Lyra Quilt Along - Cutting

This week we are cutting into our fabrics, and I can’t wait to see what beauties you are working with. Just wait until you see Rose's (somethingrosemade) pull—be still my heart! Please don’t be intimidated by the spiky triangles or kite shapes; the way the templates’ seams are angled at the pointy ends makes for perfect alignment. Truly. And Rose gave us all another simplification if square-in-a-square blocks are your nemesis, so be sure to read to the end.

Lisa (Lisa in Port Hope) had mentioned to me last week that a rainbow colour scheme would be an idea, and well, great minds think alike, because that’s where Rose is headed!

I also hinted that I could see a second variation on the quilt where instead of the four (floral) stars that twinkle in the background, there could be a circular effect which, with a little extra attention to detail, gives a moon (or sun) in the background so I mocked up that version. I’ll be including it in the pattern as the cutting and piecing are slightly different. I think you will be able to easily see where the differences are, as these instructions are for the ’twinkling’ stars background. Feel free to make that version as there aren’t a lot of changes, though the cutting will be a bit different.

I must also point out something that hit me somewhere around the writing up or cutting up for the quilt: the ‘kite’ shape (green) which forms another star, is the same shape that I used for the leaf point in my very first QAL, Freefall. I love that connection across the years. And wow, ten years. I am literally shaking my head as I type this!

Background

Note that all strips are WOF (width of fabric). Also note that for best use of fabric, some of the template A triangles (the spiky one) are cut standing up across the WOF (5 ⅝” wide strip) while others are cut lying on their backs (3 ¾” wide strip) both through a double layer of fabric, either right or wrong sides together. Unlike HSTs, HRTs have a right and a left facing triangle!

Cut (1) 5 ½” strip. Cut (8) template B triangles (or use your Tri Recs or Wonder Triangle ruler).

Cut (4) 3 ¾" strips. Cut (40) template A triangles (or use ruler).

Cut (1) 3 ⅝” strip. Cut (10) 3 ⅝” squares; cut these on the diagonal into HSTs.

Fabric A (small floral - think of it as a second background)

Cut (3) 5 ½” strips. Strip 1: cut (4) 5 ½” squares and (1) 4” square. Strips 2 and 3: cut (16) template B (or use ruler). You should get 11 triangles per strip.

Fabric B (coral in my quilt)

Cut (2) 5 ⅝” strips. Cut (32) template A triangles (you should get 11 HRT pairs per strip). From the remainder, cut (4) 2 ¼” squares. These are for the border cornerstones.

Fabric C (green in my quilt)

Cut (2) 5 ⅝” strips. Cut (16) template D. You should get eight per strip.

Cut (1) 4” strip. Cut (4) 4” squares.

Fabric D (blue in my quilt) (the centre star points)

Cut (8) template A triangles. 

For borders, cut (4) 3” strips and set aside. These will be cut to fit your quilt centre, and from the remainder we will cut the HSTs that go around the four coral squares on point that make the cornerstones.

Templates

Here is the link to the templates. It will take you to Dropbox, and don’t worry if you do not have a Dropbox account; you can still access the PDF. If you do not have a printer, I will have a post up in a day or two as to how to draw your own template for the kite-shape star points. It’s easy.

I sent Rose a rough copy of the pattern because I know she gets twitchy about waiting for weekly instructions, but it was also a way to be sure those instructions were clear. Well, Rose sent me a photo the next day, all pieces cut but not yet sewn, using her AccuQuilt dies.  Well, here we are two days later, and it’s a finished top! I think she sews in her sleep.

Isn’t it mmmarvelous?!

Rainbows abound! Rose is one who finds SiaS blocks her nemesis, so she was going to simply cut five centres out of that pretty quilty fabric, but then the quilt decided she need to make four, so she did, and made the centre star with a single centre square. So here’s a thought: you can do all five centres as a single 5 ½” square or none, or follow Rose’s idea!

Here is the mockup that makes a moon in the background. Rose and I are on the same track (great minds again) thinking this would be a terrific way to commemorate the space flight of Artemis II. Or as she wrote: “it’s a mmmust-mmmake to commmemmmorate Artemmmis II!”

You can see that it eliminates four of the triangle in a square blocks, changes the template A triangles for one corner of each of the four blocks from background fabric to floral fabric, and changes one HST in the SiaS unit in the four blocks. Rose has pulled fabrics from the Artemis II logo, and I would bet money she’ll have that quilt done on the weekend.

Happy cutting. We will start piecing the ‘kite’ shaped star points (green) next week. Let me know if you have any issues with Dropbox. It’s a first for me to upload and provide a link for access. I’m used to uploading for Make Modern to access!