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 stretch along one-third of the block.For a 12-inch block, one-third = 4".
- Cut a plain 12-1/2" square.
- Cut four 4-1/2" squares and use the quick pieced Snowball method to sew them to the corners of the large square.
For a 9-inch block, one-third = 3". Sew 3-1/2" squares to the corners of a plain 9-1/2" square.
For a 6-inch block, one-third = 2". Sew 2-1/2" squares to the corner of a plain 6-1/2" square.
See the 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 and you're good to go. Be sure to add 1/2" to the large Snowball's finished size, too, so that it matches the unfinished size of the quilt block you're sewing it next to.
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 different a quilt will look when you alter the tips of Snowball blocks.
