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Education

How to Sew a Friendship Star Block

January 25, 2025

The Friendship Star block is a classic that combines simple techniques to create a beautiful star pattern. A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how to make a four-patch block. (Read that post HERE.) The friendship star is a beginner friendly block that teaches another new technique that you will use over and over in piecing. Sewing a four-patch was all straight lines. A friendship star throws in a few angles.

Why I’m Qualified

Hi, I’m Mary Beth Krapil, Handi Quilter National Educator. I’ve been making quilts for more than 40 years! I love to piece and applique. But I’ve got to be honest, quilting on the longarm machine is my favorite part of the entire process of making a quilt. You can’t get to the most fun part til you have a quilt top to quilt. So today I’ll share the steps to sew a friendship star block with all of you, my quilty friends.

Friendship Star block

The four-patch consisted of 4 units or patches. The friendship star consists of 9 units. We call that a nine-patch.

line drawing diagram of a friendship star block with a yellow center and pink star points and white background
Diagram of a Friendship Star block

Five of the units (#1,3,5,7,9) are simple fabric squares, just like the four-patch. The other four units (#2,4,6,8) are half square triangles, also know as HST.

line drawing of a half square triangle unit. one half is pink, the other half is white.
Diagram of a half square triangle

 

Half square triangles consist of two triangle patches.

Line drawing of two mirror image triangles. One is white one is pink.
Diagram of two triangle patches.

 

Half square triangles are used so many times in creating different blocks in quilting! Knowing the best way to sew HST is a must-have skill. So let’s get busy and celebrate friendship by making this fun block.

Supplies needed

  • Sewing machine (or go old school and use a needle and thread)
  • Iron – for pressing seams flat
  • Rotary Cutter, Ruler, and Mat – You can use scissors but accuracy is important in quilting. Invest in rotary cutting supplies. Worth every penny!
  • Fabric
    • You need a minimum of two contrasting fabrics. One for the background, and one for the star. You can get creative with your friendship star blocks by using a third fabric for the center of your star or even take it further using more fabrics in each block. But the basic block requires two fabrics.
  • Thread – a neutral thread works great for piecing. I like grey and use a light grey for lighter fabrics and a darker grey for darker fabrics. My preference is a cotton 50 wt thread like Superior’s PIMA or Connecting Threads’ Essential.

Step #1 – Cutting

This is the first step in creating an accurate block. Always measure and cut your fabric carefully to ensure your blocks come out the correct size. If you are off on your cutting, you have little-to-no chance of consistently making a block that comes out the right size and square! Use your rotary cutter, ruler, and mat to cut some squares. Measure twice, cut once.

Cutting sizes

  • You need 4 squares all the same size for your background (the sky behind the star). In the diagram above they are patches 1, 3, 7, and 9.  Note: your star fabric and background fabric should have high contrast so that your star points stand out from the background. You can accomplish this using color and/or value.
  • The size of your squares depends on the finished block size you desire. My finished block will be 12 inches. That is the size it will be when sewn into the quilt. The unfinished size measures 12.5 inches. The extra half inch is the seam allowance (1/4 inch all the way around). To figure the size of your fabric squares, take the desired finished size of your block. Divide it by 3 and add 1/2 inch. So in my case, 12 divided by 3 = 4, plus 1/2 = 4.5. Therefore, I need four 4.5 inch squares for my background.
  • You need one center square the same size, in my block 4.5 inches. The #5  center yellow square in the diagram. This can be the same fabric as the star points or get creative and use a different fabric.
  • To make the four HST units I cut two 5 inch squares of background fabric (white in the diagram) and two 5 inch squares of the star fabric (pink in the diagram)  A simple formula to follow is to add 1” to the finished size of your HST. There are many charts online that tell you what size square to cut to make HST. You can Google it. Or just add 1 inch to the finished size needed.

You should have :

  • 2 – larger background squares
  • 2 – larger star-point square
  • 4- smaller background squares
  • 1- center square

 

Step #2 – Create the star points (HST)

To make the half square triangles that form the star points, we will use the “two-at-a-time half square triangle” technique. Here’s how:

  • Draw a diagonal line from one point to the opposite point on each of the larger background squares
Marking a line from corner to corner on a fabric square with a pencil
Marking a line from corner to corner on a fabric square with a pencil
  • Match up a background square with a star point square, right sides together.
Matching 2 fabric squares, one light and one dark.
Placing a light square and a dark square together for sewing.
  • Stitch 1/4 inch on both sides of the line you drew.
Sewing 1/4 inch next to the pencil line on fabric square
Sewing 1/4 inch next to the drawn line
  • After sewing on both sides of the line, cut along the drawn line. You now have 2 identical half square triangle units.
Ruler aligned where the fabric needs to be cut to make 2 HST
Cut on the drawn line after sewing on both sides of the line.
  • Press the seam allowance to the darker side.

Pressing the seam allowance to the darker side of a half square triangle unit

  • The resulting units will be slightly over sized.
Four half square triangle units for the Friendship Star block that need to be trimmed
4 oversize HST units

Step # 3 – Trim the HST

  • Trim the units to the appropriate size. It is important that the seam goes right into the corner points of the block. I use a nifty tool called the Bloc-Loc ruler. You can also use a regular rotary cutting ruler to do this step.
Half square triangle unit with a Bloc-loc ruler on top of it and a rotary cutter next to it
The Bloc-loc ruler nestles up against the seam, allowing for accurate trimming.
  • Place ruler and trim 2 sides.
HST unit with ruler and rotary cutter. Two sides are trimmed and slivers are next to unit
Trim 2 sides
  • Reposition the ruler (measure carefully) and trim the other two sides.
Trim the other 2 sides.
Trim the other 2 sides.

 

  • Repeat these steps for the other two HST you need for your friendship star block.
Four half square triangle blocks piled up next to some slivers trimmed away from blocks
Four perfect HST units and the slivers that were trimmed away

Step #4 – Arrange units

Arrange the 9 units in the Friendship star pattern. Pay close attention to the direction of the star points.

Friendship star units arranged in the order to form the block
Friendship star units arranged for sewing.

I changed up two of the corner units and used fabric matching the center. The Friendship Star block is an excellent place to experiment with different fabric combinations. Try using different prints, solids, or even go scrappy!  Just keep in mind the contrast needed to be able to see the star.

friendship star block with 2 light colored corners and 2 medium shade corners
Friendship star with 2 corner fabrics changed up

 

Step#5 – Sew rows

Sew the units together into 3 rows. Once again pay close attention to the orientation of the half square triangle units.

Friendship star block in progress units are sewn into 3 rows
Three rows sewn

Step #6 – Press Seams

When sewing Friendship Star blocks, or any nine-patch type block, I press the seams so that the intersections will nest together. This will make sewing the rows together and getting corners to match so much easier! Here is how I press the seam allowances:

Arrows on a friendship star block showing the direction to press the seams of the rows.
Arrows  show the direction to press the seams of the rows.

Step #7 –  Sew Friendship star block

Now all that’s left is to stitch the rows together and press! Do your best to match the intersections with the nesting seams.

Quilting design wall showing 2 friendship star blocks arranged with other blocks for a quilt
My completed friendship star block with another on my design wall

Maybe now you can see why I wanted to change the fabric for the two corner units. That gold honey-comb fabric is going to form a secondary design within my quilt. Do you see how it turns the corner?  When all the blocks are together it will look like a square frame. Fun!

The Friendship Star block is a timeless design that’s both simple and beautiful. With these easy-to-follow steps, you’ll be on your way to creating a stunning quilt full of stars and friendly love. And then get on to the BEST part, the QUILTING!

Next Steps

Check out this video for some quilting ideas:

 

And this Minute Motif for a cute star quilting design:

 

And this blog post about another kind of star quilt:

the QUILTING! – Seeing Stars Quilt Along

Hope you enjoy making Friendship stars and remember to Quilt Every Day!

by Mary Beth Krapil

 

Written by

January 25th, 2025

The Friendship Star block is a classic that combines simple techniques to create a beautiful star pattern. A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how to make a four-patch […]

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