Star Spangled Picnic Tutorial Part 2

Welcome back to the Star Spangled Picnic block pictutorial!

Part 2:  The Flag Bird.  

If you missed Part #1...click on the Watermelon Section

I used scraps to make this block.

The Leg Section

Cut the background fabrics and the leg fabrics according to the pattern.

Sew the legs to the background pieces.   Press towards the legs.

**I over-sized the width and the length of the leg unit so it can be trimmed down for more accurate piecing.  Place a 3/4" ruler mark along the seam and trim a 1/4" off each side of the leg fabric.    

Sew the remaining background rectangles to each side of the leg unit.  Press towards the legs.  I like the seams to give the legs a bit of fullness.   

The leg segment will be shorter than the watermelon section.  Set leg segment aside.  

The Beak section

Once this section is completed, set aside.

The Flag Section

Sew both red and white strips together, pressing each towards the red.  Place the 3/4" ruler mark on the outer seams and trip 1/4" off both sides of the upper flag unit.  Trim the top edge.

Sew the blue 'field' fabric to the straightened red and white edge.  Press towards the blue.  

Sew the white strip to the bottom of the red, white and blue unit.  Press away from the white.

  **I finger press to determine the center of the white strip, then pin to the center of the red, white and blue unit.  Then place pins on both ends.  This keeps the upper flag section 'square'.

Trim 1/4" off the white fabric as shown in the pattern instructions

Continue to build the flag section

I opted to press the corner triangle seams away from the strips to create less bulk.  You can open them up if you like. 

Sew the upper and lower flag units together matching seams. 

Add the Beak section last.

In Part 1 I shared a new product called Seam Align for matching seams.  If you don't have this product, you can also run a basting stitch through the seams first to make sure they line up nicely.   Easier to pull out a basting stitch then a regular one!

Sew the Leg Section to the bird body, matching the leg seam.  

I would recommend finger pressing both sections to find the center and pin, then match the leg seams and the ends.

Complete the Flag Bird by adding background rectangles to each side.  Press towards the rectangles.

See arrows in photo below for matching seams and sew your Watermelon and Flag Bird Sections together!

Hope you have enjoyed this pattern and maybe even learned a tip or two while making your Star Spangled Picnic block! 

Enjoy!!

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Just in!  Susan from Henny Penny posted her finished Star Spangled Picnic block on Facebook!  Her border measurements are shared below.

 Thanks so much for the 'share' Susan!

Learn, Share, Quilt!

~karen