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July star blocks tutorial

June 28, 2011

Click below for a printable pattern in 5 sizes:

  No Point Stars Quilt Pattern

 

 

 
This is probably the most basic star block.   But it is a classic favorite that looks good in any fabric, and is easy to re-size to make smaller or larger.
 
You can see my full quilt top here.  Or the finished quilt here.
 
My blocks finish at 11″  (10.5″ after squaring…if you square them).
 

 

 
Start with 8 – 4″ background squares, 1 – 4″ center square, and 8 – 3″ squares for the star points.
 
On 4 of the background squares place a 3″ square in a corner right sides together and sew from corner to corner.  The tape trick comes in handy again on these blocks.  Cut the corner off leaving 1/4″ and press open.
 

 

 
Place another 3″ square in an adjacent corner and repeat the steps.
 

 

 
Layout your squares again and sew the squares into three rows.
 

 

 
Press the seams of each row in opposite directions, and sew the rows together.
 

 

 
The finished block should be 11″.  I squared my blocks up to 10.5″.
 
IMG_9056_thumb[1]
48 blocks (6 in each row, 8 rows) makes a perfect twin size at 60″ x 80″.

68 Responses to July star blocks tutorial

  1. Carol June 28, 2011 at 11:21 am #

    Those are great…love the way they float! And no points to match at the center square and the flying geese…great block!

    Reply
  2. Linda June 28, 2011 at 12:02 pm #

    I love the colors you used. This has always been among my favorite blocks. Good tutorial, too!

    Reply
    • Barb June 3, 2020 at 10:29 am #

      You have saved my sanity. I have been trying to make my granddaughter a star quilt for about 3 weeks now. All those 1/8″, 7/8″ and so forth have been horrible for me. Now I come across your pattern for a star block and wow, first try it turns out fabulous! I cannot thank you enough for this simple tutorial that comes out perfect everytime. Thank you so much!

      Reply
  3. Sandra June 28, 2011 at 12:16 pm #

    A wonderful work!!

    Reply
  4. danahollis June 28, 2011 at 12:19 pm #

    Oh I just LOVE this quilt!

    Reply
  5. Plum Patchwork June 28, 2011 at 12:35 pm #

    I adore that quilt – the red, gray, white, and blue are so fabulous and summery!

    Reply
  6. Esch House Quilts June 28, 2011 at 12:38 pm #

    Thanks for the tutorial. I love the way the base of the star points overlap. I hadn't given much thought about how to do this, but the way you do it is so simple. Thanks!

    Reply
  7. Sarah Craig June 28, 2011 at 12:59 pm #

    Great tutorial! I need to make some of these, and had been wondering just how you do it!!

    Reply
  8. Victoria Paige @ Boutique Uniquely June 28, 2011 at 1:23 pm #

    Normally I'm not big on red, white and blue quilts or anything of the sort, but I love this. It's so fresh and pretty.

    Reply
  9. krisgray June 28, 2011 at 1:54 pm #

    Very cute! Thanks for the tute.

    Reply
  10. Karenkay June 28, 2011 at 2:05 pm #

    this block never gets old!

    Reply
  11. Krista Hansen June 28, 2011 at 2:43 pm #

    Thank you so much for posting this!!! I love this block but didn't know how to do it. You are my quilting idol as I start trying to become a quilter.I love everything you do.Thank you for sharing your talent.

    Reply
  12. BECKY June 28, 2011 at 2:53 pm #

    thanks for the tutorial!!!

    Reply
  13. Ashlee June 28, 2011 at 4:19 pm #

    Al, that gray flower-y fabric is SO cute, where did you get it?!

    Reply
  14. Lunden June 28, 2011 at 4:25 pm #

    Perfect timing for this post! Thank you so much for posting.

    Reply
  15. tentenknits June 28, 2011 at 4:55 pm #

    awesome tutorial!! now I just need to learn how to sew … haha!

    Reply
  16. Brooke June 28, 2011 at 5:13 pm #

    Love the colors you chose for this quilt. The pattern is perfect to show them off. Thanks for this great tutorial.

    Reply
  17. Rachel June 28, 2011 at 6:39 pm #

    I love this! Thanks for the tutorial – this quilt may just end up on my (long long long) to-make list.

    Reply
  18. iluvmybugs June 28, 2011 at 8:32 pm #

    Thanks so much for this easy-to-follow tutorial!

    Reply
  19. **nicke... June 28, 2011 at 8:42 pm #

    i love that red square fabric so much i bought myself some yesterday! hop over to my blog and check out my finished kaleidoscope. i am seriously in love and am thinking of hand quilting… am i crazy?

    Reply
  20. Cathy June 28, 2011 at 11:21 pm #

    Your quilt is beautiful. Thank you for sharing your tutorial!!

    Reply
  21. Sherrill June 29, 2011 at 1:56 am #

    I LOVE that way of making them. Will hafta do one like that for Quilts of Valor..AWESOME! Thanks for sharing!!

    Reply
  22. lindsay's sew trying June 29, 2011 at 2:35 am #

    Thank you so much for sharing this. I am so in love with this quilt!!!

    Reply
  23. Penny June 29, 2011 at 5:43 am #

    Allison
    Thank you for continuing to share your amazing talent & giving us another easy to understand tutorial. You've made it so easy to make my fav star block I know that I will get a star quilt done for this 4th now & I thank you. Happy 4th!
    Penny

    Reply
  24. Theophanie June 29, 2011 at 6:07 am #

    You just rocked my world! You mean to tell me your blocks don't just automatically turn out squared??? All this time I thought I had Patchwork Deficiency Disorder (PDD)! I feel SO much better now!

    Reply
  25. Karen June 29, 2011 at 11:38 am #

    Thanks for the great tutorial!

    Reply
  26. Melanie June 29, 2011 at 11:54 am #

    Wow- you are so generous with your tutorial sharing! Thanks!

    Reply
  27. Leslie June 29, 2011 at 12:31 pm #

    i love a classic star and paired with the red white and blue theme….they go perfectly together. thanks for the tutorial

    Reply
  28. Sandy June 29, 2011 at 2:42 pm #

    Great block/quilt….thank you for sharing the tutorial!

    Reply
  29. franzif June 29, 2011 at 9:01 pm #

    thank you so much for the tutorial. I hope to try it out sometime.

    Reply
  30. Jamie Lee June 30, 2011 at 1:50 am #

    Great tutorial! This is definitely on my to-do list. I would love to see how you quilt the top when you are all done.

    Reply
  31. Deb June 30, 2011 at 5:32 am #

    You are magical!! I thought the stars would be much more difficult!! Thanks for showing how!!

    Deb from clutteredquilter.blogspot.com

    Reply
  32. notes of sincerity July 1, 2011 at 11:36 am #

    Thank you *SO MUCH* for sharing your tutorial with us!!
    Your quilt had me swooning and now I have made a whole row of stars for my quilt and I just love them! :o) I used all my scraps of fabric!!
    Have a great weekend!!
    Sincerely, Trish

    Reply
  33. amandajean July 1, 2011 at 10:40 pm #

    thanks for the tutorial for this block! i love it! i'm a 4th of july baby, so is my sis. maybe we need matching quilts like this?

    Reply
  34. yenni July 4, 2011 at 11:57 am #

    thank you for your tutorial…it's so helpful…^^

    Reply
  35. I am Just One Mom July 18, 2011 at 2:54 am #

    have I told you recently how fabulous you are? well, I shant wait another minute: you did it again! you created a wonderful quilt and shared an easy to follow tutorial, also.
    I share your blog addy with all my quilty friends and students.
    bravo! and a well wishing thank you.

    Reply
  36. Elisabeth July 28, 2011 at 5:28 am #

    I was so intimidated by star blocks, but your tutorial was amazing to follow. I can't wait to try another! I posted pictures of the baby quilt I made on my blog. :D

    Reply
  37. Jen Conlon February 16, 2012 at 11:18 pm #

    Great tutorial! You've been featured on the Quality Sewing Tutorials blog.

    We hand select only the best free tutorials and patterns for the home sewist.

    Grab a brag button!

    Reply
  38. pippi February 28, 2012 at 4:09 pm #

    i like your work!
    i have see that you use a bernina ; ) i too- i'm swiss.
    sorry for my english!
    bye

    Reply
  39. SewingSophia July 1, 2012 at 1:03 pm #

    This is a great and stunning project!! This tutorial will certainly help a lot!! Thanks!!

    Reply
  40. Wilma July 3, 2012 at 11:32 am #

    Perfect Tutorial¡¡¡ Thank you for sharing beautiful works¡¡¡

    Reply
  41. Unknown September 24, 2012 at 2:59 am #

    yay! i am pretty new to quilting & have only done squares & rectangles so far. i have been curious as to how these lovely stars were made & this seems really easy! thx so much! :)

    Reply
  42. Shirley Tener September 26, 2012 at 1:43 am #

    We used this tutorial for our Sept Liberty and Justice Swap, you can see some on Flicker, mine are on my blog, they are super fun and easy.. Thank you, Shirley from SimpleSew funnymesjc at gmail dot com

    Reply
  43. Mary Deckert February 4, 2013 at 4:11 am #

    Hi there! Love this tutorial! Such a pretty quilt. I have a question: If I wanted to resize, are the corner star pieces always one inch smaller than the background pieces? Thank you!

    Reply
  44. alittlebirdmademe June 7, 2013 at 8:40 am #

    I used this tutorial to make my first ever quilt – and my daughter loves it. Thank you so much!

    Now I have linked to it on my blog so others can use it too! http://alittlebirdmademe.wordpress.com/tutorials/

    Reply
  45. Gayle January 7, 2014 at 7:13 pm #

    Thank you for your awesome tutorials. I've been quilting for a couple of years, taken classes at quilting conventions, read books and so on. But as far as I'm concerned you have such fresh ideas/tip/quilting methods! (to a newbie anyway) I love your honesty too and sense of humor. Take a look at
    Debbie Caffrey Turquoise Trail quilt, sewing all tiny pieces! I have a job…that was hard and it’s now a UFO. Now with this tutorial I think I can make a star quilt, which is a good thing cause I love them. Keep posting and Thanks

    Reply
  46. Pat Frontuto April 13, 2014 at 12:06 am #

    This was extremely helpful, and thanks so much!

    Reply
  47. erkarts April 28, 2015 at 4:27 pm #

    Thank you so much for this tutorial. I am teaching myself to sew/quilt. I made this test block today and it's very easy with your directions.

    Reply
  48. CupCake2015 October 8, 2015 at 6:09 pm #

    Last spring I was asked to sew a quilt for the youth at church to tie (cringe) and then donate to our local VA for their Final Salute Quilt project. I was honored to serve those who have served us. My mom, daughter, and I made three together and one of them was this pattern. I loved making it. Thanks for the great idea and easy instructions. I wish I could paste a picture of the quilt, but I can’t make it work. The best part of this story is that, when we arrived a little before the youth to donate a big pile of quilts and listen to some veterans and the widows of others’, I saw an old friend–the mom of kids I had grown up with–and we chatted. Finally I asked why she was there and she told me her husband had died earlier in the spring. I was so grateful that she could receive the star quilt I had made. Thanks, again, for everything–all the happiness you share with your readers and your delightful patterns. https://www.facebook.com/VeteransAffairs/posts/10152591440328178

    Reply
  49. claire quilty August 24, 2016 at 3:12 pm #

    I’ve been struggling with flying geese star points. Thanks for saving my sanity with your stitch and flip method.

    Reply
  50. Julie June 4, 2017 at 6:40 am #

    We’re your fabric choices mostly from one line?

    Reply
    • Allison June 4, 2017 at 3:05 pm #

      Nope this was a huge array of different fabrics! Sorry!

      Reply
  51. Winnie November 3, 2017 at 6:34 pm #

    How much fabric did you use? I’d like to try this, but I’m unsure what to buy. :)

    Reply

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