On this episode, we're joined by Lindlee Smith, an author and designer who specializes in star quilts.

She breaks down how to sew diamonds and why seams in ways that make this challenging classic achievable.

Open up your quilting creativity by unlocking fresh skills and today's episode of Love of Quilting.

Funding for Love of Quilting is provided by.

The Bernina 990.

If it can be imagined, it can be created.

APQS longarm quilting machines allow you to express your creativity.

APQS quilt forever.

The Warm Company manufacturer of battings and fusibles is for quilts, crafts and wearable arts.

Panasonic, maker of the 360 degree freestyle, cordless iron magic quilting and crafting collection, ironing sprays and more.

Hi there and welcome to the 4700 series of Love of Quilting.

I'm Sara Gallegos, and with me today is author and designer Lindlee Smith.

Welcome.

Thank you.

I love how you've said that you specialize in modern star quilts.

How did you kind of get started on this path?

Well, I grew up on, Native American Reservation in Montana, and they would have the most beautiful star quilts for giveaways for different things to honor the person they were giving this star quilt to.

So I was always drawn to that design from seeing them from a young age.

Oh, that's really neat.

Yeah.

So can you tell me a little bit about the first star quilt that you made?

Yes.

So the first star quilt I made was actually my third quilt ever.

And I'm just it was so I mean it for my then boyfriend, now husband trying to impress him.

I don't know if he's impressed by the quilt, but, I barely even knew what a quarter inch seam was when I made the quilt, so some of the seams were probably an eighth of an inch.

Some of them were for a half an inch.

And I struggled through seams, but I finished it and we still love it to this day.

Oh, that's really special.

Yeah.

And I really am excited for this particular lesson because when you've been sharing with me how, you know, people are afraid of a seam, but you're going to show us how it's not scary.

And in fact, it's really powerful in a quilt.

Yeah, it is.

So I avoided them for many, many years, but it opens up so many different options, like being able to do, something different in the background rather than just a solid fabric.

Sure.

I think creates a lot more interest.

So we're going to start with this block here, which is a condensed version of the quilt hanging behind us.

Right?

Yes.

So the quilt behind is, I think 46 by 46 is just a shrunk down version.

Perfect.

When you are starting a new technique and don't want to commit to a whole quilt right?

A little taste?

Yes, definitely.

So how do we start?

So the first thing we're going to do is our diamond units.

So gonna move this over here.

And I have already sewn these strip sets.

So you have two strip sets.

With our center fabric.

This one here.

Okay.

And then this is the middle fabric that you can see the most of.

And I have my seams pressed open.

That's another thing that I do all the time on my star blocks.

Right.

Why is that?

I find it easier to match my diamond points when they're pressed open like that.

Which I will show you in in a future step.

That's a great tip.

So first, to line up your strips, it smooth it out.

And I see you've got yours kind of offset here.

Yes.

Thank you for pointing that out.

So the reason I do that you will see when I line up my ruler.

So we line up the 45 degree line on the ruler here.

With the seam.

And you can see here if I had them sewn together where they were lined up, we would have some waste in this fabric.

So we line those up a little more conservative.

Yes.

And then when we're ready to cut.

So we're first cutting off the selvedge okay.

And that gives us a good 45 degree line to start with.

And then I'm just going to move it down a little bit here.

So these are two inch diamond strips.

So there's two important things to keep in mind when cutting these strips.

Is the 45 degree line on the ruler is lined up on the seam.

And then the left side here where you cut the 45 degree line is the measurement you need okay.

So if you're cutting two inch strips you would line up with the two inch.

But since these strips here are two inch then you need to cut a two inch diamond strip.

Okay.

So make sure you have good pressure when you're cutting those because we don't want our diamonds to get wonky.

This is the time where we really need to take the time to make sure it's very precise.

Yes.

Exactly right.

This is not a fun quilt to start and then have things not line up at the end, right?

Yeah, I've definitely been there.

So that's why I take the extra time.

And I wouldn't call myself a perfectionist, but I do like things to line up nicely.

Your quilts are pretty perfect, and we'll get to show some of her additional quilts too at the end, which I'm so excited for you to see.

Yes, so that is our first two diamonds.

You'll need eight total for making this block, eight of each from each strip set, but, I already have some of those done.

So again, the first thing we do is cut off the selvedge.

So lining up that 45 degree line on your ruler and making sure you have a sharp rotary blade is also important.

Sure, you don't want to have to kind of snag it on a dull blade.

Yeah.

So here you can see my 45 degree line is lined up on that seam.

And then this edge with the two inch mark.

And you are kind of mentioning to me earlier too, that when you've cut a few, you find that that two inch line kind of starts getting a little wobbly.

Yeah.

Sometimes it could be because of the seam allowance isn't always perfect when you're sewing, but if you find that this 45 degree inch line is not lining up perfectly when the two inch line is lined up, then you need to cut your 45 degree, starting point again, kind of like a cleanup cut just to freshen that angle.

Exactly.

Okay.

Okay, so now that we have our diamonds cut, we are going to sew them together.

Okay, so I always use a marking tool and pins.

And I know people have opinions about pins, but I would rather use pins than a seam ripper.

This is a time where pins are super important.

Yes, and I like that line better a pin than a seam ripper.

Yes, definitely.

So you can see that these two diamonds are going to be sewn together.

So I take this one and on the right side I line up this edge with the quarter inch mark on my ruler.

Great.

And then I make just a tiny little mark.

Kind of hard to see.

But all you have to do is be the one to see it.

Right.

And marking tools can come in all different colors.

So maybe have a variety.

So whatever you're marking turns out and then putting these right sides together on the back of the top one, you also mark right on that same.

So we marked the right side of one and the wrong side of the other.

Right okay.

And now take your pins.

If you don't use pins.

I recommend you get some pins.

And you pin right through that mark okay.

And you want the pin to come through the seam on the other side.

Great.

Then.

You pin through.

That mark on the bottom one.

Making sure it comes through the mark on that side.

And then you just flatten them together.

And sometimes I also pin on both ends.

Okay.

It just that's totally preference.

It's kind of nice to keep things from moving around as you're sewing.

Sure.

And the reason I also mark like this is I've seen some patterns just say offset by a quarter of an inch.

Right.

But I don't think that's always reliable.

And I don't want to.

It's tough to rely on that.

Yeah.

Especially when you've got like bias the edges here.

Right.

Yeah.

Exactly.

Triangles and diamonds and.

Yeah.

And so the important thing when you're sewing is to not pull.

Which is always important.

But since this is bias edges it's it stretches a lot easier.

Sure.

And don't manhandle your fabrics.

Yes definitely.

It's not exactly the travel project right.

No I know.

I I'll show you in a minute when I am cutting my woven fabrics.

But they fray quite a bit.

But they are worth it, I think.

Oh for sure.

So while you do that, I'm just marking and pinning another one, because we need eight of these diamond units for our little star.

Okay.

And then after you.

So I will press it and show you the points.

Excellent.

Okay.

So we'll stitch this one.

So I'm going to press this and then press it to set the seam first.

Okay.

So just give it a good couple seconds there.

And then again I always press my seams open.

And I just think that helps the those points really match up good.

It's so pretty on the back too.

Yeah.

So then press it on the front.

And that's exactly how we want it to look.

Beautiful.

We got it.

Yeah.

Very nice.

So I think pins 100% worth it.

Totally worth it.

So after we have all of those eight diamonds, we're ready for the next unit.

And I'll show you here on my block.

So, we are going to sew this background to this diamond.

Okay.

And then this background to this diamond.

Cut it.

So I have my squares here, and I'm going to cut two at a time.

Already have them cut into the size.

This is what the fabric that maybe doesn't travel well is the, the woven sphere.

But, I use woven because they're so soft.

Right?

And I think it gives it a nice texture.

Yeah.

And it really just adds so much extra pizzazz to a very, very, you know, traditional block.

Yeah.

Like, this makes it so much more modern to use these interesting fabrics.

Yeah.

And this one you can kind of see has different color showing through.

There's pinks and blues because of the woven threads throughout.

So so I'm just cutting these in half along the diagonal.

So I'm lining up my 45 degree line with one edge.

And then I always like to kind of lay out my diamonds how they would be in the block.

So like if I was sewing one corner, I have your block in front of you or your pattern so you don't mix up which one goes where, especially something like this.

But I'm going to sew this triangle there and then this other triangle on this side here.

Neat.

And earlier I mentioned offsetting by a quarter of an inch.

This is where we will do that.

So, we'll put them right sides together like this.

And we want to we want to make sure this point here goes over that edge by a quarter of an inch.

So just.

Place that there like that.

And then I always pin at least twice.

Okay.

When I'm doing this.

And then I'll show you what it looks like on the back.

So did you use the mat to measure your quarter inch or.

Yes.

Yeah I did, so I lined up here.

Okay.

My edge.

And then I know that this is a quarter inch here.

Okay.

So I also eyeball up when I'm just doing my own.

But I wondered if you were able stick to.

We could measure.

You could measure if you really want it to be particular.

But the mat method though.

Yeah.

And after you've done so many you'll see.

But and then the back will look kind of like this.

So this will overhang just a little.

And that's okay.

That's okay.

That's what we want.

Okay.

So you can go ahead and do that.

And then I'll pin this one.

Great.

So I can show you the same way.

Line up my edge.

This way.

And then this point will go over about a quarter of an inch or a quarter of an inch, not about.

Are these woven fabrics right side wrong side, particular or.

Yes.

Some of them are this the turquoise one, is very similar on both sides.

But I think there is a slight difference, but I let's see, you can maybe see here.

Not too much, not too much.

So I guess it depends on how particular you are.

So that's one side.

That's the other okay.

So both are really fun.

They're both really fun.

Yeah.

So if you do have something that's right side, wrong sides, pay attention to that.

Right.

And then I'm going to press this seam open okay.

Yeah.

These woven fabrics were the warp in the weft are two different colors are so much fun to play with.

They are.

And I was one of the things I loved about looking through, the quilts that you've brought that you have so many different textures in there.

Yeah, that's my favorite thing to do is combine different textures.

And I love using solid fabrics, but also fabrics with textures.

It just gives it more interest to me, really.

And this I love prints, like I buy a lot of prints, but I don't usually reach for them when I'm sewing.

Interesting.

Yeah, these are in the stash.

Look at.

Yeah.

Like, I appreciate the the design, but when I'm sewing, I prefer solids and moments for some reason.

That's neat.

That's your style?

Yeah.

How did you come up with the color palette for this one?

I work a lot in a software program when I'm designing patterns and and figuring out color options.

Okay.

It's really neat.

Yeah, because I wouldn't have necessarily thought to piece together, but it's stunning.

Okay, so at this point, before we do our first scene, I'm just going to trim off this little dog ear here.

Okay.

Just to clean it up a little bit.

Make it a little less bulky at the end.

And then we get a star or y seam.

All right.

Which is not as scary as you might think.

Don't be afraid.

You can do it.

I like that.

Okay, so those two will get sewn together like this.

Okay.

Right.

Sides together.

Before we line up the edges, I'm going to get my ruler and marking tool again.

So we line up again the edge of that piece with the 45 degree line on our rulers.

Okay.

Make a mark.

Hold down your ruler so it doesn't move.

And since this is the back of the fabric, you don't even have to use a fabric specific.

So we're marking a quarter of an inch from each side.

Yes, a quarter of an inch from each side.

This point where the two lines intersect is where you will stop sewing.

Okay.

And another thing to keep in mind is always backstitch when you're there.

Because when we're sewing our corner piece, we don't want those stitches to start coming apart.

Okay, so a little lock.

But get to know the locking stitch on your machine.

So you're taking a stitch in place and not over not moving forward beyond that point.

Right?

Right.

Yeah okay.

So I put a pin right through that point okay.

And then since this also has these points I need to line up, I pin through that point as well.

So just make sure those seams are lined up pin through there.

And then always at the point two because we want those points to be nice.

Yeah.

Sometimes I feel like those shift around the slide when you move them into the machine.

Yeah.

Especially if they catch on the feed dogs or.

Yeah, okay.

I like to stop with my needle down and then just scoot the piece right in next to the needle.

And then I know I'm in the right position and everything's holding together for me as they begin to sew.

Or you can also use a leader.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Can you pull that pin out?

I made the mistake earlier of pulling the pin out as I was sewing, and I shifted the whole thing, so I learned not to do that.

We're all learning.

That's right.

So I always slow down as I'm getting close to that point.

Okay.

And then stop with your needle down, okay.

And then backstitch a couple stitches right now.

Okay.

Good.

I actually touch the thread cutter and it locked it okay.

Perfect.

There we go.

Yeah.

Looks like you've done this before.

I was I was really nervous.

So that's exactly how we want it to look.

And then we will press that seam open.

And then we can start our corner unit for the background.

Excellent.

So again I, I press these open so I can put the the corner piece in there and I'll show you how I pin that in there.

And you press it close to set first and then press open.

Yes.

It lays better.

Yeah.

I always set my I think my mom taught me that when I started to slowly, always press the this way and then do this.

Mother knows best.

The mother doesn't mess.

At least that's what we're trying to convince kids that.

Yeah.

Okay, so now we have this different, background corner.

So I'll show you what it will look like, and then we'll show you how to get there.

So this piece here will be sewn in like a better look at my test.

This.

So on this one, I'm alternating this purple fabric.

White turquoise purple white turquoise.

Nice.

And then each of these there will be four quadrants.

All four will be so in the same way.

So when I like to stack things and sew them in kind of groups.

But great.

So to start out we have a half square triangles unit.

And I'm going to lay it like this so I don't get mixed up.

So we just have this half square triangle.

And then we are sewing these flip and stitch corners I think you call them flip instead.

Your flip corners would be corners as they're known around here.

That's right.

So I will pin once and then I'm going to mark a line.

I'll show you what this one looks like.

So I'm going to make a mark from down the middle.

And then you sew right on that line.

Okay.

So I think that since you've got one that's sewn, we probably could show cutting that.

Sure.

And then we'll be able to put the block together.

Sounds good.

Okay.

So this one's already sewn and pressed.

Now we just have to trim these corners off.

So make sure to line up the quarter inch line with that stitch line and just trim off the corner.

Definitely have to put those little woven scrap triangles in the scrap bag.

Oh yeah, those are fun.

You are okay.

And then I'm going to press those seams open here.

And then we can finish sewing our y seam.

Great.

So everything in the whole quilt is an open seam.

Yes.

Okay.

Yeah.

Once I think it's kind of nice to do all the same.

Maybe it's not necessary, but it's kind of nice to be uniform.

Sure.

Okay, so now that we have these two units we can start sewing our first quadrant.

So what I do is I take these pieces and, I lay it out first how I know it will go.

Okay.

Then I flip it to the first side where I'm going to sew it, okay.

And I'm just going to bring it this direction.

So I can work on that better.

But so I know this corner here is going to be the y seam.

So on that corner I'm going to make my quarter inch marks just like when we sold these together.

So we know where to stop right.

So I'm not up in this kind of nice because the seam will go right through that point, that intersection.

So because we want that point to look like it's continuous from the star right.

That makes sense.

That's how it radiates out.

Yeah.

Okay.

One more time and make sure you get mixed up.

So we take our pin put it right through those marks.

And again it goes through to the seam on the other side.

Then I flip this side back because I'm not sewing that side yet.

Right.

So I kind of hold that side back with my hand, my finger.

It's kind of like a four hand job.

And then I put my pin through the point where that last seam ended.

Okay.

And that should come through on the marks on the back.

Okay.

And it does.

So then we kind of just line those up carefully.

And when you so this one you will stop again at that mark at that same mark and then backstitch okay.

And then I just put in at least one more pin on that side.

Oh one more thing with this.

These points from line up also.

So I'm just going to put a pin where those two seams will go together.

Okay.

Okay.

So then we start sewing at the outside of the block here okay.

And then stop at the point.

Stop at the point.

Yeah okay.

Cannot wait to see how this comes out.

It's nice to sew over.

The pressed open seems to because they're so flat and the needle like that.

So nice.

Yeah.

So much.

What kind of needle do you typically use?

I don't have a preference, really.

I kind of like a thicker needle sometimes, or whatever the flower had.

One is, because when you pull the pin out, you can still see where the pin was.

Because then I know that's exactly where I need to stop if I can't quite see my mark.

Sure.

So before we press, we will sew the other side.

So to do that, you just kind of do a little flip, flip them over.

And then before we pin, I just kind of line them up and then got my pin here.

So same thing.

We will put our pin through where our seam ended there.

Nice.

And then you kind of have to pull the fabric away.

But it goes through the point there where our mark is nice.

So it I really don't think it's hard.

It's just a little time consuming.

And I think if we slow down and take your time, it's it's doable.

It absolutely is.

Especially when you're making something like the large quilt that you've got there.

You've got the same amount of these seems to sew, but in much bigger pieces, and you end up with this really stunning, almost like a one block quilt.

And it yeah, it really comes together quickly because the, the pieces are large on the one on the quilt behind us.

Okay.

So I'll show this real quick and then we'll take a peek at the finish okay.

All right.

So we stopped right on the spot.

Let's see.

Oh I love it.

Looks great.

So you'd press this open and then we've got four to put together to make the whole block.

But what I'd really love to see now are some of your quilts.

So we're going to come right here.

You.

Great.

So you've got a larger example of your star here but with a little fun pop in the corners.

Yeah, I mean this is the benefit of using white seams as you can add a star block to the corner of your star quilt.

You don't have to be stuck with just a solid print, right?

And cute story.

You were like testing your block size and found that we had to add an extra.

And that's fine.

You could do what you gotta do.

That's right.

But I'm not going to start over.

No, this is beautiful.

And you're quilting and the colors are stunning.

Thanks.

Yeah.

Okay, so underneath of here, we've got another fun one.

Yes.

This is a broken star, style.

Yeah.

So it's a lone star in the center.

And then diamonds encircling it.

So this is all sewn with white seams, but it's really no more difficult than the block we just sewed, because each y seam is the same concept.

And the texture of these woven is incredible.

Yeah.

Thank you so much for sharing such an incredible technique with us.

And to sue for having me.

Yes, and taking the fear out of the white seams.

I hope you'll try it.

Grab a pencil, tips and other useful information.

Coming up next, Sara.

This was sent in from Molly Laabs from Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

She says, thank you for hosting your wonderful show.

You to bring sparkle and fun along with excellent lessons and ideas on traditional and new quilting.

Oh, thanks Molly, she says after a few times of seeing my tips sent in by someone else, I decided to submit one that I hadn't seen yet.

I use these paper heart, doilies and a circle doilies as a template to quilt hearts and shamrocks.

There's loads of other shapes as well.

It's affordable, it's disposable, it's replaceable, and it doesn't harm the needle.

If you catch the edge, it can be pinned to the surface easily and there's no marking required.

But that's a great idea.

Yeah.

Thanks so much for supporting us here on the show and sending your tips.

If you've got one to share, you can send it to the address on screen.

Happy quilting!

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Funding for Love of Quilting is provided by.

The Bernina 990.

If it can be imagined, it can be created.

APQS longarm quilting machines allow you to express your creativity.

APQS Quilt forever.

The Warm Company manufacturer of battings and fusibles for quilts, crafts and wearable arts.

Panasonic, maker of the 360 degree freestyle, cordless iron, magic quilting and crafting collection, ironing sprays, and more.