Easy Quilt Blocks Make Patchwork Fun

Now that the quarter square triangles are made it’s time to add in the other pieces cut on Monday to complete the Star of Hope block. These easy quilt blocks make patchwork fun – watch out you might become addicted – I know I certainly am.

Yesterday we ended with the quarter square triangles made and squared off. You should have 24 of them in total.

You may have noticed that from each square you cut that the QSTs are orientated in two different ways. When laying out the star blocks we’ll have to be careful to get the QST going the right way in order to make a star. There will be 3 stars spinning in one direction and 3 in another direction. If you’d like your stars all to be the same then you’ll need to make another 24 QSTs.

Star Orientation #1

Star Orientation #2

Layout the pieces as they are in the above photos for each star using the 2 ½″ squares cut from the white and feature fabrics in the corners and center of the blocks.

I like to lay out the blocks in the correct configuration before sewing and have them beside the sewing machine so that I can pick up the pieces and keep the QSTs orientated correctly.

It’s very easy to get an HST or QST turned around and sewn the wrong way – trust me we have all done it. And ripping out just isn’t much fun.

Creating the Easy Quilt Blocks

Sew the 2 end pieces in each row together. If you want to switch back to the perfect quarter inch foot which has the guide it’ll work nicely for this step. Make sure the IDT system is also engaged on the Pfaff Ambition 1.0 which will make sewing the pieces together and going over the seams easy and smooth.

Press the seams away from the QSTs. This does mean towards the white fabric in rows 1 & 3 but it will make for a much smoother seam. I know that one usually presses towards the darker fabrics but there are exceptions to the rule.

Sew the remaining piece to the end of each row.

Sew the rows together taking care to match up the seams. The seams will nest together nicely since they were pressed in opposite directions.

You may wish to pin the seams together. My favorite pins for this are the Fork pins from Clover. Remember though to only sew up to the pin and remove it since you never want to sew over any pins no matter how fine they are as it just isn’t good for the machine – especially if you break one.

Star of Hope – An Easy Quilt Block

The block is complete and I’m loving my color and fabric choices.

The blocks should measure 6 ½″ square at this point and you should have 6 in total. The Pfaff Ambition 1.0 machine has done a great job of sewing accurate quarter inch seams which is essential when getting those points just right on the stars. 

Tomorrow we’re going to do some strip piecing and add another block to the mix. Easy quilt blocks make patchwork fun – wouldn’t you agree?

Happy Quilting