Constellations-- Green

Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Constellations quilt!  Our color for this month is green, the color that is exploding across the country right now, as trees leaf out and the last of the winter is swept away.  The important thing for this month's color is to choose greens that have enough contrast with the dark blue background, so that nothing gets lost and you end up with a spectacular star.  My greens both have a yellow undertone which makes them stand out nicely.  This month, too, a large section of the quilt we be completed, so let's get started right away!

Here's our block for this month:

This block is Nameless.  Really, that's what it is!  This poor unnamed block is a Clara Stone block from 1906.  To make it, you'll need two greens and a background, plus an accent for the center square.

Cutting:

From the background, cut:

2 4-1/4 inch squares
2 3-7/8 inch squares
4 3-1/2 inch squares

From the first green (the outer star):

2 4-1/4 inch squares
4 2-5/8 inch squares

From the second green (the inner star):

3 4-1/4 inch squares

From the accent:

1 3-1/2 inch square

To complete the quilt section, cut from the background color:

4 2-1/2 by 6-1/2 inch rectangles
2 2-1/2 by 8-1/2 inch strips
2 1-1/2 by 12-1/2 inch strips
3 2-1/2 by 14-1/2 inch strips

On to construction!

Construction:

First we are making the center unit, then the units for the sides.  For the center, take one of the lighter green 4-1/4 inch squares and cut it twice from corner to corner to make 4 smaller triangles.  Take the background 3-7/8 inch squares and cut them each in half once from corner to corner to make 4 triangles.

Arrange the green triangles that you just cut around the accent square as shown, and stitch to the sides of the square.  It helps to finger press a small crease in the centers of the sides of the square and the long sides of the triangles, then match these to get good placement for the triangles.  Press toward the green triangles, making sure that you have 1/4 inch beyond each of the points.

Next, arrange the background triangles as shown and stitch to the sides of the square you just made.  Finger press the center of the triangles and match to the points of the yellow square.  Press toward the blue, and be sure that you have 1/4 inch beyond each of the points.  This unit should measure 6-1/2 inches square.

Making the sides:

Cut the two remaining dark green 4-1/4 inch squares in half from corner to corner twice to make 4 triangles each, for a total of 8.  Attach 2 of these triangles to each of the 2-5/8 inch lighter green squares as shown. 

Make 4 of these units.  Press toward the darker green triangles.

Next, take the 2 lighter green 4-1/4 inch squares and the 2 background 4-1/4 inch squares and cut each of them from corner to corner twice to make 4 smaller triangles.  Stack these smaller triangles as shown and stitch together along the centers.

Notice that these are opposites of each other, and you need to make 4 of each.  Press toward the background triangles.

Finally, add these triangle pairs to the square and triangle unit you made just previously, laying them out as shown and matching seams.  Don't worry too much if all of the triangle points don't meet exactly.

These finished units should measure 3-1/2 by 6-1/2.  Make sure you have 1/4 inch beyond your points for the seam allowance.  Press toward the square unit, or press open to reduce bulk, as these points will match up with the square in a square points in the final block.

And that's it for the units!

Assembly:

Lay out all of the units and the 3-1/2 inch background squares as shown, being careful to put the background triangles along the outside. 

Join the units into rows and the rows into a block. I highly recommend matching the points and pinning so that they don't shift in the final construction and they match up nicely.  Give it a good press, stand back, and admire!  Your block should measure 12-1/2 by 12-1/2 to finish at 12 inches in the quilt.

To complete this quilt section: 

And now for the exciting finish to section 4!  Choose 4 of the 6-inch stars you made last month.  Keep the other 4 for a different quilt section.  Join one of the 2-1/2 by 6-1/2 inch pieces of background to one side of each of the 4 stars.

Join two of the stars together as shown, offsetting the background strips so that the stars are offset and not aligned.  You should have two sets of two stars.

Designate one set of stars to go on the left and the other on the right.  Add the 2-1/2 by 8-1/2 inch strips to the bottom of the star sections. (This is the quilt sashing for the next row.)

Next, take the 2 1-1/2 by 12-1/2 inch strips and add them to the sides of the green star block, then add one of the 2-1/2 by 14-1/2 inch strips to the bottom of the entire star block unit.

Join the left side double star unit to the left  side of the green star unit, and the right side unit to the right side.  To complete the section, add the remaining 2-1/2 by 14-1/4 inch strips to the right and left of the section.  Press well and admire!

This section should measure 14-1/2 inches by 34-1/2 inches.  Don't worry if it's a little off, and above all don't trim anything.  The next section completes the second row and all the adjusting you may need to do can be done then.

That finishes section 4!  Here is a pinned together progress photo of all of the sections:

It looks so great already! I promise it looks better in person when it's not being sun bleached, and I'm sure yours is already spectacular as well.  If you have finished this much, about 42% of the quilt is already finished!

Thanks for coming along to make this block and quilt section.  Hope you are making good progress.  Come on back on June 6 for the exciting conclusion to row 2!

Sharing at Linky Tuesday, Let's Bee Social, and soscrappy for RSC17.