Follow

Basketweave Braid Star Block


Neural or Not Bee - braided star
So this month in my Flickr- Neutral or Not bee – I had the honor to make a block for Christina of The Parfait Cafe .  Christina wanted a star block and sent over grey and a variation of purple solids… OMG I totally need to make an all solid quilt now…
Christina is Super Talented and I was a bit nervous  to make a block in which I had complete control over the design…

Its funny how I do my best work when I am worried about not being good enough…

I designed this block after seeing a paper template where the weaves are thicker… but I really wanted to incorporate thinner weaves … so I can use a wide variation of fabric.

I drew it on paper with a ruler… the paper template was terrible looking.  I decided to spruce it up because I got so many compliments on it.

AND…… then decided to take it one step further with a tutorial….

So I made this…
Basket weave

Click here for the file!

Print 4 block templates.

Cut blocks out.

Untitled

Cut out your fabrics.

Untitled

I used 2.5×2.5 squares for the point of the star

Then used 1.5 inch strips for the braid

Untitled
on the back side of your template square you 2.5×2.5 square in the corner and place the #2 fabric choice faces together overlapped about 1/4 inch… where if you folded the 2 over it would cover the 2 spot… does this make sense… you turn it over and sew on the line between one and 2…
UntitledSee….

Flip it over and press….

Untitled

UntitledNow the third piece… same idea… faces together over  the line aprox… 1/4 inch.. Turn over and press… trim a bit… if you need to…

Untitled

fold over and press….

UntitledContinue on….
Untitled
Once you are all done with the weaving… I like to fold section 14 back… and trim the weaves… 1/4 past the edge.  ..

Untitled

Do this on both sides.

And you should have this…

Untitled

Take a larger piece of your background line it up with the edge of the weave…

Sew flip press… sew flip press.. trim

Untitled

Untitled

Untitled

Sew them together… careful to line up background fabric to each other…  I prefer to leave the paper on … but take it off if that’s your preference.

And you are done!!!!

I took it one step further…

Basketweave star

Now… what to turn this in to…. any ideas leave a comment 🙂

62 Responses to Basketweave Braid Star Block

  1. AWESOME!!!! So great that you took our bee block to the NEXT LEVEL! What program did you use to make the template? It’s very pro 🙂 Thanks for sharing it with everyone!

    • Anna, I used Adobe illustrator… I scanned in the one I drew on paper and then used that as a guide. Thanks so much!

  2. Your block is lovely. I have done the braids without paper piecing them but they are even prettier when the lines are so nice and straight. I expect that your block would make a beautiful pillow.

  3. Yup that is the same one that I saw in an old magazine and have wanted to make. It turned out great and a nice tut too.

  4. Those blocks are stunning! Thank you for the tutorial! I would make the 2nd block into a wallhanging & put it somewhere you could see frequently!

  5. wow this block is gorgeous. what about making a couple more and making a table topper?
    i need to get over my fear of pp’ing!

    • I was scared of paper piecing as well… but I love the precision it allows… Its a lot easier then you may think.

  6. Okay what popped into my mind for what to make it into – is to make another one in each color family and surround it (so you would need 8 color family blocks) – use a gradation scale. So this would be the center block – and WOW what a wallhanging!!! Or table topper!!!!

    Nice job. Please let us know what you end up doing – and post photos!!!

    • Sydney, That sounds awesome! I am torn between just quilting it and hanging it up, a pillow, or a table topper… I think I am going to sit on this for a while… but I will post photos when its finished…

  7. Wow. Love it! I am going to make it with white background and use for a signature quilt–probably with 1930’s fabric.

  8. I was directed to your blog by a posting on a Yahoo quilting group I belong to via Pewter Acorn Quilts blog and just had to say I love this block! Thank you so much for sharing it with us. Absolutely beautiful.

  9. Thanks for the great pattern Nydia! I just finished making two of these blocks for a quilting bee and they turned out great!

  10. Dear Nydia, What a life saver you are, thanks for sharing your pattern.
    I saw a purse made with this style and wondered how it was done.
    Now, I want to make the purse even more and a pillow.
    Your instructions saved me a lot of time trying to figure out how to do
    this, I am new to quilting and not familiar with quilting patterns at this time.

    • Dee Thank you so much for your comment! I am glad I could be helpful. If you have any problems feel free to shoot me an email I would be happy to help.

  11. Love the block and the tutorial–thank you! As for what to do with it . . . I like thinking outside the box, so I think you should make a few more, set the blocks on point, add some creative additional pieces, and make a very non-traditional Christmas tree skirt. I decorate my tree differently, both style and color scheme, every year, and these colors would be stunning!

  12. Oh what an awesome block! Love both the solid and pattern one, thank you for the great instructions definately adding to my to do….and i think your block would make a great mug rug or potholder! Love it.

  13. Gorgeous! There was a time when I was so sure I did not like Paper-Piecing. Then a quilter in our group did a demo and it was like a light-bulb went on. I finally got how simple it is and how precise it is! This will be a fun block to make from scraps. Thanks for sharing! Oh, and I love the border on the block!

  14. So nice! Great tutorial. Will try this with Darker fabric for even numbers and light fabric for odd numbers.

  15. Just printed this off. My quilt club is working on scrap quilting. This will work great! We just have to have a nice big bin of fabrics to pick from, which most of us have. Will try to post pic’s if they do turn out nice!

  16. Thank you so much for this lovely block and great tutorial, I use an Acuquilt go to cut out my fabric and I always have off cut strips to sort out, like most quilters I hate throwing them away and have several bags of them. Now I can use them to make this, super!.

    Peg 🙂

  17. Love this! So much so, I am going to give paper piecing a try.

    Question: Is it okay to make the piecing larger? I’d love to try it out larger, I think it might be easier to handle big pieces than the little ones.

    Thanks!

  18. Thre or four of these side by side would make a pretty summertime table runner. Can’t wait to try it!

  19. I love this star! I am most fond of anything paper-piecing.
    Thank you
    And thanks for the pattern