1. About.com
  2. Home & Garden
  3. Quilting

Discuss in my forum

Star Quilt Pattern - A Joyous Celebration

By , About.com Guide

Make the Snowball Quilt Blocks
Make a Snowball Quilt Block

Assemble the Snowball Blocks. (yellow shading is used to make large centers more visible in diagram)

Janet Wickell

Sew the Snowball Blocks

  1. Draw a diagonal line from corner to corner on the reverse side of each Snowball tip square. The lines will remain in the quilt, so use a marker that will not bleed with dampness. Pencil or chalk are good choices. See Diagram A.

  2. Align a marked corner square with a large Snowball center square, right sides together and edges matched. Sew the two together along the marked diagonal line. See Diagram B.

  3. Trim away excess fabric at the Snowball block corner, leaving an approximate 1/4" seam allowance. See Diagram C.

  4. Repeat, sewing a square to the remaining three corners of the Snowball block. Press seam allowances outward at the corners to complete the block. Press carefully to avoid stretching the corners out of shape. Diagram C.

      Some quilters do not trim the tips at all. Leaving them intact puts an extra layer of fabric under block corners, but seems to add some stability, so try it both ways to see which method you prefer.
  5. Repeat to make a total of 12 Snowball blocks.

©2012 About.com. All rights reserved. 

A part of The New York Times Company.