Modern BOM - Block 2 - Bordered Star

Happy Spring! What beautiful weather we've been experiencing. I hope to finish my work early today and get out to soak up some of this sunshine!

Our second block this month is called Bordered Star and I quite enjoyed it. There are a few segments to complete, but by just concentrating on one at a time you'll find it all comes together nicely in the end.

First, of course, is to cut all the pieces you'll need. I suggest you make a note on your pattern as to which fabrics are your Colour #1 - #5. This will help greatly in keeping everything organized. 

 

The first step is easy enough...actually none of the steps are difficult, it's just a matter of doing each step carefully. 

Here you can see I've sewn the 2 large squares together and sliced them on the diagonal...

I will be using two rulers that I find useful...keeping in mind that neither of them are necessary, you can easily complete the pattern with the technique you are familiar with. 

The first ruler I am using is the Bloc Loc, which I sometimes use for squaring up HST's. There is a slight "ledge" under the ruler that sits nicely on your seam. The trick to this ruler is to remember that the "letters" on the ruler, sit on the "lower" fabric (both start with the letter L)...

The next step is to snowball the corners...sewing on the dotted line that I have shown...

This is actually where I am using the second featured ruler, The Simple Folded Corner ruler. I quite like this ruler and use it whenever I can because it gives good results. Again, not necessary, of course, to use this ruler.

Next up is making flying geese. Again, this is where I sometimes will use my Simple Folded Corners ruler...and again, not necessary, but it does give good results. Make 4 flying geese using your background fabric and Colour #1

Then we make 4 more flying geese...being very careful about paying attention to your colour positioning.

This is the point that I will give you a little tip to have success at blocks with many different elements. Take the time to make sure each step results in an accurate size. For example, your flying geese should measure 2.5" x 4.5", unfinished.

Here I show all the segments of my block, ready to be sewn together...including 4 HST's...

Lay your units out carefully according to the picture in the instructions. 

Sew your flying geese units together, being careful of placement, as well as the centre HST's. For this I pressed my seams open to reduce bulk, especially since I am using Shweshwe fabrics, which are thicker than your normal quilting cottons. What you have now is basically a 9-patch to sew together.

And there you have it, a beautiful Bordered Star block! I really do like this block.

I did check with Lana at Quilt Junction...she does carry both rulers that I mentioned, although at the moment she only has a smaller sized Bloc Loc than what is needed for this block. I have no affiliation with the rulers, just passing on techniques that I find helpful. 

Please remember to post your blocks on Instagram if you can, using the hashtags #tqgmodernbom and #twilightquiltersguild. It's also nice to see a group picture of your blocks that we've done so far. 

From here on out we will go back to releasing one block per month. 

You can find the link to the instructions HERE at the blog post for the Twilight Quilters' Guild.