How to Make Stars on a Quilt

Piece quilt blocks with a star design together to make a quilt..

Quilting began centuries ago as a means to create clothing and bedding. Quilting is the art of joining scraps of fabric together to create larger quilt blocks. Quilt blocks are sewn together to create a quilt top. Sewing a quilt block together is called piecing. Each quilt block is made from multiple geometric shapes combined to create a square. The quilt top is joined over a second piece of fabric with batting sandwiched between the two layers to create a quilt. You can piece together quilt blocks with star designs.

Things You'll Need

• 2 dark-colored fabrics, 1/8 yard of each
• 2 light-colored fabrics, 1/8 yard of each
• Fabric measuring tape
• Fabric pencil
• Rotary cutting mat
• Rotary cutter
• Straight pins
• Sewing machine
• Scissors
• Iron

Instructions

1. Choose one darker-colored fabric to be color A. Choose one lighter-colored fabric to be color B. Choose a second dark fabric to be color C and a second light fabric to be color D. Lay 1/8 yard of each of these fabrics on a flat work surface with wrong sides up.

2. Measure a 3 1/2-inch-wide by 7-inch-long rectangle on color A and color B with a fabric measuring tape. Mark the measurements on the fabric with a fabric pencil. Move the fabric on top of a rotary cutting mat and use a rotary cutter to cut out each of the rectangles.

3. Lay the rectangle in color A right side up on the work surface. Lay the rectangle in color B face down on top of the first rectangle. Match up their edges. Pin the two rectangles together along one of the lengthwise edges using straight pins.

4. Sew a 1/4-inch seam along the pinned side of the rectangles using a sewing machine. Remove the pins before sewing over them and clip any loose threads with scissors. Open the two joined fabric pieces. Place the piece on an ironing board face-down. Press the seam against the fabric of color A.

5. Cut the fabric in half crosswise with your rotary cutter. Ensure that the two resulting strips are 3 1/2 inches wide by 6 1/2 inches long. Lay one strip face-up on the work surface with color A on the left. Lay the second strip on top of the first. Position the second strip face-down with color B on the left.

6. Pin together the bottom 6 1/2-inch edges of the layer fabric strips with straight pins. Sew a 1/4-inch seam along the pinned edge. Remove the pins and clip any loose threads. The resulting checkered square will be the center square of your block.

7. Cut four squares measuring 3 7/8 inches from color C. Cut eight squares from color D. Lay one color C square face up on the work surface and one color D square face-down on top of color C. Match up the edges. Draw a line diagonally down the middle of the squares from the top right corner to the bottom left corner. Sew a line of stitches on either side of the drawn line, 1/4 of an inch away from it. Cut down the line with your rotary cutter. Repeat with the three remaining squares of color C and three of the remaining squares of color D.

8. Open each cut piece and press the seam toward color C. Piece together the top row of the quilt block by placing a solid square of color D on the left. Place a two-colored square to the right of the first square. Position this square with the color C triangle at the bottom, and its points running from the square's top left corner to the bottom right corner. Place another two-colored square on the right end of the row. Position this square so that the color C triangle is again on the bottom, but position the points so they run from the top right corner to the bottom left corner. Add another solid square in color D to the right. Sew 1/4-inch vertical seams between each square in the row to secure them together.

9. Create the bottom row of the block by placing one solid square in color D on the work surface. Place a two-colored square to its right with the color C triangle at the top. Make sure the points run from the top right corner to the bottom left corner of the square. Place another two-colored square on the right. Position the color C triangle at the top with its points running from the square's top left corner to the bottom right corner. End with a solid square of color D on the right end. Sew these squares together with 1/4-inch vertical seams.

10. Place one of the remaining four two-colored squares face-up on the work surface. Position the square with the color C triangle at the bottom and its corners running from the top left to the bottom right of the square. Lay a second two-colored square face-down on top of the first. Position the color C triangle at the bottom with its points running from the top right to the bottom left of the square. Sew a 1/4-inch seam along the right sides of the squares. Repeat this with the two remaining two-colored squares.

11. Set the center square on the work surface. Color A should be in the top left corner. Lay one of the two-colored strips from Step 10 face-down along the left side of the center square. Position the strip's color C edge against the edge of the center square. Pin these edges together and sew a 1/4-inch seam. Repeat this process to attach the remaining two-colored strip from Step 10 to the right side of the center square.

12. Lay the top row of the quilt block face-down along the top edge of the center square. Make sure the bottoms of the color C triangles on the top row are a lined up with the tops of the squares in the center square. Pin the edges together. Sew a 1/4-inch seam along the pinned edge. Repeat this process to attach the bottom row along the bottom of the quilt block. Press all seams flat and clip any loose threads.

Tips & Warnings

• Make multiple star blocks and sew them together in rows to create a quilt top.

References

• Emporia State University: History of Quilting
• Quilting in America: History of Quilts