This is a photo tutorial for the Turning Points pattern (shop for the pattern here)

Enjoy!

 

This tutorial is done with the 6” block.

(And apologies for the state of my hands in the pix… I had an allergic reaction that made my skin peel, and go figure, my hands were taking the brunt of it as I was photographing this!)

Print out the paper pattern(s), and separate the 4 block quadrants, leaving a generous 1/2” of paper all around. Ignore the numbers on the patterns in some of the pix – I was working with an earlier version 🙂

Start with piece 1/A. Put a swipe of glue stick in the seam allowance…

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… align the fabric and stick it down. I don’t usually use glue, but with small pieces like this it really keeps slippage to a minimum.

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Fold the paper and fabric back to make a crease along the outer edge of Triangle 2:

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Make the crease sharp enough so you can see it on the fabric side:

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Stick a pin up from the paper side to mark the point of the triangle:

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Put a swipe of glue stick into the seam allowance:

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And place the Prairie Point, aligning it to the pin and crease, with the raw edge parallel to the seam, and stick it to the glue:

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Pull out the pin, and place 2/B on top, aligning the edges for the seam:

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Pin here if you like. Sew it down, overshooting each line by a 1/4”. I find I get less slippage on all these layers using the walking foot – you’re going over 6 layers of fabric when you get to the triangle:

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Fold the paper back…

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… and trim the seam allowance to 1/4” – you can do this with any ruler, or the Add-A-Quarter Ruler if you have one:

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You’ll trim very little of the prairie point on the 15” and 6” blocks, but trim a decent amount on the 4” blocks. Turn the block over, and press, or finger-press:

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Flip the block paper-side up, and using your ruler, fold the paper up at the NEXT seam:

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Crease the paper back to expose the edge of piece 2/B:

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And using your ruler, trim this with a 1/4” seam allowance. This sets up the next edge perfectly for aligning:

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I don’t usually do the above step when I paper-piece, but in this application it makes the rest of the block so much easier to get aligned.

With the paper-side down, fold back the paper and fabric to crease the outer edge of Triangle 4:

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And align the second Prairie Point, with the help of a swipe of glue in the seam allowance. I find that I don’t need to use the pin for any of the points after the first as I can see where it should go in relation to the seam before it – which is good, because that whole pin thing is rather awkward!

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And keep going until you get to the last piece – don’t forget piece D! But not Prairie Point 13:

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Trim the block, adding a 1/4” seam allowance:

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And with a swipe of glue stick in the seam allowance, glue the last Prairie Point in place (or sew baste it). It will get sewn in when you put the 4 quadrants together:

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Piece the remaining quadrants, and don’t take off the paper yet:

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Sew them together in pairs first, pressing away from the point of Prairie Point 13:

IMG_7314Then sew the halves together:

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Flip the block over, and unpick the seam allowances in the center of the block – just the allowances, not the seams! Fan them out so they “spin” in the center. This allows you to press all four quadrant seams in the right direction to allow the prairie points to lay flat, while taking bulk out of the center.

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Give the block a final press from the front! Peel the paper out, and perhaps press it one more time.

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Turn your block into a thing!

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