Easy Chained Star Quilt Block Pattern

By: Elaine Huff

Today we're going to sew together this easy Chained Star quilt block. The block was designed by Margaret Huckeby and appeared in the Quilters Newsletter. The block finishes at 12" square and goes together quickly. Let's get started!

chained star quilt block 

Fabric Requirements for a 12" Finished Chained Star Quilt Block:

  • Light/White: 2 - 5.5" squares, and 8 - 2.5" squares
  • Medium 1/Pink: 6 - 2.5" squares
  • Medium 2/Blue: 6 - 2.5" squares
  • Dark/Blue: 2 - 5.5" squares

chained star fabric requirements

Sewing Directions:

Hourglass (or Quarter Square Triangle) Units:

Step 1:

Using the Light/White 5.5" squares and the Dark/Blue 5.5" squares, sew together four Hourglass units as shown in the picture below. You can find my tutorial for making a basic Hourglass block at: https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-hourglass-or-quarter-square-triangle-block

chained star 1

Four Patch Units:

Step 2:

Using four of the Medium 1/Pink 2.5" squares and four of the Light/White 2.5" squares, sew together two Four Patch units as shown below. You can find my tutorial for making Four Patch blocks at: https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-four-patch-quilt-block If you are making several of these blocks, it would be faster to use the strip piecing method. In this case since I'm only making one block, I used the basic method. I did use the tweak/twirl/furl method for pressing my seam allowances. You can see the back of these units in later pictures.

chained star 2

Step 3:

Now you can repeat Step 2 but use the Medium 2/Blue 2.5" squares in place of the Medium 2/Pink squares.

chained star 3

Step 4:

For the final unit you will use the remaining two Medium 1/Pink 2.5" squares and two Medium 2/Blue 2.5" squares to make a Four Patch unit that looks like the one below. 

chained star 5

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Putting It All Together:

Step 5:

Lay out the four Hourglass units and the five Four Patch units in a Nine Patch configuration as shown in the picture below.

chained star 5

Step 6:

Sew the units together into three rows as shown below.

chained star 6

Step 7:

Press the seam allowances toward the Four Patch units as you can see in the picture below.

chained star 7

Step 8:

To finish up all you need to do is sew the three rows together!

chained star 8

Step 9:

And press the seam allowances toward the center of the Chained Star block! See, I told you it went together fast!

chained star 9

Conclusion:

This Chained Star quilt block was so satisfying to sew together! It was quick and easy and looks great. Those square patches will make lovely diagonal chains going across the finished quilt!

I hope you'll give this Chained Star quilt block a try! If you like this tutorial and want to see more, just click HERE to sign up for my newsletter plus receive a free PDF quilt pattern called "Chained Weathervane".

Happy Quilting!

Elaine

P.S. Looking for more star blocks? Check out this post: https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/30-of-the-best-star-quilt-block-patterns