12″ Finished Block: Island Star

From the 2026 Sew Flake Mystery Quilt Challenge

April Block Two: Island Star

Instructions by Julie. Posted by Tia. (See PDF copy)

You will need 3 Fabrics:

1 Background Fabric
2 Different Colored Fabrics

Julie’s note: The center part of this block turned out plain to me, so I opted for a focus fabric in the center. Play with the color sheet and don’t be afraid to customize your block a bit. Let it speak to you. Use the Coloring Diagram as needed.

1 – Cut:

Background Fabric:
- Cut (1) center square 4.5”
- Cut (1) strip 2.5” x 37” then Sub Cut (8) 2.5” x 4.5”
- Cut (1) strip 2.5” x 21”

Julie’s note: If you are changing the center square, cut the 4.5” square from your chosen fabric instead of the background fabric.

Color Fabric One:
- Cut (1) strip 2.5” x 21”

Color Fabric Two:
- Cut (1) one strip 2.5” x 21” then Sub Cut (8) 2.5” x 2.5” squares

2 – Sew Strips: Using the 21” Background Fabric strip and the Fabric Two 21” strip, place right sides together and sew a ¼” straight seam. Set your seam and press the seam towards the dark side of the fabrics.

3 – Sub Cut: Sub cut the strip into (8) 2 ½ inch wide units. They should measure 2 ½ inches wide by 4 ½ inches tall.

4 – Create 4 Square Patches: Arrange per diagram and sew (4) patch squares

5 – Mark: Use the (4) 2.5” x 4.5” Background Fabric and the (8) Fabric Two squares to make flying geese. Start by marking all the Fabric Two 2.5” x 2.5” squares with a diagonal across the back. This should be done with a light pencil or a removable fabric type of marker. Frixion pens work well.

6 – Lay Out: Lay the Fabric Two square, right sides together on one end of the 2.5” x 4.5” piece as shown in the diagram. The marked diagonal line should be in the middle of the 4.5” piece going to the outside corner (See diagram)

7 – Sew: Sew along the marked line. You will be sewing only one side of the 4.5” piece. The chain method works well on this step.

Julie’s note: I like to place my needle just to the right side of the marked line (away from the center of the rectangle). This helps compensate for the space of the marking on the fabric. This slight variance seems to be effective. When I place my needle just to the right edge of the line, the block works correctly.

8 – Trim and Press: When you have completed sewing the first square on all 4 units, trim the seam down to ¼”. Set your seam and press to the side.

9 – Lay Out: Lay the remaining Fabric Two squares, right sides together on the opposite end of the rectangle. The marked diagonal line should be in the middle just overlapping the first block sewn, going to the outside corner. (See the diagram.)

10 – Sew: Using the chain method, sew all 4 blocks to the rectangle.

11 – Trim and Press: When completed, clip apart the chain and trim the seams down to 1/4” inch. Set your seam and press to the side.

12 – Sew Flying Geese: Sew flying geese units to the other 4.5” x 2.5 background pieces (as shown in the diagram below) The finished units should measure 4.5” by 4.5”

13 – Arrange: Arrange the sewn blocks as shown in the diagram below. Sew the blocks together as shown in the diagram.