How to Sew the Dandy Quilt Block: Easy Star Design for Scrappy or Planned Quilts

By: Elaine Huff

The Dandy quilt block is a simple yet striking design that features a bold star motif at its center. Measuring 12" finished, this block is easy enough for beginners and comes together quickly using just half-square triangles, snowballed corners, and a center square.

Whether you go scrappy for a playful, eclectic look or stick to a planned color palette for a more polished effect, Dandy is a versatile block that shines in any quilt. Follow along for step-by-step instructions to create your own version of this classic star block! Plus there's an optional block layout shown at the end.

Fabric Requirements for a 12" Finished Dandy Quilt Block:

Light/White: 4 - 5" squares, and 4 - 4.5" squares
Assorted Light Prints: 4 - 5" squares
Assorted Dark Prints: 1 - 4.5" square, and 8 - 2.5" squares

Sewing Directions:

Half Square Triangle Units:

Step 1:

Using a Light/White 5" square and an Assorted Light Print 5" square, make Half Square Triangle (HST) units as shown. Here are the steps corresponding to the images in the picture below going from top to bottom, left to right.

Match up a Light/White square and a Light Print square right sides together. Mark a diagonal line from corner to corner on the back of the White square 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 Assorted Print fabric.
Square up/trim the units to 4.5" square.
You can find my tutorial for making HST units at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-half-square-triangle-block

Step 2:

Repeat for a total of four Half Square Triangle units. Since I am making a scrappy block, I made eight units but only used four - I'll save those extras for another block!

Snowball Units:

Step 3:

Using one of the Light/White 4.5" squares and a Dark Assorted Prints 2.5" square "snowball" a corner of the 4.5" square as shown in the picture below. Here are the first steps:

Mark a diagonal line from corner to corner on the back of the Dark Assorted Prints square.
Sew the Dark Assorted Prints square to the Light/White square along the marked line (top left image). Note the orientation of the marked line.
Match the corners of the Dark Assorted Prints square and press (top right image).
Open the small square up and trim the seam allowance (bottom left image).
Refold (bottom right image).

Step 4:

Repeat Step 3 on an adjacent corner of the Light/White square as shown in the picture below.

Putting It All Together

Step 5:

Lay out the Half Square Triangle units, the Snowball units, and the Dark Assorted Prints 4.5" square as shown in the picture below. From here the block goes together like a basic Nine Patch block.

Step 6:

Sew the units into three rows as shown below.

Step 7:

Press the seam allowances away from the Snowball units as shown.

Step 8:

Sew the three rows together to complete the block.

Step 9:

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

Optional Block Layout:

You can also rotate the Half Square Triangle units to make the variation shown below.

Layout Ideas:

Here's the basic 4 x 4 layout using a scrappy block.

And this example shows the basic 4 x 4 layout with narrow sashing and cornerstones added.

This version has the traditional three-color block alternated with the optional layout block for an interesting layout.

This is the same layout as the previous example but done with scrappy blocks.

This layout uses an Alabama block for the alternating block.

And here a large Hourglass block is used for the alternating block.

This is an on-point example of bright scrappy blocks with narrow sashing, cornerstones and setting triangles in a coordinating color.

This dramatic on-point alternating example uses the original block and the optional layout block with black fabric for the background and setting triangles.

Conclusion:

I really enjoyed sewing this scrappy Dandy quilt block! I used up some random scraps and just might have to make a quilt with this block. Quick and easy and scrappy - what's not to love?

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 blocks: 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