How to Sew a Nested Sawtooth Star Quilt Block

The nested sawtooth star is an attractive, traditional quilt block that is not too hard to put together.

These instructions will make a 12.5″x12.5″ nested sawtooth star block with 1/4″ seam allowances, so the finished block size will be 12″x12.”

Note: These directions make the blocks a little big and have you trim them down. This method works for any level of quilter but is especially foolproof for beginning quilters.

I’m including a color guide/legend so we can refer to the colors by A, B, C, and D. You’ll also need a background color.

Prepare your Fabric

Pre-wash your fabric, if needed.

Then, using a rotary cutter and rulers on a cutting mat, cut squares and triangles as follows:

• Four 3.5″ squares in the background color (for the outer corners)
• One 7.5″ square in the background color (for the larger flying geese)
• Four 4″ squares in A (for the larger flying geese)
• One 3.5″ square in C (for the center)
• Four 2” squares in D (for the smaller star corners)
• One 4.5″ square in D (for the smaller flying geese)
• Four 2.5″ squares in B (for the smaller flying geese)

Make the 6.5″ Sawtooth Star Block

Follow these instructions to sew a 6.5″x6.5″ sawtooth star block.

Make four 3.5″x6.5″ Flying Geese

Follow these instructions to sew four 3.5″x6.5″ flying geese.

Assemble the Sawtooth Star block

Lay out your 9 blocks (4 flying geese, 4 corners, one center block) as follows:

• First row: One small background square, one flying geese with the background edge facing up, and one small background square.
• Second row: One flying geese with the background edge facing left, 6.5″ sawtooth star block, and one flying geese with the background edge facing right. 
• Third row: one small background square, one flying geese with the background edge facing down, and one small background square.

Sew each row

Sew the first row together, with a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Press seams open.

Measure this row to make sure it’s 12 1/2″ wide. If it’s not, double check your seam allowance, rip out your seams, and try again. If it’s thinner than 12 1/2,” try moving the needle on your sewing machine a tad to the right to make your seam allowance smaller. You’ll want to measure the other pieces as the block comes together, but this is the best place to correct the problem (before you sew the rest of these seams!).

Sew the second row together with a 1/4″ seam allowance, taking care to match up the points exactly in the center of each seam.

Press seams open.

Sew the third row together, like the first.

Press seams open.

At this point, three rows have been sewn together. You’re almost done!

Sew rows together

Sew the first row to the second row with a 1/4″ seam allowance, taking care to match up the points exactly in the center of each seam. I like to pin the two rows at this point.

Press seams open.

Sew the second row to the third row with a 1/4″ seam allowance, taking care to match up the points exactly in the center of each seam.

Press seams open.

Measure to make sure block is exactly 6.5″x6.5″. It should have 1/4″ seam allowances on every side, and there should be 6″ from side to side in both directions.

If it is not the right size, measure each piece to figure out what went wrong, rip back, redo that, and sew the block back up again. Think of it as practice to help you get better at quilting.

You should now have a finished 6.5″ sawtooth star block! Well, it still has raw edges, because there is a seam allowance. That is okay; it will be sewn to something else later, and will look perfect.