How to Make the Friendship Star Quilt Block: Pattern, Sizes and Free PDF

Four plain squares, one center square, and four half square triangles.

That is the whole Friendship Star quilt block. It is a nine patch, three rows of three, and the four half square triangles along the sides are the star. If you can sew a half square triangle you can already make this block, which is why it is the one we send people to the moment those units stop being frightening.

What follows is the complete Friendship Star quilt block. What it is made of, what to cut for six different sizes, how the same nine pieces make a second block, how to press it so the rows lock together, and how to turn one block into a quilt. There is a free pattern sheet near the end, and you do not have to hand over an email address to get it.

What the Friendship Star quilt block is

Nine units in a three by three grid. Five of them are plain squares, four in the corners and one in the center. The other four are half square triangle units, one on each side, and those four are the star.

A half square triangle unit is a square made of two triangles, one light and one dark, meeting on the diagonal. In the Friendship Star each of the four is turned a quarter turn from the last, so the dark triangles chase each other around the center square. That rotation is the whole block. Lay the four units out symmetrically instead and you get a different block entirely, which is why the layout step matters more here than the sewing does.

Because the grid is three by three, the math is simple. A 12 inch block is nine 4 inch units. A 9 inch block is nine 3 inch units. Anything that divides by three works, so this block can be made in almost any size without a template.

The name is not decoration. Friendship Star blocks were traditionally drawn around a plain square so that a name could be stitched into the center. Friendship quilts developed in America from around 1840 onwards, as people moved and settled westwards. They were given to family or friends, they often used fabrics given by loved ones, and they were usually signed by the maker. That is why the center of this block is a whole square rather than a pieced unit, and it is still the reason to leave it plain if the quilt is going to somebody.

The same nine pieces, two different blocks

Cut the pieces for a Friendship Star and you have also cut the pieces for a Shoofly. Same five plain squares, same four half square triangle units, same grid. Move the triangle units into the corners and the plain squares out to the sides and the star becomes a Shoofly. Move them back and it is a star again.

This is worth doing on the table before you sew, because it costs nothing and it is the fastest way to understand what the block is. Yvonne does exactly this at the end of her Shoofly block tutorial, laying the pieces out one way, then rearranging them into a Friendship Star without picking up a rotary cutter.

Turn all four triangle units a further quarter turn and the star spins the other way. Nothing else changes. If you are making a quilt full of these, alternating the direction from block to block is a free bit of movement across the top.

The Friendship Star cutting chart, in six block sizes

The fabric requirements are small. Two fabrics make the classic quilt block, one light for the background and one dark star fabric, and a third if you want the center square to read on its own.

The cutting sizes read like this. A is the five plain squares, four corners and one center. B is the four squares the star units get cut from, two light and two dark, using the two at a time half square triangle method. The last column is the alternative: one light and one dark square at that size gives all four units at once by the four at a time method. Every number in the cutting chart is in inches.

The formula behind the table is worth more than the table. Take the unit size, add 1/2 inch for the plain squares and 7/8 inch for the star squares. That is it. Any block size that divides by three can be worked out on the back of an envelope, and the four at a time column is the unfinished unit size multiplied by 1.6 and rounded up to the next quarter inch.

The 8 inch block is the exception, because 8 does not divide into three whole inches. Those numbers come from Barbara Brackman's Civil War Sampler, where the nine-patch blocks are given at 8 inches and 12 inches, and the 8 inch set runs very slightly small on purpose. She asks for a scant 1/4 inch seam allowance through the whole block to make up the difference.

Cutting from precuts and yardage

The 12 inch block and a charm pack were made for each other. Nine 5 inch charm squares, six background and three focus, give you the whole block. Two of each go into the half square triangles, and the remaining five get trimmed down to 4 1/2 inches for the corners and the center. That is the route Yvonne uses on camera, and it is the fastest way to a 12 inch block from a precut.

A layer cake square handles every size in the table, including the 15 inch block, and leaves enough over to be worth keeping.

Precuts suit the stars, where every block can happily take a different fabric. The background is the opposite case. It repeats in every block of the quilt and it is what the points are read against, so it wants to come off one bolt from the first block to the last. That is a job for fabric by the yard rather than a bundle, and solids are what keep the star crisp.

Fat quarters sit between the two. They are the practical cut for a scrappy set where every block gets its own star and no fabric has to stretch across the whole quilt.

Making the four half square triangle units, or HST units

Quilters shorten the name of these to HST units, and most patterns write them that way. Take two light and two dark squares at the B size. Pair one light square with one dark, right sides together. Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of the light square, from one corner to the opposite corner, and sew 1/4 inch either side of that drawn line. Cut on the drawn line, set the seam, then press towards the darker fabric, opening the unit with your fingers first and moving the iron up the straight of grain rather than along the diagonal, because that seam is on the bias and will stretch if you push it.

That gives two HST units. Repeat with the other pair and the block has all four.

Then trim. Every one comes off the sewing machine a little oversized on purpose, and every one gets trimmed to the A size before it goes anywhere near the block. Lay the 45 degree line of a square ruler along the diagonal seam and cut two sides, turn, realign, cut the other two, then trim off the dog ears, the little triangle tips of seam allowance that stick out past the corners. This is the step people skip and it is the one that decides whether the rows line up later. Squaring up a finished block does not rescue units that were never square, it just cuts the star points off.

Two at a time is the method that suits this block, because you need four and usually two different pairings. If you are making a quilt full of Friendship Stars you will want the faster routes as well, and all three are in our guide to making half square triangles, with a printable size chart that covers every size in the table above.

One thing worth knowing before you start a stack of them: two at a time and the Magic Eight leave the bias inside the seam, so all four outer edges are on the straight of grain. Four at a time puts the bias on all four outer edges instead. For a block this small it is a fair trade for the speed, but handle those gently and trim them before they go anywhere.

Sewing the Friendship Star block together

Lay out the nine pieces before you sew anything. Row one is corner, star unit, corner. Row two is star unit, center, star unit. Row three repeats row one. Check that the four dark triangles are chasing each other around the center rather than pointing at it.

Sew each row with a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Chain piecing the three rows saves time and thread and keeps the pieces in order. Sew one pair, stop at the end of the fabric, and without cutting the thread or lifting the presser foot, feed the next pair straight in. With triangle units it helps to lift the presser foot slightly to position the next set. Leave a single stitch between the pairs and the rows come off the machine already lined up, ready to nest.

Now press seams, and this block makes it easy. Press seams in rows one and three outward, into the plain corner squares, and press the two in row two inward, towards the middle. Each one then lies the opposite way to the one it meets, so they nest at every junction, and nothing is pressed towards a star point where it would build a lump.

Join the rows last. Nest the seams, feel for the ridge of one sitting into the groove of the other until there is no gap in the middle, and pin at the junction. Where two seams cross at a point, put the pin through the exact spot the seams meet on both layers and stitch so the needle passes through it. Press the two long seams in the same direction.

Measure the block, and double check it against the cutting chart. It should come off the sewing machine at the finished size plus 1/2 inch, so a 12 inch Friendship Star measures 12 1/2 inches square before it goes anywhere near a quilt top.

Why star points get cut off, and how to stop it

The tip of each star point sits exactly 1/4 inch in from the raw edge. There is no margin in that number. A seam allowance a thread too wide eats the point, and a block with four points gives the error four chances to show.

Three habits fix almost all of it.

Trim to size before assembly, not the block afterwards. Every one has to finish the same size as the plain squares, because a half square triangle an eighth of an inch small has nowhere to hide between two that are not.

Pin through the seam junction itself, through both layers, rather than beside it. The pin holds the point where it needs to be while the feed dogs try to move it.

And keep one seam allowance for the whole block. Most teachers of patchwork ask for a scant 1/4 inch rather than an exact one, to allow for the thickness of the thread and the small amount the fabric takes up when the seam is pressed to one side. A consistent scant 1/4 inch beats an inconsistent exact one every time, because the block only needs its nine pieces to agree with each other. Something that sets a physical stop on the machine bed helps here more than a marked line does.

A square ruler in your unit size is the other thing worth owning, because trimming four of them in four single cuts is a different job from trimming them in eight. And look at the blade before you start a stack of units. A blade that has gone dull stops slicing and starts dragging, and the layers shift a fraction under the ruler without you feeling it happen. A fresh rotary blade costs less than the fabric you lose recutting pieces that were never square.

Choosing the background and star fabric

The Friendship Star is a contrast block before it is a colour block. What decides whether the star appears is value, which is the lightness or darkness of a colour rather than the colour itself. A mixture of light, medium and dark is what makes a quilt satisfying to look at, and a set of fabrics that all sit at the same value will read as a flat square from across the room no matter how pretty they are up close. Contrast is the other half of it, and it does not have to be light against dark: print against plain, or a large motif against a small one, will also make the star step forward.

The simplest version uses two fabrics. A light background for the corners and the outer halves of the star units, and a dark for the star. The center square then goes one of two ways. Keep it the same dark as the points and the star reads as one solid shape. Give it a third fabric, or leave it in the background fabric so a name can be written on it, and the block gains a middle.

This is a forgiving block for scraps, because each of the four star points can come from a different fabric without the star falling apart, as long as they all sit darker than the background. Keeping one background throughout and changing the star fabric block by block is what turns a pile of scraps into a scrappy quilt rather than a muddle.

Friendship Star variations worth knowing

The block takes to being changed. A few that need no new technique:

Spin it the other way. Turn all four star points a quarter turn and the star rotates in the opposite direction. Alternate the two across a quilt top and the whole thing moves, which is a lot of visual interest for no extra work.

Scrappy stars. The same fabric in the background of every block, a different star in each one. This is the classic friendship quilt set, it is the reason the block exists, and it is the friendliest way to use up a scrap basket.

A signature center. Cut the center square from the background fabric, sign it with a permanent fabric pen before the block is sewn, and the quilt carries the names of everyone who made a block.

Simpler still. Four half square triangle units on their own, in a two by two grid, each turned a quarter turn from the last, make a Pinwheel. It is the same unit with the plain squares taken away, and it is the block to make first if this one feels like a step too far.

Star inside a star. Piece a small Friendship Star and use it as the center square instead of a plain one. Several designers publish versions of this under the name Double Friendship Star, and the name is used for more than one block, so check the diagram before you cut.

Swap the units. Half square triangles in the corners instead of the sides gives you a Shoofly, as above. The same grid also carries the Ohio Star if you replace the four side units with quarter square triangles, and the Ohio Star is the natural next block once this one is comfortable.

Turning the block into a Friendship Star quilt

The math is friendly. Twenty 12 inch quilt blocks set four across and five down give a Friendship Star quilt top of 48 by 60 inches, which is a good throw before any border. Thirty blocks set five by six give 60 by 72 inches. Nine 12 inch blocks make a 36 inch square baby quilt or a wall hanging. If you want to work back from a bed instead, our quilt size chart has the finished sizes to aim at.

Twenty stars is only eighty HST units, which is why the Friendship Star quilt block is a good first quilt as well as a good first star. If it still sounds like a lot, use an alternating setting and put a plain block between the stars. Nine-patch blocks are often set this way. It halves the piecing, it gives the stars room to be looked at, and a plain block is somewhere the quilting itself can show.

Turning the blocks 45 degrees gives an on point setting, which changes the quilt completely without changing a single block. It does need corner triangles and side triangles to bring the edges back to a straight line, and those are cut to a formula rather than guessed at: our guide to setting a quilt on point has both.

Sashing does the same job and adds finished size for every strip you put in. Sashing is also called lattice or setting strips, and it is what holds a sampler together when the blocks are not all the same size. Plain strips are the simplest version; adding a small setting square where the strips cross turns the sashing itself into part of the design.

The free Friendship Star quilt block pattern sheet

Everything above fits on one page, and we have put it there so you can keep it next to the machine instead of scrolling on a phone with pins in your hand.

The sheet has the block diagram, the cutting chart for all six sizes, the two at a time triangle method, and the assembly and pressing instructions. It prints on letter or A4 and nothing on it needs to print at actual size, because this block has no templates.

The downloadable PDF is here: the Friendship Star quilt block pattern sheet. It is free to print, use and teach.

Friendship Star questions we are asked most

What size squares do I need for a 12 inch Friendship Star quilt block?

Five squares at 4 1/2 inches for the four corners and the center, and four squares at 4 7/8 inches, two light and two dark, for the star. Trim each finished half square triangle unit to 4 1/2 inches before you assemble the block, and it will come together at 12 1/2 inches square.

Is there a free printable Friendship Star quilt pattern?

There is one in the section above, a downloadable PDF, and it costs nothing. What it will not contain is templates to cut around, because there are none in this block. Every piece is a square cut with a rotary cutter, so what you actually need is the cutting chart, and that prints at any scale you like.

Is the Friendship Star block good for a beginner?

It is one of the best first star blocks there is. There are no curves, no set in seams, no templates and no quarter square triangles, and the only new skill it asks for is the half square triangle. If you have never made one, learn that first in how to make half square triangles and then come straight back, because the block is four of them and five plain squares.

If you have never made a quilt at all, our complete beginner guide to making a quilt starts with cutting and carries on to binding, and this block fits neatly into it as the first pieced block.

What is the difference between a Friendship Star block and a Shoofly?

Nothing but the arrangement. Both are nine-patches made from five plain squares and four half square triangle units. The Shoofly puts the triangle units in the four corners; the Friendship Star puts them on the four sides and turns each one a quarter turn from the last.

What is the difference between a Friendship Star and an Ohio Star?

The layout is the same nine-patch. The units are not. A Friendship Star uses half square triangle units for the four side units, so each star point is a single triangle. An Ohio Star uses quarter square triangle units, so each point has a triangle aimed out and another aimed in. The Ohio Star has eight points to lose instead of four, which is why it is the harder of the two.

Can I make it from a charm pack?

Yes, and it is the neatest use of a charm pack we know. Nine 5 inch squares, six background and three focus, make one 12 inch Friendship Star. Two of each pairing become the half square triangles, and the other five squares get trimmed to 4 1/2 inches.

Why is it called a Friendship Star?

Because of the plain center square. Friendship Star blocks were drawn around that square so a name could be signed or stitched into it, and quilts made of them were given as friendship quilts, each block coming from a different person. The block is old and common enough that anyone offering you a precise date of origin is guessing.

What size Friendship Star quilt block should I make?

Twelve inches, for a first one. The pieces are big enough to handle easily, the cutting comes straight off a charm pack, and any error in the seam allowance is small next to the block. Six and nine inch versions are lovely in a sampler but they punish an inaccurate quarter inch far more. The 12 inch Friendship Star quilt block is also the one this tutorial and the pattern sheet are written around.

What to have ready

• A light and a dark quilting cotton, and a third fabric if the center square is getting its own. A charm pack from our charm packs covers the whole 12 inch block.
• A rotary cutter with a sharp blade, a mat, and a square ruler in your unit size for trimming.
• Something that keeps the 1/4 inch honest on every seam, such as our seam guide ruler.
• A marking pen or pencil for the diagonal line, plus pins and clips, all in notions.
• An iron, and the patience to press rather than push.
• The pattern sheet above, printed.

Where to start with your first Friendship Star block

Make one Friendship Star quilt block at 12 inches before you decide anything about a quilt. Cut five squares at 4 1/2 inches and four at 4 7/8 inches, create the four HST units, trim them to 4 1/2 inches, and sew the three rows.

Then lay the same nine pieces out as a Shoofly, just to see it, and put them back. Then measure the finished block. If it is 12 1/2 inches square, the seam allowance is right and every other size in the table will behave. If it is not, you have learned that on one block instead of on twenty.

Marbelia Fernandes
The Fabric Hut Co-Founder

P.S. If you are making these for someone, sign the center square before you sew the rows. It is the one part of this block that cannot be added later.