How to Sew a Friendship Star Quilt Block – Free Pattern
Learn to sew the classic Friendship Star Quilt Block! The friendship star is a beloved favorite that has been stitched into patchwork quilts for nearly a hundred years. It is an easy nine patch design made up of just squares and half square triangle units.
Read on for step by step Friendship Star block instructions, plus ideas for using it in your quilts.
This free quilt block pattern shares how to sew a beautiful friendship star block that finishes at 12”. This particular friendship star has contrasting colored squares at the corners. I have another friendship star block pattern without the contrasting squares in the corners. Make sure you see this friendship star block tutorial too.
To give you inspiration, I designed an easy throw quilt using this same friendship star block set with sashing and cornerstone squares. Learn how to make the easy Friendship Star Throw Quilt here.
These easy instructions will show you how to sew one 12” Friendship Star Quilt block.
Download the Friendship Star block pattern as a free printable PDF file.
Enter your email address below to download the free half square triangle quilt block pattern (which is page 8 of the Kitchen Sink Quiltalong Quilt Pattern).
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There are 2 Friendship Star blocks in our Kitchen Sink Quiltalong Quilt, so the cutting instructions in the PDF are for 2 blocks. The instructions found in this blog post below are for only one block. Of course, you can easily adapt the technique and sew as many blocks as you like!
Instructions for sewing a 12” (finished size) Friendship Star Block
Finished block size: 12’’ x 12’’ (it is 12 1/2’’ x 12 1/2’’ before you sew it in a quilt).
You will need:
- 4 different colors or prints of fabric (I used light gray, turquoise, deep coral, and navy blue)
- a rotary cutter acrylic ruler, and mat
- sewing machine
- thread (I suggest thread matching the light gray fabric)
- ironing board and iron
Cutting:
Light Gray (or other background fabric):
- cut 2 squares 5” x 5”
Turquoise:
- cut 2 squares 5” x 5”
Deep Coral:
- cut 1 square 4 1/2” x 4 1/2”
Navy Blue:
- cut 4 squares 4 1/2” x 4 1/2”
Assembly:
Use a scant 1/4’’ seam allowance and a medium stitch length such as 2-2.5.
1. Place one light gray square and one turquoise square right sides together. Use a pencil or fabric pen to draw a diagonal line across the light gray square. This is a cutting line and should be drawn on the wrong side of the fabric if you are not using solids.
Pin the squares together.
2. Sew a scant 1/4’’ away from the cutting line on on both sides of the drawn line.
3. Cut the piece in half diagonally along the line.
4. Open and press the two half square triangle (HST) units. Press the seams toward the darker (turquoise) fabric.
Trim each HST to 4 1/2’’
Repeat with the remaining fabric squares to make 4 HST units.
5. Arrange 4 HST units together with 1 deep coral fabric square and 4 navy squares as shown in the layout diagram above. Sew together in 3 rows. Sew the rows together to make the Friendship Star Block.
Trim the block to 12 1/2’’ square, if desired.
Tip: I have used my 12 1/2” square ruler to square up every block in this quiltalong quilt so far and I love it!
If you are sewing our Kitchen Sink Block of the Month Quiltalong Quilt, you’ll need to make 2 Friendship Star Blocks. Make sure you enter your email address in the field above to get the free PDF download that is page 8 of the pattern.
This is Block #5 in our Kitchen Sink Quiltalong
Get ready to sew all your favorite quilt blocks this year! This is the year that we are going to sew everything but the kitchen sink in our Kitchen Sink 2022 Quiltalong.
This bold graphic quilt is perfect for learning new quilt making skills that build on one another, or for putting skills you already have into a big beautiful quilt.
Tips: As you work block by block on your kitchen sink quilt, save your scraps because you will be able to use them for future blocks.
These awesome scrapbooking bins are perfect for keeping your finished blocks safe until it’s time to sew them together into a quilt top.
Here are the 10 free quilt block patterns in the Kitchen Sink Quiltalong:
- Materials List for the Kitchen Sink Quilt
- Four Patch Block
- Nine Patch Block
- Half Square Triangle Block
- Quarter Square Triangle Block
- Friendship Star Block
- Flying Geese Block
- Variable Star Block
- Ohio Star Block
- Nine Patch Chain Block
- Pinwheel Mosaic Block
Don’t miss all my other free quilt patterns, too!
xoxo,
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