Stars of the City: November Blocks

Hello Friends and Welcome Back!

I've unintentionally taken another few weeks away from the blog in October. My partner got sick and needed to have his gallbladder removed, he's feeling much better now but will be off work for another few weeks yet. My parents' puppies also had surgery, just a very routine spaying and neutering, one is doing well, but the other pulled her stitches open and has needed some follow up.

I did my best to help out with delivery to and recovery from these various surgeries, so I've been much busier than expected these past few weeks.

However, block of the month must go on! Now that November has arrived, I'm excited to release the next instalment of Stars of the City and, hopefully, return to my regularly scheduled posting!

As mentioned last month, the block release for this project alternates between star blocks one month and Drunkard's Path units the next. Since we made Harbour at Dawn and Square in a Star last month, it's now time to make our first set of Drunkard's Path units!

The Drunkard's Path features a single curved seam in each unit, with two contrasting fabric halves.

Whether you've made Drunkard's Path units before or not, I would encourage each of you to make a few from scrap fabric. If you're new to curved piecing, or haven't used it in some time, doing so will act as practice and help you to learn and refine your skills! If you've made these before and enjoyed them or not, revisiting a skill is a good way to better understand your own creative preferences and to judge which patterns will be best for you in the future!

After a little testing, decide whether the traditional Drunkard's Path or straight line Pseudo Drunkard unit will work best with your aesthetic preferences and current level of skill and confidence!

Pattern Notes

Though there is only one seam in the traditional Drunkard's Path unit, the Pseudo Drunkard has a few additional seams and the usual pattern notes should still be kept in mind;

sew all seams using a ¼” seam allowance
press each seam before sewing the next and before trimming units

November Units

The month of November shifts the focus away from the star blocks of October, featuring instead the Drunkard’s Path unit.

Drunkard’s Path unit A is the first of three variations needed for the Stars of the City quilt. Using a mix of fabric A and fabric B, this unit forms the pointed corners of the Drunkard’s Path block borders.

This pattern includes piecing instructions for both the traditional curve pieced Drunkard’s Path unit and a straight pieced Pseudo Drunkard unit. The Stars of the City quilt can be made using all curved pieced Drunkard’s Path units, all pseudo Drunkard units, or a mix of the two.

To make either throw sized quilt, make 32 of Drunkard’s Path unit A.

To make an XL twin sized quilt, make 48 of Drunkard’s Path unit A.

To make a queen sized quilt, make 72 of Drunkard’s Path unit A.

Drunkard's Path Unit

Cutting Instructions

To make one unit, cut the following:

Fabric A: 1 Drunkard’s Path template A

Fabric B: 1 Drunkard’s Path template B

(templates A and B can be found on the last page of the downloadable PDF below the Pseudo Drunkard instructions, measure the test square before using to be sure they have printed at the correct size)

Piecing Instructions

Mark the centre of the curved edge on both Drunkard’s Path pieces. Place pieces right sides together with centre points aligned, pin at the centre point to secure. Ease the curved edge of piece B around the curve of piece A until the corners meet, pin the ends to secure. Sew around the curved edge.

Trim to 4½” to complete Drunkard’s Path unit A.

Pseudo Drunkard Unit

Cutting Instructions

To make one unit, cut the following:

Fabric A: 1 square at 4"

Fabric B: 1 square at 2¾”

1 rectangle at 1"x 4½”

1 rectangle at 1" x 4"

Piecing Instructions

Draw a diagonal line on the back of the fabric B square.

Place the fabric B square on one corner of the fabric A square with the drawn line oriented as shown. Sew directly along the drawn line, then trim excess fabric, leaving ¼” for seam allowance.

Sew the remaining rectangles of fabric B to the unit so they both run adjacent to the fabric B triangle as shown.

Trim to 4½” to complete Pseudo Drunkard unit A.

Download the full PDF instructions, as well as printable templates for the Drunkard's Path units, here:

If you have any friends who might enjoy this pattern, please send them here to download a copy for themselves!

Making a Traditional Drunkard's Path Unit

As with any new technique, trying curved piecing for the first time can seem a little intimating. The instructions above show the basics of piecing the unit, but I wanted to make one along with you so I can share a few extra tips to help the process go smoothly!

Begin by preparing your templates. I made mine many months ago before the template in the download was made, so I had to draft mine by hand.

I've found that paper templates are not very durable, they crease and tear really easily, so I prefer to trace my templates onto transparent plastic to increase their lifespan.

I'm reusing the plastic cone my dog wore while recovering from surgery, that's why there's bones on it, but there are lots of other places to source template plastic! Many quilt stores carry template plastic or can place a custom order, art supply stores often carry plastic or mylar that would work for templates, or for a more affordable solution, look for plastic place mats at a local dollar store.

Or, if you've been making Drunkard's Path units for a while, you may already have a Drunkard's Path quilting ruler. I don't own one of these, so I can't speak for how well they work or if they make the cutting process any easier, but if you'd like to use one for this project, you will want to cut pieces for a 4" finished Drunkard's Path or a 4½” unfinished unit.

Once the templates are ready, we can start cutting our fabric! For this sample, I'll be using my Stars of the Lily Pond fabric!

Fabric B is an all over, non-directional, crackle print, but fabric A is a directional print with streaky lines running up and down the length of the fabric. I'm not worried about keeping all of these lines running the same way in the finished quilt, in fact I'm planning to have all the different pieces of my background fabric oriented in different directions, so I won't be making any allowances for that.

When using templates to cut fabric, I find it's easiest to cut the fabric into smaller pieces that fit more closely to the size of the template.

For template A, I cut rectangles at 4" x 7½" from my background fabric. For template B, I cut rectangles at 4½" x 6" from my green fabric.

Each of these rectangles will comfortably fit two shapes, so I will cut half as many rectangles as I need finished Drunkard's units. For example, if I'm making a throw sized quilt, I'll need 32 finished Drunkard's Path units, so I will cut 16 rectangles from each of my two fabrics.

I position template A in two opposite corners of the background fabric rectangle as shown (above) and trace the curve, then repeat with template B and my green fabric (below).

I find it easiest to cut the curved edge of my shapes using scissors, but if you can do it accurately with a rotary blade, feel free to use whatever method is more comfortable!

The piece that comes out of the centre of the template A shapes isn't big enough for me to save, so I discard it, but I've been collecting all the petals from the middle of the template B shapes. I may make an interesting applique block with them later!

With my fabric cut, I can now begin piecing as per the Drunkard's Path instructions above!

Use as many or as few pins as needed to hold the two curved edges together. I typically just use three, like the diagram from the instructions, but five pins will keep the whole edge in place!

The fewest number of pins I would recommend is one, placed at the centre of the two curves. This really helps to prevent too much stretching or warping of the fabric, as well as preventing tucks or puckers.

Next, sew slowly and carefully around the curved edge. The more practice you get, the faster you'll be able to sew this seam!

If using a machine like I am, you may notice the foot putting little creases in your fabric, in the picture, it almost looks like there might be a little tuck in my seam just beside the sewing needle, but this is not the case. These creases typically disappear when you press the units.

To sew the seam safely, remember to remove pins before sewing across them! If the needle of your sewing machine hits a pin, it can be really jarring to the mechanisms inside, and may break or bend the sewing needle and pins.

Once the seam has been sewn, make a series of little cuts into the fabric of the seam allowance, being sure not to cut through the thread. This is known as clipping around the curve and makes the curved seam more flexible, so the unit will lay flatter once pressed.

For Drunkard's Path units of this size, I like to clip at intervals of about 3⁄4" to 1".

Finish the unit by pressing and trimming it to size.

The sample here was just finger pressed, so you can still see the little creases around the curve, and hasn't yet been trimmed, but it seems to have turned out really well!

I hope this little bonus tutorial has been helpful in enhancing your understanding of Drunkard's Path units and curved piecing in general! If you have any questions or feel I've left something out, please reach out in the comments below or by email, I'm happy to help in any way I can!

As you finish assembling your October blocks and begin working on your Drunkard's units, I would love to see your progress! Please share photos on social media using #starsofthecitybom so I can find them and to connect with others who are working on this quilt along with us!

November has only just begun and I'm excited to continue piecing my own Drunkard's Path units! I hope each of you enjoy working on these as much as I have been and look forward to seeing which method you chose to embrace!

The next instalment of the Stars of the City BoM will be released on 05 December and I hope to keep up my regular posting schedule in the meantime!