Ohio Star

The Ohio Star is another popular quilt block pattern that is easy to piece. Simple patterns and instructions  can be found in many places on the internet.  Two that I looked at were mccallsquilting.com and  quilterscache.com .  Most of these patterns show making a nine patch block using 4 quarter square blocks combined with five squares.  Most of the patterns instruct to cut the 8 quarter triangles from each of the contrasting fabrics, and then piece them into the quarter triangle squares.  I decided to try making the quarter triangle squares in a way similar to the way that I made the half triangle squares used in the broken dishes pattern that I made the first week of the A to Z Challenge this month. 

First I cut two 5 1/2 inch squares of each of the contrasting fabrics.  I also cut four 4 1/2 inch squares of white, and one 4 1/2 inch square of red.   I set the 4 1/2 inch squares aside for later, then turned my attention to the 5 1/2 inch squares.   I marked diagonal lines in both directions on the wrong side of the white fabric, and then marked lines 1/4 inch to each side of the diagonals.  (see the square on the right).  I sewed along both of  the outside diagonal lines in one direction . . . .

 . . .and then cut the square into two half square triangle pieces . . . 

 . . . opened them up and pressed the seams.   This is just like the method I used for the half square triangles in the broken dishes block.   Next I flipped the two blocks and placed them right sides together, matching dark to light and light to dark. 

Now I marked the diagonal seam lines onto the dark triangle. (see the block on the left)  They were a bit harder to see, but I managed to sew these diagonal seems ok.  After I cut along the center diagonal, I now had two quarter square triangle blocks.  I think this was much easier than trying to match up and sew each of the individual triangle seams.    I repeated the process with the other two 5 1/2 inch squares: 

The teacher from the quilting class I took several years ago always recomended cutting the squares that were to be used for half square triangles at least 1/4 inch larger than most patterns say in order to leave some "wiggle room".  The excess fabric is easily trimmed off and the blocks squared up after sewing the diagonal seams.  It's always better to have the blocks be too large and trim them down than to have them end up too small.  I allowed an extra 1/2 inch for the quarter square triangles, and I'm glad that I did. It was pretty easy to square them up and trim them to the 4 1/2 inch size to match the solid 4 1/2 inch squares that I had cut previously. 

Next I laid the quarter square triangle blocks out next to the solid squares to form the Ohio Star pattern.  I sewed the squares into three strips, and then sewed the three strips together:

And here again is the completed Ohio Star block.  Some of the corners don't quite match up, but I think I'm getting a bit better.

As with all quilt blocks, the colors and patterns of fabrics can be varied to create your own personalized version of the block.  Here are three different variations of the Ohio Star from www.quilt.com:

At bellaonline.com  I found instructions for making the Ohio Star using Flying Geese blocks around a Diamond center:

So, when will I try out this one?  We'll have to wait and see.

Happy Quilting!