Nine Tiny Friendship Stars

The Friendship Star is almost the easiest quilt block to make. If I were teaching a beginning piecing class, I’d start with a block that only has 90 degree angles, like Rail Fence or Log Cabin. I’d want the second block to incorporate half square triangles, like a Simple Pinwheel or a Friendship Star. I wouldn’t have my class make them this size, though. At three inches or smaller, at least a third of the fabric used in this block will end up in the seam allowance. It makes the finished product impossibly lumpy and awkward. A few months ago I bought a quilt pattern that calls for about a dozen of these itty bitty blocks to be used – almost like an afterthought – in the sashing. I figured the finished quilt would be just as nice without the tiny star blocks. After I decided not to make them, though, they started taunting me. So of course I had to try.