Hi I am Jenny from the Missouri Star Quilt Company. Oh my gosh take a look at this quilt
behind us. It is the Missouri Star. I am so excited to bring this to you of course you
know that is what our shop is named after but this has always been kind of a difficult
block but I think I have figured out a way to make it easy. So what you are going to
need if you are going to make this quilt is you are going to need a layer cake, a layer
cake, a layer cake of color. I actually have some layer cake squares here but I open the
all up and used them so I brought this fat quarter bundle to show you which you can use
a fat quarter bundle you just have to cut it up a lot. But I used layer cake and then
some background yardage, you are going to need about three yards of background yardage
and it is going to make a quilt that is, I think its like oh gosh eighty by ninety, yeah
actually eighty by ninety-seven so it is a pretty good sized quilt.
The fabric we used is Rustic Weave and it is beautiful I just it but of course a Missouri
Star will look beautiful with anything. So to make this block what you are going to need
is three layer cake squares and you are going to want kind of a light, medium, dark, little
bit of contrast there. You are going to need one solid background color, ten inch square,
you are going to need four, six and a quarter inch squares these are the squares for the
corners and then you are going to need four, seven inch squares and those are the ones
that we are going to set our half square triangles on, our quarter square triangles on.
So let’s get to this, this is really fun. So for the middle part of the block , the
center, which is this one right here, we are going to do it just like we do our half square
triangles. But this has to be cut down to nine and a half so what I have done here is
I have laid my two blocks together and I am just going to cut half an inch off two sides
like this, there is one side, and here is the other side over here. And then we are
going to sew all the way around it, just like we do for our half square triangles and cut
it diagonally both directions. So let us head on over to the sewing machine. Alright here
we go, here we go. I am so excited to do this, it is so fun when you, when you find a way
to make a block that actually makes sense. You know some of these instructions you know
you look at them and it’s like ah. You know they get just so complicated looking, but
this, this makes it really easy to do. Alright now what we are going to do is we are going
to cut this diagonally both directions and so I am just going to cut here and I am going
to turn these. Try not to move them too much, use a rotating mat if you have one that makes
it a lot easier.
Alright now what we are going to do is we are going to iron these open, there we go.
And I just leave the dark fabric on the top and then I can just lift it up and roll that
back. So then, this is the middle of our block so what we are going to do now is put this
together like this with all the whites to the center and that is going to make the middle
of our block, so let’s go ahead and put that together. Okay so now we just have to
do is sew these blocks together, I have the white on white and we are just going to sew
a quarter of an inch and then these two, we just chain piece them right through. And then
I am going to clip these apart and then I am going to sew the two pieces together here
like this, lay them out so you can see them, we are just going to fold these together like
this and sew these.
Now you want to make sure that when your blocks come out, they come out pretty close to six
and a quarter it helps to make your block lay really nicely if your blocks come out
to about six and a quarter and you can square them up if you want. Mine looked pretty good
so I didn’t bother with that, but you may want to check yours and make sure they measure
out at six and a quarter. Alright so this is the center of our block, now we have to
do the half square triangles and this is really fun because this is a really easy way to do
half square triangles. So what I am going to do with this, is I am going to take my
two, ten inch layer cake squares right here, and I am going to cut them into fourths, so
I am going to lay my ruler on there and I am going to cut one cut here, and I am cutting
in five inches because these are ten inch squares and I want to cut them right into,
right in half both directions. And I am going to leave them together in pairs, just like
this I am going to leave them together. Then what I am going to do is I am going over to
the sewing machine, and I am just going to sew on the sides like this on all four blocks.
So I am going to stack them up like this and take them to the sewing machine and sew just
the sides.
Alright and I chain piece these as I go along. Alright so now I am at the end of the first
side, I have done all these sides, what I am going to do is I am going to flip this
around and I am going to do the other sides. Alright now we are going to clip these apart,
like this, and this is going to make our quarter square triangles. So now what you want to
do, this is important, is we are going to lay two sets of these on top of each other
with our, with our side stitching you can, you can see only, we have only stitched on
the sides. So we just have the side stitching done on this and then what we are going to
do is we are going to make sure the colors both, both greens are facing up, or your same
colors are facing up. And then what we are going to do is we are going to cut one set
going this way and one set going this way. So I have two, I have two in this little pile
and I am going to cut these two this direction and i just lay my ruler on the corners and
then these two I am going to cut the opposite direction, this one needs to be stacked a
little better, you want to make sure they stack pretty well. And so then I am laying
my ruler on this one this way. What this should do for you is it should give you four triangles,
these are quarter square triangles now, that are, that go with green on the right with
this stack, like this and then four over here with green on the left, there we go. So you
get two sets of opposite triangles just from sewing on the side, making one diagonal cut
and I just think that is pretty cool, that is a fun little trick way to do that, get
a quarter cut triangle.
So now we have these two, now what we need to is take our seven in squares, you should
have four of those, and we are just going to cut those on the diagonal, make sure these
get lined up real good, you can do them in one cut if you have them lined up well, like
this. And that is going to give you eight triangles like this. What we are going to
do then is we are going to go ahead and press these but we are going to sew one of these
to each of these white triangles. So we will put white on the bottom, and lay our triangle
on top and then we are just going to sew a quarter of an inch right down this side. Now
I have some I have started over here so I am going to go ahead and finish this pile
up these are my pink and yellow ones and I have got a couple and I am just going to chain
piece these through just like I would normally chain piece anything. So I am going to finish
up these three and we will show you where to go from there so let’s head to the sewing
machine.
Alright let us see what we have got now. There we go, now when you get done with these you
will have eight of these, and you are going to want to take them to the iron and iron
them open like this and then we have to square these. And I am going to show you the easiest
way I have found to do that. So to square these you are going to want a square that
has a forty-five on it and this one has the measurements like they are going to square
up to six and a quarter. SO what I am going to do because I don't really want to mess
with my quarter square triangle I am going to lay this over here and I am going to put
my forty-five line on m y seam line of the quarter square triangle. I am going to move
this in until it hits four and a quarter on both sides right there and then this white
part is the part I am going to trim off. And I am not sure why but it always comes out
kind of funny big on just one side. So now my square is trimmed up to six and one quarter.
And sometimes you know you have to square things up if you want to make your blocks
fit exactly right. And this is one of those that you want, you want it to fit right. So
you have a little shaving on both sides of that one, let me get that corner off right
there. And one more, and this is just really important you know a lot of times people talk
about squaring up blocks and I don't do a lot of squaring because once you square up
one you have to square them all up but this is one that you want it to lay together really
nice because there are so many biased seams you just want it to lay together nice and
have it not, not be all wonky and warbley. There we go, alright so six and a quarter,
now we get to start assembling.
So here is our block right here in the middle and I like to do this where I can just, you
know, see it I kind of lay it out and then I put them together. So for these right here,
generally the Missouri Star is laid out dark, light, dark. So we are going to put our light
squares to the middle this way, wait, this way. And you, oh wait, this is important first,
first you need to make sure you stack your squares up so that you make sure you have
one set of blocks where the yellow is on the right and one set of blocks where the yellow
is on the left, because for each one of these you are going to take one of each. So we are
going to put one from the left, one from the right. One from the left, one from the right,
like this, one from the left one from the right. You can see the star is coming, you
can see it is happening. One from the left one from the left this way, your whites meet
in the middle. Because I am so angle-y challenged I have to remember this. So my whites are
going to meet in the middle. So now I am going to sew all four of these together and then
on these on two of them they will get a corner square right here. And that makes our whole
block right there. And what I like, I just like to sew them together in rows. Look at
that! A Missouri Star!
So now what we are going to do is I am going to go ahead and sew, sew all of these sets
of twos together right here. So I am just going to pile those up and sew them together
with my whites like this, making sure that the yellow is right here in the middle, because
I want my lights to be in the middle. So I am going to do that with all four of these,
and then we will start putting rows together.
So now I have got my groups sewn together, I went ahead and pressed them, I have laid
them back in the star so you can see how it is all going to go. And now what we have to
do is sew the rows together. There are three rows. We have got the two outer rows right
here and this big one in the middle. And this big one basically we are just going to lay
it on here and sew the pieces over. For these small rows we have this center section that
we are attaching two six and a quarter inch blocks on either end, of both of those rows.
And then we will just attach them right together so let’s get over to the sewing machine
and do that. Alright we are so close, we have got all our
pieces sewn together now we just get to assemble our star. Now what we are going to do is we
are going to put these side pieces onto this middle piece right here and its cool because
you want to make sure that on each little junction it helps you, it just keeps you lined
up so if you have a seam that is actually going the wrong way when you nest them just
go ahead move it and nest it together and you want these things to lay flat and we can
iron these things the way that we want them to go after we are done, but right now what
we are going to do is we are just going to sew these three rows together.
Alright so now we have got this all sewn together. We need to press it a little bit, so let us
just bring it over here and press it out! I love this it is so cute! Look at that. I
love this Missouri Star block, of course I am a little prejudice you know it does have
a special place in my heart, but it is so cute.
So let’s talk about the quilt for a minute. We have put three blocks across by four blocks
down. We just did a little three inch border, I mean you can do any size border you want,
but we just want something to kind of frame it a little bit, goes together quick and easy.
If you decide that you just want to make one, because you just want one Missouri Star, it
makes a darling wall hanging, really a cute wall hanging. I even think if you bordered
this a couple of times it would make a really cute baby quilt.
So we hope you enjoyed this tutorial on the Missouri Star Quilt Block from the Missouri
Star Quilt Company. Thanks for joining us.