Hey Everyone, welcome back to Technique Tuesday.
Last week I demonstrated how to cut diamonds from a strip of fabric using a regular 6 ½″ x 24″ ruler. This week I am going show you how to sew those diamonds together to create an eight pointed star.
Adding in the setting triangles and corner squares is a lot like sewing a mitred corner. I personally have never been a fan of mitred corners but I will give it a go. Rarely do I have mitred borders on a quilt or set in pieces.
Sewing the Star Together
Note: try not to manipulate the pieces too much as they have been cut on the bias and will stretch out of shape very easily.
1. Mark dots in a ¼″ from the corner on the wide angles of the diamonds, the right angle of the triangles and one corner of each square. This will help for sewing the pieces together in knowing where to start and stop with the stitching lines.
Pink dots mark a ¼″
2. Sew the diamonds together in pairs – make 4. Sew from the inner point to the dot – make sure to stop at the dot which is a ¼″ in from the corner. Press seam in one direction.
Stitch to a ¼″ from the corner at pink line
Two diamonds stitched together
3. Stitch two of the units together from step 2 in the same manner to make one side of the star. Stop a ¼″ from the end. Repeat with the other two pairs. Press the seam in the opposite direction as step 2.
Two pairs equal a half
4. Sew the two halves together from step 3. Press seam in either direction.
Star sewn together
Adding the Set In Pieces
5. Sew setting triangles into star. Align the dot at the 90 degree corner of the triangle with the inner point of the star and corner of triangle with corner of star, pin together.
Pin triangle in place.
6. Sew from outside point into centre stopping at the dot. Do not press at this time.
Sew from point to centre stopping a ¼″ from edge of triangle
Close up view
7. Sew the other side of triangle to the star in the same manner. Pin so there is no slipping of pieces. Press both seams towards the star.
Place triangle in position on other side and sew in place
8. Repeat with remaining triangles.
All 4 triangles in place
9. Sew the squares to the corners of the stars in the same manner as the triangles. Press the seams towards the star.
Square added
One 12 inch eight pointed star finished.
Completed 12 inch star
All right after this little exercise my dislike of setting in pieces and mitred corners has been re-confirmed. I don’t think I will be making another one of these any time soon.
I always seem to get a pucker where the piece is set in. Does anyone have any tips on how to prevent this? If you do please share in the comments section.
Happy Quilting!
Perfect timing. I am working on a block like this and having a hard time getting it right. Thank you Jen
In Alex Anderson’s book Simply Stars she shows how to do Le Moyne stars on page 73 & 74. The set in pieces are joined to the diamonds first and then pairs are made and then the 2 halves are joined. A bit easier I think but I struggled with this and now I am more accurate I might go back to it, if forced to!!
Dear Jen,
When I sew hexagons together, I completely draw the lines. I use my Seams Easy tool, which is a .5″ wide piece of plastic with a line down the center. I put the line on the edge, draw the lines, and then sew on that line until the intersection.