Free 3 yard Quilt Pattern: Sawtooth Star

Sew a beautiful Sawtooth Star Quilt Pattern with just 3 yards of fabric! It makes me so happy to see how much my readers love my 3 yard quilt patterns. They are are easy to sew and so popular. If you have three 1-yard pieces of fabric in your stash and are feeling creative, you can make a quilt.

This Sawtooth Star Quilt Pattern from SewCanShe is a 49” x 59” throw quilt pattern with 10” Sawtooth Star quilt blocks.

This blog post has been converted to an optional PDF that’s optimized for printing. Find it here. The free Sawtooth Star 3 Yard Quilt Pattern is included in the blog post below and is totally free to read, print, and sew! Just hit CTRL +P on your computer to print. The PDF download is inexpensive and optional. Did you know you can get ALL the Optimized for Printing PDF files organized in a library for you to access anytime you want? Check it out.

What size quilt does 3 yards make?

Most 3 yard quilts are throw quilts or lap quilts because they don’t require a lot of fabric. This pattern would also make a darling baby quilt with 3 yards of fabric. Since this type of quilt isn’t very big, you can finish your quilt quickly and give it as a gift or use it in your home. Because of the size, throw quilts like this one are easy to quilt on a domestic sewing machine. This Sawtooth Star quilt pattern teaches shortcut methods for sewing flying geese units. It is great for beginners.

You’ll have enough fabric to finish the quilt top including 20 blocks and 2 borders More fabric is required for the binding and quilt back.

If you love to use your AccuQuilt fabric cutter like I do, I’ll share the optional cutting die numbers to make this pattern Accuquilt-friendly. Using an Accuquilt is optional, but I love it! See all my Accuquilt-friendly quilts. Look under the cutting dimensions below for a list of fabric-cutting dies you may use instead.

Except for the strips, all of the dies I used for this quilt were in the GO! Qube Mix & Match 10″ Block set.

How to Choose the Right 3 Yards of Fabric

All my 3 Yard Quilt Patterns make it really easy to pick your fabric. First find a beautiful ‘focus fabric’ in your stash or at your local quilt shop. This should be a fabric that really sings to you – or that makes you think of the intended recipient of the quilt.

In the example above, I wanted a blue and cream colored quilt with lots of florals, so my focus fabric is a medium blue print with flowers and vases. It is from Tilda’s Chic Escape Collection.

After you have chosen your focus fabric, choose one coordinating fabric that is lighter and one coordinating fabric that is darker. Both of my coordinating fabrics are Moda Grunge Basics.

Wouldn’t this quilt pattern make a beautiful patriotic quilt too? I used my EQ8 Quilt Design Software to see what this quilt would look like using some fabrics from the Land of the Brave Collection by Riley Blake Fabrics.

If you follow these instructions for choosing your fabrics, you can’t go wrong, and you probably already have 3 fabrics in your stash that will make a beautiful quilt.

Sawtooth Star Free Three Yard Quilt Pattern

This free quilt pattern includes instructions for 2 different blocks: the Sawtooth Star Block and an uneven nine patch block. There are a total of 20 blocks in this quilt and each block finishes at 10”.

Including the borders, this finished throw quilt is 49” x 59”. It’s perfect for snuggling on the couch or donating to Project Linus or another worthy organization.

Let’s get creative and sew a fast and easy quilt today!

Important note: This pattern squeezes as much as possible out of each yard of fabric. The width of each piece must have 42” of usable fabric. Most fabric printed in the last 5-10 years will work great because it’s 44” wide, including the selvages so it is 42-43” wide after you cut off the selvage. Please measure the width of your fabric pieces before getting started to make sure and follow the cutting charts below carefully.

You will need:

• 3 one yard cuts of fabric (a main focus fabric, one darker fabric, and one lighter fabric)*
• a rotary cutter acrylic ruler, and mat
• sewing machine
• thread (I suggest thread matching the lighter fabric)
• ironing board and iron
• pencil or fabric marking pen

*Note: You may need a few inches of extra fabric if you are using an AccuQuilt fabric cutter.

To sew the quilt top into a finished quilt, you will also need:

• 3 yards of backing fabric (or enough to piece together a 54” x 64” or larger quilt back)
• a piece of quilt batting at least 54” x 64”
• 1/2 yard of fabric for the binding

Cutting:

Fabric A is your focus fabric. From this fabric, cut:

• 10 squares 5 1/2” x 5 1/2”
• 40 squares 3 1/2” x 3 1/2”
• 5 strips 2 1/2” x 42”
• 1 strip 2 1/2” x 11”

Optional Accuquilt cutting instructions:

• Instead of cutting 3 1/2” squares, cut 80 2-1/2” finished HST triangles using die 55807 (in the 10” Qube set)
• The 5 1/2” squares may be cut with die 55803 (in the 10” Qube set)
• The border strips may be cut with the 2 1/2” strip cutter die 55017

Fabric B is the darker fabric. From this fabric, cut:

• 10 squares 5 1/2” x 5 1/2”
• 40 squares 3” x 3”
• 5 strips 3” x 42”

Optional Accuquilt cutting instructions:

• The 5 1/2” squares may be cut with die 55803 (in the 10” Qube set)
• The 3” squares may be cut with die 55804 (in the 10” Qube set)
• The border strips may be cut with the 3” strip cutter die 55084

Fabric C is the lighter fabric. From this fabric, cut:

• 10 squares 6 1/2” x 6 1/2”
• 40 rectangles 3” x 5 1/2”
• 40 squares 3” x 3”

Optional Accuquilt cutting instructions:

• Instead of cutting 6 1/2” squares, cut 40 5” finished QST triangles using die 55806 (in the 10” Qube set)
• The 3” x 5 1/2” rectangles may be cut with die 55810 (in the 10” Qube set)
• The 3” squares may be cut with die 55804 (in the 10” Qube set)

Quilt Piecing

Use a 1/4’’ seam allowance and a regular stitch length such as 2 – 2.5.

How to Sew the Sawtooth Star Quilt Block

Make 40 Flying Geese Units

1. Use the pencil or fabric marking pen to draw a diagonal line across the wrong side of all of the 3 1/2” Fabric A squares. This is a cutting line.

2. Place two of the 3 1/2” Fabric A squares right sides together on a 6 1/2’’ Fabric C square,  aligned with opposite corners. The squares will overlap and the drawn lines (from Step 1 above) should make a single diagonal line across the larger square.

3. Sew 1/4’’ away from the drawn line on either side. Cut the piece apart along the line.

4. Fold back the smaller triangles and press. Place another 3 1/2” square right side down on each piece, aligned with the remaining corner as shown. Stitch 1/4’’ away from the drawn line on either side.

5. Cut apart the pieces along the line. Fold back the triangles and press to make 4 flying geese units. Trim the flying geese units to 3’’ x 5 1/2’’.

Make 40 pieces.

If you are using AccuQuilt-cut fabric pieces, sew 2 fabric A 2 1/2” HST pieces together with a fabric C 5” QST piece to make a 3” x 5 1/2” flying geese unit. Repeat to make 40 flying geese units.

Assemble the Sawtooth Star Quilt Blocks

1. Arrange 2 flying geese units together with one 5 1/2” Fabric A square as shown above. Sew together to make a block center piece.

Make 10 pieces.

2. Sew a flying geese unit to two 3” Fabric C squares as shown above. Make 20 pieces.

3. Arrange 1 block center piece and 2 flying geese + squares pieces as shown.

Sew together in 3 rows. Sew the rows together to make the block.

4. Square the block to 10 1/2” x 10 1/2”, if desired. Repeat to make 10 Sawtooth Star blocks.

How to Sew the Uneven Nine Patch Blocks

1. Sew two 3” x 5 1/2” Fabric C rectangles to the sides of a 5 1/2” x 5 1/2” Fabric B square. Make 10 block center pieces.

2. Sew two 3” x 3” Fabric B squares to the ends of a 3” x 5 1/2” Fabric C rectangle. Make 20 pieced strips.

3. Sew two pieced strips to the top and bottom of each block center as shown.

Square the blocks to 10 1/2” x 10 1/2”, if desired. Make 10 uneven nine patch blocks.

Assemble the Sawtooth Star 3 Yard Quilt Top

1. Arrange the 20 quilt blocks in an alternating pattern on a large table, a quilt design wall, or the floor. There should be 5 rows, each row having 4 blocks.

2. Sew the blocks together to make 5 rows.

3. Sew the quilt block rows together.

Measure and Sew the Inner Border

1. Piece together the 3” strips of the darker fabric (Fabric B) to make an inner border.

The expected length of the side border pieces is 50 1/2”. I highly recommend measuring the quilt top and cutting all border pieces the correct size. See how to cut the correct size quilt borders. Attach the side borders.

2. The expected length of the top and bottom border pieces is 45 1/2”. Measure your quilt and cut 2 strips for the top and bottom border. Attach the top and bottom border pieces.

Measure and Sew the Outer Border

1. Piece together five 2 1/2” wide strips of fabric A for your outer border. You may also need the remaining 2 1/2” x 11” strip.

Measure your quilt top with the inner border. The expected length of the outer side border pieces is 55 1/2”. Cut two strips the required length. Attach the side border pieces.

2. The expected length of the top and bottom border pieces is 49 1/2”. Measure your quilt and cut 2 strips for the top and bottom border. Attach the top and bottom outer border pieces.

Finishing the Sawtooth Star Three Yard Quilt Pattern

1. Cut or piece together a 54” x 64” or larger piece of quilt backing fabric and make a quilt sandwich with the backing, batting, and top.

2. Baste together with fusible batting, pins or basting spray.

3. Quilt as desired. Straight line quilting or cross hatch quilting with your walking foot would be fast and easy.

4. Cut 5 binding strips and bind using your favorite method. This is my favorite quilt binding method.

As always, I love seeing the quilts you make with my free sewing patterns. Please post a picture to Instagram and tag me @sewcanshe so I can take a look!

xoxo,