YesterdayI finished Block 2 ofReach for the Stars,a lovely samplerquiltfeatured in Quilter’s Newsletter, with directions spaced overseven issues beginning withOct./Nov. 2013.The quilt, designed by Terri Krysan,features a center medallion surrounded by 14 blocks, all on point.

I’ve already posted pictures ofmyBlocks 1 and 3 and the center medallion. To refresh your memory:

And here isBlock 2:

The magazine’s cutting and piecing directions are abbreviated at best,so I amstudying each block in advance, challenging myself tofigure out how tocut the fabrics and piece thecomponents in a way that will yield the most accurate finalblock measurements.

Case in point: the hourglass blocks in the corner squares.

Each corner block contains two squares — one green and one blue, in my version– and two hourglass blocks, each composed of two blue and two green triangles. The hourglass blocks are sewn to the squares, forming a 4″ finished square. Eachhourglass block finishes at 2″ square.

The magazine calls forthe hourglass sectionsto be cutfrom3-1/4″ squares.To be precise,four quarter-square triangles cut from onesquare. Do you have any idea how small these triangles would beand how difficult it would be to sew thebias edges togetherand press them without any distortion? Iknow I couldn’t do it. I press with a heavy hand and am sure I would wind up with wonky hourglass blocks.

I hit upon the idea of cutting my hourglass blocks from 4-patches, “popping” the center seam openso theintersections would be nice and flat. Then I cut the 4-patches on the diagonal into 2½” squares:

That hourglass block has bias edgesbut eachedge is sewn to a straight-of-grain edge so no problem there. I’ll outlinethe fullmethod if there is interest.

Jennifer Gwyn at Seams Crazy has finished her center medallion and made Block 1, and both are just beautiful! Be sure to take a look at her most recent posts.Sherri Crisp of Knoxville, Tennessee is sewing along with us, and Jennifer has a photo on her blog of Sherri’scenter medallion. Simply gorgeous! Another quilter, Jennifer Thacker of Houston,Texas has started Reach for the Stars, too, and we arelooking forward to seeing her blocks revealed.

TheFeb./March 2014 issue of Quilter’s Newsletter is out now, with directions forBlocks 4, 5, and 6. I understand that Sherri ispaper-piecingher RFTS blocks. As I look ahead to Block 5, I think I may give that method a try for part of the block. Stay tuned!