's beautiful 8" No Y Seam Feathered Stars! Visit Kristen's Instagram feed for more inspiration and check out her fabric selection in her online shop.

Week Six! 

Can you believe that we'll tackle the LAST paper piecing blocks this week?! 

Week Six instructions: Complete two 8" No Y Seam Feathered Star blocks.

Looking ahead: Think of your practice making the NYSFS blocks as training wheels for a smooth transition onto the larger feathered stars. Both blocks go together in the same manner, the Fierce Feathered Stars just don't use foundation paper piecing. And there will only be 4 Fierce Feathered Stars total. That's all the blocks you'll have left (after this week)!

If you need any reminders on the 8" NYSFS blocks, see the information posted last week.

Hop on over to my closed Facebook group to join the discussion, share pictures, ask questions, get encouragement. We are a community and we'd love to help you out!

Feathered Star QAL: Week Five

Check out the tiny 8" No Y Seam Feathered Star on top of this stack. We'll make two for Week Five!

I hope you enjoyed the break from the QAL last week. We're back at it today with Week Five!

This week we'll tackle the 8" No Y Seam Feathered Star block. We will be making a total of four for this quilt, but let's just focus on two this week.

As you might have guessed, for Week Six next week, I'll assign the other two 8" NYSFS blocks, so if you'd like to batch them together in a big group of four, be my guest!

Remember to print at 100% or "actual" size, making sure your print dialog box is not set to auto-scale. A test square of 1 inch is provided on every page so that you can ensure accuracy.

If you bought the PDF bundle, print pages 27 & 28 of the PDF if you haven't already. You'll need 4 copies of each page. 

If you're working from the No Y Seam Feathered Star PDF (original, not bundled), it's pages 9 & 10 of the PDF. You'll need 4 copies.

Check out these 8" and 12" NYSFS blocks made by Lindsay Mayland! Find more from Lindsay on Instagram @lindsmayland and her blog Happy Hour Stitches.

Cut templates apart and cut fabrics* according to pattern.

*As the blocks get smaller, the less excess fabric you'll have according to the pre-cutting instructions. This is especially true for the 8" blocks, you will have the least amount of margin as compared to the 16" & 12" stars. If you have the extra fabric, feel free to cut the pieces bigger unless you're working with the fabric kit. (For more information on fabric kit cutting, read this: Week One - the first few paragraphs of the linked post.)

The 8" blocks go together in the same way as the 16" and 12" blocks. Can you make them in your sleep yet?? 

Remember to remove your papers when you are done with each block and refer to the QAL pattern to see how the sashing strips need to be sewn to the 8" blocks.

In case it's been a few weeks since you last paper pieced, remember to use a shortened stitch length. 

If you need any further clarification on the process of making these blocks, I'd suggest reading the Week One information and reviewing those photos and tips.

Hop on over to my closed Facebook group to join the discussion, share pictures, ask questions, get encouragement. We are a community and we'd love to help you out!

Feathered Star QAL: Week Four

Hellllllllllllo, Club 129! How is it going?

Another week down! In the first three weeks, we've made four 16" and two 12" No Y Seam Feathered Star blocks.

Here are the details if you're just now joining us:

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

This week we are taking a little bit of a departure. We will each become a well-oiled HST-making machine!

Go ahead and cut everything in the Borders & Bonus Stars cutting section, even though we will not use all of the fabrics this week. If you've printed the the Feathered Star QAL pattern, you can find the cutting details on p. 5.

As for the sewing assignments this week, the first is to complete the instructions on the bottom of p. 8 under the Inner borders section. Don't worry, it's two tiny seams and some trimming. Piece of cake!

Job #2 for Week Four is to complete the HST assembly steps on p. 9. That's significantly more work! In fact, it's the bulk of this week's work.

We will be using the Magic 8 method for making half-square triangles as detailed in the pattern. I just wanted to mention here that the HSTs are intended to be a little oversized and trimmed down to exact specifications.

As you're sewing the larger squares together, try to align the outer edges as best as possible, but don't worry if they end up like the next photo. I don't pin the squares together or go to any other heroic measures, the trimming step will make them perfect!

I set my stitch length is a little shorter (2.2) than what I normally use to discourage unraveling after all the cuts are made.

Stacks on stacks!

The third and final part of Week Four is to construct the pieced borders according to the instructions on p. 10 of the Feathered Star QAL pattern.

I also want to look ahead to next week - July 23. We will be taking a one-week intermission to give everyone a chance to catch up. I wanted to mention that now in case you'd like to spread the HST and border-making jobs out over the next two weeks.

Week Five instructions will resume on July 30.

Join our Facebook group to connect with other QAL participants!

Feathered Star QAL: Week Three

12" No Y Seam Feathered Star

Thank you Club 129 for your input last week! I asked in the weekly QAL email that went out what blocks you wanted to work on next.

I'll be honest, when I penciled in the calendar for the QAL, I planned on doing ALL the foundation paper piecing blocks first. Because I have to kind of switch my brain to get into "paper piecing mode" and gather the appropriate tools, I thought it would be more efficient to make the similarly constructed blocks in batches instead of switching back and forth from paper piecing to regular piecing.

Either you all REALLY like paper piecing, you see the "wisdom" in batching, or you are nervous about the upcoming Fierce Feathered Star blocks, the clear majority want to continue paper piecing!

Your Week Three challenge is to make two 12" No Y Seam Feathered Star blocks! 

In the whole quilt top, there are only two 12" NYSFS blocks, so when you are printing the templates, you'll need two copies of each page (print pages 29-33 of the PDF BUNDLE or pages 11-15 from the single NYSFS pattern PDF).

Cut templates apart and cut fabrics* according to pattern.

*As the blocks get smaller, the less excess fabric you'll have according to the pre-cutting instructions. If you've had trouble aligning your pieces when making the 16" stars, you might want to cut larger pieces to give yourself more margin. The big exception to this is if you are working with the fabric kit. The white fabric pieces need to be cut exactly as stated because there isn't a lot of extra fabric (my fault) and I'd hate for you to run out! You don't have to be careful with the other fabric amounts for this star, so even if you have the kit, you can still cut the other fabrics larger to give yourself more room. 

For more information on fabric kit cutting, read this: Week One (first few paragraphs of the linked post). 

By now, you are a PRO at constructing the No Y Seam Feathered Star blocks! The 12" blocks go together in the same way as the 16" blocks. 

Remember to remove your papers when you are done and refer to the QAL pattern to see how the sashing strips need to be sewn to the 12" blocks.

I hope you're all experiencing the excitement of having the 129 fabric pieces come together to form each star! I'll leave you with Chris Simon's 16" stars! Check out more from Chris over on her inspiring Instagram profile @thecolorfulom.

Have a great week! Don't forget to join our Facebook group here: Friends of Threaded Quilting Studio.

Feathered Star QAL: Week Two

Week Two will be a repeat of Week One: two 16" No Y Seam Feathered Stars

#ClubOneTwoNine! How are you doing!? 

Of all the stars in our sky–I mean quilt top–I think that the 16" No Y Seam Feathered Star is the easiest one to complete. 

To ease us into the QAL and to give those who are starting late an easier time of catching up, Week Two will be about completing the last two 16" NYSFS blocks needed for the twin quilt top. If you did your printing, cutting, and prepping last week, this week should take less time! If you haven't yet made the first two blocks, check out the Week One post for lots of tips!

This is a heads up if you're looking ahead to the other sizes of paper piecing stars: the difficulty increases the smaller the pieces get. If you have the extra fabric available, you may want to pre-cut the pieces a little larger than what I recommend in the pattern, especially if you have trouble getting them aligned. I'll talk about that more in the weeks to come, but wanted to mention it now if you are thinking about working ahead.

The final part of making this block for the QAL is sewing the sashing strips onto certain sides of the blocks as detailed in the pattern. Make sure that between Week One and Week Two, you have the correct number of blocks with the appropriate strips sewn to each.

When sewing the sashing strips into place, I find it most helpful to sew with the back side of the star on top and the sashing strip on bottom, that way you can prevent seams from being turned. And always pin! At first glance, I find that there is usually a slight difference in the length of the strips compared to the length of the blocks. I pin at both ends first, then in the middle, and then I ease the rest of the fabric in by pinning at regular intervals. Sew and then press (I've been pressing these seams open, but do whatever makes you comfortable). 

It has been an absolute joy to see these stars coming to life in your very capable hands! I'll leave you with this photo of Doris Brunnette's blocks (check out the fussy cutting!), but if you'd like to see more, come join us in our Facebook group! For even more photos, check out the #featheredstarqal hashtag on Instagram.

I've also started a Pinterest board to which I will be pinning QAL inspiration!

Made by Doris Brunnette.