Quilt Along: Part Three

Today we're going to tackle the third block of the Quilt-Along... the nine patch star block. As usual, the star points remain the same, and we'll change the centres of the blocks.

1. For each nine patch star block, you'll need four 5.5" square pieces from two different fabrics, and six 2.5" by 8" pieces from two different fabrics.

Fabric A: 2 pieces

Fabric B: 2 pieces

Fabric C: 3 pieces

Fabric D: 3 pieces
  And from Fabric A or B, cut four 3.5" square pieces. Set these aside for the time being.

1. Take the four 5.5" squares and pin them right sides facing.

Fabric A + B (two sets)

3. Sew around all four sides.

4. Take your rotary cutter and ruler, and cut diagonally both ways. Again, I recommend you move instead of shifting your squares.

5. Take your six strips of Fabrics C and D. You really only need them to be 2.5" by 7.5" but I added the extra half inch to give you some leeway.

Swop out one of the strips from each set.

Fabric C (2 pieces) + Fabric D (1 piece)

Fabric C (1 piece) + Fabric D (2 pieces)

Sew them together like so.

6. Press your strip sets and half square triangles. Trim the little corners off the HSTs and set them aside for the time being.

7. Take one of your strip sets and trim one edge so you can a nice straight line.

8. Flip the set around, and cut three 2.5" strips.

You should end up with a little bit extra since we cut the strips longer. Set your three 2.5" strips aside and discard the extra bit.

9. Repeat with the other strip set.

You should end up with another three 2.5" strips.

10. Swop out one strip from each of the strip sets so that you end up with something that looks like this.

11. Sew them together and you'll have two nine patch blocks. Choose one that you'd like to use in your star block.

12. Arrange your 3.5" squares and the nine patch block like so, and sew them together.

And there you have your first 12.5" nine patch star block. You'll need to make eight of these for the quilt.

Here's what I've got so far of my nine patch stars and nine patches. I've got a tiny bit of catching up to do :)

Don't be traumatised by having to make eight blocks since you're sort of doing double duty by making a second nine patch that we'll be using in the quilt.

And alternatively, if you'd like to do the block using the traditional HST method, you'll need eight 3 7/8" squares and four 3.5" squares.

For the 3 7/8" squares, you'll need to cut:

Fabric A: 4 pieces

Fabric B: 4 pieces

And you'll pin them in four sets of A + B.

If you're just joining in, here are the links to Part One and Part Two of the Quilt-Along.

If there's any questions, just ask! :)