May BOM: Wonky Stars

This month's block of the month is a 12.5" wonky star block. This is a fairly simple 9-patch composition that looks pretty great in a finished quilt, if I do say so myself. 

I made 12 of these blocks earlier in the month to bump my Roosting Round Robin quilt top (was that from 2019? More like 1919! Yeesh!) from a throw size to a twin size. The quilt top needed to be 24 inches longer, so a row of six of these wonky stars at the top and bottom of the quilt was just the ticket.

So let's get to it!

All seam allowances are 1/4"

Unfinished block size is 12.5" x 12.5" - this will give us 12" x 12" blocks in the finished quilt.

Colour Choices:

The overall concept is to combine any coloured fabric you like (prints or solids, whatever works) with a light/low-volume fabric (such as white, cream, light grey, light prints, light solids, etc.) for each block. Just pick two contrasting fabrics that make you happy and you're all set!

To add a bit of interest, you can choose to use your coloured fabric as the background, with a low-volume star, or to use the coloured fabric for your star and keep the lighter fabric for your background. 

It's up to you! I tried a couple of each combination, and I think a mix of the two options is going to make for a cool effect in a quilt!

Cutting Instructions:

Background Fabric:

    Cut 8 squares @ 4.5" x 4.5"

Star fabric:

    Cut 5 squares @ 4.5" x 4.5"

Sewing Instructions:

This block starts with making the star-points:

Cut 4 of your star squares diagonally from one corner to the other to create 8 half-square triangles. (The fifth star square doesn't get cut in half, as this will be the middle of your star.)

Lay one of the triangles RST on top of one of your background squares, so that the raw edge of the long side goes diagonally across the top right corner of the background square. 

As you can see below, the long edge of the triangle should span from top of the background square to the right side of the square. Ensure as well that the top point of your triangle falls somewhere left of the centre-line of your background square.

Note that the placement of your triangles may take a bit of practice/eye-balling, as you want to ensure that they aren't too wonky; once each triangle is sewn in place, you should be able to press it up and it will completely cover the corner of your background square.

Sew the first star-point triangle onto four of your background blocks.

Trim the seam allowance of the background corner and then press each point out.

Then repeat this same step for the top left corner of each of these squares.

Your four star-point pieces should now look like this (or thereabouts - it's supposed to look a bit off!): 

Use a ruler and the bottom corners of your background block as a guide and square up each piece to be 4.5" x 4.5".

With all four star-points blocks complete, you're ready to assemble the 9-patch into your star. 

Arrange all nine squares as shown below and sew together. 

Tip: Nesting your seams is going to make it very easy to line up your three rows and achieve a great finish. 

To do this, press the seams of your top and bottom rows away from each other (this is pressing out), and then press the seams of your middle row towards each other (this is pressing in). When you attach the top and bottom row to your middle section, your nested seams should make it quite easy to line everything up and get really nice corners.

Press your finished block and you're done!

Reminder: 

You can make as many or as few blocks as you like for the June Block of the Month draw. The more the merrier!

Just send me an email or post a photo to Instagram with the hashtag #ottmqgBOM before our June meeting, and I'll enter you into our last draw of the year! Have a great month, everyone!