Hello, and welcome to any new visitors who are following along with my Aurifil Instagram takeover this weekend. I’m Yvonne Fuchs, a former aerospace engineer turned modern quilter, pattern designer, quilt instructor, and technical editor. I’ve been a very active blogger since 2014, and if you have more time to poke around my website after reading my tips for working with directional prints, I have a very large grouping of free tutorials that is sure to have something of interest for you.
Tips for Working with Directional Prints
Speaking of tutorials, let’s jump right in! I love a good directional print (stripes or woodgrain prints are two of my favorites), but when it comes time to assembling a block, having a directional print rotated 90 degrees can be jarring. In the video below, I share my top tips for keeping your directional prints running in the orientation that you want when you are doing stitch and flip or making two at a time half-square triangles.
In the video, I’m demonstrating by making Sawtooth Star blocks that finish at 8″ (8 1/2″ unfinished). To follow along and make your own Sawtooth Star blocks with directional prints, you will need:
Stitch and Flip Method
- Star Fabric (Directional green woodgrain like print in the video)
- (1) 4 1/2″ square
- (8) 2 1/2″ square
- Background Fabric (Off white solid in the video)
- (4) 4 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ rectangles
- (4) 2 1/2″ squares
Half-Square Triangle Method
- Star Fabric (Off white solid in the video)
- (1) 4 1/2″ square
- (4) 3″ or 3 1/4″ squares*
- Background Fabric (Directional green woodgrain like print in the video)
- (4) 3″ or 3 1/4″ squares*
- (4) 2 1/2″ squares
*Note: These square are used to make the half-square triangles, and both size squares will allow for trimming, 3 1/4″ is just a bit more generous. I personally used 3″ squares.
Want to pin this tip for later? Use the image above to add it to your favorite Pinterest board!
Great tips for working with directional prints! I think about doing it this way after I make the first set the wrong way..
Thank you for this tip! I admit to not being a fan of directional fabrics so this tutorial really helped.
What a great tip – this will be such a help. I love directional fabrics too and do like to control the ways that they go – not always easy.
Appreciate your sharing your tip! Pinned it for future reference!
Great tips on working with directional prints! THANK YOU for simplifying the process.
Much easier than my system of diagrams. Thanks for the tips.
Thank you for such a helpful tutorial. The video is great. Pinned to my HST Pinterest board for easy reference 🙂