Quilt-Along: Ohio Star Block

It’s time for our second block – the Ohio Star!  (Miss our earlier posts? You can find more information about the Wedding Ring block, fabric requirements, cutting tips, and fabric color options.)

Including the Ohio Star block into a quilt celebrating a novel set in Ohio was an easy choice to make. A bit of research also suggested the block was first introduced in the early 1800’s so its not hard to imagine one of our Milton Falls quilters making the block. In chapter 8, Eula shares a beautiful quilt made by her Aunt Elizabeth that features a variation of an Ohio Star block.

The Ohio Star is constructed by using half-square triangles (HST) to create hour-glass units. You will need two blocks for the throw-sized quilt and one block for the baby-sized quilt.

Assembling an hour-glass block is somewhat of a magic trick. Starting with two squares of fabric, you make two half-square triangles using the two-at-a-time method. Then you take these two half-square triangles and sew them together and get two hour-glass blocks ready to be trimmed. Magic!

The photo below shows the key steps where the magic occurs:

Align the seams and alternate the fabric when sewing the two half-square triangles together then carefully.

Test fabric placement and alignment by folding back a corner of the pinned unit to reveal the hour-glass.

Press the two hour-glass units well.

Trim! The pattern (see page 9) has the instructions to trim the hour-glass unit. In this photo, you can see that slightly more than a quarter-inch is trimmed off.

Next Monday, February 20, we will start a catch-up week and open up our second sponsor giveaway. To be eligible, you will need to share a photo of two blocks – two Wedding Ring blocks, two Ohio Stars, or one of each – by February 27. More information on how to share will available next week. The giveaway sponsors are Oliso and Fat Quarter Shop. (Winners are notified by email.) Mary and Lana were the winners of our first giveaway – congratulations!

Don’t yet have the pattern? You can buy the pattern at the Quilt Fiction Shop.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or email qal@quiltfiction.com.

Ready to make your own magic?

Be sure to email us photos of your blocks so we can add them to the “Loves Me, Loves Me Not Gallery.” Just send them to qal@quiltfiction.com and we’ll take care of the rest (and you’ll be automatically entered into the next giveaway drawing!) You can also share photos of your Ohio Star block and the hour-glass magic on Instagram and in the Quilt Fiction Facebook group – use tags #lovesmelovesmenotqal, #quiltfictionqal, and #storyguildqal.

‘Loves Me, Loves Me Not’ QAL Gallery

Loves Me, Loves Me Not QAL Gallery

Share your progress with everyone to be entered to win one of our giveaways! Simply email your photos to us at qal@quiltfiction.com and we’ll do the rest. Include your name and anything we should know about your photo and we’ll include what we can in the caption.

Quilt-Along : The Wedding Ring Block

It’s time for our first block – the Wedding Ring block!  (Miss our earlier posts? You can find more information about fabric requirements, cutting tips, and fabric color options.)

Many years ago, Florence and Arthur were engaged to be married but Arthur left town and never showed up at the church. When Arthur returned to Milton Falls years later, Florence and Arthur renewed their friendship and she rented space in one of his buildings for the Milton Falls Quilt Company. Over time, their romance rekindled. Friendship Album: Forget-Me-Not begins with everyone preparing to attend Florence and Arthur’s wedding.  Will Arthur place the ring on Florence’s finger? (Listen to chapter 2 to find out.)

It was such fun to get a sneak read of Friendship Album: Forget-Me-Not when I was designing the Loves Me, Loves Me Not quilt. The novel opens with Dorothy, Eula, Bess and their families preparing to attend Florence’s wedding and speculating with each other whether Florence and Arthur will actually get married this time. Given the importance of the wedding as the novel opens, the Wedding Ring block was a natural choice.

The Wedding Ring block is constructed with half-square triangles (HST). You will need four blocks for the throw-sized quilt and one block for the baby-sized quilt.

The pattern calls for sewing with a scant quarter-inch seam. What does this mean and why is it important? Let discuss!

Consistent seam allowances are important for quilting – blocks to go together nicely and the final quilt top will lay nice and flat. If you sew a perfect quarter-inch seam – i.e. the distance between the stitching line and the edge of the piece is exactly a quarter-inch – you will loose just a thread’s width or two when you press the seam to the side. That might not sound like much but for a block like our Wedding Ring block, those little bits can add up and the final block may be as much as a quarter-inch too small when the half-square triangles are sewn together.

The solution is to sew a scant quarter-inch seam – a seam that is a thread width or two narrower than a quarter-inch. The technique is also helpful for units that need to be trimmed to size because it gives a bit of wiggle room for trimming.

Want to see this in action? Grab two squares of scrap fabric, each 1½” wide. Sew them together using what you think is a perfect quarter-inch seam. Press to one side and then measure the width of your sewn squares. Quilt math says they should be 2½” wide but your ruler will show something slightly smaller. Grab two more squares but this time sew a scant quarter-inch seam and compare the results.

Practice your scant quarter-inch seams and then tackle your Wedding Ring blocks!

Before you head off to the sewing machine, I promised a sneak peak at our next giveaway! To be eligible, you will need to share a photo of two blocks – two Wedding Ring blocks, two Ohio Stars (next week’s block), or one of each – by February 27. (More information on how to share will be available soon.) The giveaway sponsors are Oliso and Fat Quarter Shop. Until then, please share your blocks on Instagram and in the Quilt Fiction Facebook group – use tags #lovesmelovesmenotqal, #quiltfictionqal, and #storyguildqal.

Next Monday, February 13, we will make block 2 – the Ohio Star. It is a classic block you’ve likely made before. I will share a tip for trimming the hour-glass unit – the trickiest part of the process.

Don’t yet have the pattern? You can buy the pattern at the Quilt Fiction Shop.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or email qal@quiltfiction.com.