Ohio Stars....Point Perfection

I am desperate for something to blog about. Sew, after the painting workshop last week and questions about getting those all important perfect points, I decided to take some photos and give you some measurements and go over how you construct really lovely Ohio Stars!

This tablerunner was made up of 3 Ohio Stars and 2 - 9 1/2" Squares of the light tan background fabric.  To construct an Ohio Star is fairly straight forward. It is a nine patch with 4 - 3 1/2" squares lt tan background fabric for the 4 corners, a 3 1/2" center square, and last but not last 4 squares that are called a 4 part triangle.  The 4 part triangle is where you need to pay particular attention.

In the above picture my 4-part triangles are made up of 3 colours; green, gold, and lt tan.  Take 1 gold square measuring 4 1/2", 2 green squares measuring 4 1/2" each, and one lt tan background fabric measuring 4 1/2".


Place the lt tan square right side facing the right side of one of the green squares, make sense?  Do the same with the second green square and the gold square. Right sides facing on another.  Now take the two sets of squares and draw your three lines across the diagonal from point to point. Just like the picture to the left.  The middle line is going to be your cutting line so you need to stitch along the two outside lines. Now, here is my trick so pay real close attention; when I stitch along the two out side lines I don't stitch on the line!!!!  I stitch along the line on the seam side, meaning the area closest to the the cutting line.

Cut along the middle line and press toward the dark colour both sets.  You now have 4 half square triangles, 2 are lt tan and green and 2 are gold and green.



Now, take a lt tan and green HST (Half Square Triangles) and a gold and green HST and lay them right sides facing with the two greens facing the opposite colour, huh????

Okay, just pretend that the burgundy is green!! Your next step is to draw your three lines on the diagonal from corner to corner just like you did in the first round of making HST's, only make sure you are going across the square and not along the new seams.  Do your sewing and then cut down the center.

Now here is my second trick, I swear by the Eleanor Burns Square Up ruler. Before I open up the triangle,  I place my square up ruler on the triangle and lay the 3 1/2" line of the ruler on the stitching line. I actually place the line of the ruler slightly above the stitch line.  This gives me a bit of room, a couple of threads of room to be exact! I trim with the rotary cutter on both side of the triangle, this evenly trims the HST so that the dark triangle will be the same size as the light triangle.

See the above picture, isn't that lovely!  After trimming the square you can open it up and give it a light press and measure it up to ensure that the 4 part triangle square is 3 1/2".

Cutting, sewing a straight line and proper pressing are crucial for getting nice sharp points and perfect piecing.  This is a lovely square to make and when it is constructed well you have a gorgeous block, give it a try!

Happy Sewing and don't forget we are having a big sale starting on the 2 September!
Anne Marie