Showing posts with label Lemoyne Star. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lemoyne Star. Show all posts

LeMoyne Star Quilt Progress + Importance of "Field Notes"

 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.

LeMoyne Star Pieced
Madras Melange LeMoyne Star

LeMoyne Star

LeMoyne Star Dark Background

LeMoyne Star
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




My LeMoyne Star Odyssey

If you want to see my series on YouTube for the LeMoyne Star, you can find it  here.   I demonstrate (ad nauseum, you may need coffee and Tylenol) how I crafted this block.

 My blog has been a great indexer of events/interests in my life.  I began my LeMoyne Star Odyssey (LSO) nearly two years ago.  I was still a new quilter, and I was having many struggles with producing this block with consistently excellent results.  In fact, some of my results went into the trash bin...they looked like wounded birds with the diamonds crooked and puckered.  I know that I'm not the only person to find this challenging, because several cheater methods have been created using different methods or ruler aids to assist in the production of this beautiful block.

Why is this block so challenging?  It has eight diamonds which means there are 16 sides of bias in the diamonds, and eight sides of bias in the insets and eight Y seam insets.  All in one block. With bias galore, seams galore,  and insets galore, failure galore is a high probability.

As a natural researcher and avocational mad scientist, I attempted to find and try ALL of the ways to make this block--surely there was a secret sauce out there that would make the traditionally pieced way more accessible.  Regrettably, as a newer quilter, I did not have the visual, tactile or technical skill needed to evaluate methods:  only my poor results which could have been me, the method or a little of both.

The test of a GREAT method is one where the average person can execute. I was determined to find the holy grail of those methods, and I found one.  I just had to glomm it together from the teachings of three great quilters:  Shar Jorgenson, Edyta Sitar and Nancy Roelfsema. 

  • Edyta's method of construction sequence and seam press.
  • Nancy Roelfsema's statement to oversize insets
  • Shar Jorenson's method of sewing insets off the corner to create a perfect X seam at the diamond shoulder join.

These methods provided me with the perfect trifecta to make this block perfectly every time.  But let's face it, to make a perfect LeMoyne Star, you have to make lots of failed stars.  By embracing your failure (or less happy outcomes), you learn the visual, tactile and   

Let's talk about the basics that must be pitch perfect to make this block successful:

  • Cutting diamonds perfectly.  Diamonds have to be perfectly sized and cut--preserving the symmetry.  Any inaccuracies here will carry through the block.  A well marked ruler is key. 
  • Cutting insets:  I slightly upsize my insets, so accuracy here is centered on ensuring that the corners are a perfect 90 degree angle.  I sew from the inside of the block to the outside of the block--then trim to perfection.
  • Construction methodology: There are various ways to construct the block
    • Sew pairs of diamonds first, then join pairs to make halves and then sew halves together.  Then do insets.
      • I prefer this method as I had the best results.
    • Sew pairs together, then insert triangle, then attach squares...sometimes like a flag, and then do a 135 inset v. a 90 degree inset on the final join.
      • The money shot join of the diamond halves seemed to suffer on this. I did not have consistent results.
    • Admonishments not to press.  
      • I found that once I diagrammed out the bias on the block, I could press.  I got more consistent results when I pressed along the way.
    • Inset method.  Various methods here.  I found that using an flat, engineered corner that nestled perfectly against the lower shoulder of the bottom diamond provided a perfect visual cue to placement.  Glue basting held everything in place.
      • I used Shar Jorgenson's technique to sew off the inset corner/diamond shoulder for a perfect "X" for the "Y" seam.
  • Sewing perfectly straight and accurate 1/4" seam.  If you don't upsize your insets, you may need a scant.  I upsize my insets, and I use my gated foot on my Bernina for a perfect 1/4".  And if  I have a wandering seam, it shows up with impunity the block.
  • Pressing technique and seam spin.  Open?  Closed?  Spun?  One has to choose.  I use Edyta Sitar's way of pressing seams.
    • Diamonds stitched first and pressed to one side and spun them in the middle.  Which side you choose is immaterial...you just have to stick to the direction that comes naturally to you.
    • Triangles are set first and then pressed towards diamond.
      • With my hand, I smooth each pair from the center toward the edge and finger pressing the seams toward the diamond.  I then use a pressing sheet and set the iron down with no movement.  
      • Smoothing the diamond from the center to the outside edge straightens out the diamond and preserves the 90 degree angle for the square that will next be inset.  Very great care needs to be taken here. (Part of the tactile, visual thing).
    • Squares set second and pressed toward diamond and triangle.
  • After the squares are inset, careful pressing will ensure that the seams are tamed and the block is squared.  I spritz with fine mist, place a pressing sheet over it and work form the center of the block to each side to include moving the iron so that the diagonals are pressed.
  • TRIM TO SIZE

 

In addition to the above, here are some other helpful tips:

  • Use a pressing sheet.  I use the Teflon Sheets from Amazon, and I cut them in various sizes to meet my specific needs.
  • Eagle Beak precision tweezers:  Really helps pull the top diamond shoulder out of the way when sewing off the corner.
  • Havel Ultra Pro Seam Ripper:  This will help unpick a stitch or two if your corners are too tight and don't pivot at the 1/4" for the second seam.
  • Marti Michell's Deluxe Corner Trimmer...places perfect 1/4" dots on each of your diamond shoulders (or you can use your 1/4" piecing foot markings).  If you use Shar Jorgenson's method, you don't have to mark your insets--but use this tool to clip for an engineered 90 degree corner.
  • >50 wt thread.  I prefer Wonderfil Cottonized Polyester thread in 80wt.  It is as strong as the 50 (per their claim and per my experience) and it is very fine for less bulk in blocks that have many seams.
  • Creative Grids Diamond dimensions ruler....get 3 point confirmation on your diamond angles prior to cutting.  But if cutting on the 8ths...you must use your regular ruler.
  • Be patient and hone your skills.  This block requires that you hit all of marks perfectly.  Use your practice blocks to direct your improvements.  If your block does not finish well it is either in the cutting, sewing, pressing.  A small wobble on a bias seam magnifies.
  • Consider glue basting.  I glue baste my insets which ensures that nothing shifts.
 
 






Lemoyne Star | Final | Conquered with Impunity



I've been yammerin on about my !#$%^$%#&^ LeMoyne Star learning curve (like climbing Mt Everest in a snowstorm).   Nancy shows something here that NO other presenter has shown:  making your triangles and squares slightly oversized.

So while my techniques had improved mightily, and I mostly was getting the size block that I wanted, it is was still not where I wanted to be:  perfect.

I've been chasing perfection, and I thought that this might be the final key to my ultimate success. (It was!)

 So I set upon my scientific experiment to upsize my insets.

For a 6" block, I cut the 3.75 square for the QST's at 4". I cut the 2.25 square at 2.5".

Now when you upsize, you ALWAYS have to line up your block from the inside (inset corner) out.  I like to use the corner clipper for my squares and triangle insets to nip that small corner out. I also like to make the dot first.  By doing so, you can line up your corner, make sure your dot is on your stitching line at the inset.  I glue baste each side (I call the my dry fitting). 

My result? (I did in purple because Nancy uses purple).

Perfectly square.

Perfectly sized.

Perfect points.

Thank you Nancy.


You can see her video.  I watched so many of her videos over the years and she helped keep my learning curve in rolling Va hills. v Mt Everest.  Check her out.  You 'll be glad you did.

LeMoyne Star--Still

 I've become a confident piecer, and my blocks are coming out mostly right since I did my deep dive into understanding where the bias is in the block (and all the various construction methods)  Did you see that bias post? I think that it is pretty interesting largely because it helped me!  Maybe it will help you too.

That ole "Perfect practice makes perfect" really is on the mark.  Because the people who demonstrate this "stuff" are so excellent, we mere mortals think our first efforts should look like there's. 

While I prefer to piece on Brown Betty, I do not have as much a visual because the toe of the foot is so narrow.  I have two Bernina's.  For my newer 530B, I have the gated piecing foot, and I just got the regular piecing foot.




The Bernina 57 Gated foot rolls over any ridges and does not get caught on anything. But you cannot see the markings on the outside edge Frankly I bought a set of cheap feet, and they are just that...cheap.  The 1/4" foot did not line up accurately with my needle and I ended up with several broken needles, because the hole on the foot was so narrow.  I tossed and I have never looked back.  I also purchased a single hole plate.

Many don't like to do all of the seam marking necessary to make the accurate starts and stops required by inset seams.  Well, the #37 is well marked. (As are brands)  If you want to start perfectly at 1/4" inside the diamond shoulder, just line up the middle mark with the outside of the diamond shoulder.  Because the foot is a perfect 1/4" you are inside the corner exactly 1/4" which is where your dot or cross would be.  

My 530B will be my go-to piecing machine for Y seams.  I don't need the gated foot for Brown Betty as the foot is a perfect 1/4" (scant) and I have lovely machined guide that screws securely into the machine and keeps fabric edge where it needs to be.

 My frustration over my LeMoyne Star block has abated quite a bit.  While I have have tried other methods, my hybrid method of piecing (sew the diamonds; join the halves (locks down all bias on lower diamonds); inset the squares (locks down the biased edges on the diamonds and you can PRESS), and then inset the triangles gives me the best overall results.  

I feel that for me, it is too much fabric handling and my diamonds start to get droopy on the bias edge.  If my technique were perfect, then my results might be different.  For now, I feel like at least when I start, I will have a usable block at the end.  I have a few that were beyond rescue.

LeMoyne Star | Tepidly Conquered and Consolidation of Learnings--though subject to change!

 I've written several posts on the LeMoyne Star.  I'll not list them here, but you can search to blog for them, and I've included links to the more important ones. Understand that I'm not an expert.  In fact, because I am not (I'm a hack!),  I can share where I have failed; how I have contemplated that failure; and how I have remediated that failure.  Maybe you too are experiencing failures.  After much experimentation, angst, and number crunching, I have accomplished the following:

  1. My blocks now construct at (mostly) ALWAYS (now that I slightly upsize my triangle/corner insets)  1/2" larger--the proper trim size--than finished sizes instead of a the F_💣(fbomb) finished  size. I confess, though, that I don't always achieve perfect squareness. Nothing requires more careful attention than a true and straight seam line in this block.  So make a test block and be aware that seam finish (open/over) may affect your outcomes relative to your seam allowance. You will be tested by your block outcome regarding whether you seam line is truly straight and true.
  2. I have a perfect understanding of the math involved in constructing the block.
  3. I constructed a calculator for others who do not wish to go through my machinations and don't have access to quilting programs (I didn't at first which is why I undertook it). 
  4. I created a cut sheet for others using the math in the calculator.

Here are my final to date learnings on this #!$#$%^%&& block. (I have Deb Tucker's Rapid Fire Lemoyne Star and highly recommend it.  However, making this the traditional way was a personal challenge for me.) I'm far from expert, but my failures are so close to my memory, and my accomodation of those failures, I want to share those.  I'm sure I'm not the only person who has struggled.

Here are some tips PRIOR to beginning:

  1. Marti Michell's Deluxe Corner Trimmer (and marking tool).  No futzing about marking long seam lines....line it up, make a dot and trim the corner(s) so that your piece nestles perfectly with the inside diamond. I just clip the corner that is in the inset seam. 💡 You can also use the markings on your 1/4" foot to guide you without marking. I cannot see the right side of my foot with my gate, so I mark I bought a non gated 1/4" foot.  I don't have to make a mark at all!  A #2 pencil through the hole and get a perfect mark.
  2. Watch the collection of videos that I have consolidated for you on my Quilt Stuff page. I recommend Shar Jorgenson's method
  3. Consider glue basting your seams.  I found this helpful--but I do this typically with my piecing, and always with this block.  I ensure that I am applying glue to the biased edge, covering with straight of grain, and then hitting with the iron to dry.  Glue will stabilize the bias.
  4. Use a finer weight thread polyester thread.  I'm using 80wt Wonderfil DecoBob.
  5. Make a test block.  Your perfect scant 1/4" seam may need to be scantier and/or more perfect depending on how you choose to finish your seams--but if it is too scanty, you will lose your points.  
  6. Upsize your triangle and square insets slightly larger than the pattern (unless pattern has it upsized).  If upsizing, you need to fit the corner and work out, v. lining up to the outside of the block.  If you clip your corner, it will snuggle in just right.

The Lemoyne Star---Again

 I've been away from star making since my last post.  Yesterday I decided I would try to make the star again using my sew and flip method.  I looked at it against a regular Lemoyne Star.  The regular star is prettier.  The sew and flip gives an additional seam in each corner and at each set in triangle.

The point of these alternative ways is to avoid dealing with Y seams.Y seams are not hard, it is really the mastering of the fabric handling that is key.  I put together a regular LeMoyne star.  It was sad.  Had I forgotten everything that I had learned?  Apparently the answer was a resounding yes.

I went back to the two mountains that have helped me with the LeMoyne Star.  One is Edyta Sitar's video and the other from TQS.  Both of which have different techniques.



I spent the day today, perfecting my technique.  I'm happy to say that all of my Y seams are perfect.  I blended some of the methods from both videos.  I found that for setting in squares, pressing the square into a diagonal was very helpful. That way there is a perfect needle stop that is exactly at the pivot crease is on diagonal and the 1/4" seam allowance combines for the perfect pivot.

I do not care for the oversewing and unpicking in Dee's method.  I don't use it. 

Practice really does make perfect. And there is NO other construction method that yields as lovely a star.

Lemoyne Star--Tackled--Almost

Updated: 03/07/2020--After squaring up my blocks, I realize, that these blocks are NOT perfect, and I need to do some more work.I perfected  undertook a method of tackling and successfully completing a Lemoyne Star after several less- than-stellar attempts...Y seams and all.  Now, I'm not bragging.  Rather, I'm offering encouragement for any new quilter to engage in perfect practice and embrace failure as part of clawing one's way up the learning curve.

I will share with you the technique that I cultivated from shamelessly glommed together the best practices of others. I will warn that it's avant garde, as it goes against the admonitions of others to not iron.  

First: Marking  points and pushing seams.  I am embracing Edyta Sitar's method for marking and pushing seam allowances. To mark, I found that my Creative Grids Corner Clipper did an unparalleled job in marking the start and stop points accurately and effortlessly.  See my post on that here. No guess work.  No fumbling.  Perfect mark each and every time. And a lead pencil makes the perfect dot.

I had used Dee Christopher's method of sewing through (w/o marking)  but found that it was easier to make the marks than pick out a couple of threads.  For pressing, I used Edyta's method:  Turn right side down, points up, and push the seam allowance to the left.

Second: Cutting diamonds from strips.  I cut my diamonds straight up and down on my mat by aligning the top with my 45 degree mark on the mat.  I found that I cut more accurately that way.  I used a dry erase marker to mark my ruler. I have also found (after now scurrying to my work room) that permanent mounting tape (keep one side with the backing intact or it will stick to your mat) will attach and remove from your ruler easily and creates a ledge.  I get this cheaply at my local salvage store.

Third:  Halve  your triangles (from tip to outer base) and  fold squares (on diagonal):  One of the many challenges of this block is the flipping back and forth to sew the other side of the why seam.One way to make it easier to visualize is to fold the triangle in half and fold the corner on the diagonal. That way, (1) the crease on the triangle shows you exactly where to stop sewing on the first pass, and (2) you can see how it nestles into the other side.  So for those of you who share my spatial processing idiosyncrasies you might find that a helpful aid.

Fourth: Glue + iron.  Yes, I'm a serial glue baster.  And you cannot glue if you do not iron.  The counsel is to not iron because of all of the bias.  Well if you are glue-basting your seam, the glue will stabilize the bias.  Well, that was my hypothesis after I had engaged this method after completing yet another unsatisfactory star.  So I glued and set it with the iron--just along the glued seam.  And everything turned out beautifully.  No stretching.  Perfect points.  Perfect corners.  Crisp seams.  So I attest that if you glue baste and use your iron on the edge of your basted seam to set the glue, you will not end up with misshapen diamonds.  Rather, you will end up with a nicely stabilized seam that will not flip flop on you.

Fifth: Because you are not sewing off the seam, but stopping and back-*tacking, you end up with long tails of threads (upper/lower).  Unless you have an auto thread cutter on your sewing machine (I'm coveting such a feature), clip the threads to keep a tangle from occurring. 

And finally, I found that using a pressing cloth on top of the block allowed pressing without providing any shine to the seams and made by block flatter.

Here is my quilt block, and if you look, you can see that I have one seam pucker (lower mid)--but it ironed out as the seam was twisted in the back.  I didn't notice it until I saw the photo.  This was my first block using this method.  My second block is still on my design wall with no puckers.


I'm really happy that I have found a method that works for me. And I can approach the block with enthusiasm, not trepidation.

 As I continue my quilting journey, I realize the importance of understanding the methods (and there is more than one way to skin the cat) and integrating them into your learning.  For me, glue-basting is an essential part of how I go about the business of keeping things in place.  So bringing that method into the fold yielded a confident approach to this beautiful block.

Lemoyne Star


I had an OCD need to understand how to build the measurements of a Lemoyne Star, or an 8 point quilt block. I was inspired by this method of drafting from HOW WE SEW.   There are two three methods of constructing an 8 point star.

 One is by simply cutting squares and using the combination of squares and HST's to formulate the block.  It is a no partial seam method--a cheater method.  And it doesn't quite look the same.

Second is a semi-cheater method.  This method is composed of the splitting the triangles and the squares to avoid Y seams. It provides some design flexibility as the corner square and the side triangles are split.   Nancy Zieman illustrates one method and McCall's quilting, another of accomplishing this traditional block.

Third, is the #$%#$^^ traditional method.  This method is composed of the following (see block above) three pieces

1.  Corner Squares (qty 4)
2.  Diamonds (qty8)
3.  Square (qty 1) cut on 2 diagonals to yield 4 QST's
 
I pulled out my Excel with the goal of creating a table that used base computations to calculate each of the 3 needed components.  I will warn you...this will make your head hurt.

I used the How We Sew tutorial for a 5.5" finished block.  The key to the block is to identify the divisions of the block.  The first division involves finding the length of the corner block.  That number involves some calculations.

1.  Corner Squares.  Find the side measurement of Square 1. Measure the diagonal from the center of the block to the corner. (If you were drawing this you could use a compass). That is 1/2 the diagonal of the block.  So let's work with numbers we know.
    • Diagonal of the block is the hypotenuse of a 5.5" square.  You can use this calculator here and multiply the result by .5 (or divide by 2).   Or you can do it the old fashion way. 
    • The formula is (a squared + b squared) = c squared.  To solve we square A and Square B get the sum of that.  Then calculate the square root.
    •   As we are working with squares for our star blocks, a and b are always equal in our star calculations and equate to the finished block size.  5.5" = a and 5.5" = b.
       If you have excel, you can use this formula:
      •   =ROUND((SQRT((+5.5*5.5)+(5.5*5.5))*0.5)*8,0)/8     N= the size of the finished block (5.5" in our example)--so you would want to put your block size in a cell and then point to it in the formula.
      •  I was rounding to get to the nearest 8th inch which is the other stuff.  The blue highlight is taking the square of each side (5.5 in this case) and adding them together and taking the square root of the answer.  5.5 x 5.5 = 30.25  30.25x2=60.5.  The square root of 60.5 is 7.778174593.  
      • 7.778174593 represents the full diagonal of your finished block.  We need 1/2 of that measurement or 3.889087297.  As our quilting rulers don't have such minutia, the formula is going to round to the nearest 1/8 of inch or 3.875.
    •  Now we can compute the length of square 1: Subtract 3.875 from the finished block size (5.5)= 1.625.  Because we need seam allowances for our square, we need to add .5" to that number.  Therefore our 4 corner squares will be cut at 2.125" (1.625 + .5).  One key block down!
2.  Quarter Square Triangles:   We have to calculate the length of our quarter square triangles so we calculate the size of the square that we will cut on the diagonal 2x to form the QST's we need.  We know that one side of each block contains 2 squares (length of 1.625 each).  The remainder is the length of the  straight of grain triangle side.

  • To calculate we will take the finished block size, subtract the two corner squares (2 x 1.625). or 5.5-3.25=2.25.  To add seam allowance, we add 1.25" to get a total square of 3.50 which we will cut into quarter square triangles. Second key block down.

3.Diamonds:  Once you calculate the width of the diamond (measurement of the parallelogram, not the points), you can cut the diamonds from strips.  The width of our 5.5" block has 2 corner triangles and 2 diamonds.  So, the width of a single diamond, is going to be 5.5-2*1.625 or 1.125.  Math check   1.625 + 1.625 + 1.125 + 1.125 = 5.5  Yeah...all of our components add up to the width of our block.  Because we need seam allowance for the diamond, we need to add .5" so that our diamond width will be 1.125+.5 or 1.625

I do not attest to the accuracy of the table below. (on 09/06/2021 I compared my table to EQ8 computations which I did not have at the time.  I have since updated the table below which you can use with confidence.  However, if you press your seams over (v. opening them), you may need a scantier 1/4" seam than you are used to using.  I had to go over one more needle click on the Bernina (2 v. 1).  Make a test block to ensure that you get a trimmed size 1/2 larger than finished).


Make a Test and use SCANTIEST 1/4"
Lemoyne Star Block Sizes:  Cut Sheet for Components
Calculated finish (math + EQ8) Corner Squares  Diamond Width  Square for QST
Seam Allow (incl)  1/2  1/2 1 1/2
Yield 4    8    4   
23 7 2/8 5 2/8 10 6/8
22.5 7 1/8 5 1/8 10 5/8
22 7    5    10 3/8
21.5 6 6/8 5    10 1/8
21 6 5/8 4 7/8 10   
20.5 6 4/8 4 6/8 9 6/8
20 6 3/8 4 5/8 9 4/8
19.5 6 2/8 4 4/8 9 3/8
19 6 1/8 4 3/8 9 1/8
18.5 5 7/8 4 3/8 8 7/8
17 5 4/8 4    8 2/8
16.5 5 3/8 3 7/8 8 1/8
16 5 1/8 3 7/8 7 7/8
15.5 5    3 6/8 7 5/8
15 4 7/8 3 5/8 7 4/8
14.5 4 6/8 3 4/8 7 2/8
14 4 5/8 3 3/8 7   
13.5 4 4/8 3 2/8 6 7/8
13 4 2/8 3 2/8 6 5/8
12.5 4 1/8 3 1/8 6 3/8
12 4    3    6 2/8
11.5 3 7/8 2 7/8 6   
11 3 6/8 2 6/8 5 6/8
10.5 3 5/8 2 5/8 5 5/8
10 3 3/8 2 5/8 5 3/8
9.5 3 2/8 2 4/8 5 1/8
9 3 1/8 2 3/8 5   
8.5 3    2 2/8 4 6/8
8 2 7/8 2 1/8 4 5/8
7.5 2 6/8 2    4 3/8
7 2 4/8 2    4 1/8
6.5 2 3/8 1 7/8 4   
6 2 2/8 1 6/8 3 6/8
5.5 2 1/8 1 5/8 3 4/8
5 2    1 4/8 3 3/8
4.5 1 7/8 1 3/8 3 1/8
4 1 5/8 1 3/8 2 7/8
3.5 1 4/8 1 2/8 2 6/8