I had an email from one of my lovely customers, Jessica, this morning. She's been making my To Skye quilt and was having a few problems making the Tystie's beak. As it's one of the fiddlier parts of the pattern I thought a quick photo tutorial might help. Well, it was that or washing the kitchen floor ;-) I'm sure you share my priorities...
First prepare your pieces: mark a placement line on the 2½" x 10½" background piece using the small template from your pattern. Please note that there is an updated template on the Pattern Corrections page. Then mark a point ½" away from the lower left-hand corner of the 2" x 3" beak piece. I've used red fabric for clarity, yours will be dark grey.
Trim the beak piece diagonally, from the ½" mark to the top right-hand corner, as shown above.
Place the trimmed beak piece on the placement line, right sides together. Stitch ¼” away from the edge - shown in blue - before flipping it ‘open’ and pressing.
Turn your block to the wrong side and trim away the excess beak fabric, using the background piece as a guide. You can also trim away the background fabric if you'd prefer. As my background fabric is lighter than the beak, I usually leave it in place to keep my unit nice and square.
Your unit is now ready to add to your Tystie block...
And I, sadly, am now ready to wash that kitchen floor...
Nicola xx