Pop Star Step 1 Sewing

Welcome back! And a Happy St. George's Day to all of you. He is the George who slew the dragon, and is the patron saint of England, as St. Patrick is the saint for Ireland. It was always very important to my mum to remember and to celebrate, by wearing red and wishing her kids and grandkids a happy St. George's Day. 

This week we are finally starting to sew! Be sure to read all the way to the end of the post, where you will find a linkup for linking up your fabric pull, or your pieces all cut and stacked all pretty, or perhaps this first step complete! I'll leave it open until mid-week. There may just be a wee prize of some Baby Pop Star fabric sent to one lucky linker-upper.😙

Personally, I can't wait to see the fabrics start coming together; they're so pretty on the graphic, and even more beautiful in person.

We are going to start by making some HSTs (Half Square Triangles) and flying geese. The HSTs are the large star's star points, and most of the flying geese are the pop star's star points.

Note that the baby quilt size is first and the throw size follows in parentheses.

1. Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of one 3" (4") background (BG) square. Place it right sides together with a 3" (4") Large Star (green in the diagram) square. Sew 1/4" either side of the drawn line; cut apart on the line. This yields two HSTs. Repeat with the remaining 3" (4") squares to make a total of 16 HSTs. Press all of these seams to the green fabric to help nest the seams later on. Square to 2 1/2" (3 1/2"). Set aside.

 

2. Make the pop stars' star points (pink as in the diagram) using the No Waste Flying Geese method. I have a detailed tutorial here. Be sure to sew a scant 1/4" seam. Mark a diagonal line on the wrong side of each of four 2 7/8" (3 7/8") pink squares. Place two of these marked pink squares atop a BG 5 1/4" (7 1/4") square as shown. Sew 1/4" on either side of the marked line, and then cut apart on that marked line.

Press to the pink triangles.

3. Place a 2 7/8" (3 7/8") pink square on one of the units as shown below. Sew 1/4" on either side of the drawn line and cut apart on the line. Press to the pink. Trim to 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" (3 1/2" x 6 1/2"). Repeat with the second unit to make four pink/BG flying geese. Repeat with the second BG 5 1/4" (7 1/4") square and the green 2 7/8" (3 7/8") squares.

The green/BG units will be used for the inside angles of the large star.

4. Following the above method. pair three green 5 1/4" (7 1/4") squares with twelve 2 7/8" (3 7/8") pink squares to yield twelve 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" (3 1/2" x 6 1/2") green/pink flying geese, aka pop star points.

5. Following the above method, pair one 5 1/4" (7 1/4") square with four 2 7/8" (3 7/8") BG or contrasting centre star fabric squares to yield four 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" (3 1/2" x 6 1/2") green/BG or contrasting centre star fabric flying geese.

Here is my baby Pop Star quilt so you get an idea of where the pink, the green, and the white end up.

Next week we will start assembling sections of the quilt using the flying geese and HSTs you've made this week. Where is my cutting photo? Uh...ahem...cough...not quite there yet! Hopefully the day this post is published I'll add a photo to show you!

Sponsor Highlight

This week I'm highlighting two more of my sponsors. Canuck Quilter Designs has sponsored all six of my QALs. Joanne is the first designer I pattern-tested for, and to this day I love her design style.

Watercolour Steps, my first pattern test

That pattern is Star Steps which you can purchase here. Those of you who have followed me for a while will recall that I made Joanne's Temperature Quilt last year. It is a free pattern on her site. I do believe the one below is her newest design, but she's pumped out, or in the process of pumping out, a half dozen new patterns since January, so follow her to keep up!

She is offering one PDF pattern of choice to a participant. She has a bonus offer though! For all readers/followers of my blog, you can get 15% off any of her patterns during the entire length of the QAL, in other words, between April 3 and June 15. Just use the code MMM2022 or click this link and it will automatically be applied.

Devoted Quilter is another all-six-years sponsor. Leanne and I actually started blogging around the same time (2013) and we were in the New Bloggers group the same year. She runs QALs each year, has had many publications, and has some fantastic scrap quilt designs. Here is one of my all-time favourites of hers. Would you believe it upcycles old jeans?! Yep, those flowers are denim, raw-edge appliquéd on!

She is offering a winner two PDF patterns of their choice.

How about we share our progress here on the blog? Remember to also share in the hashtag on Instagram #popstarquilalong

If you don't have Instagram or a blog, just email me a photo and I will post it for you in the hashtag and also here.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter