How to Make a Crown and Star Variation Quilt Block: A Step-by-Step Tutorial
This variation of the Crown and Star quilt block is a stunning 16-inch design that looks complex but comes together with confident-beginner techniques you already know: Half Square Triangles, Flying Geese, and simple squares.
Depending on how you play with color placement, you can emphasize the crown points radiating from the center, highlight the star that emerges in the middle, or create different secondary patterns when you set multiple blocks together. In this tutorial, I'll walk you through piecing one block, then share several layout ideas to spark your imagination for your next quilt project.
Fabric Requirements for a 16" Finished Crown and Star Variation Quilt Block:
- Light/White: 2 - 5" squares, 10 - 3" squares, 8 - 2.5" squares, and 4 - 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles
- Medium/Blue: 4 - 5" squares
- Dark/Purple: 1 - 4.5" square, and 8 - 2.5" squares
- Dark/Blue: 10 - 3" squares, and 8 - 2.5" squares
Sewing Directions:
Half Square Triangle Units:
Step 1:
Using the ten Light/White 3" squares, and the ten Dark/Blue 3" squares, sew together 20 Half Square Triangle (HST) units like the ones in the picture below. Press the seam allowances toward the darker fabric. Trim/square up the units to 2.5". You can find my tutorial for making basic Half Square Triangles at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-half-square-triangle-block
Step 2:
Repeat Step 1 only using the two Light/White and two Medium/Blue 5" squares. Trim/square up the units to 4.5" square.
Flying Geese Units:
Step 3:
Using the Light/White 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles and the eight Dark/Purple 2.5" squares, sew together four Flying Geese units like the ones shown in the picture below.
You can find the tutorial for making perfect, no squaring up, Flying Geese at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-flying-geese-block
Eight Patch Units:
Step 4:
Lay out two Step 1 Half Square Triangle units, a Dark/Blue 2.5" square, and a Light/White 2.5" square as shown in the picture below.
Step 5:
Sew the units into two rows and press the seam allowances away from the Half Square Triangle units as shown below.
Step 6:
Sew the two rows together and press the seam allowance. As you can see in the picture below, I've used the tweak/twirl/furl method for pressing. Repeat Steps 4 - 6 for a total of eight units.
Step 7:
Sew two of the Step 6 units together as shown in the picture below. Press the seam allowance to one side.
Step 8:
Repeat Step 7 for a total of four Eight Patch units.
Center Unit:
Step 9:
Lay out four of the Step 1 Half Square Triangle units, the Step 3 Flying Geese units, and the Dark/Purple 4.5" square as shown below.
Step 10:
From here the unit goes together like an uneven Nine Patch block. Sew the units into three rows as shown below.
Step 11:
Press the seam allowances away from the Flying Geese units as shown in the picture below.
Step 12:
Sew the three rows together and press the seam allowances away from the center. (I pressed toward the center and it didn't work out so well in the next steps so I repressed the seams toward the center of the block.)
Putting It All Together:
Step 13:
Lay out the Step 2 Half Square Triangle units, the Eight Patch units, and the Center unit as shown in the picture below. Once again, the block goes together like an uneven Nine Patch block.
Step 14:
Sew the units into three rows as shown below.
Step 15:
Press the seam allowances away from the Eight Patch units.
Step 16:
Sew the three rows together to complete the block!
Step 17:
Lastly, press the seam allowances. As you can see below, I pressed away from the center of the block, but you can press however you wish.
Layout Ideas:
Here's your basic 4 x 4 layout with colors similar to the tutorial.
And here's the same coloring but with 2" sashing and cornerstones added to provide some separation between the stars.
This is an alternating example where every other block is a Snowball block. This leaves a lot of room for some fancy quilting!
This alternating design uses a simple chain block as the alternating block. Additionally, I substituted the four large Half Square Triangles with plain background squares.
Another alternating idea is using a large "X" block for the alternating block.
This is a monochromatic on-point example with narrow (1") sashing and cornerstones in a coordinating color and the background fabric is used in the setting triangles.
Of course I had to see what a scrappy version could look like! This is an on-point layout with the Crown and Star block alternating with a Snowball block that also extends into the setting triangles.
Conclusion:
I enjoyed sewing the Crown and Star block together. It took longer to sew but it is a large block so one wouldn't need too many blocks to make a quilt! I'd like to try changing up how to sew the Eight Patch unit with a Flying Geese unit and a rectangle in the middle. It might make the pressing easier. All in all, I think it's a really pretty star block!
I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial. If you like it and want to see more, just click HERE to sign up for my newsletter and receive a free PDF quilt pattern called "Chained Weathervane".
Happy Quilting!
Elaine
P.S. Looking for more star blocks? Take a look at these tutorials: https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/tagged/eight-pointed-star-blocks
P.P.S. Check out my Etsy shop at https://www.etsy.com/shop/fabric406