Rising Star

I love Deb Tucker’s Star 60 ruler! It can be used to cut out equilateral triangles for a One Block Wonder (OBW), and has 8 accompaning technique sheets for stars and cubes that can be added to a OBW or any quilt.

This quilt shows the Checkerboard 60, Caped 60, Quad 60, Framed 60, Striped 60 , Star 60 & Hollow Cube 60 techniques.

This star was made using the Star 60 Log Cabin technique Sheet.

The star above was made using the Power Strip Technique Sheet.

Traditional Lone Star’s are made using a 45 degree angle. I wanted to make a Lone Star quilt using the Star 60 ruler.

I chose 7 fabrics and a background fabric from Island Batik. I used the Checkerboard Technique Sheet and made 6″ finished Checkerboard units and 6″ diamond units.

The trick with creating multiple pieced diamonds is to only trim the side of the diamonds that are being stitched together at that time. To help with this I created a chart So I always know which sides are trimmed. This combination makes a 12″ finished diamond.

I made 6 of the pink and green diamonds, 6 of the blue and orange diamonds and 12 of the blue and green diamonds.

This shows the layout and how the four diamonds fit together.

Once trimmed, stitch the halves together to create a 24″ diamond.

I cut 13″ WOF strips and used my Star 60 ruler and my 6″ x 24″ Olfa ruler to establish the 60 degree line and continued to cut side triangles for my 24″ diamonds

Layout the side triangles on the left and right sides of the diamond.

Stitch the right side triangle first, press toward the diamond. Stitch the left side triangle, press toward the side triangle.

Rotate the unit so that the untrimmed edge is either by your right hand for trimming if you are right handed or by your left hand if left handed. Locate the Flat Edge trim line on the Star 60™ Tool. Align the Flat Edge trim lines with the seams of the Diamond. Bump up a 24″ long ruler next to the Star 60 ruler and trim, leaving a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Stitch triangles together in groups of 3, creating half hexagons, press seams open. This is a 48″ star.

Create Half Triangle Rectangles by cutting a 25″ WOF strip, trim to 16″ x 25″, make sure they are right or wrong sides together, align the ½” line on the tool with
the top edge and the center line with the edge of the rectangle, place a regular ruler next to the Star 60 tool. Move the Star 60 tool out of the way and cut along the edge of your long ruler.

The Half Triangle rectangles (HTR) turn the hexagon into a rectangle. Once the HTR’s are stitched to the half hexies I added 4.5″ strips to the side to make it a square.