Dear Jane F12 Starburst

Given I have delegated most of the quilt making activity, I had some time to spend on the Dear Jane quilt. Here is block F12, also known as starburst. Now, there may be some of you who have been thinking about making a Dear Jane quilt, have been hiding their kaleidoscope ruler and have issues with monkeys.  In turns out that this Dear Jane block was made with a kaleidoscope ruler and no monkeys were hurt in the process.

Here's the kaleidoscope base to this block. The Dear Jane blocks measure 5 inches unfinished so I made the octogon wedges a bit bigger than necessary, then cut them to size after piecing them together. Then I added the four light triangles on the corners and trimmed again.

Next I appliqued four triangles to the base of each of the light wedges to make the starburst. To applique, I traced the finished size template from the Dear Jane book onto freezer paper. Then I ironed the freezer paper triangle to the back side of the fabric. I cut around the shape leaving a seam allowance and then ironed the seam allowance back around the triangle on the two short sides. For these triangles, I only have to applique the two short sides. And to iron the seam allowance, I don't bother with spray starch. I just spritz it with a little water and that is enough to get a lasting sharp fold. Then I pinned the shapes to the block and sewed them on by hand.