Stars at Sea Quilt Block
It’s my week to design the block for the QAL by the Sea mystery, and I’m just so excited! QAL by the Sea is a free ocean-themed quilt along run by Partners in Design. If you haven’t been following along, you can get all of the info here.
Why Stars?
When I think of the ocean, the first thing that comes to mind is the amazingly clear sky in the middle of the sea. I imagine being hundreds of miles from any light source, and looking up in awe at stars unlike anything we can see on land. I also find myself wondering about the many mariners in times past that used those stars to navigate. They somehow crossed entire oceans with the stars to keep them on track.
A Word of Encouragement
This block has quite a few small pieces, so have a bunch of tips to help you succeed. Take your time to read through the tips in this post, then take a deep breath and go slow. You never know - you may just surprise yourself and end up liking small pieces more than you thought! They’re pretty adorable.
Get the Pattern
Remember - All of the patterns for QAL by the Sea are guaranteed to be free until 8:00 am Eastern Time on December 1, 2020.
Tips for This Block
Choosing Fabrics
When I was choosing my fabrics, I really wanted to get a feel for how the stars would look in relation to each other. So I laid out a bit of each star fabric on top of the background in roughly the position it would go in the block. This really helped me visualize things, and I was able to tweak my fabric choices before I started cutting.
Staying Organized
It’s a huge help to label your pieces as you cut. I like to use these stickers. I also keep my pieces organized on a baking sheet. It makes it easy to move around my sewing room without losing anything.
As I got closer to the end, my design boards really came in handy. They’re foam core covered with batting so that fabric sticks to them. I made the stars first, then laid everything out on these boards to keep the pieces straight. If you would like to make some design boards of your own, check out my tips here.
Seam Test
I always recommend testing your seam allowance before you start. That way you can be sure your block will come out the right size.
To test your seam allowance, cut two 2" squares and sew them together. Press to one side, and measure the resulting rectangle. The rectangle should be 3 1/2" long. If your rectangle is shorter, you need a narrower seam allowance. If your rectangle is longer, you need a wider seam allowance. Adjust your seam and try again. Once the rectangle is exactly 3 1/2" long, you're good to go.
Working with Small Pieces
Starch
It’s easy things to get wonky, especially when you’re working with small pieces. To help prevent that, I starched my fabrics with Best Press before cutting. It adds a little bit of stiffness to the fabric to help keep it from stretching. You still need to be gentle, but the Best Press makes a big difference.
Cutting
Accurate piecing is about so much more than the seam allowance - the way you cut really matters! Take the time to line up your ruler the same way on every piece of fabric. I prefer to have the line of the ruler completely on my fabric. It’s a lot easier than trying the eyeball the middle of the line, and it often provides the few extra threads that are needed for our pieces to come out right when using a 1/4” foot.
What really matters is that you’re consistent. Line up the ruler the same way every time, and only use one brand of ruler. The lines are a little different on every ruler, and that makes a bit of difference in the size you’re cutting.
Stitch Length
Some of the pieces in this block are only 1” wide. To keep those short seams from pulling apart, I recommend using a pretty short stitch length. For most of the block, I set the stitch length on my Viking to 2.0, which is about 16 stitches per inch. For the smallest star points, I went all the way down to 1.5.
Sharing Your Block
I would absolutely love to see your finished block! I’ll be watching the hashtag #QALbytheSea on Instagram (and you’re welcome to tag me @SnowyDaysQuilting). I'll also be keeping an eye out in the Partners in Design Facebook group.
Our Lovely Hosts
We have eight wonderful hosts for this segment, and each made their very own Stars at Sea block. Be sure to visit all of the blogs below for more tips and inspiration. If you like what you see, leave a comment! We all love a bit of encouragement from our fellow quilters.
Abbie Danahy @ Sparkle On!
Becca Fenstermaker @ Pretty Piney Quilts
Jennifer Fulton @ Inquiring Quilter
Karen Thurn @ Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats
Laura Piland @ Slice of Pi Quilts
Sandy Maxfield @ SandyStar Designs
Sherry Shish @ Powered by Quilting
Prizes
We will have a prize package at the end of every segment, as well as a grand prize at the end of the quilt along. The prizes are open to all participants that are at least 18 years old.
In order to include all eligible participants in our prize giveaways, we will have two separate prizes for each QAL Segment and for the Grand Prize — one for our USA participants and one for our International participants. Due to the demanding cost to ship to International addresses, these prizes will be patterns and/or an e-magazine that will be sent in electronic format only. International prizes may be from companies other than what is shown in the sponsor logo.
Where to Enter
There are three places you can share your blocks to be entered in our prize drawings:
Facebook - share in the Partners in Design Facebook Group
Instagram - share with the hashtag #QALbytheSea
Blog Linky - the hosts will include a link-up on their wrap-up posts at the end of each segment
See below for specific instructions for the different prizes.
Segment 2 Prizes
To be eligible to win the segment prize, you need to make all of the blocks from Segment 2 (blocks 5-8). We encourage you to incorporate your own creative flair, but please remember to use the designers’ patterns to be eligible for prizes. To enter, share a photo or photos of your blocks (in a single post) and let us know if you live in the US or abroad.
International Prize
A six month subscription to the e-magazine Make Modern. A magazine for quilters, by quilters, filled with beautiful patterns and articles to inspire quilters like us to make more modern quilts!
A PDF pattern of your choice up to $10.00 from these designers:
Laura Piland of Slice of Pi Quilts
Sandra Healy of Sandra Healy Designs
USA Prize
A Fat Quarter fabric bundle of the Island Batik line Cascadia by Claudia Pfeil.
A 60” x 60” throw size Quilters Dream Black Poly batting. Dream Black is a beautiful true black quilt batting that enhances the integrity, richness, and warmth of vivid and dark fabrics and ‘quilts like a dream’.
Grand Prize
We’ve made this even simpler this time! To be eligible for the grand prize, you just need to make all 12 of the blocks from the quilt along. That’s right - you don’t need to make them into anything this time! To enter, simply share a single post that shows all 12 of the blocks, and let us know if you live in the US or abroad.
Here’s a look at a few of our generous sponsors:
