Inspired by Faith: http://www.freshlemonsquilts.com/solstice-stars-series-whirling-star/
Please note, all seams are 1/4″; Final block size is 12.5″ unfinished. Reduce your stitch length so that the paper template will perforate easily. I used 1.4 stictch length.
Paper Piecing Templates:
Note: It is best to use paper piecing paper instead of printer paper.
Print 2 of Template A below and print 4 of Template B below. Be sure to print them at 100% and check the scale icon with a ruler before starting.
Prepare the templates. Cut out the template around the seam allowance line. Here is a visual of what we are going to make with our templates:
1. Cut your fabric. When cutting fabric for paper piecing, you will be cutting rectangles that will be larger than needed.
I recommend cutting 1 of each piece below, making a block, and ensuring it is enough fabric for your sewing style. Then you can make adjustments later for the rest of your blocks. These are the fabric sizes I used for my paper piecing.
1A Cut 2 4.5″ x 5.5” Print/Color/Medium
2A Cut 2 4.5” x 5.5” White/Background
3A Cut 2 4.5″ x 5.5” Print/Color/Medium
4A Cut 2 4.5” x 5.5” White/Background
5A Cut 1 4” x 4″,
then cut
diagonal Print/Color/Dark
6A Cut 1 4″ x 4”,
then cut
diagonal Print/Color/Dark
1B Cut 4 4.5” x 5.5” Print/Color/Light
2B Cut 4 3.5” x 7″ White/Background
3B Cut 4 3.5” x 7″ White/Background
Tip: Write the fabric color name on the template pieces to avoid confusion during sewing.
2. Let’s start with Template A. Take your fabric cut for Piece 1A and place it right side out on the back of your template, making sure to cover the entire template space 1A. Pin into place.
3. Take your fabric cut for Piece 2A. Place it right side together to Piece 1A which you pinned into place in Step 2. Hold your template up to the light and make sure at least 1/4″ of the fabric overlaps into template space 2A. This will probably feel backwards and wrong the first few times you do it. Pin into place.
4. Sew along the seam line on the template between Pieces 1A and 2A. Be sure to also sew into the grey seam allowance. Remove your pins.
5. Flip your block over. Trim your seam allowance to 1/4″.
Your block should now look like this:
Press your fabric open.
6. Take your fabric cut for piece 3A. Place it right side together to Piece 1A and 2A which you have sewn into place. Hold your template up to the light and make sure at least 1/4″ of the fabric overlaps into template space 3A. Pin into place.
7. Sew along the seam line on the template.
8. Trim along the seam allowance and press.
9. Using the same technique, continue and sew on a pieces 4A, 5A, 6A, in that order.
10. Turn your block over and trim the excess fabric from around the template.
Congrats! You’ve made your first paper pieced block!
11. Now repeat these steps for the second template A.
12. Let’s move on to template B. I will do a quick walk through to get you started. Take your fabric cut for Piece 1B and place right side out on the back of your template, making sure to cover the entire template space 1B. Pin into place.
13. Take your fabric cut for piece 2B. Place it right side together to piece 1B which you pinned into place in step 12. Hold your template up to the light and make sure at least 1/4″ of the fabric overlaps into template space 2B. Again, this will probably feel backwards and wrong the first few times you do it. Pin into place.
14. Sew along the seam line on the template between pieces 1B and 2B. Be sure to sew a bit into the seam allowance. Remove your pins.
15. Press your fabric open. Continue paper piecing piece 3B.
16. Press your fabric open. Trim your template, just as you did with Template A.
17. Repeat and create the other 3 Template B’s.
18. You now have all 6 templates pieced that you will need to create the star! Here’s the layout:
Remove the paper from the back. This should perforate easily as long as you remembered to shorten your stitch length before sewing.
19. Sew your 2 Template A’s together.Align the middle seam to ensure the center points align when you sew the block together.
20. Now we will sew the 4 Template B’s to the corners to finish the block. Line up your seams again.
After sewing all the corners to the center block, you’re done! You should have a beautiful Whirling Star!
November 11, 2015 at 3:16 am
I used the link at the bottom . I had to use print preview . then u se custom and change the size to 160 in order to get the 1 inch icon to the size of 1 inch I hope this helps some
November 12, 2015 at 3:41 pm
thank you for your help! 🙂
November 9, 2015 at 1:11 pm
Even if it you take someone else’s pattern and make tiny tweaks to it (like adding “A” next to the number on a pattern), it’s still a copyright issue. I’m not sure that Faith would be excited about you taking her pattern, reworking it only a tiny bit, then posting it as your own.
http://www.freshlemonsquilts.com/?p=1572
November 10, 2015 at 5:23 pm
Jess, thank you for bringing this to our attention. We had full intentions of providing her link so that everyone knew that our tutorial was inspired by Faith. The link is now included 🙂
November 7, 2015 at 3:48 pm
I love this block. It is beautiful. I can’t seem to get Template A full size. It isn’t linked to anything 🙁
Still it’s a lovely block and I appreciate the tutorial since I’ve not ever paper pieced anything.
November 10, 2015 at 4:04 pm
Beverly, Thank you so much! I have added links to both templates at the bottom of the tutorial. You should also now be able to click directly on the images in order to print them. 🙂