Mini Solar Eclipse Quilt Tutorial

I am over at Sew Can She!!

I get to play along this year with her mini quilt series.  I’ve known Caroline for a couple of years…. just had lunch with her in Texas in October! She has a wonderful site full of tutorials and this year– mini quilts!

Every month there is a new mini quilt— love the variety and the mini size let’s you get to play a little bit without a mega commitment.

So excited to finally show off one of the projects I’ve been working on this month.

This little beauty is based on the Solar Eclipse Quilt Along– a star quilt pattern.  

I may haven’t done the best with enough variation of darks– it kind of blends in, but I do love the blocks and how it turned out.

What’s kind of fun is that after you get the blocks done, you can play with their placement and decide which one you like the best and finish it off!

The layouts you can choose from:

Materials Needed:
Lights:
2– 4″ X 4″ – center half square triangles
4– 2 1/2″ X 2 1/2″ corner half square triangles
4– 2″ X 2″ corner squares
2– 4 1/2″ X 4 1/2″ – light flying geese background
2– 6″ X 6″ – light flying geese points
Small Star Blocks instructions~
1- Draw a line on the WRONG side of the light 4″ squares from
corner to corner diagonally
2- Lay right sides together, the light on light and dark on dark 4″ squares
3- Sew on both sides of the drawn line 1/4″ seam
4- Cut on the drawn line and iron
5- Trim to 3 1/2″ X 3 1/2″
Repeat the process with the 2 1/2″ squares– Square up to 2″ X 2″
Darks:
2– 4″ X 4″ – center half square triangles
4– 2 1/2″ X 2 1/2″ corner half square triangles
4– 2″ X 2″ corner squares
2– 4 1/2″ X 4 1/2″ – light flying geese background
2– 6″ X 6″ – light flying geese points

Small Star Blocks instructions~
1- Draw a line on the WRONG side of the light 4″ squares from
corner to corner diagonally
2- Lay right sides together, the light on light and dark on dark 4″ squares
3- Sew on both sides of the drawn line 1/4″ seam
4- Cut on the drawn line and iron
5- Trim to 3 1/2″ X 3 1/2″
Repeat the process with the 2 1/2″ squares– Square up to 2″ X 2″

Flying Geese Instructions~
1- Sew 4 sets of large and small fabrics together to make 16 flying geese total.
– Sew the 4 1/2’’ and 6’’ light squares together, and the 4 1/2’’ and 6’’ dark
squares together

*Be aware that the pictures may show light and dark, but use above instructions
for piecing the flying geese units. Light with light, dark with dark.
2- Draw a line from corner to corner on the wrong side of the smaller
square

3- Sew on both sides of the line 1/4″ seam

4- Cut on the drawn line and press open
5- Place the squares -right sides facing- the small pieces will be opposite. It
looks a little weird.
*you are lining up the outside edges. DO NOT line up the center seam

6- Draw a line from corner to corner on the wrong side– your line will cross
the center seam
7- Sew on both sides of the line 1/4″ seam

8- Cut on the drawn line and iron

9- The first cut will be 1/4″ past the point of the flying geese- then use this
line to trim the opposite side.

10- Trim up your flying geese units to 2” X 3 1/2”

Block Instructions~
Lay the block out in the following– all the blocks can be completed this
ways
(they’ll be moved around for placement later)
make sure you place the half square triangles the correct direction so it looks
like the square is cut in half diagonally.
you’ll have 4 blocks
square up blocks to 6 1/2″ X 6 1/2″

Mini Quilt Instructions~
1- Lay the 4 blocks out, play with their placement until satisfied –
there are a few fun options to choose from
2- Sew the blocks together
3- Layer top, batting and backing. Quilt as desired & bind.

fabric for the mini quilt- scrappy would be perfect

You’ll find the full pattern (free) on Caroline’s blog

here is Caroline’s version….

For the quilting, I went with a straight line stitch.

Using the walking foot for the sewing machine — and the guide for the spacing, it was super easy to get it all quilted and done in an evening.

I almost think I should have used a different color of thread? Or maybe a variegated one? That might have been kind of fun!

Over all I’m super in love.

The fabric was in a baggie that I picked up from a Modern Quilt Guild meeting– thank you for the wonderful scraps! There is still enough to do another fun project. Can’t wait!

I kind of wished the stars popped out a little more— again, should have played with the dark fabrics just a little more.  But it’s ok.

Have fun with the mini version!

If you are interested in the free full size star quilt pattern- Solar Eclipse Quilt…you can find all the info here.

---