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2021 Block of the Week – Block 6

Welcome back to my 2021 Block of the Week. We are already at block #6! If you are new to this series, you can find the posts for the previous blocks here: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4 and Week 5. Like the other weeks, there will be a drawing from the blog post commenters for one of my patterns. Your name will also be entered into the grand prize drawing at the end of the series (grand prize information in the week 1 post).

Block 6 – Rolling Star

I like the block for this week because of the way the light tan background illuminates the star portion of the block. You can also improvise and change the tan to a black print and change the colors for the star pieces to bright colors. There are many fun options.

Click here for block assembly instructions: 2021 BOW Block 6.

Here are some of the ways to make this block look different. First, change the tan fabric to black:

Next, add in another color instead of the tan print on the outside, then shift colors around. If you alternate the two block color combos below, that would make a striking quilt!

The key is to have fun! Now onto the quilting tip of the week. Achieving crisp points which will be very helpful for this block with lots of points.

Crisp Points

We have all done this. You’re piecing a quilt with a lot of stars or flying geese units. When you’re all done, your points are cut off!

Notice the point on the left is cut off compared to the point on the right. This is one of the things that dogs a lot of quilters. I find that many times this is due to impatience (rushing through chain piecing) and not being being aware of where your points are in relation to the seam you are stitching. So, here I will share some tips to avoid blocks with cut off points. I am using flying geese units in my example, but the concept will apply to any unit with points.

When you flip over a flying geese unit like shown below and you will see a point created by the seams of the unit.   

Paying attention to where this point is while you are stitching is an important key for getting crisp points.

Notice, in the photo below, I have pinned the pieces so they won’t shift. As I am stitching I keep an eye on the point. I want to keep my stitching above it. Hopefully, if I made my geese unit correctly, the top of the point is 1/4″ from the edge of the unit.

I am using a pin to show you where the point is as I am stitching.

In the  photo below you can see my needle is going to pass the stitching above the point but still be an accurate 1/4″ seam (see where I am pointing with the pin). You want the stitching to stay above but not too far. If your stitching touches the very tippy top of the point, that is still OK. The photo on the far right shows my seam done, passing right over the point.

When I turn the piece over to the right side, you can see that the point is nice and crisp!

Like I said earlier, the key to getting these crisp points is to make sure when you piece your units that have points, the unit has the correct seam allowance. 1/4″ from point tip to edge of the unit:

In some blocks, you may need to join two units with points. Here’s a few tips on doing that and keeping the points crisp. Once again, I will use flying geese units in the example.

When pinning the units together, you want to start by lining up the points of each unit and pinning there. Here is how I line up the points. I lay the units right sides together and then pull the top unit down to get the point lined up with the point of the unit below. I slowly inch the top piece back, eyeing the point the whole time.

Pin the center first to keep the points from shifting and then pin the rest of the unit before stitching.

Follow the stitching instructions I shared above, stitch the unit keeping your seam above the point. Since you took such care in aligning the points, the stitching should be above the point on the back unit to.

You can see in the photos of each side below where the stitching line passes above the point:

And after pressing the unit open once stitched, flip it over to the right side and see that the points are matched!

So those are my tips on how to achieve crisp points. It may take some practice, but you will get there! Hopefully you will not have to use your seam ripper too much.

That’s it for this week. Leave your comments or questions below and you will be entered into a drawing for my pattern, Twilight Desert. This pattern will give you a lot of practice on achieving crisp points!

The drawing for this pattern will be on Monday, May 24th. Good luck and see you next week! **We have a winner… Congrats, Carla!**

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Piecing Techniques – Accuracy Tips Part I

My advice to quilters just beginning is to practice, practice, practice. You may not achieve crisp points, accurate flip & sew units or aligned seams when you are just starting out, but that does not mean you won’t get there. I tend to be a perfectionist and I don’t recommend it! LOL! Often I see imperfections that someone else would never be able to see, especially a non-quilter. It’s good to strive for the best, but don’t get upset if everything is not perfect. I’m going to share some tips to help you improve. You’ll find the more you piece quilts, the more accurate your piecing will become.

This week, I will cover crisp points and aligning points when piecing blocks or units together and aligning seams. So, let’s get started!

Crisp Points – Only One Unit with a Point

We have all done this. You’re piecing a quilt with a lot of stars or flying geese units. When you’re all done, your points are cut off!

Notice the point on the left is cut off compared to the point on the right. That’s what we’re trying to avoid. So, here’s some tips.

First, If you are joining a unit with a point to another piece, my first tip is to keep the unit with the point on top when you pin them together.

Next, pay attention to the point as you are stitching. That’s why we want that piece to be on top. If your unit with the points was piece correctly, there should be 1/4″ from the point to the edge of your unit. I am using a pin as a pointer in the photos below to identify where the point is as I stitch. You want your seam that you are stitching to pass right above the point on the back.

This is what it should look like when you are done:

Now when you flip it over and check… crisp point!

Like I said earlier, the key to getting these crisp points is to make sure you piece your units that have points, flying geese in this example, have the correct seam allowance. 1/4″ from point tip to edge of the unit:

Crisp Points – Matching Units both with Points

As in the tip above, the first key is to have your units with point measure correctly with the points 1/4″ from the edge of your unit. For this example, I will pretend I have a pattern where two flying geese units are joined on the point sides. Here’s my geese units:

When pinning the together, you want to start by lining up the points of each unit and pinning there. Here is how I line up the points. I lay them right sides together and then pull the top unit down to get the point lined up with the point of the unit below. I slowly inch the top piece back, eyeing the point the whole time.

Then I pin the center first before pinning the rest.

Now, follow the stitching instructions in the first section of this blog post to stitch the seam keeping it above the point. Since you took such care in aligning the points, the stitching should be above the point on the back unit to. Hopefully you can see in the photos of each side below where the stitching line passes above the point:

And after pressing, here is how the unit looks with the points matched!

So, that’s crisp points and matching points. Now onto aligning seams.

Aligning seams

The steps to aligning seams are similar to aligning points above, except when you are piecing a quilt, you may have a lot of seams to line up accurately to keep your design flowing. For example, when joining two Jacob’s Ladder blocks, I have squares and the diagonal lines of the half-square triangle blocks to match up.

Like the geese units above where I was matching points, I start by matching the corners of the squares:

Then I pin the center first and move out to pin the rest of the unit. Stitch and press and my Jacob’s Ladder block should look like below:

That’s the end of this week’s lesson. Come back next week for creating units and blocks using flip & sew corners and having them measure accurately! Leave a comment below and enter my drawing for pattern, Twinkle, Twinkle which will give you a lot of practice on crisp and matching points! 

The drawing will be on Monday, November 30th so you will have two weeks to enter! **We have a winner! Congrats, Mildred Plaskett!**

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Block of the Week – Block 5

Welcome back! I see I have not scared you off yet. I apologize in advance because this block has more flying geese…. but I think it’s really pretty! I promise that block 6 is “geeseless”. If you are just joining, all the block of the week blog posts are still available for you to read and get the patterns. Just click on the ones you have missed: Block 1, Block 2, Block 3, Block 4. Since flying geese have points that you want to keep sharp when piecing them into a block, I am going to cover some tips on doing this. So let’s get started!

Block #5 – Starburst

More flying geese fun!

Back to the “hot” colors for this block. As soon as I made this block, I thought the appropriate name was “starburst” because it looks like some fireworks that look like stars spreading out in the sky. Well, maybe it’s just me that sees it. LOL! Here is the pattern for this block: Block of the Week – Block 5.

Tips for Crisp Points

Sometimes when we’re rushing to complete a block or a quilt top we don’t pay close attention to the points in units and blocks. That’s when you end up with chopped off points. Now, sometimes it’s just at the very tippy top and not too noticeable, but other times it’s very noticeable. Hopefully these tips will help you achieve sharper, crisp points on all your projects.

When you are ready to stitch the flying geese unit to another piece in a block, keep the flying geese unit on top when you are stitching so you can pay attention to the point. And pin the pieces together. This keeps them shifting during stitching. Here’s how I do it:

Pay attention to the point and keep an eye on it while you are stitching. I want to keep my stitching above it. Hopefully, if I made my geese unit correctly, the top of the point is 1/4″ from the edge of the unit.

I am using a pin to show you where the point is as I am stitching. In the  photo below you can see my needle is going to pass the stitching above the point but still be an accurate 1/4″ seam (see where I am pointing with the pin). You want the stitching to stay above but not too far. If your stitching touches the very tippy top of the point, that is still OK.

Here is ideally what your seam should look like:

And when you flip the unit over and open it up, there it is… a crisp point!

I hope these tips help you to make sharp points. The key is to make sure you are first piecing the flying geese unit correctly to create a 1/4″ distance from the edge to the point as viewed from the back. If it measures that way on the back, it will also measure that way on the front too!

So, have fun making block 5! Leave a comment below and be entered into a drawing for my pattern Star Struck:

Definitely lots of geese for you to practice on there. The drawing will be on Monday, May 25th.

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Sewing Tips – Crisp Points and Seam Alignment

Hi there! I chose these two stitching challenges because it’s something I’m asked about often. I hear “How do you keep your points from getting chopped off?” and “How do I align the seams when I’m piecing units or blocks together?” all the time! Getting both of these things as close to perfect as possible will make your blocks and your quilt that much more beautiful.

Tips for Crisp Points

This is one of the things that dogs a lot of quilters. I find that many times this is due to impatience (rushing through chain piecing) and not being being aware of where your points are in relation to the seam you are stitching. I’ll describe how I achieve crisp points in a series of photos.

Flip over a flying geese unit like shown below and you will see a point created in the seam allowance when the unit was made.  

Paying attention to where this point is while you are stitching is an important key for getting crisp points. Notice I have pinned the pieces so they won’t shift. Now, as I am stitching I keep an eye on the point. I want to keep my stitching above it. Hopefully, if I made my geese unit correctly, the top of the point is 1/4″ from the edge of the unit.

I am using a pin to show you where the point is as I am stitching. In the  photo below you can see my needle is going to pass the stitching above the point but still be an accurate 1/4″ seam (see where I am pointing with the pin). You want the stitching to stay above but not too far. If your stitching touches the very tippy top of the point, that is still OK.

Here is the finished seam with my point intact!

Turn the piece over and you will see that the point is not cut off!

Here’s the star block finished with nice crisp points.

If you slow down while you are piecing and pay attention to where your points are on the unit you are stitching, you will have nice crisp points every time.

Aligning Seams

Most designs in a traditional block or quilt depend on seams being lined up when you stitch them together. Here’s a photo of one of my recent patterns:

The Jacob’s Ladder block that makes up this table runner has a seam that needs to match up so the four-patch units in the block are aligned correctly and then when the blocks are pieced together, the middle seams of each block need to align. Here’s how I make sure seams align when piecing blocks together:

The two blocks on the left are the ones I am stitching together. I lay one on top of the other and then I peel back the top one so I can align the seams. I try to bend it back where the 1/4″ seam line will be to make sure they are aligned. Once I am satisfied, I will pin the unit there first so my alignment does not move when I pin other parts of the block. When I am done, the seams are matched perfectly on the front!

Hopefully these two brief tutorials will help you to achieve crisp points and aligned seams. Once you master those skills, your quilt blocks and quilt tops will look better and better!

Happy Quilting!
Deanne