Hive 4 May - Stars for Sarah

Hi Stashbee friends - Happy May! The weather is warming up where I live and I love seeing spring arrive. For this month, I picked a star block (the pattern for the whole quilt is written up here, Corsage by Ariga Wilson for Robert Kaufman) in pinks and purples.

Fabric Selection: You’ll need a variety (2-6 fabrics) of pinks and purples for the background color - solids, low volume, batiks, smaller prints are all great. No character/juvenile prints, nothing too bright (no hot pink or electric purple), and please avoid a print with writing if possible. I tend to lean towards more muted or softer shades of pinks and purples (light or dark - example of each shown below). You’ll also need 1 low volume or solid neutrals/whites/really pale pinks or purples for the star. I’m not sure if that’s the best description, so let me know if you need clarification!

Cutting Instructions:

Fabric A (neutral/white)

• Cut (1) 6.5 inch square for center of block

• Cut (4) 4 inch squares for Half Square Triangles (HST) *you may want to cut these a bit oversized if accuracy with HSTs feels tricky

Fabric B (pink or purple)

• Cut (2) 4 inch squares for HSTs *you may want to cut these a bit oversized if accuracy with HSTs feels tricky

  
  

Fabric C (pink or purple)

• Cut (2) 4 inch squares for HSTs *you may want to cut these a bit oversized if accuracy with HSTs feels tricky

  
  

Fabric(s) D (pink or purple - this could be from 4 different fabrics, or the same pink/purple fabrics used for B and C - totally up to you!)

• Cut (4) 3.5 inch squares

Piecing Instructions:

1. Half Square Triangles - 2 at a time

• Pair each of the 4 inch pink/purple squares (Fabrics B and C) with each of the 4 inch neutral squares (Fabric A), right sides together. Mark a diagonal line, corner to corner, on the wrong side of one square. Sew ¼” away from either side of the marked line. Cut down the marked line and press toward the darker side (or open if that’s your preference).

• Repeat with your 3 remaining sets of 4 inch squares.

• You should have a total of 8 half square triangles - 4 AB HSTs and 4 AC HSTs. Square up to 3.5 inches.

  
  

  *If you want to make this scrappier, feel free to make individual HSTs and use a variety of pinks and purples with the 1 white/neutral fabric. The HSTs should be trimmed to 3.5” to work for the next step.

2. Take 1 of your AB HSTs and 1 of your AC HSTs and sew them together as shown below. Repeat until you have 4 pairs. I pressed toward the darker fabric, but press however you’d like. If you decide to make this scrappier and use more than 2 fabrics for the HSTs, please avoid putting the same fabrics right next to each other.

3. Arrange your HST pairs with the 6.5" square (Fabric A) and 3.5" squares (Fabric(s) D)
   as shown below:

   

4. Sew the units together to create 3 rows. Press however you’d like. I pressed away from the HST units so I could nest seams in the next step, but totally up to you!

   
   

5. Sew the rows together to form the final block. It should measure 12.5 inches, but no need to trim.

That’s it! Thanks so much for contributing to my quilt - I’m so excited to see it all come together!

Sarah