How to Make a 9-inch Ohio Star Quilt Block – A Visual Guide

For each small Ohio Star block, cut the following:

Background Fabric – in the above photo, it is the blue on white fabric

4 3 ½ inch squares
1 4 ¼ inch square cut in half diagonally twice

Star Fabric – in the above photo, it is the light green tonal floral fabric

1 3 ½ inch square for star center
2 4 ¼ inch square cut in half diagonally twice for star points

Contrast Fabric – in the above photo, it is the dark green tonal leaf fabric

1 4 ¼ inch square cut in half diagonally twice for contrast

Sewing the triangle pieces together for Ohio Star quilt block — Sew the triangle pieces together for Ohio Star quilt block

Stack star background and contrast triangles on left and star triangles on right. In both stacks, keep the 90 degree angle at right. Sew background triangles and contrast triangles to star triangles with right sides together and star triangles always on the bottom. Sew down the right edge from the 90 degree angle as shown.

Background and contrast triangles sewn to star triangles

Star side of sewn triangle pieces for Ohio Star quilt block

Press seam toward star triangle for Ohio Quilt block — Press seam toward star triangle on all pieces for Ohio Quilt block

Sew background triangle sets to contrast triangle sets along long edge nesting seams for Ohio Star quilt block — Sew background triangle sets to contrast triangle sets along long edge nesting seams

Press seam on sewn triangle pieces for Ohio Star quilt block — Open sewn triangles pieces and press seam toward contrast triangle

Trim dog ears from sewn triangle pieces for Ohio Star quilt block

Arrange the sewn triangles to form Ohio Star quilt block — Arrange the sewn triangles with the background squares and the center square to form Ohio Star quilt block. Make sure your contrast triangles border the center square and the background triangles are on the outer edge.

Sew the rows together first for the Ohio Star quilt block. Keep checking to be sure you have the parts in the correct order as you sew.

Pressing seams on Ohio Star quilt block — Press the seams inward for middle row and outward for outside rows for the Ohio Star quilt block

Sew the rows together nesting the seams for the Ohio Star quilt block. Make sure you keep your rows in the correct order as you sew that third row onto the block.

Pressing the row seams on the Ohio Star quilt block — Press the row seams outward on the Ohio Star quilt block

Beautiful 9 inch Ohio Star quilt block — Turn the block over and admire your beautiful 9-inch Ohio Star quilt block

As you can see, my block is not perfectly square. It tends to bow a little at the middle row. I do not trim it because this is caused by the fabric stretching. When I sew the block into the quilt, I just keep the edges of the two pieces I am sewing even with each other and stitch a quarter inch seam. Once the quilt is completely finished and washed, it all looks fine. I use unwashed fabric when I am quilting so the fabric shrinkage outweighs any wonkiness in the blocks themselves and the washing helps bring the fabric back into shape.