Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Christmas All Year, Block 7 - Star and PInwheels

Have we all had enough yet of Christmas in July?  My husband is just a little tired of it, he shakes his head and says that it is way too early for him to watch endless Christmas movies!  I keep telling him not to worry, pretty soon everything will be all about back to school.

On the other hand, I am very much enjoying the little touch of Christmas that working on the block of the month has given me.  I hope you are enjoying it as well.  I loved making today's block - Star and Pinwheels, I think this is one of the prettiest blocks of them all.

I used my second background for this quilt, which is a directional print. I had to pay good attention to my cutting and sewing to make sure all the pieces ended up facing the right direction!

A good tip for getting your triangles cut right is to layer your squares right sides together and cut through both at the same time so you have 1 triangle facing each direction.

After sewing the flying geese units, I lay them all out so they face the same direction.  (oops - sideways picture!)
Very important tip for the center unit - make sure you sew all four small triangles the same way!  The pinwheel in the center won't work if you don't.
And watch your layout for sewing them together!  I almost had a problem here, but I caught it in time.  Press those center seams open to make the center come out nice and flat. I was glad I pinned mine, it came out just perfect.
That's always the best feeling ever!
I was very pleased with all my points on this block, I credit the fact that I worked carefully, making sure to trim and measure each unit carefully as I went, plus pinning the seams when sewing it all together.  I don't always sew this carefully, but the results are certainly worth taking the time to be accurate.

It even looks good from the back!  I credit my new iron for that.  I hadn't realized how bad my old iron was until the sole of it started feeling floppy - apparently the poor thing had hit the floor one too many times and something had come loose.  It was still working, but I don't think it's been heating as hot as it should for a while.  The new one has a rubbery bottom so hopefully won't slip off  off the ironing board as easily.  Plus the cord is a bit longer, so that will help, too!


Two more blocks to go and we'll be putting these together into a quilt top - I can't wait!  Sign up for my e-mail to get the remaining blocks and instructions in your inbox.


I hope you enjoy making this block as much as I did.  

2 comments:

Joyce Carter said...

Thank you Pamela. I really like your fabric choices for this block. It makes the star really shine.

Unknown said...

Hi Pam - I posted my first six blocks ... did you see them? Can't wait to do #7 - hopefully tomorrow. Suzy :)