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Free Quilt Block Pattern – Morning Star

    Today we’re going to sew together this traditional quilt block called Morning Star that first appeared in the Ladies Art Company publication. It also appeared in Hearth & Home under the name State of Virginia. It’s pretty easy to piece and is so striking with the banded star design. Let’s get started!

    morning star quilt block

    Fabric Requirements for a 12″ Finished Morning Star Quilt Block:

    • Light/Ivory: 4 – 3.5″ squares, and 4 – 2.5″ x 4.5″ rectangles
    • Medium 1/Red: 8 – 2.5″ squares, 4 – 2.5″ x 4.5″ rectangles, 4 – 1.5″ x 3.5″ rectangles, and 4 – 1.5″ x 4.5″ rectangles
    • Medium 2/Gold: 1 – 4.5″ square
    • Dark/Navy: 8 – 2.5″ squares
    morning star fabric requirements

    Sewing Directions:

    Flying Geese Units:

    Step 1:

    Using the LIght/Ivory 2.5″ x 4.5″ rectangles and the Medium 1/Red 2.5″ squares, make four Flying Geese units as shown in the picture below. You can find my tutorial for making Flying Geese blocks at https://quiltembroiderypdf.com/how-to-sew-a-basic-flying-geese-block

    morning star 1

    Step 2:

    Using the Medium 1/Red 2.5″ x 4.5″ rectangles and the Dark/Navy 2.5″ squares, piece together four Flying Geese units as shown below.

    morning star 2

    Step 3:

    Pair up one Step 1 unit and one Step 2 unit and sew together so that the Medium 1/Red fabric makes a chevron design as shown in the picture below. Press seam allowance toward the Medium 1/Red-Dark/Navy unit. Repeat for a total of four units.

    morning star 3

    Corner Units:

    Step 4:

    Now we can work on the Corner units – easy peasy. Match up one Light/Ivory 3.5″ square and one Medium 1/Red 1.5″ x 3.5″ rectangle and sew together as shown below. Press the seam allowance toward the Medium 1/Red fabric. Repeat for a total of four units.

    morning star 4

    Step 5:

    Now you can add a Medium 1/Red 1.5″ x 4.5″ rectangle to an adjacent side of the Step 4 unit as shown in the picture below. Again, press the seam allowance toward the Medium 1/Red fabric. Repeat for a total of four Corner units.

    morning star 5

     

    Putting It All Together:

    Step 6:

    From here the Morning Star (aka State of Virginia) block goes together like a simple Nine Patch block. Lay out the Flying Geese units, the Corner units, and the center Medium 2/Gold 4.5″ square as shown in the picture below.

    morning star 6

    Step 7:

    Now you can sew the units together into three rows as shown in the picture below.

    morning star 7

    Step 8:

    And press the seam allowances away from the Flying Geese units as shown below.

    morning star 8

    Step 9:

    Now you can sew the three rows together and you’re all done except for the pressing!

    morning star 9

    Step 10:

    Press the seam allowances. I pressed the seam allowances toward the center of the block so that when sewing blocks together, the seams would nest. However, I think the block would lay flatter if the seam allowances were pressed away from the center of the block. So it’s your choice how you want to press.

    morning star 10

    Layout Ideas:

    Here’s the basic 4 x 4 layout using colors similar to the tutorial. It makes an interesting squares and diamonds design with the background color.
     
    quilt 1
    And this is the same layout but with narrow 1″ sashing and cornerstones.
     
    quilt 2
    This layout uses a simple chain block for an alternating block. 
     
    quilt 3
    This Christmasy version has the center square the same color as the star points and a large Hourglass block for the alternating block.
     
    quilt 4
    This is an on-point layout with a patriotic theme. I do like how the background makes a secondary design.
     
    quilt 5
    This on-point version has dark green for sashing, cornerstones, and setting triangles.
     
    quilt 6