4-Patch Stars are going Scrappy
This month I am sharing the Scrappy 4-Patch Stars, a free quilt pattern. Do you have an overabundance of 2 1/2″ squares or jelly roll strips? This scrap quilt could be made with strips. It utilizes 2 1/2″ squares, 2 1/2″x 4 1/2″ rectangles, and 2 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ rectangles if you add the sashings and cornerstones. It would make short use of those leftovers. This 4-patch star quilt block will look great in most colorways.
I found I had enough 2 1/2″ scrappy squares to create this without doing more cutting—what a bonus discovery! On the first day, as I was playing with fabric, I gathered everything that I needed. The background was cut and ready to go, and the scrappy colors were all pressed. The next day I focused on sewing the flying geese. It’s exciting when what you have pictured in your head turns out the way you expected it.
Pastel 4-Patch Stars
It isn’t often that I make a quilt with white and pastels. Darker and richer colors are what I am drawn to. As I looked through my 2 1/2″ squares for another project, I found that I had quite a few lighter colors. Time to create a scrappy pattern to use them up! All things considered, I am happy with the results.
I have included the basic pattern for the block here. In the pattern, I gave an example of what you would need for a 5×5 layout with sashings and cornerstones. Don’t limit yourself to just 25 blocks, especially since it is easy enough to make this quilt larger. I stopped at that size because I used all my white tone-on-tone fabric. One focus of 2023 is using what I have and not buying more. We will see how well I do by the end of the year.
Scrappy 4-Patch and Flying Geese
You have the option of doing a controlled scrappy quilt. As a matter of fact, you could choose to make all your flying geese the same in each block. The same could be said for the 4-Patch. I went utterly scrappy. Twelve different fabrics make up each of my blocks. I randomly picked the background. There is very little difference from a distance, so I didn’t worry if I used the same background more than once in the block.
Because I was going completely scrappy, there was less stress in finding 8 of each color for the flying geese. My only rule was not to use the same color in the individual flying geese unit. There are probably similar colors within the block, but I controlled what I could and let the rest go. It is what I love about random scrap quilts.
Scrappy 4-Patches
I enjoyed creating the 4-patches. Randomly grabbing four different colors was refreshing. Again, my only rule was not to use the same fabric in the block. I liked some color combinations better than others, but the overall effect was great. For me, sometimes the fewer rules, the better. I can enjoy the sewing process without being hemmed in by rules.
What I like about this scrap quilt:
- There are many options for this block – total scrappy or controlled scrappy. Light background vs. dark background.
- It utilizes a large number of 2 1/2″ squares or strips
- The more variety of fabrics (color and texture), the better the results.
- It’s a scrap quilt for beginners or advanced quilters.
Here are a couple of options – one for a dark background and one for a light background.
For updates, please take a minute to join my Facebook page, Quilting With Tamara. You can also reach me through my Contact page or email: quiltingwithtamara@gmail.com if you have questions, suggestions, and feedback!
Until next time.
You may be interested in these posts on other scrappy patterns or 12″ quilt blocks.