National Texas Day, How To Make the Texas State Quilt Block

We are introducing the Florida block! In 1912 Hearth and Home solicited quilters to submit a quilt block that they thought represented their State, and they then published them and I am recreating these blocks for us to make!

National Texas Day is Wednesday February 1, 2023! I am going to try to release the State blocks on their National day throughout 2023!

, National Texas Day, How To Make the Texas State Quilt Block

In 2022 I made this block by using paper piecing templates that I made in EQ8, but in 2023 I revisited this block and made it so that we don’t need to print any templates. I do use the Creative Grids Non-Slip Curve Savvy ruler to be able to cut the circular shape. Below I will show you how to put this block together by paper piecing and I have created a video tutorial for the paper piece tutorial and a video for the rotary cutting tutorial. The video will show you how I assemble the different sections of the block and then put them all together to become the single 12 1/2″ square block.

Below is the video for creating the block without templates or paper piecing.

How to make the Texas State Quilt block with free templates and cutting directions

I have updated the pattern to include the paper piece templates and the rotary cutting templates if you are unable to print.

Supplies

3 fat quarters of your choice, preferably a dark, medium and light color.. I am part of the Fat Quarter Shop Hoffman Batik of the Month club and my batik’s accumulate so that is how I got my fabrics for my blocks. I chose the colors of the State Cactus – Prickly Pear Cactus that has an orange flower

The following items are good things to have when getting ready to paper piece

Newspaper Print paper – this can be printed on and is very light and rips away very easily
Add-A-Quarter Ruler – has a ledge to but up against the sewing line so that the fabric can be cut with a 1/4″ seam allowance. Comes in several sizes.
Universal Presser foot – for sewing the fabrics when paper piecing.
1/4″ presser foot – for adding the sections together and other fabrics that need to be sewn that aren’t paper pieced.
Set your stitch length low so that the stitches are very close together to perforate the paper. This will make it easier to pull the paper off in the end.
Thread – Aurifil 50 wt. or Superior So Fine threads are great because they are strong, but light so there isn’t a lot of bulk in the seams.
An envelope or piece of junk mail that is stiff enough to fold the paper over at the seam lines.

Step 1 – How to Put your Foundation Paper together

The pattern includes the foundation paper pieces for sewing, but they will need to be put together to get the whole section. This will only require some tape! The same letter sections will need to be matched up with the light paper lines along the side or bottom of the page. Make sure that the lines in the pattern also line up with each other. Remember not to tape over the solid sewing lines.

Once these are taped together, you can cut them apart, but leave some paper around the edges to help move it around when sewing.

Step 2 – Cut your fabric pieces with the fabric templates

I have provided templates to cut the shapes from each of your fabrics. Once you have your fabrics gathered, determine where each color will go in the block and pair up the fabric templates with the colors.

At this point, I will trace the templates onto freezer paper so that I can iron the freezer paper onto the fabric and cut the pieces out that way. This is an optional step, the templates can be used directly from the paper also. Each template tells how to cut each of the pieces out. If the fabric has a front and back, then the template will need to be flipped over to accommodate. Batik fabrics don’t need to have the templates flipped because both sides of the fabric are the same.

Section E does not need to be traced, this piece will need to be cut precisely like the pattern piece. This will not be paper pieced on, we will sew these pieces on at the end.

Step 3 – Let’s start Paper Piecing!

Section C

Load a universal foot onto your machine for the paper piecing portion and set your stitch length to a close stitch setting. I have Janome machine that has a default stitch length of 2.2 and I put it at 1.5 for paper piecing.

Grab Section C, we will start with this section. This section only has two pieces, so it is a good start! Remember that we will be sewing on the printed side and putting our fabrics on the back side of the paper.

Flip your paper over so the printed side is down and if you would like you can draw the sewing lines and the outer cut line for reference. Place the fabric for the A1 piece face up against the back side of the paper and place the edge next to the sewing line approx. 1/4″ over the sewing line between A1 and A2. Make sure that the fabric also has coverage over the entire A1 piece, even the cut line. Tape down to hold it in place.

Next take the fabric piece for A2 and line up the edge against the A1 piece at the sewing line. Match up the edges of the fabric at the sewing line, so that when we sew we will have a 1/4″ seam allowance. Tape this down also to keep in place.

Now we can flip it over and take it to the machine and sew along the sewing line between A1 and A2 starting outside the cut line. Once we have it sewn on, iron towards the A2 piece.

Section C is now complete and we will cut all our sections at the end.

Section B

Section B will be next, and we will set up Pieces B1 and B2 exactly like we did for C1 and C2 above. Once B1 and B2 sewn on and ironed, we will move to B3.

Piece B3

To add Piece B3 we will need our envelope or stiff piece of paper, the add a quarter ruler, and a rotary cutter.

With the printed side face up towards you, place your “envelope” along the sewing line between A2 and A3 and fold it over the on that line against the “envelope”. Now we can take our add-a-quarter ruler and but it up against the fold and you can now trim the fabric and it will created a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Flip your paper piece back over and take the A3 fabric piece and line up the appropriate edge with the A2 piece. At this point, you can fold the A3 fabric over at the 1/4″ sewing line and make sure you have coverage. Make sure that the two edges of the A3 and A2 fabric are lined up along the edge. This will give us our 1/4″ seam allowance.

Flip the paper piece back over and sew on the line between A2 and A3 starting outside the cut line and ending outside the cut line. Iron your piece towards the A3 piece.

Your Section A is complete and we will trim it at the end.

Repeat for the Section B and D pieces!

A Note About Section D

Section D is comprised of 3 pieces that are the same fabric. The reason I did this is to me sure all five points of the star have a seam at their base. As you will see having seams at the base of all the points really gives the star the look of a star.

Step 4 – Trim Your Paper Pieces

At this point all our paper pieces are sewn.

Very Important Information!

We can trim along the outside line of all our sections. It is very important to trim on the outside cutting line and not the inside sewing line! Very important! Cut the notches on the corners out where indicated.

Step 5 – ASSEMBLE The Star Pieces

Lets now lay our our sections to create the star in the circle.

Place Section A and then put Section D up next to it along the side that matches Section A. Next we can put Section C up next Section D along the side that matches it. This will leave one long side that Section B will fit on!

Start with Section A and Section D and put them right sides together matching edges and ends, using the notches to help line up the ends. Pin in place and just double check that the star point and star center seams will overlap by approximately 1/4″. They should, but I just check to make sure.

At this point put in your 1/4″ presser foot and use that to sew the two pieces together. Alternately you could just sew on the sewing line because that will be 1/4″ also. You will still be using the small stitch because there is paper on the back of these pieces.

Once sewn on, then iron towards Section D.

Next add Section C to the Section D in the same manner described above. Sew and Iron towards Section C.

Lastly add Section B and sew it and iron towards Section B.

Yea!! Your Star in a circle is complete!

Step 6 – Add the Corners

Your probably wondering how in the world are we going to get the corners on this circle! It’s easy, let’s walk through it.

Lay your corners out around the circle.

Next, put the short edges right side together and pin. Sew these edges with a 1/4″ seam, all four edges will be sewn together to create a square around the circle. Be mindful that you always have the right sides together so that your seams are all to the back.

Now we need to find the four quarters of this star. Chose one of the points and use this to fold the circle in half and mark the other side, this will be a quarter mark for one of our seams. The point of the star will be our other mark.

Next use the star point and the mark we made and line those up and fold in half and mark the other two marks at the fold. Now there are four marks to represent the four quarters of our circle.

Once we have our four quarters marked, line up the four seams that were just made with the corner pieces with these four marks and pin.

Lastly, start carefully lining up the corner curved edge with the circle curved edge and pin in place. Work with one quarter at a time until you have the whole thing pinned.

Once you feel good about the pinned edges. Slowly and carefully sew a 1/4″ around the circle.

Iron the corners away from the star center.

Your Texas State Quilt Bock is complete!

All the is left to do is pull the paper off the back and your block is ready to go!

Congratulations! Your Texas State Block is now complete! Share your newly created block with your friends on Social Media! Use the #TexasStateQuiltBlockCC and see what other people are making!

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