Hi again!

You know, I hafta be honest for a moment… without 90+ degree weather over here in The Hague, it really doesn’t feel like Summer! Now don’t you for a moment think I’m complaining about the lack of opressive weather… it just feels a bit off having a summer quilt along, ha!

Anyhoo, welcome to Week 2 of our Feathered Star Quilt Along! Last week we talked about planning and over 300 of you RSVPed! Woo hoo! This week is our cutting week. In this post I’ll share my tips and tricks for cutting. You’ll need to purchase The Feathered Star quilt pattern for the exact measurements though.

Before we get into the meat of our post, I’d like to take a moment to thank this week’s sponsor Olfa. This week, Olfa is offering a 12×17 folding mat as well as the new 28mm Quick Blade Change cutter  to one lucky participant.

Last week’s winner of the $50 Stash Gift Certificate is @helensbsun on Instagram. Woo hoo!

How to follow along:

You have a few options to follow along:

• Sign up for the weekly Quilt Along emails by clicking the RSVP button below.
• Follow along on Instagram using the hashtag #BHQfeatheredstarQAL.
• Every week, on Wednesday, I’ll be posting a quilt along blog post on my website.

RSVP HERE

Schedule of Events

First, let’s check out the schedule again…

Week 1 – June 6: Introduction and Planning

Week 2 – June 13: Cutting (you are here!)

Week 3 – June 20: Piece and Cut Strip Sets

Week 4 – June 27: Piece Blocks

(Mid QAL Break – Happy 4th of July!)

Week 5 – July 11: Piece Border Units

Week 6 – July 18: Assemble Quilt Tops

Week 7 – July 25: Quilting

Week 8 – August 1: Quilt Parade Link Up Party (Linky will close August 27th)

Closing Post – September 6

Materials

And let’s touch on the materials you’ll need:

• 21 Fat Quarters for stars
• 1 3/4 yards black-and-white stripe fabric
• 3 yards black fabric for background
• 5 yards backing
• 84” x 84” batting
• 5/8 yard black-and-white stripe fabric for binding

Alternative Layout Materials

Note: I’m working on adding the alternative instructions to the final Feathered Star pattern. If you’ve purchased a PDF pattern, you should have an updated version of the pattern in your inbox from my shop’s system. You’ll see the adapted pattern at the back. If you have a print pattern, email me and I’ll send you the alternative layout draft pattern. Please note that the alternative layout instructions is a draft. Hopefully by the time this quilt along is finished, those instructions will be tidied up!

For the alternative layout you’ll need:

• 15 Fat Quarters for stars
• 3 yards fabric for background
• 4 yards backing
• 70” x 70” batting
• 1/2 yard fabric for binding

Cutting

You’ll need to purchase the pattern for the exact measurements, so be sure to purchase the pattern if you haven’t done so already. I do want to make sure I touch on a few potential modifications and road blocks in this post.

And one more note: If you arent’ sure about the background fabric you’ve chosen, then I would recommend making 1 test block first, before completing allllllll the cutting. Personally, this is my plan!

Tip: ALWAYS make a test block! Ask me how I know!

After making a test block, revisit this cutting post to complete the cutting.

Cutting the strips

Fat Quarter vs Quarter Yard

The pattern directions call for you to cut the strips for the stars from the Fat Quarters, but if you are using 1/4 yards you can cut strips from the 1/4 yards. If you are cutting from a quarter yard, instead of cutting 2 strips of each size, cut only one strip of each size

Also, If you know you will only be using a particular fabric in one star, only cut one strip of each size.

If you’re making a test block or just one block: Only cut one strip of each size from 3 fabrics.

Optional Layout

Only cut from 15 Fat Quarters.

Cutting the Stripe Fabric

If you are using stripe fabric, do pay special attention to the cutting directions and diagrams on page 2.

If you’re making a test block or just one block: Only cut 4 squares and then 8 triangles. But do mind the cutting orientation. Cut 2 squares diagonally in one direction and then the other 2 squares on the opposite diagonal as pictured above and on page 2.

Optional Layout

Instead of using stripe fabric, you’ll be cutting from your background fabric here. You’ll need to cut 36 of these triangles.

Cutting the Background

If you’re making a test block or just one block: Just cut 4 squares and then 8 triangles.

Optional Layout

Background Triangles: You’ll need to cut 72 of these triangles.

Sashing: You’ll also need to cut sashing. So from your background fabric, cut 11 strips 2 1/2” x WOF. From 3 strips cut 2 rectangles 2 1/2” x 18 1/2” for a total of 6 rectangles. Save the rest for the sewing the longer sashing strips.

This week’s sponsor

This week, Olfa is offering a 12×17 folding mat as well as the new 28mm Quick Blade Change cutter  to one lucky participant. So let’s give them a big ole’ quilty thank you for sponsoring our fun!

How to participate

We’re going to be doing most of our interaction on Instagram. To enter, post a pic of your cutting process this week on Instagram with the #bhqFeatheredStarQAL. Also, there are 300+ of you RSVPed, but I feel like I havne’t met anyone! I would love get to know you more, so be sure to introduce yourself in your post. I’ll choose a winner at random next Tuesday!

Fine print: This week’s prize can only be shipped to the USA or to Canada. You’ll need a public Instagram account.

By the way, for general chatter and ongoing discussion, you can also join my Facebook group “Quilting with Bryan House Quilts“.

Next Week

Next week, we’ll start grouping our strips into star groups, sewing the strip sets together, and making our star spokes! I will have a few tips and pointers to share with you to help you through that process.

Let’s get cutting! 🙂