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Quilt block

Sawtooth star quilt block

The sawtooth star is a large center square with four flying geese for points and a plain square in each corner. It sits on a 4 × 4 grid, so it's easiest at sizes that divide by 4: 8, 12 and 16 inches. If you can make a flying goose, you can make this star, and it's the star in our patriotic star throw and Christmas star table runner.

Sawtooth star block: a red center square, four flying geese with red points and four cream corner squares
Two-fabric sawtooth star. The star fabric is the center and the small "sky" triangles of each goose; the background is the goose itself and the corners.

How the block is built

Sawtooth star pulled apart into four corner squares, four flying geese and a center square in three rows
Three rows: corner, goose, corner / goose, center, goose / corner, goose, corner.

Call one grid square u: the finished block divided by 4. The corners are 1 × 1 u, the center is 2 × 2 u, and each goose is 2 u wide and 1 u tall. In a 12-inch star that's 3-inch corners, a 6-inch center and 3 × 6-inch geese.

The colors are the reverse of what you might expect. In each goose, the large triangle in the middle is background, and the two small triangles on its sides are star fabric. Turned around the center, those small triangles become the eight star points.

Cutting chart (one block, no-waste geese)

Finished blockGrid squareBackground: cornersStar: centerBackground: goose squareStar: sky squaresUnfinished block
6 in1½ in4 squares 2 in1 square 3½ in1 square 4¼ in4 squares 2⅜ in6½ in
8 in2 in4 squares 2½ in1 square 4½ in1 square 5¼ in4 squares 2⅞ in8½ in
12 in3 in4 squares 3½ in1 square 6½ in1 square 7¼ in4 squares 3⅞ in12½ in
16 in4 in4 squares 4½ in1 square 8½ in1 square 9¼ in4 squares 4⅞ in16½ in

The rules: corners are u + ½ inch, the center is 2u + ½ inch, the large goose square is 2u + 1¼ inches and the small sky squares are u + ⅞ inch. One large square and four small squares make all four geese. Those are exact sizes; if you'd rather trim the geese, add ¼ inch to the large square and ⅛ inch to the small ones. Every size in the chart was checked by calculation.

For a size that isn't listed (10 or 14 inches, say), the grid square lands on an awkward fraction. The quilt block resizer does the sawtooth star at any size and flags the sizes that don't fall on a ruler line.

Stitch-and-flip geese instead

If you'd rather sew one goose at a time, cut rectangles of background and squares of star fabric instead of the goose and sky squares above. It uses more fabric, but every edge stays on the straight grain.

Finished blockBackground rectanglesStar squares
6 in4 rectangles 3½ × 2 in8 squares 2 in
8 in4 rectangles 4½ × 2½ in8 squares 2½ in
12 in4 rectangles 6½ × 3½ in8 squares 3½ in
16 in4 rectangles 8½ × 4½ in8 squares 4½ in

Step 1: make four flying geese

  1. Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of each of the four small star squares.
  2. Lay two small squares on opposite corners of the large background square, right sides together, so their lines join into one line from corner to corner. The small squares overlap a little in the middle.
  3. Sew ¼ inch on both sides of the line. Cut on the line. Press the small triangles away from the large one.
  4. On each heart-shaped piece, put one more small square in the remaining background corner, right sides together, with its line running from that corner to the gap between the two small triangles.
  5. Sew ¼ inch on both sides of the line, cut on it and press toward the small triangle. You now have four geese.
  6. Measure each goose. In a 12-inch block they should be 6½ × 3½ inches, with the goose's tip exactly ¼ inch below the top edge. If you cut the trim sizes, trim now, centering the tip.

The flying geese guide has diagrams of both methods and a chart for five goose sizes.

Step 2: sew the block

  1. Lay out the nine pieces. Turn each goose so its large background triangle points toward the center square. That's the step people get backward: the goose points in, and the star points come from the small triangles on either side.
  2. Sew the top row: corner, goose, corner. Sew the bottom row the same way. Press toward the corner squares.
  3. Sew the middle row: goose, center, goose. Press toward the center.
  4. Join the rows, nesting the seams. Press the long seams toward the middle row.
  5. Measure: 6½, 8½, 12½ or 16½ inches.

When you sew a goose to its neighbor, sew with the goose on top so you can see its tip. Aim the needle a thread or two to the outside of the point where the seams cross, and the tip stays sharp.

Choosing fabrics

The big center is the place for a feature print: a novelty fabric, a fussy-cut motif or a scrap of a shirt in a memory quilt. If the center and the points are different fabrics, make the points the stronger color, or the star shape gets lost. A star with a contrasting center also needs strong contrast between the points and the background, more than you'd guess from looking at the fabrics on the bolt.

A small sawtooth star fits inside a bigger one. The center of a 16-inch star finishes at 8 inches, so an 8-inch star from the chart can replace its 8½-inch center square for a "star within a star." Make the small star first and check that it measures 8½ inches before you sew the big one around it.

Common mistakes and fixes

ProblemCauseFix
No star, just a square with trianglesGeese turned with their points facing outThe background goose triangle points to the center
Star points cut offGoose tip more than ¼ inch from its edge, or a wide seamTrim geese with the tip centered and ¼ inch from the edge
Geese too smallExact-size squares sewn with a wide seamCut the trim sizes and trim each goose
Middle row longer than the othersCenter square cut a little bigMeasure the rows before joining; trim the center row if needed
Wavy block edgeGeese stretched on the bias while pressingPress, don't iron, and starch the background first

Quilts made from sawtooth stars

Sawtooth star quilt: 20 stars in five colors on cream, 4 across and 5 down, with navy sashing
Twenty 12-inch stars, 4 across and 5 down, with 2-inch sashing between and around them: 58 × 72 inches.

Stars look best with some space between them, so sashing or alternate plain blocks are the usual settings. In red and navy on cream the block makes a patriotic quilt, and the size above fits the range the Quilts of Valor program asks for; the patriotic star throw is a full pattern with fabric amounts. Set the stars side by side without sashing and the corners and geese of neighboring blocks join into a secondary pattern of background diamonds.

Related blocks

The Ohio star is the nine-patch cousin, with quarter-square triangle points; the friendship star is the simplest star of all. The Dutchman's puzzle uses eight of the same geese with no squares at all. For every block on the site, grouped by grid, see the quilt block library.

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