Sawtooth Star Block Tip

This is a sawtooth star block. There is a formula to make the star in any size and easily figure all the pieces you need to cut.


You will need 8 little squares and 1 big square from the dark fabric. From the light fabric, you will need 4 rectangles and 4 little squares.

The formula for the little squares from both fabrics is the same: Take your desired finished block size, divide it by 4, and then add .5" for seam allowances.

For the long sides of the rectangles: Take the desired finish block size, divide it by 2, and then add .5". To get the length of the short sides, use the same formula as for the little squares.

The formula for the one big square is the same as the formula for the long sides of the rectangles. After you have made the flying geese blocks for the star points, these are your squares:

Thanks for reading!

My Purple Quilt

 I have always referred to this quilt as "my Purple Quilt". The kit was called Longing for Spring. I love the quilt top, but I almost love the backing even more. It's called lilac toile. Just the name of it is pretty.

The green leaves I quilted on the sashing really pop against the lilac.

I did some complicated free motion quilting on this and the toile pattern just makes it better. This was the third quilt I ever made, the second I ever free motion quilted, the first I ever bought a kit for, and the first I ever followed a pattern for.

Though I tried to make myself follow the pattern, I ended up changing it anyways. It was supposed to have no sashing between the stars. Instead, the pattern called for large purple ric-rac to be sewn on before you quilted it. I didn't like the ric-rac, and I was scared to free motion quilt around it. I did some math and found that I had enough of that one dark purple to use it for sashing. I also made the border wider because I just love the fabric! It has a silvery overlay that sparkles on the flowers.




With my quilting, I tried to make the stars look like flowers. In the center of each "flower" I did some very small dogwood quilting. For the triangular "petals", I stitched just inside the edge, and did the same for the corner squares.

The green on the sashing is probably my favorite part of the quilting. It shows up just enough that
you can see it from far off, but doesn't completely clash with purple.

I also stitched just inside the sashing with bright white thread. With all this stitching just inside the shape, you can tell I avoided stitching in the ditch!

Partially through the quilting process I walked in on the morning sun shining on my quilt.
I looks very flat without the quilting!

This quilt made me want all my binding from then on to be either plaid or some type of stripes. Before I was always scared of striped fabric, but I just love how this binding turned out! In this picture, I folded the quilt to show the contrast of the binding against the quilt top and backing.

I took the dog ears from the flying geese blocks that the stars are made of and turned them into pinwheels. Next, I took the long strips of lilac toile I cut from the quilt after I quilted it and used it for sashing between the pinwheels. I used some of the leftover sparkly silver/purple fabric also and made two matching pillow shams!

The sparkly fabric is for the flange so it perfectly matches the quilt!

I used a pale lavender thread to quilt leaves, flowers, and loops in the sashing. Just like on the triangles on the quilt, I quilted just inside the shape.

This next pic is from before I quilted all of it. You can really see how the stitches make all the shapes pop.

That's my Purple Quilt. Thanks for reading!

Fun with Half Square Triangles

I made diagrams for a 9 patch block, 16 patch block, 25 patch block, and a 36 patch block. All the blocks are made from half square triangle (hst) blocks and squares. The blocks are put together without any other blocks or sashing and different shapes appear between the blocks.

The first block is very simple. It's made of 4 white squares, one colored square, and 4 hsts.

Put a few together, and a gorgeous quilt is formed.

It looks like you made some pinwheel blocks and put them together with sashing when you really didn't do that at all.

The next block is made only from hsts and no squares. Just the block contains a pinwheel and a star, but put the blocks together and you see even more.

Another star appears but it has an on point square inside instead of a pinwheel.

Next, the 25 patch. It has 4 color squares, but the other 21 squares are all hsts. This one looks great with a few put together.

All the circles are connected, and pinwheels form at the corners.

Finally, the 36 patch. This one is my favorite of all the blocks. Especially when you put several together for a quilt.

I love how the stars and the pinwheels are framed!

Thanks for reading!

Modern Lap Quilt/My First Ever Real Quilt

This is the first quilt I ever made and designed! The quilt measures 41" x 50", just the right size for keeping your feet and legs warm. Since I had only somewhat of an idea of what I was doing, just the design process took a week. Lots of researching about quilt blocks, sketches, and triple checking quilt math.

Not only is there writing on the backs of these pages, I also wrote a lot out on a whiteboard, and typed some up in my computer.

I liked the idea of how a sampler quilt took many different quilt blocks and put them together neatly, but I also loved the simplicity of  just sewing together squares. Just cutting out big squares is also good to show off your fabric.

Eventually I figured out how to mix the two styles. Hence all my checklists for cutting out different square sizes.

 I used a total of five different block types. This was great for a beginner because I got to practice different techniques. Also, if I found I didn't enjoy making a block, I didn't have to make 20 more of that same block to complete the quilt.


My favorite of all the blocks is the double pinwheel. You can't see the two pinwheels because I ran out of the medium gray fat quarter and had to use a gray flower print for two of the large triangles. Oh well, at least the little pinwheel is visible.

In the center is the double pinwheel. On either side of the
pinwheel I put two shoofly variation  blocks.

This is where I put two identical 9 patch blocks beside each other. I am never doing that again, but it does look okay on this quilt.

I quilted cross-hatching in black thread all over this quilt. In the border I quilted straight lines a quarter inch from the edge. It was actually fun to sew straight lines over and over again!

Marking this quilt was a challenge. At first I tried using washable marking pencils, but they wouldn't write on the black fabric. After looking at different marking tools, including chalk, chalk wheels, washable ink pens, and darker pencils, I ended up trying some pens that disappeared with heat. You could just iron your quilt to erase! They worked great, and my quilt was marked and quilted about 3 days after getting the pens.

Those 3 days and all that struggling with the pencils in the beginning was worth it. Look at how the quilting shows up in the sunlight!

This picture was taken partially through the quilting process. See the basting pins?

The fabrics I were used were from a fat quarter bundle that included 14 fat quarters called Twilight Blooms. I didn't quite use up all 14 fat quarters. The border, backing, and some of the squares in the center I bought extra fabric for. Sadly, I cannot write a pattern for this quilt as I only halfway remember what I did, and my handwriting on my notes is terrible. Maybe I'll make a similar one sometime if I see a fabric bundle that would look good in that style of quilt. I love mixing quilt styles together to make something unique. Thanks for reading!

First quilt pattern post: Floating Diamonds Quilt

This quilt is a fat quarter friendly (though other fabrics are needed) project. And it also incorporates the dog-ears from the diamond squares to make the zig-zag border! I made it a while ago and wrote up the pattern at the same time. Once the quilt was finished, I spent even more time perfecting the diagrams in the pattern.
The best part of this quilt is when you have all your squares made and get to arrange them so that the colors are evenly dispersed and the same pattern never touches. Sometimes it can be frustrating to do that, but this pattern use 14 different fat quarters so you have a variety of prints to work with.

I quilted an all-over pattern of red flowers, leaves, and loops on the blocks, while the borders each have their own unique quilting design.

The zig-zag border came together faster than I thought it would. It took me 3 different hour long sessions to make and attach them.
Hope you like the pattern and let me know if you have any questions about it!

My favorite quilt pattern.

This is my favorite lap quilt pattern of all the ones I have designed. It works with a variety of fabrics, and isn't too complicated to piece together. You can even play around with what color you make the blocks to create different shapes.

The whole quilt top measures 60" x 60" and uses only 4 yards of fabric. I made the pattern several months before I actually made the pattern. The green, pink, and gold quilt pictured at the top is available for sale at my shop. I made just one of the blocks and turned it into an elegant table topper. It's a cute little star block!

I will be making a pdf pattern for this quilt and will post it in a few days so check for it!