February Lone Star Quilt Along

Good morning, Lone Star Quilters! Are you ready to check in on all of us to see how we are progressing? Sign in here with Mister Linky, post your pictures, go over to Quilt Times where you can visit with Sue, the other half of this quilt-along team, and leave comments for us! We want to hear both your triumphs and tribulations as you've undertaken this Lone Star Quilt journey with us.




Here is the progress on my quilt. I've cut all the 12.5" squares for setting the star and starbursts as well as the 8 side triangles. I have attached the center star to its setting squares. It was fast and easy, but not without some challenges.

I'm a bit uneasy about how this section is not laying flat. Alas, I know there has been some stretching. I'm going to keep going, though, with the hope that any waving can be "quilted out" and will not result in spoiling the overall effect.
The challenge in this portion of construction was the Y-seam, which I alluded to yesterday. My first attempt resulted in this rather unattractive, "un-square" corner.

First Y-seam attempt.

As I hoped, though, practice did make somewhat perfect, and the remaining setting squares went in without too much effort.

Second Y-seam attempt.

Here's what I discovered. Back years ago, when I began this UFO, I sewed the starburst units together all the way out to the end. When you want to insert a fabric into this angle, however, it is helpful to stop the seam 1/4" from the end of the fabric. See if the pictures below illustrate what I mean.

Pencil points to seam; all the way out to the end.

Pencil points to seam which ends 1/4" away from the end.

I started at the outside point of the star and stitched toward the Y-seam. When I got to the place where the Y intersects, I stopped and backstitched to secure the stitching. Then I removed the fabric from the machine, pivoted the fabric a bit, and pinned from the Y intersection out to the point of the star. It is very important that you don't stitch through the seam allowance at this Y intersection, or you'll end up with some puckering. I won't guarantee that all my corners are perfect, but I am satisfied. I left that first "un-square" attempt just as you see it pictured above; in the overall effect of the quilt, it will be negligible.

I pinned - a lot! Why take risks on such an involved quilt?

Hopefully, this little heads-up on Y-seams will benefit those of you who are embarking on this journey with us.

 So, quilters, fill in Mister Linky, upload your pictures, leave us your comments, and show off your stuff!!