As a relatively new quilter, I’m always trying to soak in knowledge and find my style. The more I quilt, the more I realize I gravitate towards modern quilting. Clean lines, beautiful bright colors, not a lot of fuss. However, when I’m drawing inspiration, I keep finding myself looking back at some of quilting’s classic blocks.
They are beautiful blocks that have stood the test of time for a reason. Each is unique and have so much to teach and give. That’s why I’ve decided to start a
Classic Quilt Blocks series. I’ve drafted up a list of all the classic blocks that speak to me, and I’ll be learning as much as I can about each one and creating a mini quilt for each to grow as a quilter and develop new skills.
First up in this series is the LeMoyne Star!
The LeMoyne Star
They say go big or go home, right? I should’ve known better than to jump into one of the hardest blocks out there first but I couldn’t help myself. The LeMoyne star is a special block that captures my heart the first time I saw it. Though to be fair, it also led to some confusion.
The Regular 8-Point star vs. the LeMoyne Star
The confusion came from seeing the regular 8-Point star, sometimes called the Sawtooth block, and the LeMoyne Star, and the Lonestar block all confused together.
And it makes sense, for they have some similarities. They all have 8 points, and they have triangles and squares as setting pieces.
However, their construction is different. The proportions of each point are different because they use different shapes used in each star. In the LeMoyne Star, all interior seam lengths are the same, whereas in the 8-point star these seam lengths are different. This is because the LeMoyne star uses diamonds for each of its points, whereas other 8-Point stars are constructed from Half-Square Triangles. And this is what makes the LeMoyne star special - and hard to create. Because its shape cannot be divided into HST, you end up with Y-Seams. But this is what made me fall in love with it. It has such a clean look that I just couldn’t say no to it.
My LeMoyne Star Block
My first attempt failed. A complete and utter failure. It was going well until it wasn't. One minute I was confident I had it, the next I was staring at a crooked, bumpy mess. I tried ripping seams and re-sewing the points where I thought I went wrong and that just yielded another crooked, lumpy mess.
After staring at it for a few minutes, I decided it was time to call it a day and try again later, but not before studying some more. I jumped on Pinterest and YouTube and read or watched a dozen different tutorials, all with slightly different but similar methods.
The next day I made one significant change: I started bigger. Initially, I wanted this to be a mini-mini, but I realized if I wanted to succeed with on a true 8-point star, I needed to go big or go home on my first one.
I ended up combining a couple of different methods, but the result had me looking like a heart-eyed emoji and dancing in my kitchen. And I only had to use my seam ripper once! Win, win.
So after completing my first successful LeMoyne Star and conquering Y-seams, here are some tips for you
Fabric Marker Is Your BFF
The trick to Y-Seams is to stop sewing 1/4 inch from the edge of your fabric. Having a foot with a 1/4 mark will be helpful, but honestly, the best thing you can do is mark your fabric. On my second attempt I might’ve gone a little overboard and marked ALL THE BORDERS, but it worked so next time, you best believe I’ll be marking all the borders again.
Accuracy Is King
Accuracy is important in all quilting. However, some blocks are more forgiving than others. LeMoyne Stars and Y-Seams have zero forgiveness. Even small mistakes you think you might get away with will come back to haunt you sooner or later.
For My Next LeMoyne Star
Confession: I’m kind of obsessed with this block, and I’m already planning my next LeMoyne Star adventure. I’ll be doing a variation of this block for the
Pantone Quilt Challenge hosted by
Bryan House Quilts and
No Hats In The House. Truth is this is why I started my Classic Blocks Series with the LeMoyne star. I wanted to test it’s something I could do using my scraps before jumping into making the mini I have in mind for the challenge.
Interested in the fabrics I used? They are the same as in my
Tulip Bouquet Quilt, scroll to the end for links.
I appreciate that you call out the difference between an 8 pointed star and the LeMoyne star: the former easy to do, the latter, a little more challenging.