Free Quilt Block: Blazing Star

Have you made any blocks or quilts using our free quilt block patterns yet? They are such a good resource; you could keep busy making quilts for years using just those free block patterns, if you so choose. And now we’re dropping a video tutorial for another block—the Blazing Star—as a supplement to the free pattern and filled with tips and techniques to help you make the block successfully.

I’m not going to sugarcoat the fact that this is a difficult block. Not only are there 8 set-in seams (also called Y-seams) but there are pieced diamonds in there as well. The original block pattern listed each of these diamonds as individual patches but we updated it to be made with strip-piecing instead, as absolutely no one in the entire universe wants to stitch a bunch of tiny little bias-edge diamonds together (me least of all). Strip piecing is much quicker and easier to do; it’s worth it even if you’re only making a block or two.

Set-in seams are all about precision. If you’re new to set-in seams, you may want to practice a few times before cutting out the patches for this block. And one set-in seam step you should never ever skip, for this pattern or for any applicable pattern, is marking the dots ¼” in from each corner where the 3 patches intersect. You will need these, no matter how accurately you sew. Aligning those marked dots is the single best way to ensure your set-in seam intersection will lay flat and smooth, without any folds, bunches, or gaps. 

With my patches aligned and right sides together, I put a pin directly through the mark on one side, then align it so it goes through the mark on the opposite side. If you sew from the outer edge to the aligned marks, keep your pin in place as long as possible, then when your sewing machine needle goes through the aligned marks, take a single backstitch. Don’t stitch past the mark. If you’re sewing from mark to mark, sink your needle directly through aligned marks, sew one stitch then one backstitch, and continue the seam. The backstitches will keep the first two patches and seams firmly in place while you manipulate the fabric to make room for the third and final patch—you don’t want the first seam shifting or unraveling as you sew the subsequent ones.

Since the top, bottom, and side triangles are created from a single square cut twice diagonally, it’s pretty fun and easy to use a directional print as the background fabric. Just watch those corner squares and make sure the print is correctly oriented as you stitch them in! While this block demands a fair amount of work that requires precise and detail-oriented stitching, it is very pretty (especially when using your favorite colors). A single block with a coordinating border would make a very nice throw pillow and an entire quilt made with many blocks would be stunning! I hope you try this and others from our free block pattern library; happy quilting!