Star Light, Star Bright BOM: Block 2

I can hardly believe it is May 1st already.  Despite all that has changed about our lives I am keeping very busy and the days are just zipping by.  I had a lot of fun making my two versions of this month's block.  I do have some tips to share with you today that will help in the process.  Here is my main block-Canopus.

One of the main tips for this block is color choice; more specifically pay attention to value0the light and dark for your fabrics.  The star here could easily end up as a secondary part of the pattern if it was not bold enough to "compete"  with the purple I have chosen.  Let me show you how it changes by  using a darker color and lighter blues.  

It gives a completely different look to this block.  You can see how the star gets lost in the background.  So be careful in your fabric choices.  

My first tip for sewing:  There will be some diagonal seams that face the same direction.  When that happens I place a dot of glue from my gluestick to hold them together as I sew.  I am afraid the blue of my glue does not show too well in the photo.

My second tip:  When sewing over these bulky seams a stilleto can help to guide them through.  As always the best thing here is to sew s-l-o-w-l-y when you come to these types of seams.  These two things work together well to keep your seams nice and straight.

Tip #3:  When it comes time to join the units for the block together it helps to check the direction of your seams in those corner units.

As you can see, the seams here are facing opposite directions.  That is exactly what I want to see.

But when I check the seams on the other edge they are going in the same direction.  That is not what I want.  So what to do?

I have placed a pin in the corner of that unit so you can see what I did to solve the issue.  This is how my piece is currently laying.

So I rotated it to where the pin is now.

When I check the seams now I still have them going in opposite directions on this side.

And now they are also facing opposite directions on this side as well.  All is good.

Here is my second version of Block 2 that  I am putting into a baby quilt. I changed it up a bit by using another light color fabric on those corner squares that meet up with the star.  You can see once again how having my darkest value fabric in the star allows it to really shine.

Click the link below to get a copy of the pdf file for Block 2.
Star Light, Star Bright PDF Files

In between blocks in this quilt you might enjoy making some of the blocks I am doing each day to mark the passage of my time staying at home. 
I designed today's block in memory of many May Day Baskets that
​were delivered to our neighbors in secret.  

There are pdf files for many of the blocks I have made so far and those can be found here.

 It has been pretty quiet in the Facebook group so do come by and share a photo of any of the blocks you have made.  I would love to see them!

​Until next time...stay well and
​Happy Quilting!!