Free 3 Yard Quilt Pattern: Twin Star

Sew a beautiful Twin Star Quilt Pattern with just 3 yards of fabric! 3 yard quilt patterns like this one are fast and easy to sew. All you need is 3 one yard cuts of fabric from your stash. Twin Star from SewCanShe is a 47” x 59” throw quilt pattern that showcases Twin Star Quilt Blocks mixed with uneven nine patch blocks to really make the Twin Stars shine!

This blog post has been converted to an optional PDF that’s optimized for printing. Find it here. The free Twin 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 Optimized for Printing PDF download for $3 is totally 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.

Why should I sew a 3 yard quilt?

Most 3 yard quilts are throw quilts, lap quilts, or wall hangings because they don’t require a lot 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 using straight line quilting with your walking foot or free motion quilting.

This Twin Star quilt is great for beginners. You’ll have enough fabric to finish the quilt top including 12 blocks and 2 borders. More fabric is required for the backing and binding.

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.

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 to use the beautiful gold-background floral that I’ve had in my stash for a long time (sorry I can’t tell you what it is). I made it my focus fabric.

After you have chosen your focus fabric, choose one coordinating fabric that is lighter and one coordinating fabric that is darker. My deep red fabric is from Moda Grunge collection. The white fabric with gold pins is called Pin Drop Sparkle Gold by Christopher Thompson for Riley Blake.

I also considered using blue and cream fabrics for this quilt, but decided to save this combo for a future quilt. So pretty! The focus fabric is from the Tilda Chic Escape collection and the two coordinating fabrics shown are Moda Grunge.

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.

Twin Star Free Three Yard Quilt Pattern

This free quilt pattern includes instructions for 2 different blocks: the Twin Star Block and an uneven nine patch block. There are a total of 12 blocks in this quilt and each block finishes at 12”.

Including the borders, this finished throw quilt is 47” 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!

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

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

• 3 yards of backing fabric (or enough to piece together a 52” x 64” quilt back)
• a piece of quilt batting at least 52” x 64”
• 1/2 yard of binding fabric

Cutting:

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

• 6 squares 6 1/2” x 6 1/2”
• 6 squares 5 1/2” x 5 1/2”
• 6 squares 4 1/2” x 4 1/2”

You will also need to sew together 5 strips to make the outer border. It is best to wait until it’s time to make that border. Then you can measure the quilt top and cut exactly what you need.

Optional Accuquilt cutting instructions:

• Instead of cutting 5 1/2” squares, cut 24 4” finished QST triangles with die 55711 (also in the 8” Qube set)
• The strips may be cut with the 3 1/2” strip cutter die 55017

Note: There are square dies for 6 1/2” squares (55000) and 4 1/2” squares (55708), but to ensure that I had enough fabric, I only used the dies listed above for QST’s and 3 1/2” strips.

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

• 12 squares 5” x 5”
• 24 squares 3 1/2” x 3 1/2”
• 5 strips 3” x 42”

Optional Accuquilt cutting instructions:

• Instead of cutting 5” squares, cut 24 4” finished HST triangles with die 55710 (in the 8” Qube set)
• The 3 1/2” squares may be cut with die 55701 (also in the 12” Qube set)
• The strips may be cut with the 3” strip cutter die 55084

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

• 6 squares 5 1/2” x 5 1/2”
• 24 squares 4 1/2” x 4 1/2”
• 24 rectangles 3 1/2” x 6 1/2”

Optional Accuquilt cutting instructions:

• Instead of cutting 5 1/2” squares, cut 24 4” finished QST triangles with die 55711 (also in the 8” Qube set)
• The 4 1/2” squares may be cut with die 55708 (also in the 8” Qube set)
• The 3 1/2” x 6 1/2” rectangles may be cut with die 55724 (also in the 12” Qube set)

Quilt Piecing

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

How to Sew the Twin Star Quilt Block Pieces

1. Cut all of the 5 1/2” Fabric A and Fabric C squares in half diagonally twice. You should have 24 triangles in each fabric.

2. Cut all of the 5” Fabric B squares in half diagonally once. You should have 24 triangles.

3. Sew two smaller triangles (one Fabric A and one Fabric C) together as shown. Press the seam toward the darker fabric.

4. Sew the Fabric A/C set right sides together with a larger Fabric B triangle. Press the seam toward the larger fabric.

Pay careful attention to the orientation of the pieces as shown above. Trim and square up each piece to 4 1/2” x 4 1/2”.

Make 24 pieces.

Assemble the Twin Star Quilt Blocks

1. Arrange 4 of the pieces made in the previous steps together with a 4 1/2” Fabric A square and four 4 1/2” fabric C squares as shown.

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

2. Square the block to 12 1/2” x 12 1/2”, if desired. Repeat to make 6 Twin Star blocks.

How to Sew the Uneven Nine Patch Blocks

1. Sew two 3 1/2” x 6 1/2” Fabric C rectangles to the sides of a 6 1/2” x 6 1/2” Fabric A square. Make 6 block center pieces.

2. Sew two 3 1/2” x 3 1/2” Fabric B squares to the ends of a 3 1/2” x 6 1/2” Fabric C rectangle. Make 12 pieced strips.

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

Square the blocks to 12 1/2” x 12 1/2”, if desired. Make 6 uneven nine patch blocks.

Assemble the Twin Star 3 Yard Quilt Top

1. Arrange the 12 quilt blocks in an alternating pattern on a large table, a quilt design wall, or the floor.

2. Sew the blocks together to make 4 rows.

3. Sew the quilt block rows together.

Measure and Sew the Inner Border

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

The expected length of the side border pieces is 48 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 41 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 3 1/2” wide strips of fabric A for your outer border.

Measure your quilt top with the inner border. The expected length of the outer side border pieces is 53 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 47 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 Twin Star Three Yard Quilt Pattern

1. Cut or piece together a 52” 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,