Aurora Borealis

This is a quick little mystery for people that love the Wonder cut ruler - or have bought it and wonder how to use it. (pun intended:-)) It makes a 40" x 40" wallhanging.

You must have the Wonder Cut ruler to do this mystery. If you don't, borrow one! It really is a cool ruler for making a number of different blocks. (Visit their website at http://www.wondercutruler.com to see more.) This mystery uses half square triangles (HSTs.)

You will also need a regular ruler for this mystery.

Fabric Requirements: (don't use directionals)

1 yard dark
2/3 yard light
4" of an accent fabric

Here is how to make the HSTs for this mystery using the Wonder cut ruler.

First, lay the fabric on your cutting board. Put the Number 4 line on the ruler on the cut edge of the fabric. You will cut along the top of the ruler. The picture below is a thumbnail - click on it to see it close up. In the picture, I am cutting both the dark and the light at the same time, and my fabric is folded. I am actually cutting by the Width of the Fabric (WOF.) I moved the ruler to the light so you could see the numbers better.

For this mystery, you will need three strips of light and three strips of dark, cut by the WOF. Sew a dark and a light strip together the long way at both the top and the bottom, making a tube.

Turn the ruler sideways and place the Number 4 line on the ruler along the cut edge. There is a seam at both the top and bottom edge of this tube. I laid the black thread across the top seam so you could see where it was. The point of your ruler will touch the seam but not go through it. Click on the picture thumbnail below.

Your first cut will be along both sides of the ruler. Then flip the ruler upside down and continue cutting triangles. (Note: Deb Hopkins suggested it was easier to flip the whole tube upside down rather than the ruler.) Because you have a seam at both the top and the bottom of the ruler, you will make HSTs both at the top of the tube and the bottom of the tube. Click on the picture thumbnail below.

You will probably get 13 HSTs per tube, but you only need 32 for this mystery. Cut your HSTs and press to the dark. Notice how they are a perfectly square 4" HST? The numbers on the ruler refer to the unfinished size of the block.

Using your regular ruler, cut two strips of the light 4" wide X the WOF and one strip of the dark 4" wide x the WOF. Crosscut these strips into 4" x 4" squares. You will probably get 10 squares from each strip, but you only need 16 light and 8 dark squares.

Cut one more 4" wide strip of the dark. Crosscut this into four 4" x 7 1/2" rectangles.

Using your regular ruler,

Cut three strips 2 1/2" wide of the light.
Cut four strips 4" wide of the dark.
Cut four strips 1" wide of the accent.

Time to start sewing!

Using your HSTs, make 16 Flying Geese Blocks

Use half square triangles to make flying geese.

Sew a light 4" x 4" square to both sides of four of the Flying Geese Blocks. Press to the dark.

Sew blocks to either side of your flying geese blocks.

Sew a dark 4" x 4" square to the left side and a light 4" x 4" square to the right side of four of the Flying Geese Blocks. Press to the dark.

Sew blocks to either side of your flying geese blocks.

You will have 8 Flying Geese Blocks left over.

You will have four dark and four light 4" x 4" squares left over.

Sew the dark and the light squares together and press to the dark.

Sew the squares to the rectangle. Press to the rectangle.

Sew four blocks to make the center of the unit.

Sew the Flying Geese blocks to both sides of the blocks you just made

Sew flying geese blocks to either side of the center.

Sew the remaining strips as shown. Don't press your seams yet.

You will have made four blocks that look like the one below.

Finished star block

Almost done! Sew the four blocks together so they make a star in the center. Finger press the seams so they just nestle or gently touch each other going in opposite directions, rather than laying on top of each other. This helps keep the bulk down. Press and measure through the center.

Sew your 2 1/2" wide light strips end to end making one LOOOONG strip. From this strip, cut two strips to the measurement you just took. Sew them to both sides of your top, matching the center of the strip to the center of your top. Ease to fit if necessary. Forcing the two sides of the quilt to match the same size border strip will force the top to be square.

Adding the borders

Measure through the center again, this time including the border you just sewed on. Cut two strips this measurement and sew to the top and bottom. Press to the border. Your quilt should be perfectly square.

Last step! Repeat the same border process you just did with one exception. Before you sew on the final border, you are going to insert a tiny, three dimensional border called a flange. This is the 1" wide accent piece you cut. Fold that in half wrong sides together and press. Cut it to the same length as the center width of the quilt top and stay stitch it 1/8" from the edge of the top all the way around. Overlap it at the corners.

Once it is firmly in place, you can measure for and add the outer borders. Because the flange is actually inserted into the seam between the two borders, it does not make the quilt bigger. It's just a little accent piece to draw your eye.

The finished quilt

You are done! What did you think? If you would like to send me a picture, I will proudly display it on this page.

Kris

PS - here is what it looks like if you make 4 stars and then put on the borders. (I changed the color of the little piece that sticks off to the side.) Click on the thumbnail picture to see it up close. It comes out about 70" x 70".

The pictures below were made by volunteer testers from the Wonder Cut ruler list. They are thumbnails - click on them to see them close up.

Margaret

Debby

Andrea

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