This is an ongoing series documenting my first block of the month quilt, the Les Amis Block of the Month from Craftsy. You can see previous posts in this series here and here.
The Ohio Star Block
The Ohio Star block is one of the most commonly known blocks in quilting. Not surprising, I have never done one before this. This is the first block in the block of the month series that also contains half and quarter blocks.
This month’s lessons were full of useful information. While all the lessons so far have been a learning experience, this one really stands apart. Not only in technique, but this month’s lessons help you understand how to take quilt designs to the next level.
Hourglass Units
This particular Ohio Star block is a nine patch of solid squares and hourglass units. There are a ton of ways to create hourglass units, some much easier than others. When I first read the pattern, I couldn’t figure out why we were doing individual triangles instead of one of the easier methods. After going through the video lessons, though, I realized that this way is a great way to get used to working with biased edges. While I won’t be using this method regularly, I can see myself doing it occasionally to refresh myself on working on the bias.
Stitch & Flip vs 4-at-a-Time
These Ohio Star blocks contained different types of flying geese. As I mentioned last month, flying geese are not my strong suit. That being said, I realized I am much better using the stitch and flip method. While it takes longer and uses more fabric, this is my goto method for the near future.
I felt somewhat validated, though, when it came to working on my 4-at-a-time flying geese. I spent a lot of time working on my quarter inch seam and it has paid off. This just reaffirmed my suspicions that the key to this method is just lots of practice and a good quarter inch.
Not perfect but a huge improvement
On A Personal Note
At the end of January, we found out my mother’s cancer spread. Since then, life has been filled with appointments and surgery with very little time for quilting. Even now that it appears everything is finally behind us, I’m still having a hard time getting back into the swing of things. Committing to doing one of these blocks each month has prevented me from going into quilt paralysis. Not only that, but different things I’ve learned help spark ideas for my own quilt designs.
If you are going through stressful times and are worried about losing your quilting mojo, I strongly suggest a block of the month quilt.
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