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Quarter Square Triangles-Making an Ohio Star

4/24/2017

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Anytime I can simplify my block construction and achieve better accuracy I am all for it.
Making an Ohio Star block is the perfect chance to show you how to
​make Quarter Square Triangles (QST's.)

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​The finished size of my bock is going to be 9 inches.  
​To make this block along with me you will need the following:

2   4-1/2 inch squares of light fabric
4   3-1/2 inch squares of light fabric
2   4-1/2 inch squares of dark fabric
1   3-1/2 inch square of dark fabric

Once these are cut I like to starch them.  I have found this helps with my accuracy, especially when working with seams on the bias.


​​

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I am going to start by drawing a diagonal line on the 4-1/2 inch light fabric squares.
I use an ultra fine Sharpie for this for a nice dark line that is easy to see.  
Underneath the fabric I use a very fine sandpaper that is attached to a clipboard.  
​It is a little trick that keeps the fabric from shifting when I need to mark a line.
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With right sides together I pair the light and dark 4-1/2 inch squares.  I need to sew 1/4 inch from the drawn line.  
I prefer a small stitch when piecing (2.1 which equals 12 stitches/inch) and always sew with my needle in the down position.
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Next I need to sew 1/4 inch from the other side of the drawn line.
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When that is done I cut on the diagonal line, giving me two Half Square Triangles.
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Time to press.  First just lay the iron on the seam to "set the seam."
​ I am pressing to the dark side.  
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After carefully opening up the unit I press from the top.  It is particularly important when working with these bias seams to not move your iron around,
​but only lift it up and set it down on the fabric.
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I lay two Half Square Triangles on top of each other-right, butting the seams together as in the bottom part of the photo.
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With my ruler I mark a diagonal line down the middle.
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Just like before, I will sew 1/4 inch from each side of the drawn line.  
​Feeding these units through my machine with the seam facing towards the needle like this helps to push those two seams together.
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I take a quick look to make sure my seams have lined up well.
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Now I cut right on the line I had drawn.
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I now have enough Quarter Square Triangles to make my block.  
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Since my finished units need to measure 3" I will trim these to 3-1/2 inches.  It is important to lay my ruler's diagonal line right on that seam line.  A little math here lets me know that half of 3-1/2  is 1-3/4.  That means that I will find the 1-3/4inch mark on my ruler and place it right at the center of the intersecting triangles.  Now I can trim the extra off on the first two sides.
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Rotatinf the block, I line up my ruler in exactly the same way and trim the remaining two sides.
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All of my Quarter Square Triangle units now measure 3-1/2 inches.  Perfect.
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Time to lay all of my pieces together to make the Ohio Star Block.
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Chain piecing the rows together being careful to keep the Quarter Square Triangles in the correct position.  I sometimes triple check before sewing as I all too often have to get out my seam ripper, Jack, when I put them together wrong. 
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An  important part of putting this block together is the direction I press the seams.  I want to press them so that they go in opposite directions.  If I can I liek to press towards the plain square to avoid bulky seams.
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Making progress on sewing the rows together...
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Before I proceed, I like to check to make sure my seam allowance is correct.  
​The middle squares in each row should now measure 3 inches across.  If they are off, it is a simple matter to remove the stitches and adjust the seam.  Sometimes, just moving the needle position one way or the other is all it takes to solve the problem. 
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With my seams all pressed in opposite directions I can nest them together and put a pin in to hold them in place while I sew.
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As I will sew right up to the pin, leave my needle in the down position and remove the pin before sewing the rest of the way.  I also slow way down when I come to these seams as it is easy for the bulk to not behave nicely if I am sewing to fast.  My goal here is to have my needle land right on those intersecting seams.
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This is what the back of my block looks like.  To reduce bulk at the intersections I flare them open.  This allows the seams to lay in opposite directions.  When you feel the intersections from the front they will be quite flat which I really like.
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Here is  the view from the front.  Just need to add that last row...
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With all three rows sewn together it is time to square up this block to 9-1/2 inches.
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One thing to be aware of in that process is to make sure I have 1/4 inch of fabric extending beyond the points on my star.  If not, then I will chop off the points when I sew it into the quilt.
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The Ohio Star is one of my favorite blocks.  
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I hope you will give the Quarter Square Triangles a try.  This method is easy to use no matter what size your finished block.  Just add 1-1/2 inches to the finished size you need,  In this case I needed a 3" finished Quarter Square Triangle unit.  3 + 1-1/2=4-1/2.
Happy Quilting!!
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