Block 48! Wow we are at the end of Timeless with a Twist!

Block 48!  Wow we are at the end of Timeless with a Twist!  Can you believe it?  Well, I saved one of the best for last.

Block 48, Blazing Star, published in Ladies Art Company, 1897. 

Block 48 ~ Blazing Star ~ Michelle's fabric selection 1

Later, in June 1934, Nancy Page selected the Blazing Star for third block in her series, the Stars of Many Points Series, in the Lowell Sun.  This block is one of the most published blocks I found, often referred to as several names, including; Morning Star, Star of Le Moyne, Eastern Star, Patriotic Star, Twinkling Star and many more.



Once again, this is a more challenging block, however totally worth it!  Also, you will want to make sure you are careful with your value placement, you want to make sure you have contrast between the mini diamonds that are formed.  The Blazing Star is most often illustrated with the medium in the center, light in the middle ring, and then dark on the outer ring, therefore I selected this version of the Blazing Star.

We will be using the Rapid Fire Lemoyne Star and the Blazing Star technique to make Blazing Star.

Let's talk color first; For both my color selections for Block 48, I went with Triadic color plans.

For my 1st fabric selection, I needed some yellow, so I started there.  I pulled the Yellow (1) solid for  my inner ring, then I pulled that fabulous Turquoise Blue (9) print for the center and a dark Magenta (17) for the outer ring. 

Michelle's Fabric Selection #1

For my 2nd fabric selection, I needed Yellow-Green (3) for my blocks, so I went with that for my light.  Then, I pulled the Blue (11) for my outer ring, and cheated by two tabs (should have been 19) and went with Magenta (17) for my inner ring.  I'm down to scraps!  I bet you all are too!

Michelle's Fabric Selection #2

Okay, lets walk through this technique.  All the measurements are in the download, available through Friday, January 4th. 

1. Gather the (2) light diamond strips, (1) Medium and (1) Dark Strips.
2. Pair into two strip sets:

• Strip Set #1: use light strip for center ring and medium strip for inner point.
• Strip Set #2: use light strip for center ring and dark strip for outer point.

3. Stagger the strips 2” as shown below.   Stitch the strips using a ¼” seam and press all seams open. 

Stagger the width of the strip

Press the seams open using your Seam Stick

 Pressing is much easier with the Seam Stick, Magic Pressing Mat and Quilter's Mist Sprayer (all available in my Shop).

Both Strips are pressed open

4. Layer and cut. Layer the strip sets one on top of the other on your cutting mat.  Make sure BOTH strips have right sides facing down if you are right handed and right sides facing up if you are left handed.  Line up the raw edges evenly. Make a 45° angled cut. From that first cut, continue making 45° angle cuts the proper width across the length of the strips with the RFLS Ruler, until you have a total of 8 units.

Right handed

Left Handed

Left handed sub-cuts

Right handed sub-cuts

5. Arrange and mark. Arrange pairs of the angle cut sections right sides up.  In order to get the proper orientation, refer (several times) to the diagram below.  Note: that there are several incorrect ways that the pairs can be arranged so take time, to triple check.  Once you have them lined up correctly, you want to take care and flip them over together and mark a 1/4” guide, using your Quilter’s Magic Wand, on the wrong side of the center edges, which will be stitched.

Take time to lay these out proper ~ there are a lot of ways you can go wrong here

Flip them over (carefully)

Mark using your Quilter's Magic Wand

6. Match, stitch and press. Match the marks secure using your best pinning.  You will want to be precise!  Pin and stitch the sections with a 1/4” seam. Press all seams open. 

Insert a pin at the intersections of the seams and the marked lines on both units ~ Front

Back

Hold over an edge and hold the pin straight

Place 2 pins, one on each side

Remove the pin that is straight through and add other pins as needed.

7. Invisigrip tool. If you haven’t already done so, place Invisigrip™  on the wrong side of your Rapid Fire® Lemoyne Star tool.

8. Mark two guidelines on the covered ruler using a fine line Sharpie marker. Extend the 6” guidelines which you will  need to align both the inner and outer diamonds when you are
trimming.

9. Position and trim the Outer Points using the Rapid Fire Lemoyne Star tool.  You will use the 6” extended guidelines aligning them with the seams for the outer and inner diamonds as shown.
The Dark fabric is always the outer point. It will be the first point trimmed on every pieced diamond.

10. Cut the 5” Background squares into small and large half squares triangles by cutting a diagonal that is ¼” away from the true corner to corner diagonal.

1/4" off center

11. Layout the trimmed Blazing diamonds, creating (4) “A” Units  and (4) “B” units.  Place the large and small Background triangles right sides up as shown in diagram. Be sure to position
all pieces in the correct orientation. Follow the pressing arrows  below. Tip– Layout the units on a paper plate, so that you can  “see it” to ensure it matches the diagram, then “flip it” to prepare
 for sewing (pin if needed), and “sew it” with your best ¼” seam.

12. Stitch the large triangles with the Blazing diamond first and press as indicated. Then stitch the small triangles and press again according to the previous diagram above.

13. Trim down all pieced triangle units using the Rapid Fire Lemoyne Star™ tool, using the 12” line. Sorry I have several markings on my ruler due to making other sizes.  If you zoom in, you can see I'm lining it up with the lines I extended off the 6 X.

Right Handed

Left Handed

  14. Stitch trimmed, pieced triangle units into quarter blocks, paying attention to the orientation and pairing A and B units. Pressing seams open.
 

Layout Quarters

Stitch and press open.  Trim dog-ears

15. Then, stitch each pair into half blocks, then into complete blocks, pressing all seams open as shown in the diagram. 

Halves pressed open

Block pressed open

Now it is ready to be trimmed with your Tucker Trimmer III

16. Trim to size the Lemoyne Star Block to proper size using your Tucker Trimmer III™.  Position your Tucker Trimmer™ ruler on top of the block, line up the “Common Diagonal” with the sewn center seam of the pieced Lemoyne, and the 12½” “Sizing Diagonal” with the seam line intersections the HST and pieced Lemoyne. Cut the two sides (top and side).

"X" marks the spot ~ trim 2 sides

              
17. Rotate the block 180-degrees, lining the just cut edge with the proper size line and then “Common Diagonal” should fall back into place, cutting the 2 remaining sides.

Rotate 180 degrees and trime the last 2 sides

Tada!

18. Tada!  You have successfully completed Block 48!   Be sure to post your completed block on the Timeless with a Twist Facebook Group:
Timeless with a Twist Facebook Group

THANK YOU!

I hope you enjoyed this series as much as I have.  The plans are to publish four Workbooks for the Timeless with a Twist Series, beginning in mid-2019. 
Each workbook will have:
• 12 Blocks plus a Bonus Block
• A quilt setting for 12-13 Blocks
• A quilt setting using one or two blocks (you pick which two)
• Some small projects,
• A quilt setting utilizing a large quantity of blocks. 
Thank you for all your help testing these blocks, I truly appreciate your assistance and patience.   I couldn’t have done it without you!   The last, 48 block quilt setting, will be announced and release in January in my Newsletter. 

If you are part of the Timeless with a Twist Facebook Group, I sure hope you will keep posting your blocks and quilts as you finish them.   If you are interested in having your quilt(s) in the book, please email me at michelle.hiatt@sewonthego.net and let me know.  The blocks and quilts will have had to follow a pattern offered in the series or be part of one of the additional projects.  Speaking of the additional projects, I will need some testers.  I will be soliciting in the Facebook group, providing criteria and deadlines.  I hope to have some volunteers.  So, while the series is finished, I still hope to have interaction in the Facebook Group through the publishing of the Book Series. 
Once again, thank you for going on this journey with me, I think we all learned a lot! 

I'm hoping my Timeless with a Twist group will join in on the fun for the Sunset on the Sound Mystery!

THANK YOU!
M

Happy New Year!