Amish Star Quilt Block Pattern & Tutorial

How to sew Amish Star, which uses no-waste flying geese and half square triangles.

We will be sewing two 12” blocks (12.5” unfinished) and making them up to 18.5” (unfinished) with sashing. This diagram gives you the arrangement of colours in the block. As usual, the blank areas are sewn from background fabric:

Cool palette:

Warm palette:

Cut the following for each block:

First we are going to make the flying geese using the no-waste method just like last month. Take your four 2 7/8″ background squares and draw a diagonal line across each one. Place two of the squares right sides together with the 5.25″ colour 1 square, sew a scant 1/4″ from each side of the line, then cut in half as below:

Press the triangle pieces away, then sew another background square to each of these two pieces, stitching a scant 1/4″ away from the drawn line as usual. Cut each of these in half, press the background triangle away from the colour 1 piece, and trim each flying goose to 4.5″ x 2.5″:

Next we need to make half-square triangles. Draw a diagonal line across the wrong side of the four 3.5” background squares, and put them in pairs with the 3.5” colour 2 squares. Sew a scant 1/4” from each side of the drawn line on each pair of squares, then cut along the line to make two HSTs. Press with the seam towards the darker fabric, and trim to 2.5” x 2.5”, making sure the 45º line on your ruler is in line with the seam:

Lay out your pieces to match the block diagram and sew together to make a 12.5” block:

Cut the sashing strips as below, then add them according to the block layout diagrams. The sashing strips are the same size for both blocks, only the layout is different.

Attach the 12.5” pieces to the top and bottom of the block first, press, then add the 18.5” strips to the sides.