Inverted Fat Quarter Stars
What is it about classic patterns that I can't get enough of? I just always prefer them, whatever modern take/spin might be taken. And there's something specifically about a star quilt that will always tug at my heart.
When I was asked by Poppie Cotton if I'd like some advanced yardage of their Nature Sings line and be part of the release showcase, that was an easy yes! I was sent a fat quarter bundle (fat quarters are fabrics already cut to 18"x 21") of the line and while I have lots of patterns that would work well with this line, I really wanted to make a sawtooth star quilt.
With this star quilt, though, I was hoping to use as much of the FQ as possible and really showcase how sweet these fabrics are, while putting my own personal touch on it. Enter the Inverted Fat Quarter Stars quilt. It's a simple take on the sawtooth star but each fabric is inverted once in the quilt. In other words, in one block an accent fabric will be the star points, and on another block, that same accent fabric will serve as the background/center. This stretches out each of those FQs so they can show up twice in the quilt.
I also wanted to make the blocks as large as possible to, again, show off the fabrics, but the largest I could get with the FQ parameters were 12" blocks. Still a good size!
I won't be putting out an official pattern for this one anytime soon, so here's a quick tutorial for how you can make your Inverted Fat Quarter Stars.
Inverted Fat Quarter Stars
- (1) 7.75" sq.
- (1) 6.5" sq.
- (4) 4.25" sq.
- (4) 3.5" sq.
Block A:
1. Make the no-waste flying geese:
- Use (1) 7.75" sq of a FQ and (4) 4.25" sq. of background fabric. Draw diagonal lines on the wrong side of the background fabric squares.
- Use (2) of the 4.25" squares and pin right sides together on opposite corners of the 7.75" square, as shown.
- Sew 1/4" away from both sides of the drawn line. Then cut directly on the drawn line.
- Press triangles out, as shown. Then use (2) 4.25" background fabric squares and pin RST to each unit, as shown in fig 6. Sew 1/4" away from both sides of the drawn lines and then cut direction on the lines.
- Press triangles out and trim each Flying Geese unit to 3.5"x 6.5". I have a trimming video here if it helps!
2. Now use the four flying geese units, (4) 3.5" FQ squares, and (1) 6.5" FQ square and arrange as shown.
- Sew pieces RST into rows and press seams open. Sew rows RST and press those seams open as well. Your block should measure 12.5".
3. Now repeat these steps for block B but switch the FQ and background fabrics, creating this inverted star block:
I can't wait to see your starry quilts popping up! If you make one, please tag me so I can see it! You can use #penelopehandmadepatterns and #invertedfqstars over on the 'gram.
Thanks so much for being here!
Jennifer