President's Block--finished

Friendship star

Each year in the Clark County Quilters guild, the outgoing president receives quilt blocks from the members. The previous guild president determines the pattern, color way and collects the blocks. The president may know the blocks are coming; but, they don't know any of the particulars. Making the block is totally voluntary. When I was president, I totally forgot about the blocks so I was surprised to receive mine! 

I've been making a block for the president since 2008. I did miss one year because I totally forgot to do it. Now, the week the directions are released, I make the block. Stitching a block is a small way to thank the outgoing president for their service. It is an opportunity to play with a pattern, a color or a technique. It is also a way to practice producing the most perfect block that is possible.

Checking the size

The pattern this year is  a finished nine inch friendship star block. You can make more than one if you would like. We were to use a white or white on white background with either turquoise or a blue purple fabric that read as a solid. The outgoing president's favorite colors are purple, blue and turquoise.

I purchased the turquoise fabric. I had one in my stash that may have worked; but, I decided that it might not read as a solid well enough. I do like this color. It is a Laurel Burch fabric. I cut the white background squares from a 3 1/2 strip
of fabric. I cut the half square triangles (HSTs) also from the strips using Bonnie Hunters Essential Triangle ruler. It didn't take me long to stitch the HSTs together. I did square up each HST. Although, they were close to being on the money.

Back of block

After I had sewn the block together, I laid a ruler on top of the block to check how close I came to the block being 9 1/2 inches square. It was on the money! When I am making blocks that I am going to exchange, I often measure the section after sewing each seam. It is easier to unstitch and resew one seam rather than get to the end and find the block is really out of whack!

When I'm constructing a block, I press each seam. Then I weight the seam with ruler and let the fabric cool. I find the seam allowances stay put using this method. We weren't given directions on how to press the seams. I know the outgoing president will longarm quilt her blocks so pressing seams open and making the intersections as flat as possible is important. 

When I finished stitching the block and I was sure that the size was on the money, I gave the block one more press. This time, I used a press cloth. If you were/are a garment sewer, you may have used one often to prevent a sheen on your fabric or to prevent the seam allowances from showing through to the right side of your garment. 

Finished block

I laid the cloth on the wrong side of my block. I lightly spritzed the cloth with water from my spray bottle. Then I pressed the block one more time. Yes, I weighted the block and let it totally cool before I moved it. The block is flatter than a pancake.

As per the block instructions, I wrote my name on a piece of blue painter's tape and taped the information to the back of the block. I folded a piece of paper around the block and inserted it into an addressed business envelope to mail to the guild president from last year. I hope she will take photos of  the various blocks because it is fun to see all the colors and prints that people use. She will reveal the blocks to the outgoing president at the virtual June meeting.

If you want to see what I did with my president's blocks, click here. This was goal number six in my 2nd quarter list and goal number nine on my May list. It's mid month and I have completed three of the nine goals that I listed for myself. I've made progress on four other goals.