Morning Star Quilt Block, Part 2

If paperpiecing isn't your thing, you can always use traditional techniques for your Morning Star quilt block.

Both paper piecing and traditional piecing techniques are provided—choose whichever suits you better.

On the page you'll find:

• Downloadable cutting charts in three sizes for traditional piecing methods

• A Morning Star coloring page to download and print

• Step-by-step illustrated instructions

• More block designs that start out as 8-Pointed Stars, just like this Morning Star

• A Pin-able image if you've no time to quilt right now

It's time to cut up and sew!

Press with the SA toward #2.

If your #2 triangle extends past the bottom of #1, you've done it right. This bit of excess disappears after adding #3.

Align the short side of #3 with the adjacent side of #1. You might want to flip open the patches before stitching to check that the edges of #2 and #3 form a long straight edge.

After pressing the SA towards away from #1, you can see that we, indeed have a nice long, non-jaggedy edge. Perfect!

With RST match all the edges of #4 with #1/#2/#3. If your cutting and SA are accurate, they should match exactly. 

Here's the view from the #4 side.

And here's the view from the #1/#2/#3 perspective. A very good match!

After this last seam, it's a good idea to check that the finished BW unit is the correct size. 

Use the table below to check for accuracy and find the center of the unit.

BW Dimensions for a Morning Star Block
Finished Morning Star Block Size	BW Edge-to-Edge Dimensions	Center of BW Unit
6"	2-1/2" x 2-1/2"	1-1/4"
9"	3-1/2" x 3 1/2"	1-3/4"
12"	4-1/2" x 4-1/2"	2-1/4"

For our 9" finished sample, our BW units should measure 3-1/2" x 3-1/2". The center is at 1-3/4".

At your cutting mat, position the 1-3/4" line of your rule on the seam between #1 and #2, and then #1 and #3. The diagonal line is directly on top of the diagonal seam (blue arrow).

Trim the top and right sides and then flip the block, repeat the ruler positioning and trim the remaining two sides.

Here is our finished unit after just a wee bit of a haircut.

Repeat for a total of 4.

Press.

Cut the HSTs in half on the lines. Press the HSTs open with SA to the darker #5s.

Position a line on your ruler (colored in red to help you see it) with the stitched seam and the top and bottom corners of one of your patches. (This ensures patches that have perfect 90° angles in the center.) 

If you started with over-sized patches like I do, you'll have a bit of wiggle room so don't worry is the ruler isn't exactly in the corners.

Draw a diagonal line with your favorite marking tool.

Here you can see just a bit better that the ruler is aligned with stitching (red arrow). 

With RST, layer a #5/#6 and a #5/#7 HST, nudging the seams together with your fingers in the center. I pin to help hold these seams together during sewing.

Here, before sewing, I've pulled back the top HST to check that the seams are matching up and that the dark fabrics alternate.

Stitch 1/4" away from both sides of each marking.

After sewing, check for a good match at the center of the QSTs.

Press the units flat to set the seam. 

Cut in half along the markings.

Press the QSTs open with the SA in either direction.

Refer to the table below and find the Center/Midpoint Measurement that corresponds to your chosen Finished Block Size.

QST Dimensions
Finished Block Size	Center/Midpoint Measurement	Trim QST to…
6"	1 1/4"	2 1/2"
9"	1 3/4"	3 1/2"
12"	2 1/4"	4 1/2"

You need a square ruler with a 90° diagonal line that runs through the corners for trimming. My very favorite ruler for this job is the new one by Quilters Select.

Click here to learn more about them.

Position the diagonal line of the ruler right on top of the the diagonal seam line (red arrow) and the Center/Midpoint Measurement marks directly over the center of the QST where all the seams come together.

For our 9" sample Morning Star that measurement is 1-3/4".

Trim.

If you cut your patches exactly as in the chart, you'll be using this measurement to check that your patches are the correct size. Make adjustments as needed.

Rotate the QST so that the two cut edges are now under your ruler.

Align the diagonal ruler line as before (red arrow). Find the Trim QSTs to... measurement in the chart above. These marks on your ruler should be directly over the two trimmed edges.

For our 9" sample, that's 3-1/2", and it's right over those cut edges.

Trim away the excess.

Repeat these steps until you've completed four perfect QSTs.

With RST, stitch the units in each row together.

The seams of the  large triangles in the BWs (green dot) and QSTs (dark blue) nest to make matching the points at the outside edge virtually foolproof.

SA are pressed toward the BW units and the center square in the middle row.

Sew the rows together, pinning when needed to help keep everything lined up and points matching.

This is our finished Morning Star quilt block.

To help you understand how all the SAs fit together, here is our Morning Star block from the backside.