The sawtooth star is a very famous quilt block. This version has a square-in-square (a little diamond) on the inside. These directions will make a sawtooth star block that is 12.5″ by 12.5″ with 1/4″ seam allowances, so the finished size will be 12″ by 12.”

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.

Sawtooth Star Quilt Block

Prepare your Fabric

Pre-wash your fabric, if needed.

Then, using a rotary cutter and rulers on a cutting mat, cut out all the squares.

Cut the following fabric squares:

  • Four 3.5″ squares in your background color for the square corners
  • One 7.5” square in your background color for the flying geese backgrounds
  • Four 4” squares in a medium color for the flying geese edges
  • One 4.75″ square in a light color for the square-in-square center
  • Two 4″ squares in a dark color for the square-in-square edges, then cut those in half diagonally
Sawtooth Star block cut pieces
Cut out pieces for the sawtooth star

Make 4 Flying Geese

Make four 3.5″x6.5″ flying geese quilt blocks using these instructions.

Make the Center Square-in-Square Block

You have one light-colored square and four dark-colored triangles.

First Triangle

Finger press the light square in half one way, then open and finger press the square in half the other way. You should have a crease in the center, going in both directions.

Line up one triangle with one edge of the square.  Line up the tip of the triangle with a center crease.

Sew the edge with a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Press seam open.

Second Triangle

Line up a second triangle with the opposite edge of the square.  Line up the tip of the triangle with the center crease.

Sew with a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Press seam open.

Third Triangle

Line up the third triangle with an open edge of the square.  Line up the tip of the triangle with the center crease.

Sew with a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Press seam open.

Fourth Triangle

Line up the last triangle with the last open edge of the square.  Line up the tip of the triangle with the center crease.

Sew with a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Press seam open.

Measure block to 6.5″ by 6.5″. If it is too large, and the seam allowance is large, trim to size.  Otherwise, rip out and try again. 

Center square-in-square block

Assemble the Sawtooth Star Quilt Block

Lay out the blocks. 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, center square-in-square, 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.

Assemble the Sawtooth Star Block

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!

Sawtooth Star Rows

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.

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 12.5″x12.5″. It should have 1/4″ seam allowances on every side, and there should be 12″ from point to point 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 this quilting stuff.

You should now have a finished 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.

Sawtooth Star, Finished!