How to Sew the Beginner-Friendly Quartered Star Quilt Block - a Friendship Star Variation - Free Tutorial

By: Elaine Huff

Let's take a look at the traditional Quartered Star quilt block today. It is a super easy block that is made entirely of half square triangles and squares and goes together quickly. The block also creates a beautiful lattice pattern when made into a quilt. Scrappy or planned, the Quartered Star is a great block for beginners and experienced quilters! Let's get sewing!

quartered star quilt block

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

Light/Cream: 1 - 4.5" square
Light Gold: 4 - 5" squares
Medium Gold: 2 - 5" squares
Dark Orange: 2 - 5" squares

quartered star fabric requirements

Sewing Directions:

Half Square Triangle Units:

Step 1:

Using a Light Gold 5" square and a Medium Gold 5" square, make two Half Square Triangle (HST) units. Press the seam allowance toward the Medium Gold fabric and trim the units to 4.5" square as shown by the bottom right HST in the picture below. You can find my detailed tutorial for making a basic Half Square Triangle block at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-half-square-triangle-block.

quartered star 1

Step 2:

Repeat Step 1 for a total of four Light Gold/Medium Gold Half Square Triangle units.

quartered star 2

Step 3:

Repeat Steps 1 and 2 only substituting the Dark Orange 5" squares for the Medium Gold ones.

quartered star 3

Putting It All Together:

Step 4:

Lay out all the Half Square Triangle units and the Light/Cream 4.5" square as shown in the picture below.

quartered star 4

Step 5:

Sew the units into three rows as shown below.

quartered star 5

Step 6:

Press the seam allowances away from the Light Gold/Dark Orange Half Square Triangle units as shown in the picture below.

quartered star 6

Step 7:

Sew the three rows together to complete the block.

quartered star 8

Step 8:

To finish the block press the seam allowances toward the center of the block as shown. Told you it was quick to sew together!

quartered star 8

Layout Ideas:

Here's the basic 4 x 4 layout using similar colors as in the tutorial:

And here it is with sashing and cornerstones added:

This example shows the star portion as one color and the corner HSTs in various colors - semi-scrappy.

This one gives you an idea of what a scrappy design could look like. Blue is used for the center squares and the white is the same throughout the blocks. Everything else is scrappy.

This is what it would look like with a black lattice instead of light/white/cream.

Here's an example of what an on-point layout could look like. I've added in narrow dark sashing and cornerstones plus a light fabric for the setting triangles.

This shows another on-point layout using semi-scrappy blocks and solid setting triangles.

And this one is also on-point with a black background instead of light.

Here's a design using an alternating Snowball block. This gives you lots of room for fancy quilting, applique, embroidery, etc.

And this alternating block looks great too!

Conclusion:

The Quartered Star block is so fun! I love the lattice design that the block creates when sewn into a top. Plus it looks so good as a scrappy 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 this roundup blog post: https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/30-of-the-best-star-quilt-block-patterns

P.P.S. Check out my patterns I have for sale on Etsy at https://www.etsy.com/shop/fabric406