the ten segments from one strip together.
6 Repeat until all your strip units A, B and C are cut. It helps to label them A, B or C as you cut each set of segments. You will now have six separate piles with ten segments of A, B and C segments in each.
Sewing the centre star
7 Choose one pile to make your centre star and choose one A, B and C segment to make the first diamond.
8 Take a unit A segment and, with right sides together, sew it to a unit B segment. To match the seams, insert a pin through each seam to secure before sewing. You will notice that the rows are 1⁄4in out at each end but this is because you have an angled cut. It is important to check that your seams are nicely matched before sewing. You might have to unpick the first one but you will soon get the hang of it!
9 Take a unit C segment and, with right sides together, sew it to the sewn A and B units, as shown, to complete one diamond unit. Gently press open.
10 Repeat this process to make eight diamonds in total. The remaining segments in your pile will be used later to make the exploding stars.
11 Sew one large background triangle A and one small background triangle B to either side of one diamond, as shown, to make diamond A. Repeat to make four diamond A. Gently press as shown. The triangles are cut slightly larger and will overlap each side. Once sewn they need to be trimmed to size (allowing for 1⁄4in seam allowances).
12 Repeat with the four other diamonds but this time placing the small background triangle and the large background triangle on the opposite sides of the diamonds, as shown, to make four diamond B. Gently press as shown and then trim to size (allowing for 1⁄4in seam allowances).
13 Join a diamond A to a diamond B to make one quarter-block, pinning at every seam intersection to ensure a perfect match. Repeat to make four quarter-blocks.
14 You now have your centre star, but do not sew these quarter-blocks together yet.
Sewing the exploding stars
15 You need to make eight exploding stars that comprise three quarter-blocks, as opposed to four blocks for the centre star. We used four of our piles to make the four inner exploding stars and then made our outer exploding stars from what we had left, which made them scrappier.
16 Choose six A, B and C segments to make one exploding star. Take a unit A segment and, with right sides together, sew it to a unit B segment. To match the seams, insert a pin through each seam to secure before sewing. You will notice that the rows appear 1⁄4in out at each end but this is because you have an angled cut. It is important to check that your seams are nicely matched before sewing.
17 Take a unit C segment and, with right sides together, sew it to the sewn A and B units, as shown, to complete one diamond. Gently press open. Repeat until you have six diamonds.
18 Sew one large background triangle A and one small background triangle B to either side of one diamond, as shown, to make diamond A. Repeat to make three diamond A. Gently press as shown. These triangles are cut slightly larger and will overlap each side. Once sewn they need to be trimmed to size (allowing for 1⁄4in seam allowances).
19 Repeat with the three other diamonds but this time placing the small background triangle and the large background triangle on the opposite sides of the diamonds as shown to make three diamond B. Gently press as shown and trim to size.
20 Join a diamond A to a diamond B to make one quarter-block, pinning at every seam intersection to ensure a perfect match. Repeat to make three more quarter-blocks.
21 You now have one exploding star but do not sew these quarter-blocks together yet. Repeat to make eight exploding stars in total.
ASSEMBLING THE QUILT
22 Lay out the star quarter-blocks into rows, making sure they are oriented as shown in the diagram. When you are happy with the layout start by sewing the star units for row 3 together and then the star units for row 4 together. Now sew row 3 and row 4 together, pinning at all intersections to ensure a perfect match. Press these two rows. Check the measurement of the background fabric rectangle required at the side of these joined rows (ours was 151⁄4in x 30in). Cut a total of four rectangles this size. Sew rows 1, 2, 5 and 6 together, using the rectangles where shown in row 1 and row 6.
23 Sew a rectangle to each side of the row 3+4 centre unit. Now follow the diagram to sew all of the rows of the quilt together, carefully matching and pinning all seams before sewing. Once sewn, press well.
QUILTING AND FINISHING
24 Your quilt top is now complete. Make a quilt sandwich of the quilt top, the wadding (batting) and the backing. Quilt as desired and then bind to finish.
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