patchpieces: quilts and pieces by Patti R. Anderson

Stars in the Sashing

I'm not sure who first started using this technique, but it has become so popular I thought I would attempt to give instructions of how to design this in EQ4. Because there is no specific name for this type of setting I will call it "Sawtooth Star Sashing".

Here's an example of a quilt I designed that uses the Sawtooth Star Sashing. The Sashings are 3" and the first Border is 1.5" in order to complete the star points. Using black as the background color makes the sashing stars appear to be floating -- looks even better in fabric!

"Southwest Stars" by Patti R. Anderson

In order to do this type sashing in EQ4, you'll need to draw two
different blocks, one for the sashings and one for the outer star points:

These Star point blocks in the borders are set in Layer 2

To determine what size to draw these two blocks you need to know two things: (1) the size of the sashing and (2) the size of the block. The squares that make the center of the stars will be the same as the sashing size. Let's look at the Sawtooth Star block that this sashing is based on. Understanding it's construction will help you see the relationship between your block size and the star point size......

The Sawtooth Star is based on a 4 x 4 grid. Note that in this block the height of the star point unit is 1/2 the size of the center square. If you keep this in mind, you will know what size to draw the the block for the sashings and star points.

For example, if your sashings are 3", the height of the star point needs to be 1.5" (half of 3").
Now with this in mind, let's draw the two parts for the sashing stars. I will use for this Lesson, 3" sashings and 9" blocks. You can easily convert this to another size by following the basic formulas.

For the longer sashing block piece:

1. Go to the block Worktable. Click on the Block Menu and select New Block/EasyDraw.
2. Click on the the Block Menu again and select Drawing Board Setup. Make the Snap to Grid Points, Horiz/18 and Vert/6 and the Block Size, Horiz/9 and Vert/3. Note that the Snap to Grid Points are twice the Block Size -- this is like adding half inch marks. You can also add graph paper lines as I did above, by clicking on the Graph Paper tab and making the Number of Divisions, Horiz/9 and Vert/3. Click OK when you're done.
3. Draw the 45 degree star points, making them 1.5 inches as in the illustration above.

4. Save the block in the sketchbook. Color the block if you want and save again.
For the star point piece:

1. On the Block Worktable, click on the Block Menu and select New Block/EasyDraw
2. Click on the Block Menu again and select Drawing Board Setup. Set the Snap to Grid Points, Horiz/6 and Vert /6; Block Size, Horiz / 3 and Vert / 1.5 Graph paper lines are not needed for this.
3. Draw the 45 degree diagonal lines to make the star points. Save, Color and Save again.

To set the blocks in the quilt:
1. Go to the Quilt Worktable and click on the Layout taband make the Number of Blocks 2 x 2, the Size of Blocks 9.00" x 9.00" and the Sashing width 3.00" x 3.00". Click on the Layer 1 tab. Just work on the sashing for now, you can go back later and add the main blocks. Click on the Set tool. Select the longer block, which will look square in the pop-up menu, but will be OK in the sashing, you can scroll through and choose the color if you want.
2. Point the cursor at any of the sashings between the main blocks. Hold down the Ctrl (Control) key and click the mouse button and all the sashings will fill at once. Rotate the vertical sashing blocks that are not oriented correctly by clicking on the Rotate tool, point at one of the vertical sashings, hold down Ctrl key and clicking the mouse. All the vertical blocks should be oriented correctly now.
3. To get the star points around the outside to complete the outermost stars in the sashing, the first Border should be at least 1.5 inches. You can make it larger if you want, but try 1.5 first. Click on the Border tab and make the first Border 1.5 inches on all sides. Click on Layer 2 tab.
4. Working in Layer 2, click on the Set tool and select the smaller star point block. Point the cursor at the quilt near where you want the block, drag the mouse to form a box and the block will fill it when you release the mouse. Click on the Adjust tool and select the block, on the Graph Pad change the size to 1.5 x 3 (or 3 x 1.5, depending on which direction you need) Rotate the block if the star points are going the wrong direction. Look at the X-Y coordinates on the far left of the Graph Pad (you can zoom in to make it easier) Adjust the numbers so that your star points are setting even with the sashings. Repeat for all the star points.....or go on to step 5 for another hint.
5. To make this go more quickly, you can set all the star point blocks for one side of the quilt and resize them all at once. After you have set the blocks, adjust one of them to the correct size. Holding down the SHIFT key, click on this block and then click on each of the blocks you set. A marquee will surround these blocks. On the Graph Pad on the far right -- click on the third of the little squares which has vertical AND horizontal arrows. All your blocks will change to the size of the first one selected. Isn't that neat! It may take a little practice, but you'll find this very helpful when working on Layer 2 and 3 and also in Country Set.
Here are two other blocks you can use in the sashings too, but I'll let you have the fun figuring them out!!