Star of Hope Sew-Along, Part 3

And it’s a wrap!

It’s been 2 weeks in between each of the parts which hopefully has given everyone a chance to take care of all the things we have to do in our day-to-day lives, and also given you time to get some units and blocks made in the “between” moments.

This sew-along and the resulting quilt still holds so much meaning for me.

I loved making it with you, no matter which direction your own muse took you when deciding how to set your blocks – to increase or decrease the size of the quilt, to add that additional something special you felt your own version called for.

This is what sewing in community is all about. We start with a common goal, and each brings something to the table in sharing our own creativity.

I mentioned in Part 2 that I was planning on going a step further with my quilt center.

I made 16 half blocks from Part 2 to complete the design all the way to the edge of the quilt.

No new techniques were used – I just printed 8 more pages of the Stars Surrounding templates from Part 2 and just kept sewing.

This left me with some spaces to fill at the edge.

I wanted to continue the scrappy neutral background, so set in to fill them with hourglass units.

Of course, you could decide to simply use 3 1/2” squares in the corners, and 3 1/2” X 6 1/2” rectangles on the sides – but it was all about triangles for me.

The hourglass units finish at 3”.

If you are using traditional rotary cutting math, start with two 4 1/4” squares placed right sides together and sliced on the diagonal twice to yield 4 pairs of quarter-square triangles ready to sew. You’ll need 28 squares total to get the job done.

I used 2” strips placed right sides together and the green lines on my Essential Triangle Tool to cut triangles in already matched pairs ready to sew.

Place 2 different neutrals with right sides together as shown. Place the 3rd green line for 3” finished quarter-square triangles at the bottom edge of the strip set. (Remember, line on the fabric, not sitting below it on the mat. Keep your line ON the fabric or your units will always come out one line-width too small!) Cut along both sides of the ruler.

Pivot the ruler placing that 3rd green line at the top of the strip set, on top of the edge of the fabric. Make another cut.

Cut as many pairs – right sides together- per strip set desired. Go for multiple strip sets for more variety. Cut 56 pairs of triangles ready to sew for 28 completed hourglass units.

Stitch along the right hand short side as shown. Sew just a couple to test. Press the seam toward the right hand triangle. Join two pairs into an hourglass unit. Remove dog ears, press and measure. Square as needed.

Units will measure 3 1/2” unfinished and finish at 3” in the quilt. If yours are too small, scant your seam. Try again.

You can press the center seam open, or spin press – your choice.

Make 28 hourglass units measuring 3 1/2” unfinished.

Join 2 hourglass units side-by-side to make one setting rectangle. Finger-press to one side until placement is determined in the quilt. You may need to rotate the unit to have the seam work with how you pressed the seams in the Stars Surrounding blocks.

The 2-hourglass unit will measure 3 1/2” X 6 1/2” and finish at 3” X 6” in the quilt. Make 12. The remaining 4 hourglass units will be used as corner blocks.

All laid out and ready to assemble!

I assembly line piece my straight-set quilts – called webbing! Learn more about webbing the top under the Tips & Techniques tab at the top of the blog. It’s a game changer!

The quilt top is chain-pieced in columns until all of the rows are complete and connected to each other with the chaining threads in place.

Ready for borders!

I’m so happy I took the extra time to do the hourglass units at the edge.

Inner border! I chose a sky blue tone on tone to contrast with the neutrals at the edge of the quilt, knowing I’d go even darker for the final outer border.

Cut 6 strips 1 1/2” x width of fabric from inner border fabric.

Join strips end-to-end with diagonal seams. Trim seam allowance, leaving 1/4’’ beyond the
seam. Press seams open.

(I am LOVING my Sew Q Laser especially for all of my diagonal sewing of border and binding strips. Best thing I have added to my machine all year. Seriously.)

Measure the quilt top from top to bottom through the center. Cut two side inner borders this length.

Join side borders to quilt center, pinning to match centers and
ends and in between.

Press seams toward the inner border.

Measure the quilt top from side to side through the center,
including the borders just added in this measurement. Cut top and bottom inner borders this length.

Add top and bottom borders to quilt center, pinning to match
centers and ends, easing where necessary to fit. Press seams toward inner border.

Outer border:

Cut 6 strips 5’’ wide X width of fabric from outer border fabric.

Join border strips end-to-end on the straight of grain into one
long length. (Straight seams on wide borders are shorter, less visible, and
create less fabric waste.) Press seams open.

Measure the quilt top down the center from top to bottom. Cut 2 outer side borders this length and add
to quilt as with the inner side borders.

Press seams toward the outer border.

Repeat for the top and bottom outer borders, measuring the quilt
from side to side across the center of the quilt top – including the inner
border in this measurement.

Cut
top and bottom outer borders this length and add them to the quilt in the same
manner. Press seams toward outer borders.

I quilted Star of Hope with a barely-grey thread in an edge-to-edge design called Twofold Feathers by Hermione Agee of Lorien Quilting.

The quilting is the icing on the cake.

My scrappy blue backing –

How some things get into my stash I will never know. These pieces were larger prints, and all of them were directional. I’m pleased with the results!

The date on the dark blue outer border fabric is 2000! The striped binding fabric has to be nearly the same vintage. And I love this result too.

Restful evenings of hand stitching the binding down.

And Lola approves as well.

I want to thank all of those who have participated and supported me through this impromptu sew-along.

It filled a place in my heart that felt so shattered and alone.

Here we are a month later and things are still awful. All of it. It’s too much to fathom. And this is why we quilt. We quilt to keep going. We quilt to see things come together. It gives us something to do with our hands, our eyes, our hearts.

Star of Hope will stay on the blog until after Hanukkah – retiring on 12/17/23. Please remember to save and print your PDF copies before then.

After that date plans are to include Star of Hope as a bonus in a future pattern release.

The entries for our Keaton Quilts Gift-Away are now closed, and I’ll be sharing those winners in tomorrow’s post. Good luck, everyone!

And of course, we are all looking forward to Friday (Even more than Thursday?!) And the release of Part 1 of the Indigo Way Mystery!

Quiltville Quote of the Day –

And language is much more than sounds we here. It is reflected in everything we do. Every action is a communication.

Have a wonderful Monday!

This sew-along is given for personal use only. No part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying for sharing, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the author.

Please no uploading and saving of this file with intent to share, email or distribute, either digitally or in hard copy. NOT FOR RESALE.

Please send your friends to my blog to print their clues. Thank you!