Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler Row F6-F10 Plus Bonus Piecing Tips

This weekend I finished Row 7 of my local quilt shop’s Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler BOM.  These blocks were pretty simple to do and I think they came out remarkably square!  Go figure! :o)

The star block did pose some tricky piecing, so I wanted to share a few hints to help you do this block accurately.  The directions have you strip piece the diamond pieces and this works slick.  But when you go to sew your pairs of diamonds together it is really hard to get the points to match.  When you put them right sides together you have to put a pin in the place where the 2 seams come together.  That can be really tedious, and doesn’t always end up in a match.  So here is what I did:

Line the seam up like the picture below.  Make sure you have pressed the seam allowances in opposite directions so the seam nests together nicely.  The two patches should just meet at the seam line.

Put this unit under the presser foot so that the needle pierces the seam and the presser foot aligns with the edge of the top patch.

Lift the presser foot, but not the needle. Hold onto the top patch and pivot the lower patch counter-clockwise, leaving the needle in place until they are aligned with each other.
     
Now stitch from this center point to the end of the seam.  Then flip the patch over and sew the other half of the patch, overlapping your stitching in the middle (over the seam).
The stitching should begin and end where the two patches intersect on both ends.  Doing it this way insures that the ends match and the center point matches perfectly.
  
Press the seam open on the back and trim up the patch to get rid of the dog ears.  The finished diamond four patch should look like this:
  Then you are ready to add the 2 triangles to complete the unit.
Using this technique I was able to zip through all 8 diamond four patches for the blocks really fast, and everyone of them matched!  Shazam!
  
The block goes together much easier this way, and the centers and seams are easier to match. 
Whoo hooo, I love it when a plan comes together!!

Reeze