Nordic Star Quilt Block Tutorial

Just the other day I was thinking that I should really cut the fabric for my Christmas Quilt. It is on my WIP list and I thought that Andrea's star pattern would be wonderful - but then I came across this image of a pillow and then I saw Rachel's winter mint Quilt and just like that I changed my mind about the pattern. I will be using Andrea's tutorial next time I am starting a quilt.

And since I couldn't find a tutorial for this particular block, here is my own. I am sure that there is a traditional block like this, but since I couldn't find it, I had to come up with a name myself.

 
Nordic Star Quilt Block

for each block (15 3/4" or 40cm) you need:

background fabric:
4 x 4" / 10cm squares
4 x 4 3/4" / 12cm squares
4 x 8" x 1 3/4" / 20cm x 4cm rectangles

focus/colored fabric:
4 x 4" / 10cm squares
4 x 4 3/4" / 10cm squares
1 x 1 3/4" / 4cm square

Instead of the 4 3/4 Inch (12cm) squares you can also get away with using 4 1/2 Inch (11,5cm) but since we will be using theses for half square triangles and mine rarely turn out perfect, I like to have some wiggle room for trimming. 

I sewed this block in cm so the measurements in Inch might seem odd but they should work out as I have always included a tiny bit of room for trimming.

Seam allowance is 1/4" or 1/2 cm.

Instructions:

Take your 4 3/4" (12cm) squares and put a colored one and a background one right sides together.

I like to arrange the colored sqaures so that they face in the right direction (with a print that has stripes that means that all stripes go in the same direction). On each back of the background fabric I draw a diagonal line: in two of the four squares I go from top left to bottom right and in the other two I go from top right to bottom left.

Then sew a quarter of an inch (5mm) along the diagonal line on either side.

Cut them apart on the drawn line and press them open, seams to the colored side of the square. 
Then trim back to 4" (10cm).

Now lay all your pieces out according to this picture:

Take your colored squares and sew them to the HSTs right next to it, press the seams to the colored squares.

Then take the background squares and sew them to the HSTs right next to it, press the seams to the background squares.

Now sew them both together, seams should nest. Press the new seam open so that it later lays flat. Trim now if there are any mismatched edges.

Take one long background fabric strip and on either side sew it to the squares we just created. Match the edges in "the middle" meaning where the colored squares meet the background fabric strip. Press seams towards the background strip. Repeat for the other half of the block. The background fabric strip will probably be a bit too long for the block but I didn't trim this until the whole block was completely finished.

Take the remaining two background fabric strips and sew them to the small 1 3/4" (4cm) focus fabric square. Press seams towards the background fabric.

Pin your long strip to one half of the block, making sure that you align the center square of the long strip with the background fabric strip of the half of the block. Seams should nest. Again the background fabric strip will be too long but since we are matching up in the middle, just overlook it at this stage, please.

Sadly I must have forgotten to take pictures at this stage - probably because I was so exited to get the block done. Repeat for the other half and press seams towards the middle. After pressing the entire block, you can trim again. The block should be 15 3/4" or 40cm.

Let me know if anything is unclear! If you make something with this tutorial please leave me a comment so I can come and visit you.

Johanna