Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Sew Along: Week 2 – Cutting & HSTs
Hello, my lovelies, and welcome to the second week of our Fat Quarter Stars sew along! This week we are cut, cut, cutting! Cutting instructions are found on page 3 of your pattern. Cutting diagrams are then on page 4 of your pattern. I won't get into the specifics of what to cut, so if you have any questions, check the pattern first.
The Fat Quarter Stars quilt involves simple cutting — just squares and strips. Because I know you read every single word of last week's post (wink, wink) I know that you already know you only need a basic ruler, cutting mat, and a rotary cutter with a sharp blade (no dull blades allowed!)
In addition to cutting, we will get a jump on making our HSTs (half-square triangles). That way, you don't feel rushed next week when we sew all of our blocks together.
A question came up yesterday, and it reminded me of something I forgot to say last week — it's never too late to join this sew along!
Since there is no official sign-up, you can hop into the sew along at any time. If you want to stay on schedule, you may have to do a bit of rushing in the beginning, but with 4 weeks to make this quilt top, I bet you'll be able to catch up if you put your mind to it.
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However, if you don't catch up, no big deal! These blog posts will always be here when you're ready for them in the Sew Along section. Also, did you know that you can search for questions and keywords in the Suzy Quilts Patterns Facebook group? A lot of questions get asked and answered there, so you may be pleasantly surprised to see you're not the only one needing a bit of support during a certain phase of the making process.
For details on how this sew along works, check out the Week 1 post and don't forget to join me for the IG live video this Tuesday at 7:30pm Central on Instagram.
Fat Quarter Stars Sew Along Schedule
- Week 1: Pick fabric and gather supplies
- Week 2: Cut fabric and sew HSTs
- Week 3: Sew quilt blocks
- Week 4: Assemble quilt top and discuss finishing techniques and options (a.k.a. how to quilt and bind it)
Week 2 Assignment: Cut Fabric & Make HSTs
I had a moment of conviction over the weekend while I was baking muffins. An Instagram toddler food influencer (yes, that is a thing) convinced me that I could get my kids to eat vegetables if I hid them in muffins. Her carrot and zucchini muffin recipe was sure to be a hit, she said. It was incredibly easy, she said — foolproof, even!
Here's the thing about attempting something that's been labeled as "foolproof." When you mess it up, you feel pretty bad about yourself. And friends, if it's kitchen-related, there's a good chance I'm going to mess it up.
So, with antsy kids whining about hunger pains, I sliced into one of my carrot-zucchini-applesauce-raisin muffins and... they were totally raw in the middle! I guess all of that produce made things pretty wet.
So, after I had completely cooled them, I stuck them back in the oven for a second bake. I don't know the rules about baking, then cooling, then rebaking muffins, but I'm guessing it's frowned upon.
Anyway, after the second cooling, I applied enough honey on top that my kids ate them. Huzzah!
Why did I share this story? It's because, as a quilter of over 20 years, it is tempting for me to say that cutting fabric for the Fat Quarter Stars quilt is incredibly easy — maybe even foolproof! But you know what I know from the depths of my heart? When you're new or even just new-ish at something, nothing is foolproof, and there are lots of ways to make mistakes.
So if at any point you find yourself getting frustrated during this quilt-making process, just picture me in a kitchen bumbling through toddler muffins. Okay? Picture that until you smile a little. Cause we're here to have fun! 😉
Optional Rulers
I used four different rulers when cutting this quilt. Most of them are optional.
- 6" x 24" basic quilting ruler (get it)
- 12.5" x 24.5" "Big Easy" ruler - this is a great addition because it's large enough so that you can use the guides on your ruler to make large cuts
- Clearly Perfect Slotted Trimmer - Option one for trimming HSTs
- 4.5" square ruler - Option 2 also for trimming HSTs
Tip #1: Iron all of your fabric.
This is a tip from last week, but it's so important I want to make sure you don't miss it. If you're a starch person, this is the point in the quilting process when you should spray starch all over your fabric. I actually like to water down my starch to make it last longer (cause I'm cheap!)
Check out this post for my trick to ironing creases out of FQs, The Best Way To Prepare Fat Quarters For Quilting.
Tip #2: Pay attention to the cutting diagrams on page 4.
The FQ cutting is the same no matter what size you make; however, the Background fabric cutting is different depending on the quilt size. So, how do you apply these diagrams to cutting? Let me walk you through it.
Below is the 42" WOF Background diagram with the exact cut sizes taken out.
- This diagram shows you all of the cuts on 42" WOF yardage when it's fully laid out; however, one of the first things I want you to do is fold the fabric in half by lining up the selvages. (This is where the videos below will come in handy.) Assuming you have followed Tip #1, all of your fabric is beautifully flat with no creases.
- The strip amounts are below the diagram. Do you see where it says "cut 4," "cut 12," etc...? That's how many strips you need before you start subcutting. For example, to get a total of 16 large squares, first cut 4 large strips, then subcut each strip into 4 squares.
- If there is no strip amount below a shape, you only need one strip. For example, you only need a single medium square and two small squares in that final strip.
- If you feel confident in your cutting, you can keep your fabric folded when subcutting it into squares.
Tip #3: Try to cut away from you when possible.
This is a safety precaution. The more you can cut away from yourself, the less likely you are to cut a finger off. Ask me how I know.
If you are new to cutting fabric, I encourage you to watch the videos below. These will guide you on how to cut FQs and yardage.
If cutting fabric is all that you get done this week, that's totally fine. You can tackle the HSTs next week. I am adding them to the Week 2 assignment because I find these always take me more time than I anticipate, even though I have probably made well over a thousand of them in quilty life.
Tip #4: It's OK if you're not that accurate when sewing these HSTs.
Seriously, there's wiggle room here, so don't sweat it. We are using the 8-at-a-time HST technique in this pattern. That means you will trim them down after you sew them.
Below is one of my first videos ever. It's poorly lit and a little boring, but it may help if you're a visual learner. I should probably refilm it, but I'm a little nostalgic. It's well before I had three kids, and I actually got manicures! What a life...
Tip #5: Mark your guides with something that washes out.
Don't use a lead pencil or a pen or, for goodness' sake, a SHARPIE. Ack!! Use a water-soluble marker, tailor's chalk, or even the crease method with your iron as I show in the pictures below.
Tip #6: Pin before sewing your HSTs.
These squares are large enough that the fabric will shift while you sew. It's a good idea to use a couple straight pins to keep them together.
Tip #7: Chain stitch your HSTs.
Chain stitching is when you continually sew without cutting your thread. This saves you time, thread and actually makes your sewing more accurate. You'll be left with a pretty chain of fabric at the back of your machine.
Tip #8: Press your HSTs before you trim them.
This will help your trimming be more accurate.
Tip #9: You can trim your HSTs two different ways.
Trimming Option 1
The first way to trim HSTs is to do it before you press them open. You can use your basic quilting ruler or get the Clearly Perfect Slotting Trimmers. Here's a video.
Here's a pic of my Clearly Perfect Slotted Trimmer lined up on my unpressed block. You can see that the seam gets a little wonky in the middle. That will be OK as long as I can line up most of the seam. I'm going to be gentle when I press it open so I don't stretch and distort it.
Trimming Option 2
This second option is a bit slower, but it might be more accurate. I think that depends on how straight you were at sewing your seams. If you weren't that straight, this will be the better trimming option for you.
Line up the 45-degree diagonal guidemark with the seam. If you have a 4.5" square ruler, it's really easy to just trim off the sides. If you don't have one of those rulers, you can see below that you just visually line things up and trim. You can also use masking tape to give yourself more guides.
Below is an untrimmed HST. I lay the ruler on top and make sure that I have enough fabric on all four sides.
I trim the right and top sides. I then rotate the block (or my rotating cutting mat) 180-degrees, line my ruler up with the trimmed edges and do it again.
Once you have all of your HSTs trimmed, you're ready for Week 3 when we sew our quilt blocks together. I think you definitely deserve a muffin after all of that hard word. I suggest one with no vegetables. 😉
