How to Make a County Fair Quilt Block

Today let's sew together this pretty star block called County Fair. It only uses half square triangles and snowballed corners (and squares) so it goes together fairly easily! It is similar to the Two Color and the Right Hand of Fellowship blocks. Let's get started!

Fabric Requirements for a 12" Finished County Fair Quilt Block:

• Light/Gray: 1 - 4.5" square, 4 - 3" squares, and 16 - 2.5" squares
• Medium/Purple: 4 - 3" squares, and 4 - 2.5" squares
• Dark/Green: 4 - 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles
• Dark/Purple: 4 - 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles

Sewing Directions:

Center Unit:

Step 1:

Using the Light/Gray 4.5" squares and the four Medium/Purple 2.5" squares, sew together a Square in a Square unit as shown below. You will find the tutorial for sewing together a basic Square in a Square block at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-square-in-a-square-block

Corner Units:

Step 2:

Using the four Light/Gray 3" squares and the four Medium/Purple 3" squares sew together eight Half Square Triangle (HST) units as shown in the picture below. Trim/square up the HSTs to 2.5" square. You can find my tutorial for sewing a basic HST at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-half-square-triangle-block

Step 3:

Lay out two Step 2 Half Square Triangle units and two Light/Gray 2.5" squares, as shown in the picture below.

Step 4:

Now you can sew the patches together like a Four Patch block by sewing them into two rows. Then press the seam allowances away from the Half Square Triangle units as shown below.

Step 5:

Now sew the two rows together and press the seam allowances. You can see in the picture below that I've use the tweak/twirl/furl method for pressing but you can press however you like. Repeat Steps 3 through 5 for a total of four Corner units.

Star Point Units:

Step 6:

Mark a diagonal line from corner to corner on the back of a Light/Gray 2.5 square and sew it to a Dark/Green 2.5" x 4.5" rectangle following the marked line (first image). Fold the square along the sewn line, match up the corners and press (second image). Unfold and trim away the excess seam allowance (third image). Refold and you have one unit completed (fourth image). This is basically half of a Flying Geese block.

Step 7:

Now you'll repeat Step 6 only changing the orientation of the marked line on the back of the Light/Gray square and using the Dark/Purple 2.5" x 4.5" rectangle as shown below.

Step 8:

Repeat Steps 6 and 7 so you have a total of four units of each orientation and color as shown in the picture below.

Step 9:

Match up one Step 6 unit and one Step 7 unit and sew together. It can be a bit tricky to get a nice point in the v shape - just take your time and remember it doesn't have to be perfect! Press the seam allowance open as shown in the picture below. Repeat for a total of four Star Point units.

Putting It All Together:

Step 10:

Lay out the Center Square in a Square unit, the Star Point units, and the Corner units as shown below.

Step 11:

From here the block goes together like a typical Nine Patch block. Sew the units into three rows as shown.

Step 12:

Press the seam allowances toward the Star Point units as shown in the picture below.

Step 13:

Now sew the three rows together, nesting the seam allowances so you get nice intersections where the seams meet.

Step 14:

Finally, press the seam allowances away from the center of the block as shown below. You're done!

Conclusion:

Isn't this the prettiest block? There are lots of steps but none of them are particularly difficult. I really like how it turned out!