Aunt Eliza’s Star

I’m an aunt, and my name is almost “Eliza”, though I can’t say I’ve ever gone by that name. People tried to call me Lizzy, Fluffy, Liz, EB. I guess Elizabeth just has too many syllables. It must be American custom to shorten everything… Nevertheless, I like this block. It is a classic design that is easily embraced with modern fabrics and designs. This pattern is usually referred to as the Ohio Star. In fact, do you remember this block from my Night Star’s quilt? An oldie but a goody. The way you mix the colors and patterns give it an entirely different attitude.

Aunt Eliza’s Star uses a quick piecing quarter square triangle technique. No “special” rulers are required. As long as you have a straight ruler, you are good to go. However, I admittedly reached for my “Perfect Half-Square & Quarter Square Triangles” ruler from June Tailor. (Thanks for this gift mom, I love it!) It has quick marking and cutting guides and works great for squaring up the block after it is pieced.

Lucky for us, the pattern calls out larger squares than necessary for the finished hourglass blocks. This means, that once you have your quarter square triangles pieced, you get to trim them down to be “perfectly square”.

This basic block takes 5 squares plus 4 quarter square hourglass units, pieced in 9 block fashion. There are tons of tutorials on the web showing how to make quarter square triangles. Maybe you’ve watched some of them. Check this one out on the McCalls Quilting website. It is very similar to what is described in the Sister Sampler Quilts book.

Also, here is a great description of the block construction, from GenXquilters. I love how the bright fabrics look against the white negative space.