Sawtooth Star Quilt Pattern: Little Stars Table Runner
Here’s a fun little sawtooth star quilt pattern that looks great in any color scheme. I’m already making gifts for the holidays but it’s great for any day of the year. Pattern is called “Little Stars” and it’s adorable.
This little elf has been busy in Santa’s workshop creating a special sawtooth star quilt pattern for Christmas. This mini table runner called, Little Stars, and it will be the perfect addition to your holiday table. A traditional quilt block made with a center square and flying geese units using the one at a time method. No special ruler needed, I’ll show you how to use a regular straight line ruler to make this charming pattern. This is one of my favorite quilt blocks to make, let’s get started.
This pattern has two rows of sawtooth star blocks with a simple red gingham border on all sides, wider on the ends. In this blog post, I’ll walk you through making flying geese units one at a time and assembling a Sawtooth Star block.
Sawtooth Blocks
Sawtooth star blocks come in lots of different sizes and I’m trying to find my favorite method of making them. I won’t know for sure until I try them all. Now the one at a time method may take longer to make than some other methods, it will have a little bit of waste fabric but that’s fine with me too. For this holiday table runner, the finished block size is 5″ x 5″. Each flying geese unit is finished at 1.5″ x 3″. The star centers are 3″ x 3″ squares with 1.5″ x 1.5″ corner squares. Finished quilt measures 11.25″ x 28.75″. The free pattern is listed below.
You can use fat quarters or stash fabric, I used about a half yard of fabric for each color and backing fabric. you don’t need a lot of fabric to make this easy block. You also don’t need a special flying geese ruler to trim, just use a straight line quilting ruler and I’ll show you what you need to get accurate units. It’s easy, save your money and pass on the new ruler.
I’m only providing information and fabric measurement to make one size flying geese unit. If you want free printable charts with different size units, there are several online but they mostly come in 4 at a time charts. Search for one at a time if you want to continue using this method.
You can also make flying geese with half-square triangles, check out my Flight quilt for a tutorial on that. This blog post will do the tradition method that does not have a seam line through the unit. It’s a cleaner method and really fast if you use diagonal seam tape and no sewing pins. More on that below
MAKE SURE YOU CHECK THESE OUT!
After you read this post, make sure you also check out Learn How to Quilt for Absolute Beginners. It’s jam packed with information to make your first quilt. It also has links and resources that are so helpful when you’re first learning. There’s lots of free quilt patterns that are great for beginners and all skill levels too. So make sure you check this out, seriously don’t forget!
Make sure you grab a copy of my free Quilt Planning Journal. It’s filled with graph paper and note pages to help you design at least 4 quilt or sewing projects! Use it to jot down ideas, fabrics, patterns and inspiration all in one place. Or create your own patterns and share with others. Pin in fabric swatches, photos of your finished quilts and enjoy your creative process!
Easy Sawtooth Star Quilt Blocks
You will need about a half yard each of green, red, white and red gingham. You may also need about half a yard of backing fabric. The cutting measurements are below.
For each Sawtooth Star block (5″ x 5″ finished size), you will need the following. You will need 10 quilt blocks for this free quilt pattern:
- Star Points (Flying Geese units):
- 4 rectangles of 2.25″ x 3.5″ (for one block)
- 8 squares of 2.25″ x 2.25″ (2 squares per rectangle)
- Trimmed to 1.5″ x 3″
- Star Center and Corners:
- 1 center square of 3″ x 3″
- 4 squares of 1.5″ x 1.5″ for the corners
- Finished block 5″ x 5″
Flying Geese (One at a Time Method)
Take one of your 2″ x 3.5″ rectangles (this will be the “goose”) and two 2″ x 2″ squares (these will be the “sky”).
Draw a diagonal line on the back of each 2″ x 2″ square. Or use diagonal seam tape: Insert your needle into the fabric and stitch once. With the needle down, line up corner you are sewing to with the center line on the seam tape. No need to pin in place and saves a lot of time.
Place one 2″ x 2″ square on the right side of the 2″ x 3.5″ rectangle, aligning the edges. The diagonal line should run from the top left corner to the bottom right corner. Sew along the marked line. Trim the excess fabric, leaving a quarter inch seam allowance.
Repeat for the Other Side
Place the second 2″ x 2″ square on the opposite side of the rectangle, with the diagonal line running from the top right corner to the bottom left corner. Sew along the marked line or from the center point to the bottom of the rectangle. Trim the excess and press the corner open.
Trim excess fabric by lining your ruler’s quarter inch seam allowance line directly on top of the seam line you just sewed and trim. Once you have all trimmed, press with iron.
Square Up
Next step is to square up the flying geese units into 1.5″ x 3″ finished. Line up the left side of the unit with the 1.5″ ruler line, don’t trim until the point on the unit is lined up with the quarter inch seam allowance line.
Now take the unit, and line the point up with a line on your cutting mat. Line it up with a .5 inch line, then you can trim 1.5″ from the center.
Flip the unit around and line it up to the 3″ line, trim. I don’t have a photo for this last step, but with point facing to the left trim to 1.5″.
You now have one flying geese unit with a finished size of 1.5″ x 3″. Repeat this process to make a total of four flying geese units for each Sawtooth Star block.
Assembling the Sawtooth Star Block
Once you have your flying geese units ready, it’s time to assemble the Sawtooth Star block.
Position your 3″ x 3″ square in the middle. Place two flying geese units on both sides, pointing towards the center square. Sew onto each side of the center square using a quarter inch seam allowance.
Take the remaining flying geese units and add the smaller squares onto both ends. The smaller squares are 1.5″ x 1.5″ each.
Now attach one to the top and one to the bottom of the block. Make sure the flying geese are pointing towards the center square. Nest at seams and attach with quarter inch seam allowance. Press with iron when done.
Assembling the Table Runner
Arrange your Sawtooth Star blocks into two rows with 5 blocks in each row. Sew blocks together to form rows. You will want to distribute your colors evenly if possible. I accidentally placed both the blocks with gingham centers next to each other, didn’t catch this until I was done. Oh well, it’s still pretty so no big deal.
Sew rows together to form quilt top. Nest at all seams, using a quarter inch seam allowance. You will have 4 seams to nest for each block, nesting properly is the key so take your time and use sewing pins. Press with iron when done.
Add Borders
Cut two border strips 1.25″ x 23.25″ and attach to both sides using a quarter inch seam allowance.
Now cut two border ends that are 3″ x 11.25″ and attach to both ends using a quarter inch seam allowance.
Press with iron, your mini table runner quilt top is done.
Baste, Quilt and Bind
This is fun to quilt, I decided to do stitch in the ditch so that the outline of the blocks would create a similar design on the backing fabric.
Use single fold binding that is 1.5″ wide using the red gingham fabric to finish it off. Enjoy this little beauty or get ahead of the game and gift it for the holidays!
BEGINNER SUPPLIES
Here are some quilting tools and supplies I recommend. I make a small commission if you purchase through the links, this helps to support this free content. For more info, check out Supplies for Beginners (Best Tools To Start).
Rotary Mat Cutting Mat (Self-Healing Mat)
28 mm Rotary Cutter Replacement Blades
45 mm Rotary Cutter with Sharp Blade (start with this one)
45 mm Rotary Cutter Replacement Blades (start with this one)
60 mm Rotary Cutter Replacement Blades
4.5″ Square Ruler for half square triangles
12.5″ Square Ruler for blocks
SAVE THIS PIN FOR LATER!
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.
ABOUT SEW NIKKI
If this is your first time stopping by, welcome! I’m Nikki, a maker obsessed with quilting, crochet, and all things fabric. Here, you’ll find easy-to-follow patterns, helpful tutorials, and plenty of inspiration for your next handmade project. Grab your fabric (or yarn), and let’s create something beautiful together!
There you have it – a detailed guide to creating a beautiful pattern, the free Sawtooth Star quilt pattern for a mini table runner using the flying geese method!
One tip: make sure you don’t mix up the small squares with the smaller squares. Get enough fabric to finish the project. Have a focus fabric or two and use a white background to make it pop! The good news is that this project looks great with just about any fabric. You can’t go wrong.
Follow me on social media (Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter) so you get notifications when I post new patterns and tutorials.
Want to learn how to crochet? Then check out this post, How to Learn How to Crochet – Guide for Beginners.
Beautiful work!
This is beautiful!! Thanks for the detailed information on how to make it! ❤️
So beautiful – I always wondered how these patterns were made. Thank you for the tutorial!