Lone Star technique review

I chose to do this lone star quilt hanging mainly because on QNN a long time back there was a demo that showed the quilt using these cool cowboy fabrics that I had in my stash. The technique was using the Quiltsmart product which has the pattern laid out on fusible web. The directions are pretty clear and there is more available online.

I started with cutting rectangles from 4 fabrics. Place the first one in the designated section on the fusible pattern and iron it down. The second rectangle is placed sideways at the bottom of the first using the several marks for specific placement and then a diagonal line is used to sew it down. That second piece is then ironed down and the step is repeated keeping the order of the fabrics rotating.

At first, I struggled with getting the edges even when I folded it down over the line sewn on the diagonal. I was concerned this would end up making the seam allowance too narrow or somehow mess up where the seams would meet. When I sew, the piece is turned over with the interfacing on top to follow the lines. So I am sewing on a line that may or may not be accurately correlating with where it should be on the fabric. This however did not end up to be much of a problem so I'm just getting it as accurate as I can.
The technique & tool are good in that there are no bias edges to deal with. Since I am sewing a short line in the midst of this large piece of interfacing though it took awhile to get used to it. No speed piecing here! For the wall hanging that I am making, having the interfacing left in is not a problem. Were this going to be a quilt for use, I don't think I would like the feel of it.
I hope to get the remaining diamonds sewn tonight and then add the background pieces. I'm going to enjoy finally seeing this up on my wall when it's completed. The blue fabric has working ranch dogs :-)