Celebrate Christmas Blog Hop! One Special Star Block

Today is Thanksgiving here in the U.S., and it is also my turn for the Celebrate Christmas sponsored by Quilting Gallery. Have you been following along? How many blocks have you made?

A few things about me.... I live in a 160 year old farmhouse that I love.
I have 2 daughters (one is getting married in June). 
I am the Aurifil Designer of the Month for November!
I have a pretty cool FREE newsletter that comes out once a month (well, I aim for once a month. But you know how that goes.....) It has recipes, free projects, and news about what's new (hence the name Newsletter.... yes, I am quite clever....) You can sign up for it in the upper right side bar here on my blog.

The fabrics used in my block are from my Joy, Love, Peace, Noel fabric line for Henry Glass Fabrics. Look for it in your favorite quilt shop, or do a Google search for "Joy Love Peace Noel fabric" to find several sites to purchase online. I also have fat quarter bundles available on my website. I also have a couple of patterns that feature this fabric line:

My block is called One Special Star, named for the special Star that led the shepherds to Bethlehem on that Special Night of Nights. Are you ready to get started??

You will need Dark Blue, Light Blue, and Cream fabrics. All seam allowances are 1/4", sew with fabrics right sides together. Instructions below will yield one 12" (12 1/2" unfinished) block.

Cutting Instructions
Dark Blue:

• 4 squares, each 3 1/2" 
• 4 rectangles, each 3 1/2 x 6 1/2"

Light Blue

• 2 squares, each 3 7/8" 
• 4 squares, each 3 1/2"

Cream

• 2 squares, each 3 7/8" 
• 4 squares, each 3 1/2"

To Make the Block:
First grab your large (3 7/8") Light Blue and Cream Squares.

Place a Light Blue Square right sides together with a Cream Square. Draw a line diagonally down the center of the square (on the wrong side of the fabric), then draw a line 1/4" from the center line. I find that a clear ruler makes this super easy to do.

Pin the squares together. Sew on the side lines:

Cut on the center line:

Press the squares open:

Sew the squares into pairs so they look like this:

Then sew the pairs together to make the pinwheel center for the block:

Next, you will make the 4 flying geese units. There are ways to make flying geese without wasting any fabric, but they give me a headache! I have found that this method works well for me.

Get your small (3 1/2") Light Blue and Cream squares and draw a line down the center of each diagonally (on the wrong side of the fabric):

Place a Cream square right sides together on the left side of the Dark Blue rectangle. Pin and stitch on the line:

Fold over the triangle to make sure it's lined up properly: 

 Then trim off the extra fabric to leave a 1/4" seam allowance:

Press:

Sew Light Blue square to right side of rectangle in same way:

Make 4 flying geese units:

Sew 2 of the flying geese units to opposite sides of the pinwheel square:

Sew a Dark Blue square (3 1/2") to opposite ends of the 2 remaining flying geese units, and then sew onto block:

With this block pattern, you can make a quilt like this:

Or this:

 Or maybe this:

(Click here for a PDF version of the Tutorial.)

As for Christmas fabric, look for my next Christmas fabric line called Oh Holy Night next spring at your local quilt shop! Click here for a look at the line!

Happy Holidays! And thanks to Michele at Quilting Gallery for sponsoring this fun Quilt Along!