Quarter Square Triangles With Directional Fabric

One of the purposes of writing this blog is to keep a record of how I did certain things in various quilts over the years. When I inadvertently got the cakestands Liberty of London fabric all going the right way when making Quarter Square Triangle units (QST) I decided, for future reference, to figure out exactly how I'd done it, along with how to get the star points in those QSTs also going the correct way.

Here is how I did it.

Notice that my QSTs have three fabrics: a background, the cakestand fabric that forms a square around the centre square, and the pink floral that makes the star points. This little tutorial shows how to get the directional fabrics all going the right way up for the eight star points.

Note: if the cakestand fabric is the only directional fabric of your three, it will automatically end up correctly oriented; you just have to pay attention when laying out the block!

First, make the HSTs by taking two star-point fabric squares, (for this block I started with 5½" squares, which leaves more than enough for trimming; I've usually done this size with 5¼" squares) and pairing one with a cakestand fabric and the other with the background fabric. 

Draw a diagonal line across the directional fabric squares in the same direction. Do this on the wrong side, and then sew ¼" on either side of your marked line. Cut apart on the drawn line, pressing to the directional fabric.

You will have four HSTs, two with directional fabric and BG and two with directional fabric and the 'cakestand' fabric. For this tutorial, I've used the blue and turquoise floral in place of the cakestand fabric. Do NOT trim these.

Place a BG/directional HST on top of a BG/blue and turquoise HST, having the directional fabrics opposite each other. Peel back the top HST to ensure you actually do end up with correctly oriented star points!

Yay! All flowers growing towards the sky.

It may worry you that if you have the backgournd QSTs both on the bottom, it would appear that the directional fabrics go vertically in one unit and horizontally in the other, but remember they do get rotated when making the final block.😉

Next is a tip I learned decades ago on Simply Quilts, when Alex had John Flynn, an engineer turned quilter, on the show. He showed that sewing towards the abutted seams' raw edges helped naturally push the seams together because of the nature of the feed dogs and fabrics rubbing against each other.

It really works. I keep the pin in just until I'm a stitch away from it.

Works like a charm!

I got carried away and made the block, and then realized it might be helpful to show how I square these up so you get crisp star points! So I'm using yet another directional print for the squaring up part, which at first I didn't realize is directional, though it's very subtle. Hint: check the light lavender stems.

When squaring up the purposely oversized unit, here are the five points to line up with your ruler:

They are:

1. Divide the size of the unfinished square (in my case, 4½") in half and set that dot on the centre intersecting seams. (2¼" for me)

2. Wiggle your ruler back and forth or in tiny increments up and down in order to get the other four key points aligned on the seamlines as best you can: 4¼" top and bottom left, and ¼" top and bottom right. Be sure to keep that 2¼" dot on or as close as you can to the centre. Trim the top and side edges.

3. Rotate your mat. I like to use a little mat on top of my big one, so I do not have to move the square. Align your ruler so that the 4½" lines are now above the just-cut lines, and be sure to double-check the 2¼" dot, and ¼" points as well. Trim.

Here is the finished block with the original blue floral that is most noticeably directional.

I actually went back and reverse-sewed one of the blocks I'd already made in order to get the print oriented correctly, but a couple of others I have just left as they were not that apparent, the pink tiny floral being one!

I am currently sewing the sashing to the blocks so I may have a finished top shortly. I will admit I am swooning daily at how pretty and perfect this pattern is for this long-loved, slightly-hoarded fabric. The background, which is not Liberty, but Andover, is another in that same deep love/hoarding category. More when I post the quilt.