New Leaf Bee Block Blog Hop - Ohio Star in Star

I was so surprised and flattered when Jan invited me to participate in the Daisy Janie Bee Block Blog Hop. I have been a long standing fan of Jan's beautiful fabrics which she sells under the Daisy Janie label - I have owned every line I think, and still have some of most. Daisy Janie fabrics are not just stunning, they are made from 100% GOTS certified organic fabrics. You can go here to read about the cotton industry and the benefits of supporting organic cotton - I highly recommend that you do.



Jan asked us to consider the concepts of turning over a new leaf, renewal, refresh, growth, change in direction for inspiration and to make a block with the fabrics she sent. Well, since I love stars and always see the stars as inspiring me to grow, to dream, to stretch and to be all that I can be, I made a star - this one is an Ohio Star. And I thought that having a star in star suggested even more growth and renewal too.

I did not have any organic solid fabrics on hand and realized I could not get any by online order in time. So I pulled out the Dapple Dot print from Jan's Shades of Grey line to pair with these beautiful bright New Leaf prints. I can already see these prints shining on a low volume background, maybe made of several scrappy low volume prints - can you?

Here is how you make this block which will finish as a 12" square (12.5" unfinished).



 The Ohio Star is a 9 patch block which uses quarter square triangle units (QSTs). For the large star you will need four 4.5" square background pieces, two 5.25" squares of the star point fabrics - you will see I made the star points from floret lemon and rhapsody lemon, one 5.25" square of the triangle inset fabric - I used floret raspberry, and one 5.25" square of background fabric. If you were not putting a star in the centre, then your centre would be a 4.5" square.



Pair one of the star point 5.25" square fabrics with the 5.25" square triangle inset fabric and the other with the 5.25" square background fabric with right sides together. Draw a line from corner to corner and then stitch 1/4" on either side of the line for each pair. Cut along the line and press. I pressed the seams towards the star point (yellow) fabrics.



You will have the above set of  half square triangles (HSTs).



Pair the HSTs right sides together so that the triangle point fabrics are kitty corner to each other and the seams line up with each other. Nest the seams so that they match nicely.



Draw a line from corner to corner, perpendicular to the seam line. Stitch 1/4" on either side of the line. Cut along the line and press open. I press this seam open.



The resulting four quarter square triangle (QST) units look like this. Take a minute at this point to trim them, if need be, to 4.5" square.



Lay out your Ohio Star as shown. The triangle inset fabrics are placed toward the centre square.


To make another Ohio Star to go in the centre of our large star, you repeat the steps above. Use four 1.5" squares of background fabric - I used fantail lemon, one 1.5" square for the centre square - I used floret lemon, two  2.25" squares of star point fabric - I used fantail raspberry, one 2.25" square of triangle inset fabric - I used foret raspberry, and one 2.25" square of background fabric. Make four QST units using the 2.25" squares in the same way as the large star. Trim those units to 1.5" squares, press and lay out the small Ohio Star.

And by this time you will have noticed the formula to make QSTs - add 1.25" to the finished size of unit you want to have - so for units that finish at 1" we start with 2.25" squares, for units that finished at 4" we started with 5.25" squares.



Sew together the three units of each row. Press. You can see I press the top and the bottom rows so the seams point to the outside edge and the centre row so the seams point toward the centre. Match the rows, nest the seams. and sew them together. Press. I press these seams open.



Here is your small star, at this point it is a 3.5" square.



Frame the centre star with 1" strips - I used more of the floret lemon. Press and then trim this unit down to be a 4.5" square.



Add the centre star to the perviously laid out big star and sew the rows. Press as for the small star and join the rows. Press again.



Admire your beautiful Ohio Star in Star block. I love how full of rich colour the New Leaf fabrics are.

Jan sent us a piece of each of the eight fabrics in the New Leaf line. Since I had only managed to use five of the prints for the Ohio star in star, I made one more block that used them all - an improv but not wonky log cabin with a beautiful fussy cut flower in the centre.



I hope you will have time to check out all the beautiful blocks made in the blog hop. The schedule is:

New Leaf Bee Block Blog Hop Schedule
Mon, 1/14 - Becky Moyer, My Fabric Obsession
Tues, 1/15 - Lynn Harris, The Little Red Hen
Wed, 1/16 - Candy Glendening, Candied Fabrics
Thurs, 1/17 - Holly DeGroot, Bijou Lovely
Fri, 1/18 - Melanie Thornton, Melanie Dramatic

Mon, 1/21 - Emily Cier, Carolina Patchworks
Tues, 1/22 - Rachael Gander, Imagine Gnats
Wed, 1/23 - Maureen Cracknell, Maureen Cracknell Handmade
Thurs, 1/24 - Leanne, She Can Quilt
Fri, 1/25 - Cindy Wiens, Live a Colorful Life

Mon 1/28 - Cheryl Arkison, Dining Room Empire
Tues, 1/29 - Jacquie Gering, Tallgrass Prairie Studio
Wed, 1/30 - Shanna Bailey, Fiber of All Sorts
Thurs, 1/31 - Katy Jones, Monkey Do

And for those of you doing the Fat Quarter scramble - if you have not been, go back to the previous stops on the blog hop, see the blocks and get the letters, and unscramble them so you can enter to win a fat quarter bundle of the New Leaf fabrics - my FQ scramble letter is E.

Best,

Leanne