Medallion Quilt

The next round in the Medallion Quilt is the Friendship Star Quilt Block Tutorial!

The Friendship Star Quilt Block is one of the simplest quilt blocks, or at least, one of the simplest star quilt blocks.

You just need 5 squares, and 4 half square triangles, all in the same size.

But, before we get to the Friendship Star Quilt Block Tutorial, here is a review of the Medallion Quilt up to this point.

A Medallion Quilt starts with a center quilt block, and then each subsequent round is a new quilt block.

Each step of my Medallion Quilt has been its own block tutorial, with directions for both the size of block needed for the Medallion AND a tutorial for how to make an entire quilt of just that one block.

I started with a center block made up of Broken Dishes Quilt Blocks, which I called Round One, but really it’s the quilt center.

Round Two was made from Sawtooth Star Quilt Blocks.

Round Three was made of 16-Patch Quilt Blocks. This tutorial actually included enough blocks for Round Six as well, which will also be added to the quilt today!

Round Four was Jumbo Flying Geese! Of course, that tutorial included directions to make Flying Geese in a variety of sizes, just like today’s tutorial will include directions to make larger or smaller Friendship Stars, but I really liked the giant size of those geese.

Round Five today is Friendship Stars, and once we add the Round Five borders, Round Six is ready to roll too, because those blocks were made in conjunction with the Round Three Checkerboard blocks.

Today is the day! The full quilt!

Friendship Star Quilt Block Tutorial

The stars in this Friendship Star Quilt Block Tutorial are blue, red, aqua and purple. All of the backgrounds are a variety of different white on white prints.

Because, why use one background fabric when a dozen will do?

From a distance they all look like solid whites, but up close there are flowers and swirls and stars and rainbows.

Don’t you worry, this tutorial is going to give you all of the tools to make your Friendship Star Quilt blocks in any size you want.

All of the directions in this tutorial will be for a block that finishes at 6”, just like all of the blocks in my Medallion Quilt. But, as you can see from this Scrappy Friendship Star quilt, these little star blocks can be made much smaller. Of course, they can be made much larger as well.

Supplies

For each block (no matter what size) you are going to need:

1 Center Square- Star Fabric/Color

4 Corner Squares- Background Fabric/Color

2 HST Squares – Star Fabric/Color

2 HST Squares – Background Fabric/Color

Friendship Star Quilt Blocks – Making the Components

For this tutorial, like all of the blocks in the Medallion Quilt, the block needs to finish at 6” square. That means each of the nine sections of the Friendship Star need to finish at 2” square. In order to have the HSTs finish at 2”, the cut size for those squares is 3”, while the cut size for the center square and the four corner squares are all 2½”.

Start by matching the HST squares; each pair should have one red square and one white square. For those needing one, this is a great Half Square Triangle tutorial. I did not do step by step photos of the HST making process this time, but that tutorial will give you all of the steps needed.

Here is a photo of the two red/white square pairs, with two seams. The photo shows the red side of the pair, because the thread shows up more than the white side. But, I did mark my line and do my sewing from the white side.

I find HSTs are better to work with when there is less cutting and trimming, I cut my HSTs apart two at a time. Just make sure those pencil lines are matched up before cutting!

Once you’ve got your Half Square Triangles made, trim them down to the same size as your center and corner squares. For this tutorial, that’s 2½” but might be larger or smaller depending on your finished block size. I also trim two at a time. Nestle the center seams tightly together and the trimming goes twice as fast!

Friendship Star Quilt Blocks – Making the Blocks

Lay out four HSTs, orienting the triangles to make the star either spinning to the left or to the right.

I chose to have my stars spinning to the left, but it really makes no difference. Place a center square in the center, and the four corner squares in the… wait for it… four corners!

Next, sew the squares together, using a ¼” seam allowance, to make three rows. Finally, sew the rows together to make a perfect Friendship Star Quilt Block.

Friendship Star Quilt Blocks – Directional Fabrics

Can Friendship Star Quilt Blocks be made with directional fabrics? Absolutely!

Start by laying out the two squares in the star color that will become the half square triangles, with the directional print UP.

When matching the background fabric squares, orient them so that one diagonal pencil line is on the up diagonal and one is on the down diagonal.

Make the HSTs as before.

Move the HSTs around to get the star shape, making sure that all triangles have the directional fabric in the correct direction.

Place the center square, also noting the direction of the fabric print. Place the four corner squares, and sew the block together using the same directions as above.

Repeat to make 36 total Friendship Star Quilt Blocks.

Making the Medallion Quilt

Sew the 36 blocks together into four sets of nine. When sewing the side borders and then the top and bottom borders, this time the newest addition, the Friendship Star borders should be against the feed dogs while the center of the quilt will be on top.

Round Five, complete!

Last Round

Round Six is also ready to be added at this time, since these sets of 11 blocks were made during Round Three.

Again, add the side borders first, and then the top and bottom borders. For this final addition to the Medallion Quilt, the quilt center will be against the feed dogs and the checkerboard border will be on top.

And that is a completed Medallion Quilt!

The completed Medallion Quilt measures 66” by 78” and is a jumbo sized throw quilt or a good extra layer on a bed. The finished quilt is available in my Etsy shop.

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As a reminder, the other steps in the Medallion Quilt can be found:

Broken Dishes – Round One

Sawtooth Star – Round Two

Checkerboard – Round Three

Flying Geese – Round Four