Blocks 36, 37, & 38 (Simple, Spring & Summer Star Blocks) - Farm Girl Vintage Quilt & Featherweight Shop Sew Along
Farm Girl Vintage Sew Along
This is the month of stars! Perfect timing as we often get to view the stars and gorgeous constellations on late summer nights. We are continuing with three gorgeous star blocks as we approach the finish line for our Farm Girl Vintage Sampler quilt. Simple, Spring & Summer are our featured blocks this month. The biggest take away while sewing these was squaring up each unit as you stitched each section of your block. It made a world of difference for accuracy and block size, so let's get started...
Psssst! If you're just joining us and want to get in on the fun with a darling and perfect collage of farm girl fabric, then check out the Farm Girl Vintage fabric and accessories collection here. You can get the book here, too!
Open your book to page 61 for this month, grab more fabric scraps, get it prepared and cut, and let's enjoy some more Featherweight sewing! Complete your blocks following along with the pattern, paying attention to a several tips in the photos below. Make sure to press your block seams open (when you can), being careful to be as exact with your cutting and alignments as possible.
Simple Star Block 36
Lori Holt was right when she named this block. It was simple and yet super fun to make! There would definitely be a sewing advantage if you wanted to just pluck this star out of the book and repeat it over and over for a quilt top. You could coordinate the fabric prints, cut the pieces pretty efficiently, chain stitch and have a gorgeous, timeless quilt with little to no effort. In fact, the block was so easy, it only took up one page for instruction!
Because the pattern was so easy to construct, I took my time so I could try and attain accurate points and seams. Notice the stitching line is just a hair's width to the left and right of the respective lines? This helps when you press the top pieces over. It will actually align square and to the edge of your block unit.
Because the blocks are small and pieces are many, pressing your seams open can help to reach the final block dimensions.
Spring Star Block 37
While the title of the block is "Spring Star" my fabric colors are a bit less springy. After laying out all my blocks sewn thus far for this Farm Girl Vintage Sampler Quilt, I needed to fill in with more blues and oranges to give my quilt more color balance. So, use this time to check your quilt blocks, too, and see what colors you need to add for your scrappy quilt.
When sewing corners or even half-square triangles (aka: HSTs), you can either draw a line and sew corner to corner on the line, or you can skip that step and use the Creative Grids Corner Clipper ruler. It sure saves a lot of time for me, and when I have to go slow anyway, every time saver helps! Just be sure to measure twice, cut once, and cut along the correct edge.
Click here for instructions on how to set your Featherweight Accurate Seam Guide in the proper place. Then, attach the original presser foot, align the fabric pieces against the edge of the guide, and enjoy quarter inch seams that match perfectly! Chain-piecing helps speed up the block construction process, too.
With the number of pieces in this block it is very important to square up each unit. Shaving off even the slightest bit helps with sewing accuracy.
Summer Star - Block 38
For this block I went digging through some of my older 1930s reproduction prints. I've had that little kitty print for over a decade, I think. It is quite enjoyable to sort through my fabric archives to pull in just the right colors. What about you? Are you sewing exclusively Farm Girl Vintage fabric or are you doing something entirely different? Post photos in the comments so we can see how fabrics change the look of a block completely.
Again, squaring up each unit will help considerably. Every little bit shaved off makes a difference!
For pressing, it helped to press one portion over to the side but when finishing the unit, to press the seam open. It laid perfectly flat!
I love my cordless iron! Its compact size yet has a nice weight to it to help with pressing things flat.
Square up for accuracy and you'll be set to sew your block for the final construction.
After stitching your rows together, press the seams open.
I really like how the corner settings are on point... isn't it a cute block design!?
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What about you!? What colors have you put together this month for your Farm Girl Vintage blocks? Let us know and feel free to post pictures in the comments below. Or join us on the Facebook group to share and enjoy more Featherweight Fellowship online!
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Until next Featherweight Farm Girl Vintage Quilt Sew Along...
NOTE: We will continue sewing three blocks until we finish at the Farm Girl Vintage Sew Along. Thus, we will feature Block 39 Sunday Morning, Block 40 Sunny Sunflower, and Block 41 Tumbleweed next. Pace yourself knowing we've been working on these together!