The Sew and Tell Project

One of my favorite parts of quilting is trying out new blocks. When I was invited to participate in the latest Classic and Vintage quiltalong with Fat Quarter Shop, I was a little hesitant since I knew some of the skills required would challenge me. However, my quilty word for the year is build as in skillbuilding. 

As soon as I saw the gorgeous sample quilt pictured below I decided that I needed to participate!  

The pattern was designed by Fat Quarter Shop using Nova by Basic Grey. You can grab a kit to make the exact quilt pictured above or you can use the free block pattern or paid full quilt pattern to use fabric from your stash! Fat Quarter Shop has posted a tutorial right here so you can see how this block is made. I LOVE quilt tutorial videos to learn tips so I can grow my skill set. 

The pattern includes a template piece for making the stars, but I prefer to work with rulers so I picked up the 30 Degree Starburst ruler from Creative Grids. So far I have only used it for the Rocket Star block but I plan to try a few of the other quilt techniques suggested with the ruler. I also used my 4.5″ and 5.5″ Creative Grids square rulers. I didn’t try a Creative Grids ruler until a few years into learning to quilt, and I’ve slowly been replacing my other basic rulers with them because of the clear markings and unique grips that prevent them from slipping around on my fabric. 

For my block, I wanted something that would be fun to fussy cut but also have the bold colors of the sample block. I’ve had Soulful Fabrics by Maureen Cracknell from Art Gallery Fabrics in my stash for a little while now and have made several dresses for my girls out of my favorite prints. The prints I chose for this block I have been saving for the perfect quilt pattern. If you like the fabrics I’ve used, a few of the Soulful prints are still in stock and on sale at FQS. 

I wanted to have a subtle tonal background for my block, so I chose the new Art Gallery Decostitch Elements in Cloud to enhance my block’s boho feel. I treated my fabric with Best Press before cutting because I wanted to have a little more stability knowing that a lot of my cuts would be on the bias.

I did make a test block because I wanted to make sure I understood how to work with directional fabrics and keep my points while making the block. One of the things I learned while making my test block is to make sure that you square up 1/4″ away from the tip of the narrow point so you don’t lose your points if you choose to make the full quilt. It was also helpful to me when sewing the “square in square” elements of the block to sew with my needle just slightly to the right of my drawn diagonal line. This allowed my blocks to be the intended finished size when done.

Finally, I wanted to note that the points on the star wedges will NOT match the points on the square-in-a-rectangle wedges. When I finished my test block I panicked a bit because I thought I had miscut somewhere. The points will be slightly offset.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my block today! You can check out the other blocks made by other makers if you head to The Jolly Jabber!