Use Snowball Blocks with Friendship Star Quilt Blocks
The Friendship Star is a nine-patch quilt block, with three equal divisions along each side. The tips of your Snowballs will flow in sync with the stars if you make them with triangles that take up the same space -- one-third of the block's sides.For a 12-inch block, one-third = 4".
- Cut a 12-1/2" square of fabric.
- Cut four 4-1/2" squares and use the quick pieced Snowball method to sew them to the corners of the large square. Clip and press.
To use a Snowball as an alternate with a 9-inch Friendship star quilt block, one-third = 3". Make the Snowball by sewing 3-1/2" squares to the corners of a 9-1/2" square.
For a 6-inch block, one-third = 2". Sew 2-1/2" squares to the corners of a 6-1/2" square.
Do see a pattern? We're adding 1/2" to the finished size of the block segment that we want the tips to match.
Look closely at your patchwork to determine where you want the Snowball tips to meet the segments on an adjacent block. Calculate the finished length, add 1/2", cut squares that size and you're good to go. Be sure to add 1/2" to the large Snowball square's finished size, too, so that it matches the unfinished size of the quilt block it will rest against.
More on Snowball Tip Lengths
There might be times you want Snowball tips to be larger than the patchwork in the adjacent quilt block. Analyze the pattern to determine how the layout will look if you increase or decrease the size of your Snowball tips.The Double Nine-Patch layout on the next page is a good example of how a quilt might look when you alter the tips of Snowball blocks.
