Hey quilty friends, welcome to Week 4 of the Sugar Coated Stars Quilt Along!
We’ve completed our beautiful center blocks and now it’s time to turn these into beautiful and unique sawtooth star blocks! This week we are making our flying geese and sashing units! So let’s get to it!
How to make 4-at-a-time flying geese
When you need multiple flying geese, the 4-at-a-time method can be a life saver! I have two great blog articles on how to create flying geese using the 4-at-a-time method. For a review of the general method, read the tutorial HERE. If you are using directional prints, you can use this tutorial.
How to trim flying geese blocks
One of the most common questions I get regarding flying geese blocks is whether or not you need a specialty ruler for trimming. The answer is NO, but, the specialty rulers do come in handy and make trimming flying geese blocks a bit easier. I have a few different rulers that I use for trimming. Let’s take a look at them!
Creative Grids makes a super handy 4.5″ x 8.5″ ruler that is super handy for trimming flying geese. But you could use any quilting ruler to trim your flying geese.
Make sure that you are positioning the ruler that allows for trimming on all 4 sides of the flying geese to ensure the blocks are uniform. Let’s take a look at a few specialty trimming rulers! These are all super handy and can make trimming flying geese much quicker!
If you are using a non-speciality ruler, you will want to ensure that you are trimming on all 4 sides of the flying geese. The most important consideration when trimming your blocks is ensuring that you have kept a 1/4″ seam allowance on the top of your block at the point.
A few from the back shows the intersection of seams. When connecting your flying geese to other blocks, you will want to make sure that your sewing line hits just above this intersection to avoid cutting off the point of your geese.
Making stitch and flip squares
We are also making the sashing strips for our blocks this week. Need help with cutting your sashing strips? Check out this article on the blog about how to make cutting a breeze!
There are a few ways to make sure your sashing corners turn out perfectly. The stitch and flip method can be a bit tricky, but with a few tips, you can have perfect corners! The Cluck Cluck Sew Diagonal Seam Tape can be handy on your sewing machine bed. You can also mark or press a diagonal line across your fabric square and then sew on the line, or just a scant away from the line. Trim 1/4″ away from the sewn line and press the triangle back. Viola! Perfectly sewn corner!
Need help with your piecing skills?
Need extra help getting your piecing perfect? My online course - Perfect Piecing Workshop is currently open for enrollment for a limited time! Check it out!
THIS WEEK’S QUILT ALONG PRIZE
This week’s winner will receive a custom curated fabric bundle from Midlife Quilter! How awesome is that!
You must post your fabric pull on Instagram from a public account (so we can see your posts) using the hashtag #SugarCoatedStarsQuilt AND #SugarCoatedStarsQAL by 11:59 p.m. on 11/13/22. A winner will be chosen and announced on 11/14/22 via Instagram.
I am excited to announce that @caseymcline, @bikergrammy and @mrsclaussquilts are our Week 3 winners! They each won an Aurifil Thread Color Builder Set! Congratulations, and enjoy!
Leave a comment and let me know what you think of this week’s progress! Can’t wait to see your work this week! Thank you for being a part of the quilty fun and sewing along with us!
