Hi everybody, it’s Jenny from the MSQC. And I’ve got a great project for you today. This is a classic eight point star. And I mean this is the kind of quilt that just never goes out of style and you never get tired of. And I’ve got an easy way to make it. Now if you remember the Jenny’s Doll Quilt, it’s made the very same fashion. But it’s so fun to see it all big and in this fabric. The fabric I’m using is called Vintage Happy Too and it’s by Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet for Riley Blake. Look how cute that fabric is. And what you’re going to need to make this quilt is four packs of five inch squares. Now for those of you who are doing the math that equals a layer cake cut in fourths but we used four charm packs for this because they’re already cut. For your background you’re going to need white to make these quilts and you’ll need two packs of white five inch squares plus a yard of fabric for your corner squares or 2 ¼ yards of background fabric. So you can do one or the other. It depends if you have yardage or if you’re like me and you don’t want to cut as many things as possible. I used five inch squares. Our outer border is 1 ¼ yards and it’s a nice big six inch border out here. And this makes a quilt that is 71 by 71. So it’s a great size. And I just love the classic look of these stars. And you’ll find it’s a lot easier than you think it is. Let’s look at the back for a minute. Now this back, I just have to say, this is what is known in the quilt world as cheater cloth because the pattern is already on it. It’s, you know, you don’t have to sew these tiny little things to get it on there. I love this. I love the back. Look how cute that is. I mean it’s just adorable as a background and it just is perfect with this fabric.


So an eight point star is traditionally called the Le Moyne star and it’s named after two brothers, Jean Batiste and Pierre Le Moyne. They founded the city of New Orleans. I found this on the internet so we know it’s true. Anyway, so then as I was reading a little longer it said the northerners who weren’t French speakers, they didn’t want to say Le Moyne so they renamed it the Lemon Star. Just for fun. And you guys know as well as I do that these stars, I mean blocks, all quilt blocks have like ten different names. Everybody gives them a different name. And so we just went with the Lemon Star on this one because we thought it was fun and cute and it kind of fits the fabric as well. It just looks really fun.


Alright so let me show you how to make this because this is, this is just a dream to make. From your packs you’re going to get two of each color so I have two pinks and two whites right here. Let me scoot this up like this so you can see it good. And we’re going to need two white fabrics as well so we have two dark colors, two lights. You want to make sure you have good contrast in your blocks. So one pink is going to be sewn to a white square. One white is going to be sewn to a white square. And then these two are going to be sewn together. Now when I say sewn what I mean is we’re going to take the sewing machine and sew all the way around them a quarter of an inch. And I’m going to do that right now. And I have some of these already done so I’ll probably just sew one of these. Now if that little pinked edge bothers you, it bothers me a little bit, if it bothers you don’t worry about it too much because, you know, we’re going to, it’s just more important that you’re consistent and we’re going to square these anyway.


So what I’m going to do now is I’ve sewn all the way around on the outside of my block and I’m going to cut it diagonally both directions. So we’re going to cut one here. We’re going to turn this and we’re going to cut one here. Now if you’re using a square up square you’re going to want to press these open. I’m going to use the clearly perfect slotted trimmer. And I have trimmer B and I’m going to make them three inches. So I’m going to lay my seam line or their seam line on my seam line and trim this both sides. And then that should square that up. We’re going to do that to all our blocks. And by the way you’re going to go ahead and sew around these two as well and cut them diagonally. I just already have some done over here so. Hopefully that makes sense to you. Alright there’s two. And again sometimes you can get this like right on the edge so you only have to cut one side. That’s kind of so helpful. But very little waste on this block. And the reason we went with the extra yardage is because we’re squaring these to three, our corner blocks are going to have to be three. Alright so now lay your dark side on top and press to the dark side so that that seam allowance is hidden on the dark fabric.


So once you get all of your squares ironed you should have three sets. One should be your two fabrics together. One should be your light fabric and your background and one should be your colored fabric and your background. So you’ll have three of those sets and you need four three inch squares for the corner of your block. So these are the things you need to make one block. And let me show you how you put this together because it’s actually really cool. So the way I remember it, you guys know I always have like these little mantras, and what I do is, you have to make sure that your corners are going the right way so that it stays in a star like this because what you’re lining up is this one and this one to make those points. So make a block, lay it right there so you have it to look at because these are actually made in four patches. So your square goes in the corner. And I actually keep these stacked up as piles and then I take all the piles to my sewing machine because you’re going to make four little four patches that we’re going to put together to make an eight point star.


So what we’re going to do is we’re going to turn one down like this. We’re going to turn this pink one up like this. Oops I’ve got some of these on here. The pink one up like this. And then this one is going to go there. These two are going to go with the color like this. So see how that makes this part of the star and this one makes this part of the star. Then I’m going to come over and take my little stacks right over here to my sewing machine. And I’m going to chain piece these together. I’m going to chain piece them two at a time. So I’ll take my corner and put it on like this and I”m going to sew. And then I’m going to take two of these so that when I get ready to put them together they’re going to be right together the way they need to go. So we’re just going to use this whole stack. Alright. Now what I’m going to do since I have all these together is I’m going to clip them apart in pairs so I know each one of these is a block like this. And then I want you to look. I’m going to come over here and show you. So this is our block right here just like that. And we’re going to sew those together and we don’t even need to clip the thread in between. So we’re just going to lay these right on top of each other and sew them together. And we’re going to do this to four and you’re noticing I’m not pressing. And the reason is that I want to make these seams go in opposite directions and I just want to make sure that they’ll behave. So here’s this one. And I’m always going to look and make sure that they’re going the right way because checking is better than picking, right? Alright, hang on here. And because you’ve squared these they should go together very nicely. Now remember squaring, the tools that are out there, they’re made for different brains. So, you know, find what you’re comfortable using. Some people are very comfortable with, oh they love the bloc loc. Some people prefer a straight square. Some people love the little ruler I use. It’s just whatever works for your brain. And when you find that tool your brain will go, oh this is perfect. This is easy. Alright this is my last one of these four. Now what I’m going to do is I’m going to press these open. Then we’re going to assemble our block. And this is how easy an eight point star is. So we’re just going to open these up right here. And there’s one quarter. I’m trying to iron with my wrong hand. I love how these come together and how quick they are. And I love a star.


Alright so because we put these together identically every other one is going to have that color. You’re going to have the bright color. So look how that goes together. So now we’re going to sew this together like a four patch, like this. And I’ll do that right now. Let me see, is this the bottom. This is the bottom so this is the top. Put this top one on here first and then I don’t even have to clip the thread. When I don’t clip that thread it’s called chain piecing but for me it’s almost like putting a little pin in there, you know. That makes it, it just kind of holds it together. It’s not really like a pin but sort of, in my mind it is. Alright so now what I’ll do is sew this center seam. Now the fun thing about this center seam in this block is that you have the opportunity to line up at every square so that keeps your block square when you do that. So don’t just put it together and sew down. But take a minute and sew your square and then make sure those next two seams match up like this. And then we’re going to make sure these two seams match up. And then we’re going to check these so it keeps you, you know it’s like a, it just keeps you in line all the way down so that things work out really good. Alright, now we’ll go to the iron and press this nice and flat. Alrighty. So look how cute this is. That was it. That was that easy.


And when I put these together I literally set them together like this, just one right next to the other and right next to the other. Let’s look at our quilt back here. We’ve got, see there’s no sashing or anything in between, right next to each other. So we’ve got one, two, three, four, five, six, and six rows down here. So that’s 36 stars. And it just goes together so quick and easy and it’s such a classic look. And we hope you enjoyed this tutorial on the Lemon Star from the MSQC.