Twinkle Star was designed by Judy and Bradley Niemeyer for paper piecing. The pattern uses basic paper piecing techniques that can be applied to many Quiltworx lone star projects. This is a great introductory pattern for learning how Quiltworx lone star quilts are made in a small project that can be completed very quickly.
This tutorial includes 22 videos and instructions for paper piecing the Twinkle Star quilt designed by Quiltworx.
Twinkle Star Quilt made by Carol Thelen
You must purchase the Twinkle Star pattern in addition to these instructional materials.
Twinkle Star Paper Piecing Pattern by Quiltworx
Supply List
- Twinkle Star Pattern by Quiltworx (required)
- Fabric – requirements shown on pattern
- Permanent marker or ink pen
- 45mm and/or 60 mm rotary cutter with fresh blade
- 6-1/2" x 12-1/2" ruler or larger
- Cutting mat at least 18" x 24"
- Quality 50wt cotton thread
- Sewing machine with open toe foot and 1/4" foot
- Small scissors to use at the sewing machine
- Larger scissors for cutting paper
- Add-A-Quarter ruler, 12"
- Template plastic about 3" x 12"
- Wash out glue such as Elmer's or UHU used to glue fabric to paper
- Glue Pen such as Sew Line, Fons & Porter used to glue fabric to fabric
- That Purple Thang for curved piecing
- Jumbo paper clips
- 3-ring binder, 3/4" or 1" size
- 9 sheet protectors
- 7 one-gallon-size Ziploc™ or store brand plastic bags. Use a pen or marker to label these bags A1 B1, B2, CL1, CL2, CR1 and CR2
NOTE: When you click on the video links below, the video will open in a new page so you won't lose your place in the lessons.
Lesson 1: Preparing to Piece
PREPARE THE INSTRUCTIONS
The instructions for this project are 16 pages long and you will be flipping back and forth through them multiple times. To protect the instructions from loss or damage they can be placed in a binder with sheet protectors. Additionally, this is the time you should check for any corrections issued by Quiltworx for your pattern. The next video describes in detail how to prepare your binder.
Video - Paperwork First: Part 1 of 2
To Do List:
- Check for corrections on the Quiltworx website - Twinkle Star Pattern Corrections.
- Highlight sections in the instructions per the table below.
- Set up your binder and sheet protectors.
UNDERSTANDING QUILTWORX PAPERS
If you are new to Quiltworx patterns or need a better understanding of the different papers they publish, take some time to read the lesson in the link below. It will save you hours of frustration as you complete this project.
The following video shows how to trace the dashed lines onto the backside of the paper. This will help you see the unit and template sections while paper piecing. You do not need to do this at this time.
PAPERS IN BAGS
Before you choose and purchase your fabric, you should cut apart all the papers and put them in the proper bags. The newsprint sheets are large so you will need plenty of space to open them up. If you are using a rotary cutter to cut the papers, you should have the largest mat you can find. If you are using scissors to cut the papers, a table or other large surface works well.
The next video shows how to cut the papers from the newsprint sheets and place them into numbered bags.
To Do List:
- Cut out the papers and place them in bags.
Lesson 2: Fabric
The next two videos discuss fabric selection, fabric numbers and group color layouts. Additionally, it covers information about choosing fabrics and mapping fabrics to sections in the units. It also shows where the cutting instructions are listed for each group.
The next video shows how to pre-cut fabric strips.
To Do List:
Use the information in the chart below to pre-cut all your fabric and place it in the proper bags.
Lesson 3: Lone Star Unit
In this lesson we piece the Lone Star units using the strip piecing technique. If you haven’t used this technique before, I think you’ll find it a great way to piece lone stars. We'll break down the piecing into three segments:
- Preparing Paper and Fabric
- Paper Piecing
- Assemble the units
PREPARING TEMPLATES AND FABRIC
Swatches are glued to the papers and the papers are stacked in order of piecing. Pre-cut fabric strips are cut using the Strip Piecing Template then stacked for piecing.
Video Index
00:00 to 06:47 - Gluing swatches and stacking papers
06:47 to 10:00 - Cutting the fabric
10:00 to 12:11 - Sorting the fabric
Piecing Sections 1 & 2
The first two sections are pieced and pressed.
Video Index
00:00 to 04:11 – Section 1
04:11to 15:26 – Section 2
PIECING & TRIMMING
Section 3 is pieced and pressed and the papers are trimmed for assembly.
Video Index
00:00 to 02:00 – Section 3
02:00 to 04:33 – Trim the outer edges
04:33 to 06:24 – Trim cut lines
06:24 to 07:33 – Trim smart corners
ASSEMBLE THE UNITS
The last step is to assemble the units.
Video Index
00:00 to 01:18 – Lay out piecing order
01:18 to 06:49 – Stitch SS2 to SS1
06:49 to 07:53 – Remove papers from bottom section
07:53 to 08:19– Stitch on Line 1
08:19 to 09:59 – Check the points
Video Index
00:00 to 04:12 – Stitch SS3 to SS2
04:12 to 04:38 – Press the seams
04:38 to 08:44 – Notes about finishing
Lesson 4: New York Beauty Unit
In this lesson we piece the New York Beauty units and you'll learn curved piecing. First, the fabric is cut into sections using the template layout sheets and the sections are sorted and stacked into piecing order. Next, the spikes are pieced and the unit is complete after the curved piecing. If you have not done curved piecing before, this is a great introduction because the curve is small but easy to piece. No stress is allowed here!
CUTTING BAG B1: FABRICS B1 AND B2
In this video we cut Fabrics B1 and B2 that were placed into Bag B1.
Video Index
00:00 to 01:20 – What’s in Bag 1
01:20 to 05:31 – Fabric B1, Unit BL Background TLS
05:31 to 08:48 – Fabric B2, Units BL & BR Accent Spikes TLS
08:48 to 10:35 – Stack Fabrics for Piecing Unit BL
FINISH CUTTING BAG B1 AND BAG B2
In this video we cut Fabric B3 that was put into Bag B1 and Fabric B1 that was put into Bag B2.
Video Index
00:00 to 04:16 – Cutting Fabric B3
04:16 to 07:52 – Bag B2, Fabric B1, Unit BR Background TLS
07:52 to 08:53 – Stacking for Piecing Unit BR
Video Index
00:00 to 04:44 – Introduction and Gluing Section 1
04:44 to 07:30 – Add Section 2
07:30 to 09:47 – Stitch on Line 1
09:47 to 10:11 – Press the seam
PIECING SECTION 3 AND TRIMMING UNITS
Video Index
00:00 to 03:31 – Section 3
03:31 to 04:07 – Stitch on Line 2
04:07 to 05:44 – Trim the units
Remove the Papers
Once all the units are trimmed, you can remove all the papers.
CURVE PIECING
Complete the curve piecing as shown in the next video. Press towards the point.
Lesson 5: The Border Units
In this lesson we piece the Border units and I think you will be amazed at how fast these come together!
CUT FABRIC C1
Video Index
00:00 to 01:22 – Introduction to border units
01:22 to 03:44 – Strip 1, Template CR1-1 (cut 3)
03:44 to 04:35 – Strip 2, Template CL2-1 (cut 3)
04:35 to 05:40 – Strip 3, Template CR1-1 (cut 1) and Template CL2-1 (cut 1)
05:40 to 07:03 – Strip 4, Template CL1-1 (cut 4)
07:03 to 08:26 – Strip 5, Template CR2-1 (cut 4)
CUT FABRICS C2 AND C3
Video Index
00:00 to 01:27 – Fabric C2
01:27 to 03:06 – Fabric C3, Strip 1, Template CR2-3 (cut 4)
03:06 to 04:27 – Strip 2, Template CL1-3 (cut 4)
04:27 to 06:00 – Strip 3, Template C1-3 (cut 8)
06:00 to 07:34 – Summary
PIECE THE BORDER
Video Index
00:00 to 01:09 – Introduction
01:09 to 03:33 – Section 1
03:00 to 05:07 – Section 2
05:07 to 06:19 – Section 3
06:19 to 07:43 – Trim the units
07:43 to 07:52 – Remove papers from all units
Lesson 6: Final Assembly
Now it is time to put everything together into a top. The image below is a preview of what we will do in the next steps when we sort out all the units and place them into stacks of 4.
PATTERN GRAPHICS
Pull out the Pattern Graphics sheet from Bag CR1 and watch the next video to see the process.
ILLUSTRATION 2
In this section the Lone Star units are stitched to New York Beauty units.
ILLUSTRATIONS 3 AND 4
Video Index
00:00 to 01:01 – Illustration 3
01:01 to 01:15 – Illustration 4 introduction
01:15 to 03:32 – Mark for cross seams
03:32 to 04:32 – Interlocking seams
04:32 to 87:23 – Stacked seams
07:23 to 09:10 – Cross seams
09:10 to 14:02 – Stitch the seam
NOTE: Press the seam towards the right.
ILLUSTRATIONS 5 AND 6
ILLUSTRATIONS 7 AND 8
Video Index
00:00 to 01:05 – Illustration 7
01:05 to 03:07 – Remove stitches in 4 places
03:07 to 05:36 – Illustration 8
05:36 to 09:58 – Pressing the center star