Christmas Tree Star Block – Quilt Block Mania

I love being part of Quilt Block Mania. It’s a great way for me to provide you, my friends, with a lot of patterns based around a theme without all of the work of making 20 blocks on that theme. This month’s theme is Stars. I designed a Christmas Tree Star block for this month. But this block isn’t without a few giggles in the design and making process.

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My friend Carolina has set-up Quilt Block Mania and has done a great job. We have a Google Sheets file with all of the months, their themes, and the color scheme we should work with so all the blocks look cohesive. So since I knew December was star quilt blocks I set to work on designing a block that would have a little Christmas to it. Once I got my Christmas Tree Star Block just the way I wanted it I grabbed the color scheme and colored my block. I was pleased with how it looked so I printed it and headed over to the LQS to get just the right fabric. Everything was going so smoothly and I should have known then that something wasn’t right. When I uploaded my digital block to the group folder I noticed my block wasn’t using the same colors as everyone else. I couldn’t figure out how I could have gotten so far off. I had copied the color codes from the website to make the colors the exact color. That’s when I realized that I had used the color scheme from November to color my December block. And that is why my fabric block colors and my digital block colors are so different. But really what could be more 2020 right?

I always try to make my blocks and quilts as simple as possible because I want everyone to be able to handle making them. After I designed the block on the computer I had in my mind I wanted to make the Christmas tree portion a certain way. I fussed and fought with the math and the angles. I couldn’t get it to come out the way I wanted and then Paul asked, “Why don’t you just use the Tri-Recs tool?” My answer? “Well it won’t come out the right size and you’ll need to trim off about an inch of fabric. No one wants to waste that much.” Then he showed me the stack of wasted fabric I had with my method and I quickly realized an inch was nothing and there are a lot fewer headaches using a Tri-Recs than the angles I was cutting.

GET THE CHRISTMAS TREE STAR QUILT BLOCK PATTERN

Fabrics Used
For the digital version, that matches the rest of the blocks in Quilt Block Mania, of the block I used Ombre Squares from QT Fabrics. Ombre Squares is one of their basic lines so it should be around for some time and easy to find. It would be perfect for any of the blocks on this tour. I did choose Aqua instead of Chambray for the first blue but after some digging, I think Chambray is a better choice.

Tips and Tricks
When trimming the Tri-Rec unit down to 6.5″ x 5.5″ make sure you leave 1/4″ at the top and trim the rest from the bottom. To do this place the bottom of the 1/4″ line at the tip of the triangle. This will help to make sure you don’t cut your tip off your tree when setting the unit in your block.
If you need a Tri-Rec tool you can get one here.
If you need instructions on using the Tri-Rec tool please see this blog post.
If you need a video description for making flying geese with flippy corners please see this blog post.

The Rest of The Star Quilt Blocks

Stargazing Sue
Starburst at Slice of Pi Quilts
Massachusetts Star with blockofthmo.com
Nova Star at Always Expect Moore
Nativity Star
Star Bright – Cotton Street Commons
Five Pointed Star at Duck Creek Mountain Quilting
New Year Star at Stash Bandit
Poinsettia Star
Wish Upon a Satar by Heidi Pridemore
Falling Star at Pretty Piney Quilts
Star Splash at QuiltFabrication
Seward Star at Blue Bear Quilts
Moon Star at Perkins Dry Goods
Starburst at Patti’s Patchwork
Cherokee Star
Christmas Tree Star
Christmas Star by Oh Kaye Quilting
Starfish by Appliques Quilts and More
Snowy Star by Seams To Be Sew
Combination Star by Devoted Quilter
Ablaze by True Blue Quilts