Quilted Stars
I don’t think I’ve ever actually made a classic quilt star! This quilt block was inspired by a wall that I designed with Felt Right. The wall is made of sticky felt tiles, and is perfect for pinning things to, including quilt blocks!
For fun, I designed a GIANT quilt star for my design. The Flying Star Block is inspired from lots of other stars like the Ohio Star. So if it looks familiar, it’s probably because most quilt stars are not completely new. I think that’s the beauty of quilting, it’s a lovely way to pass down family traditions, and even blocks!
What's in a name?
I certainly hope my girls will one day make their own Flying Stars. The block was named by Coral Road Design Co., who cleverly noted that it’s made of Stars and Flying Geese, the perfect quilty combination!
8 at-a-time Half Square Triangles + Cheat Sheet
This block can be whipped up super fast if you’re using a few tricks, like 8-at-a-time half square triangles (HST’s). The first time I made this block I made each HST individually; I have no idea why. So when I was writing out the pattern, I definitely wanted to make things a little easier on myself (and you).
This block measures 15” x 15” but can easily be sized up or down for whatever you’d like to make. I made it into a Reusable Grocery Bag, which turned out so cute.. I will probably just keep it to use rather than throw in the back of my car.
Supplies Needed:
Fat Quarter or ¼ Yard Background Fabric
Fat Quarter or ¼ Yard Color A Fabric
Cutting Directions:
Background Fabric – Three 7 ¾” squares and eight 3” x 3” squares
Color A – Three 7 ¾” squares and eight 3” x 3” squares
8 at-a-time Half Square Triangles + Cheat Sheet
First we need to make all the HST’s. Lay one 7 ¾” Background square right sides together on a 7 ¾” Color A square. Make sure the edges are all lined up. Using a ruler, mark two lines from corner to corner, diagonally.
Sew a scant ¼” seam allowance on both sides of the lines. It will look like the following diagrams.
Mark a line in the middle of each triangle to the other side, there will now be four lines total. Cut on each line as indicated, making 8 individual units. When you open them up, they will be HST’s.
Repeat this process two more times (three times in total) to make 24 HST’s. Sew 4 more individual HST’s (sew a straight line corner to corner). There should be 28 HST’s. Trim each HST to be an exact 3” square.
I thought I'd make it even easier for you with a 8 at a time PDF download that has lots of common sizes! You can download it HERE
Quilt Block Assembly
Lay out the HST’s and the 4 Color A and 4 Background squares to look like the block diagram. For assembly, I usually chain piece by starting with the first two, sewing them together, and then continuing with the next two, until I have lots of pairs. Then I sew the pairs together until I have full rows.
I press the rows with an iron to make them flat, and then pin to the next row.
Your Flying Star Quilt Block should now be complete!
It’s definitely a fun one to practice HST’s and hopefully you can use it for all sorts of fun projects.
7 comments
I’d love to make that bag! Is there a tutorial for it??
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Quiltd Studios replied:
Yes! It’s the blog post called Quilted Reusable Grocery Bag
Hello! As I cute my blocks into hst’s, my finished block is bigger than 3”, about 3.5” actually. Any idea what I’ve done wrong?
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Quiltd Studios replied:
Great question, it’s hard to tell without being there, it could be varying seam allowances, fabric stretch or inaccuracies in cutting. These should finish larger to allow for trimming (which is the trick to a perfect HST).
So beautiful! Worked up fast and easy :) thank you!!!
@Marilyn no worries! There is no pdf, just an online tutorial :) It’s a pretty straightforward block so I thought it would be perfect for a blog post, I hope you enjoy making it!
I couldn’t get pdf. I probably did something wrong.