Would you like to try a shooting star block? You can cut pieces with the serendipity die or we also have acrylic templates available on our website for purchase. Press your fabric and then cut them.
I like cutting with the GO! cutter, it sure makes things go fast!
Take your fabric “blade” in your hand. Make sure it is the right side up.
Fold your “blade” in half with right sides of fabric together.
Using a 1/4″ seam allowance, sew across the top of your “blade”.
Next you will trim the inside tip of your seam allowance. It is very important that you stay 1/8″ away from the seam.
Turn your “blade” to the right side out.
Then we will center the seam you just sewed on the backside and with your iron, press the “blade” firmly. Make sure the seam allowance is on one side. Repeat steps above for all 12 pieces. This process will go very quickly when you use the chain sewing technique!
Take your “glow” triangle and fold the tip wrong side down 1/4″.
Then fold in 1/2 and press with your fingers.
Place the “blade” piece right side up, then place the “glow” triangle on the right side of the “blade”. Make sure that the folded top of “glow” and “blade” are aligned. All raw edges should lay together and when they are, pin them together.
Lay another “blade” piece on top of your “glow” and “blade” pieces with the right side down. The “glow” piece should be sandwiched in between the “blades”. Start a seam at the place shown above using a back-stitch to lock your seam.
Sew through all three pieces using a 1/4″ seam allowance. Begin to sew all the “blade” pieces in sets of two and insert a “glow” piece in every seam.
Open your sewn “blades” and “glow” pieces from the back. You can use your fingers to press open the seam allowance.
Flip the assembly of your pieces over and place on your ironing board. Now align all the pieces with the “glow” in the center of the seam. Take your iron and press the “glow” down in the center of the seam.
Make sure you start at the open end of the “glow” and stop ironing once you reach 2/3 down. When you are done, you should have six sets.
Now we are ready to assemble our stars! You’ve done a great job so far. To start to sew sets together, you will repeat the step where you inserted a “glow” triangle in between each “blade”.
You can use your finger to open the seam allowances on the back, then flip assembly to the front, center the “glow” and press flat with your iron 2/3 of the way down.
Use the iron to press open gently the seam allowances from the back. Keep going to repeat the above process until all the “blades” have been assembled.
The last step will be pressing and starching the background square. Make a crease with your iron to establish a center guideline for placement of the star applique.
You can use a little fabric glue on each point of the star. Center your star on the background square and stick it in place. Use the paper template “C” to cut a circle from freezer paper. Put this paper circle in the center of your fabric circle making sure that all the raw edges in the middle are covered.
Don’t worry if it is too big or small – you can make adjustments as needed. Clip the edges of the circle slightly, roll over the edge of the freezer paper and press them on to the shiny side. Center your circle on the star.
Take your iron and a small amount of glue to attach for easy machine or hand applique.
In no time, you will have beautiful blocks to put into a project. I set mine into a table runner with a touch of applique from other dies that are included in the Serendipity cube. Happy quilting!