My serendipitous "designing " of my son's quilt was done with a big fat crayon in the beginning. Well, it started with a gear shift first. I had planned to make the modified Betwixt and do the quilt in just 2 colors. Then I thought it important do codify, via video, my LeMoyne Star process on You Tube hoping that it might help one person have better success at tackling this block. In the process of doing that, I had a "HMMMM" moment and self musing, "Why not use these blocks in this blue/gray colorway into my son's quilt?" (He's an adult male). After getting an enthusiastic response on the colors and some of the more dramatic blocks, I realized I had settled on the shape of that project.
My blocks are simply "maker's choice" designs which has given me a chance to skill build on making these compound diamonds. I was inspired by seeing a scrappy LeMoyne Star which I think was from Six White Horses but not attributed as such...it was just on the Pinterest. I stumbled upon Six White Horses blog site and it appeared to my eye that was the style of the star, though I did not see a photo of it. Her stars were paper pieced. That is a good option for any who don't want to fuss with Y seams or buy Rapid Fire ruler.
Nevertheless, I hadn't considered making a star that way, basically because I was perfecting my construction techniques. I don't know how many stars I have made now, but I I'm pretty sure that it is approaching 200--and that makes me a CONFIDENT and CONFIDENT piecer of these beautiful blocks. I'm sharing with others my trials and tribulations. And maybe I'm a slow learner or poor technician to have to do so many to become proficient. But I really like the 8 seams less block than pieced seams to avoid Y-seams. And having researched, adopted, modified techniques to sew off the corner of these units, I'm really not doing anything that any other could easily do--but all of that time paid off. I have a real understanding of this block that goes to my core. Plus, I can make these on autopilot.
I'll not lie, these stars take time to do--but they are brilliantly beautiful to my eye, and allow you to use so many different fabrics--its a great stash buster, but not an easy one. The only constant is that my alternating blocks are Kona Snow background and Timeless Treasures Soho Sail. I think Sail is one of the prettiest colors I've ever seen. It is blue/gray with purple undertone and goes fantastically with so many things in my dragon den of fabric.
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| Madras Melange LeMoyne Star |
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| LeMoyne Star White Light Background |
Above are just a few of the stars. I've been able to use fabric in my stash to create some really pretty (to my eye anyway!) stars. Not all have turned out as planned--but each are stars in their own right and have helped me solidify my skill in making this star.
Construction notes: (1) For these compound diamonds, I elected to press the inset seam towards the star. I had experimented pressing toward the inset--the advantage that it pushes the seam to the least resistance. However, I pushed it to the diamond with as good results. I think that the only way to do this is to press along the way--and most of the best teachers admonish against this (not Shar Jorgenson though). I have found NO issues with dry pressing and using a pressing sheet. I also have an older, heavier, hot-as-hell iron, and I think that helps.
(2) I inset the square first, and like a mechanic putting on lugnuts, I went to the opposite side installing two polarities of squares and then the second polarity. I think this gives you the advantage of not pulling the block too far out of line if you join all of the diamonds first as I do. Do the same with the triangle insets. Again, any of it is YOUR preference. I'm one of those nebbish folks that will try all ways and settle (objectively) on a method that makes the most sense to me and yields excellent results.
I have 49 of the stars to make, and I'm about 2/3rds through, and I've spent a ton of time on this! Even so, I'm not bored with it. This block has reminded me of the importance of keeping a notebook on construction methods (given that my brain seems to be calcified!). For example, I made two stars, and trimming to the correct size meant that I had lost my points (not 1/4" clearance). I looked at my machine and had a DOH! moment: I had forgotten to adjust from scant to full 1/4" for my insets. You need a full 1/4" to lap your ends when sewing any point. Until you review and investigate surprising outcomes, you will not have a fully immersive learning (cursing) experience.
As I documented my progress to date on this quilt, to include finalizing the size and block count/size, I decided that I should codify my construction techniques. To wit:
- Insets are oversized
- Sew strips using scant 1/4"
- created abbreviation of SQ and FQ for scant and full quarter respectively.
- Sew intra diamond units SQ which created the best diamond joins for each full diamond.
- Sew full diamonds together using FQ
- Sew insets FQ
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