A Variable Star from Ohio

I've written about the history of the Variable Star and Ohio Star in an earlier post.

For Mystery Week 4 I have made one nine inch Variable Star (multi coloured) and one six inch Ohio Star (two colours).

Variable Star 9 inch

Ohio Star 6 inch

(I made the Ohio Star in a bit of a hurry - some of those corners need a little attention...)

A - 4 light and 1 dark square 3.5” x 3.5”.

B - 1 light, 1 medium and 2 dark squares 4.25” x 4.25”. Cut diagonally twice to make 4 light, 4 medium and 8 dark triangles.

Use B triangles to make quarter square blocks, trim to 3.5 inches.

Block measures 9.5 inches.

A - 4 light and 1 dark square 2.5” x 2.5”.

B - 2 light and 2 dark squares 3.25” x 3.25”. Cut diagonally twice to make 8 light and 8 dark triangles.

Use B triangles to make quarter square blocks, trim to 2.5 inches.

Block measures 6.5 inches.



If you want to know even more about the Ohio Star, check out Suzy Quilts.

Hope your block stack is getting taller.

Never Too Late To Sew-along

Just received a question - is there still room in the mystery?  Of course - the sky is the limit for lovers of the 1930s blocks.

Here is what we have done so far:

Week 1 - Churn Dash

Week 2 - Alabama

Week 3 - Friendship Block

 


And if you do Facebook come join our group.

Today I received some new 1930s fabric ....

.... can't wait to make next week's blocks!

Friendship Block and a Weathervane

Week 3 of the mystery without a name starts with Friendship Block.

Friendship Block

The Friendship Block is a 5 by 5 grid so it is easy to make as a 10 inch block.  However I wanted this block to be a 12 inch block, so I've made the centre pieces 2 inches wide and the outside pieces 2.5 inches wide.

A - 4 light and 4 dark squares 3” x 3”.

B - 4 light and 4 dark squares 3.5” x 3.5”. Cut diagonally to make 8 light and 8 dark triangles. Make 8 half square triangles and trim to 3”.

C - 2 light and 4 dark rectangles 3” x 2.5”.

D - 1 light rectangle 2.5” x 7.5”.

Block measures 12.5 inches.

Weathervane is a 9 inch block.  There are three Weathervanes in the original quilt so it must have been a popular choice .... or the local ladies were making these for another project and these were the leftovers.

Weathervane

Weathervane

The first apricot block is done with stitch and flip corners on each side square.  The second photo follows the instructions below; I have made C and D two different pieces because it keeps the cutting instructions simple.  You can piece it either way.

A - 4 light and 4 medium squares 2” x 2”.

B - 8 light and 4 medium squares 2.5” x 2.5”. Cut diagonally to make 16 light and 8 medium triangles.

C - 1 dark square 4.25” x 4.25”. Cut diagonally twice to make 4 dark triangles.

Use B triangles to make 8 half square triangles, trim to 2”.  Use C and light B to make 4 flying geese units, trim to 2” x 3.5”.

D - 4 dark rectangles 2” x 3.5”.

E - 1 medium square 3.5” x 3.5”.

Block measures 9.5 inches.

There was an error in last week's New Album instructions, thank you Cheryl for pointing it out.  How 4.5 changed to 1.5 when I was doing a cut and paste is beyond me but the measurements are now correct.

I Come From Alabama

Week 2

 

Ready for the next blocks? Great! There are three blocks again this week, the first one is called Alabama. 

Alabama blocks - 9 inch

I think this is a very attractive block.  The pieces are small but the finish is nice.

A - 17 dark and 4 medium squares 1.5” x 1.5”.

B - 4 light rectangles 1.5” x 3.5”.

C - 4 medium rectangles 1.5” x 5.5”.

D - 4 light rectangles 1.5” x 7.5”.

Block measures 9.5 inches. Make one block.

The next block is a scaled down version called Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania - 6 inch

A - 1 dark square 2.5” x 2.5”.

B - 8 dark squares 1.5” x 1.5”.

C - 4 light rectangles 1.5” x 2.5”.

D - 4 light rectangles 1.5” x 4.5”.

Block measures 6.5 inches.  Make one block.

And the third block this week is New Album.

New Album - 6 inch

Simple but effective.

A - 1 medium square 3.25” x 3.25”.

B - 2 light squares 3” x 3”. Cut diagonally to make 4 triangles, sew to A and trim to 4.5 inches.

C - 4 light squares 1.5” x 1.5”.

D - 4 dark rectangles 1.5” x 4.5”.

Block measures 6.5 inches.  Make one block.

And that's all folks.  Hope your Mother's Day is satisfying.