Hi everybody, it’s Jenny from the Missouri
Star Quilt Company. And what a great quilt this is. Look at this quilt behind me.
Isn’t this gorgeous? I love the colors, first of all, I love the layout. I even love
the size. This is a great size for your porch; a great size for my stair wall which you can bet
it’s going to go on. So to make this quilt you’re going to need one packet of ten inch squares. And
this packet is called Winter Frost. And it’s by Kathy Engle for Island Batiks. And I love how
they pack their packs because you can see all the colors. You’re going to use 36 of those prints
and you’re going to need some background squares. And you’re going to use 28 of those. And then you
need a little yardage to match that background and so you need a half a yard for this first
outer border. It’s a 2 ½ inch outer border. This is a yard and a quarter. It’s a nice big
six inch border. You’re going to end up with a quilt that’s 63 by 63 because we have 16 blocks
involved. And this is the back of the quilt. That beautiful, soft blue is so pretty . And
you’re going to need four yards for that. So I love this size of quilt because it’s great
for hanging on your porch. It’s great for my stair wall. You know, it’s just a great size of
quilt. Remember if you want to make it bigger, say you love this and you want to make it for your
bed, you’re just going to double up or triple up on your packs and then you’ll have enough. So just
remember you’re just going to go twice as big. Alright, so let’s look at this block. Now this
block is made up of three different blocks. And this block comes to us courtesy of one of our
pattern writers, Kim and it’s just a darling block and really fun to make. The first block we’re
going to make is we’re going to start with this center square right here. And what you’re going to
do is you’re going to take one of your background squares and you’re going to cut a 4 ½ inch square.
What I’m going to do is I’m going to cut my whole strip, let me flip this over. And I’m going to
cut a 4 ½ inch strip and then cut that into 4 ½ inch squares because I know I’m making more than
one block. So now I have this 4 ½ inch block right here. And then what you’re going to do is you’re
going to take one of your background squares, I mean your print squares, and you’re going to cut
a 2 ½ inch strip and cut four 2 ½ inch squares for that. So I have this one already ready for you
with the center block and my four corner squares. Now if you’re following the pattern you’ll get all
the cutting instructions and you’ll have all these cute little piles and you’ll have everything ready
to go. I’m just going to show you how to make one block so I know you can do it. So on this one
what we’re going to do is we are going to lay two blocks diagonally from each other. We’re going
to line them up exactly in the corners, just make sure they’re right snug in there. And then we’re
going to sew diagonally across here like this. And then trim those off and add two more. Now you
can draw your line, iron your line. You can also use the diagonal seam tape like I’m using right
here. And it just, I’m going to line up the very first part of my needle and then make sure that
the point of my block lines up on my red line, that’s my center line. And I can just sew straight
across. This diagonal seam tape saves me so much time. Alright so now we’re coming over here to the
other. Realign the square and make sure it lines up exactly in the corner and then we’re going to
sew corner to corner. And again I just take a few little anchoring stitches and then I just line up
my corner with the red line and we go all the way. Alright so then what we’re going to do is we’re
going to trim these off and press them back. Because the block is actually a half an inch
smaller, it’s a 4 ½ inch block, you can’t put all four corners on at once. You have to do them
two at a time. And it’s easiest to do opposites. And so now what we’re going to do is we are
going to add our other blocks to the other side like this. And again this one, line them up.
And they’re going to cross over which you want them to do. So they’re going to cross over a
little bit. Alright so now we’re going to sew corner to corner. And again make sure you’re
lined up and your point of your fabric is on the red line. Ya and please don’t hesitate,
if you just want to draw that line, do it. I used to tend to eyeball these and this is one of
those where you want to get it pretty close on. When you’re eyeballing it doesn’t always work
out so well. Once you get those two on we’re going to trim them off and press them back.
And our little center block will be finished. So I’m going to make sure and catch
these threads when I’m trimming. And cut this one off here.
And then we’ll press it back. And it should still measure a 4 ½ inch
square. So this is our center block. So the next block we’re going to do
are these four patches right here. Now you want to make sure you have a little bit
of contrast or at least two different colors to make these. You’re going to take a ten inch
square of print and background, cut them both directions so you have four five inch squares.
And we are going to just line them up together. So I have a five inch square of print and a five
inch background square. We’re going to sew two seams a quarter of an inch right down both sides.
Alright. So we’re just going to sew this side and I am going to flip this
around and sew the other side. Now there are lots of ways to make four
patches. This is just one of my favorites. What we’re going to do is I’m just going to take
my two blocks right here. So if your seams are pretty consistent you can actually stack these
up and cut two at a time. So you lay your 2 ½ inch ruler right along the edge you’re going to
make that cut. And then we’re going to want to take these and press them open. So we have this
one here. You want to press to the dark side. And this lighter blue, we have a dark blue and
a lighter blue. And we’re pressing away from the white on both of these. So here we go. With
the blue and the dark blue and the light blue. Now we just put two five inch squares together and
sewed right down the sides. We are going to do the same thing again. But what we’re going to do is
we’re going to put these opposite colors. And because we pressed to the print they will meet up
in the middle . The seams will lay opposite. You can see how they’re opposite. You want to make
sure that these nest up really nice and tight and feel those with your fingers. And then we’re
going to sew a quarter of an inch right down the side on these. Alright so line them up, get a
few stitches, make sure that you are just like tucked in there nice and tight. Your seams are
nested. They’re going in opposite directions and we’re going to do that on this one as well. Make sure that your middle seam is nested.
It’s that center seam you want to watch. Now if you have any trouble with this method
at all, because there’s a ton of ways to make four patches, you can actually cut out the little
2 ½ inch squares and sew four of them together. You can actually, at this point, you could cut
them straight down the center and just turn them and put those two little pieces. So don’t be
afraid to use your favorite method in making four patches. That’s what it’s all about.
It’s just being comfortable enough to, you know, it’s a four patch so do
it however you are most comfortable. This is just a little way that I do it. Then what
we’re going to do is we are going to again lay our ruler so it comes. This is 2 ½ half of five
is 2 ½ so you don’t even have to think about measuring on the mat or the ruler. We’re just
laying our ruler on the edge and we’re going to cut right up that middle. We’re going to
do that on both of our pieces and that will give us, two pieces will give us four four
patches. And look at that. They look great. Alright let me press these open. Just
like that. And I’m just rolling them back. And I’m going to set the seam
and roll it back. Alright. So here’s our little four patches and we need four
of those for the corners. So we have those right here. Now let’s talk about these star legs. They
look a little daunting but don’t you worry. What you’re going to do is you’re going to cut your
star leg at 4 ½ so a 4 ½ inch square on there. And then you’re going to take a five inch square like this and just cut it in half so that
you have two 2 ½ by five inch rectangles. So we’re going to start with our center square
and this is our center square. It is cut at 4 ½. And what we’re going to do is we’re going to kind
of wonky star this but it’s going to be pretty much the same. So first thing I want to do is find
my middle right here. I finger pressed it so I have a little crease. I’m going to make sure that
this piece, I’m going to use the straight edge, crosses over that line. And I’m going to
bring it down as far as I can on this side. So we’re going to do this wonky leg on both sides.
And I’m just going to sew right along that edge. And honestly I’m not even a quarter of an inch in
on, you know my seam isn’t even a quarter inch in on part of that so don’t stress about that.
And then I’m going to take this other one, let me show you here. I’m going to take this
other one and I’m going to cross it over again, making sure it’s over and then
I’m going to sew right up here. Now just so you can see on this side right here.
Do you see I didn’t even, like part of it, it’s not even really a quarter of an inch. It’s just
got to hold on there and cover up that corner. So I tend to be kind of sparse on that seam because
I want to make sure that that corner gets covered. Alright so then we’re going to lay this one
down here. I’m going to cross it over this top right here. And I’m going to make sure that
this part is going down as far as it can go. And then we’re going to sew that side. And if you
sew a fat quarter of an inch it might be too big. So now what we’re going to do is I am
going to press these back like this. And it makes this funny shaped
piece but on the back, this block is our pattern. So we’re going to use this block
to square up so that it looks like star legs. So we’re trimming off these parts
right here and trim off the top, taking it right back to a five inch square. Now
I don’t normally trim these back pieces off. I just don’t. I’m not hand quilting this and
so I just don’t worry about it. If I were hand quilting it I would probably pull this back and
trim this part off. But you don’t have to do that. Alright so now what we’re going to do
to finish off our little star leg block is we have these little pieces right here, two
2 ½ inch squares. And they are going to go down here on the pointed part. So we’re going to lay
them in here, just snug them in there and we’re going to snowball it corner to corner. And I’m
going to use my diagonal seam tape for that. And again you can draw that line. But we’re going
to go corner to corner on here. So regardless of how far down you get this point, we’re going to
cover it up so it’s going to be fine. No worries. Alright. And because we can only put one on at
a time because it is a 2 ½ inch square on a 4 ½ inch block. So I like to trim and then
press it back. And then I’m going to put that other corner on that other side, line it
right up with that corner like this. And then we’re going to sew corner to corner. And so it’s
a lot easier than it looks. But it has that great wow factor. And I just think these blocks look
like they’re sparkling, they’re just so pretty. Alright so let me just trim this
edge off and we’ll press it back and I will show you how to put
this block together. Alrighty. So here is our star leg. Now I have all
the components done to make this block. And what I have is this center block right here
and I’m going to put star legs on both sides like this. And that’s going to make the center of my
block. Now on this one I’m going to put my star leg in the center and my four patches are going
to go in the corners. So I’m going to decide, I want good contrast and I want to decide if I want
this one in the center or this one in the center. And that’s personal preference, whatever you
want. I think I’m going to go with this one. And I’m going to put these in the center
corners like this, just like that. And then we’ll just sew these three rows
together and it will make our block. Now that being said, that’s this block
right here. And this block goes right here. But this next block these corner
patches are just a little different. So what we did with those was we took these
corner patches and we turned them this way so the white came in. So we have one block
where the color is in, one block where the white comes in. Now what that does when you lay
them together, well it does this. It does this. It gives it that extra sparkle. It gives it this
extra little secondary thing that happens up here. And it just comes together so cute. So see how
this one has the block into the center and this one has the white into the center. And so just by
changing up that one corner block, we got a whole new look. Obviously, you know, if you put the
quilt together with just these it’s going to be super fun. These actually kind of circle out. You
put a block up with these and it’s going to be a great quilt that will. We combined them together
and we thought it just made it really sparkle. So we hope you enjoyed this tutorial on the Winter
Star quilt from the Missouri Star Quilt Company. We hope you enjoyed watching this video. If
you’re not already part of the Missouri Star quilt family you can hit the subscribe button
below so you won’t miss a thing. And if you click that bell it will notify you every time
a new tutorial comes out. See you next Friday.
