Ribbon Star Quilt Block Tutorial

Ribbon Star is an easy traditional quilt block made up of only squares and half square triangles (HST’s). This block is a 16 patch meaning it’s made with 16 patchwork pieces: 4 squares, and 12 HST’s.

You can make this block in any size you desire according to the size of the squares and HST’s within. In my example the squares and HST’s are each 3” finished so the finished block size is 12”. If for example I wanted the block to finish at 6”, the squares and HST’s within would need to be 1.5” finished. You can refer to the tutorial How to Make a Quilt Block and HST’s from Scratch to learn more about how to make custom size blocks. That tutorial explains everything you need to know including using a 1/4” seam allowance, and the terms finished and unfinished sizes. Today’s Ribbon Star tutorial will make a 12” finished block. The cutting list below will make 1 block. You will need 2 contrasting colors which I will refer to as background color and star color.

CUT:

• (4)- 3.5” background colored squares (pink)

• (6)- 4” background colored squares (pink)

• (6)- 4” star colored squares (green)

Set the four 3.5” background colored (pink) squares aside for now. The remaining 4” squares will be used to make 12 HST’s. Begin by pairing up the contrasting colored 4” squares. On your work surface lay out your 6 darker colored 4” squares, then place your 6 lighter colored 4” squares on top of them. Refer to my HST Tutorial to make the HST’s. Scroll to the section of the tutorial where it says ASSEMBLE HST’s and begin there. The six pairs of squares will make 12 HST’s. Once made, be sure to trim the HST’s to 3.5” (their unfinished size) as shown in the tutorial. The next step is to assemble the block. Lay out the shapes as shown below.

Sew the pieces together to form 4 horizontal rows as shown below and press the seams open (or to the side if you prefer).

Now sew the rows together being sure to match the seams by pinning. If you don’t know how to match seams you can refer to this blog post.

Ribbon Star is a sweet and simple traditional quilt block. It’s often made with only two contrasting colors but there are no rules so feel free to change it up if you want.