Always Learning

Snow Crystal Square

1. Using the Folded-Corners Technique, place the 2" background squares on the corner of the 2" x 3 1/2" strong-accent rectangles. Sew and trim. Make four in each direction. Press the seams toards the middle.  Repeat with the 2" medium squares on the opposite end, keeping the angles the same.  Press toward the medium fabric.

2. Using the same folded-corners technique, sew 2" background squares on the 2" x 3 1/2"light rectangles. Sew 2" dark squares on the opposite end, keeping the angle the same. Trim and press.  Press first towards the background squares and then towards the dark squares. Make four.

3. Use the same technique to sew the 2" background squares on one end of the 2" x 3 1/2" main print rectangles. Trim and press towards the background squares. Make four.

4. Place the 2 3/8" main-print squares right sides together with two of the 2 3/8" background squares. Use the Layered-Squares Technique to make four triangle-square units. Press the seams toward the main print and trim off any dog-ears. Repeat wit hthe 2 3/8" dark and 2 3/8" background squares to make four.

5. Sew the triangle-square units from step 4 to the 2" background squares. press toward the background squares. Make four of each combination.

6. Sew the units from step 3 to the main-print/background units from step 5, as shown.  Press the seams toward the triangle-square unit.  Make 4.

7. Sew the units from step 2 to the dark/background units from step 5 as shown. Press towards the dark/light/background unit.  Make 4.

8. Assemble the center star as shown.  Press the top row to the right.  Press the bottom row to the left.  After combining rows, press up.

9.  Using the folded-corners technique, place a 2" medium square on one corner of each of four 2" x 3 1/2" background rectangles. Stitch, trim, and press toward the medium triange. Repeat wit hthe opposite corner, stitching the angle in the opposite direction. Make four.

10. Sew the units from step 9 the remaining 2" x 3 1/2" background rectangles. Press towards the background rectangle.  Make 4.

11. Sew the units from step 1 to the sides of the unit from step 10. Press toward the center unit. Make four.

Here I just want to show what it looks like when your points don't quite match up in this step:

What happened is that I started sewing from the beige end....it does pull your fabric a bit if you're not being careful or watching how you're pulling on the fabric.

So I took those apart and re-sewed, starting from the other end.  You'll see in my final block that there are still a few places that didn't quite meet..I did re-do several.  LOL  I don't get too nit-picky but I do want it to look nice! Anyway, this quilt is really working on me, as far as making sure I'm cutting right, sewing right at 1/4"....just being more accurate.  I love it when points match up the first time!  :)

12. Assemble the block as shown.  Top row, press out. Middle row, press in toward the star.  Bottom row, press out.  Then join rows, pressing toward the top and bottom rows.