How to Sew the Blueberry Pie Quilt Block - a Free Tutorial

By: Elaine Huff

Today let's learn how to piece this lovely star block called Blueberry Pie. With a name like that, what's not to love! It is made with Half Square Triangles, Flying Geese, and squares and I'll walk you through each step for a successful finish. Plus, for some inspiration, there are layout suggestions at the end. Let's get started!

blueberry pie quilt block

Fabric Requirements for a 12" Finished Blueberry Pie Quilt Block:

  • Light/White: 4 - 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles, and 4 - 3" squares
  • Light/Blue: 4 - 2.5" squares
  • Medium/Green: 12 - 2.5" squares
  • Dark/Purple: 4 - 3" squares
  • Dark/Blue: 1 - 4.5" square, 4 - 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles, and 8 - 2.5" squares

blueberry pie fabric requirements

Sewing Directions:

Half Square Triangle Units:

Step 1:

Using the Light/White and Dark/Purple 3" squares, sew together Half Square Triangle units. 

The picture below shows the four basic steps to making a Half Square Triangle.

  • Mark a diagonal line from corner to corner on the back of one of the Light/White squares and sew 1/4" (or a little less) on each side of the line.
  • Cut along the diagonal line.  You will have 2 half-square triangle patches.
  • Open up the patch and press the seam allowance toward the Light/White fabric.
  • Trim the unit to 2.5" square.

For a detailed tutorial check out my blog post at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-half-square-triangle-block.

blueberry pie 1

Step 2:

Repeat Step 1 for a total of eight Half Square Triangles like the ones shown below. You can also find a 8-at-a-time method for making HSTs at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/two-easy-methods-for-making-half-square-triangle-quilt-blocks

blueberry pie 2

Flying Geese Units:

Step 3:

Using the Dark/Blue 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles and Medium/Green 2.5" squares, make a Flying Geese unit. You can find my detailed tutorial using my no-trim method for making perfect Flying Geese at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-flying-geese-blockIn the picture below you can see the first four steps.

blueberry pie 3

Step 4:

And here you can see the last four steps.

blueberry pie 4

Step 5:

Repeat Steps 3 and 4 for a total of four Flying Geese units as shown below.

blueberry pie 5

Step 6:

Repeat Steps 3 through 5 only using the Light/White 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles and Dark/Blue 2.5" squares for a total of four Flying Geese units like the ones in the picture below.

blueberry pie 6

Middle Units:

Step 7:

Sew together one Step 5 and one Step 6 Flying Geese units as shown in the picture below. Press the seam allowance away from the blue/green unit.

blueberry pie 7

Step 8:

Repeat Step 7 for a total of four Middle units as shown below.

blueberry pie 8

Corner Units:

Step 9:

Lay out two Half Square Triangle units, one Medium/Green 2.5" square, and one Light/Blue 2.5" square as shown in the picture below. This unit goes together like a basic Four Patch block.

blueberry pie 9

Step 10:

Sew the patches into two rows and press the seam allowances away from the Half Square Triangle pieces as shown. (Oops - you can see where I got carried away and marked the back of ALL the green squares!)

blueberry pie 10

Step 11:

To complete the unit sew the two rows together and press the seam allowance toward the Light/Blue fabric as shown in the picture below.

blueberry pie 11

Step 12:

Repeat Steps 9 through 11 for a total of four Corner units.

blueberry pie 12

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Putting It All Together:

Step 13:

Lay out the Corner units, the Middle units, and the Dark/Blue 4.5" square as shown below. From here the block goes together like a basic Nine Patch block.

blueberry pie 13

Step 14:

Sew the units into three rows.

blueberry pie 14

Step 15:

You can see in the picture below that I've pressed the seam allowances away from the Middle units.

blueberry pie 15

Step 16:

Sew the three rows together to complete the block!

blueberry pie 16

Step 17:

Press the seam allowances toward the center of the block as shown in the picture below. All done!

blueberry pie 17

Layout Suggestions:

Here's a typical 4 x 4 layout using similar colors as in this tutorial. It's a bit busy for my taste.

quilt 1

 Here I've added in narrow sashing and cornerstones.

quilt 2

In this example, it is a 3 x 3 layout with an alternating chain block.

quilt 3

And this is a 5 x 5 layout with a very large Hourglass block as an alternating block. 

quilt 4

This is the same layout as above but with plain alternating blocks and muted pastel colors. You could do some fancy quilting in the plain blocks or applique.

quilt 5

This is a 3 x 3 on-point layout with a fun alternating chain block.

quilt 6

This is the same on-point layout but with a different chain block and plain setting triangles.

quilt 7

In this on-point example, I've added a wide sashing and eliminated the alternating blocks.

quilt 8

Conclusion:

I really like the looks of the Blueberry Pie block all by itself or alternating with plain blocks. I find it to be too busy for my liking without some sort of separation between the blocks. However, it is a lovely star and fairly easy to sew together. You should give it a try!

If you liked this post and want to see more quilting tutorials, simply click here to sign up for my newsletter and also receive a free PDF downloadable pattern called "Chained Weathervane".

Happy Quilting!

Elaine

P.S. For more star quilt blocks, click on this link: https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/30-of-the-best-star-quilt-block-patterns

P.P.S. Need a quilt pattern in a hurry? Check out my easy downloadable PDF patterns at https://fabric406.etsy.com