Hive #5 January Tutorial - Patriotic Stars for Heather

Happy New Year, Hive 5!  I have what I hope will be a fun, easy block for us. I love stars and have wanted to do a RWB quilt for a long time.  We are going to make big sawtooth stars with your own choice of a center.

For colors, think any fabric that reads like any red, white and blue flag…American, British, Australian.

It can be low volume, printed, batik…whatever.  As long as it reads “traditional” R(deep,dark) W(not cream or gray) and B(dark, navy). I love prints with other colors, like the Joel Dewberry print, just have it play a minor role.

All the backgrounds for the outside star should read white.  The points of the stars can be blue or red, your choice. I used the tutorial here, No-waste Flying Geese @ Happy Quilting, to make 4-at-a-time, no waste flying geese.  I cut my starter fabrics:

White: 9-1/4" square

Points (Red orBlue): 4 - 5" squares

I also cut 4 - 4-1/2" squares white for the corners of the larger star.

I did find when making the points that I needed to trim a little off of the colored long side so that unit was 4-1/2" wide:

The inside of the star is an 8” block of your choice. It can be as simple or as complicated as you choose. Think 4-patch, pinwheel, economy, Xs and Os, etc. I have a brainstorming list if you need more ideas.  The colors of the inside block should read the same RWB but can be organized however you choose.

When assembling, I pressed toward the flying geese.

When you’re done you should have a 16-1/2” (unfinished) sawtooth star with a unique 8” center.