After a year hiatus… block of the week returns! I will be posting a block for you to make, along with the instructions (for free!) each week for nine weeks. You can make all of one block and make a scrappy one block lap quilt, adding more blocks, or you can make a fantastic sampler. It’s up to you!

Along with the block pattern instructions, I’ll include some other things in the post. One week it could be tips for completing the block and another week it could be some block history. You never know! I think it will be fun and in the end you’ll have a least have nine blocks to make a sampler wall hanging/large table topper. And maybe you’ll have picked up or honed a few of your quilting skills.

These blocks give you a good opportunity to use up scraps of fabric you have, like random 10 x 10 (layer cake) pieces or assorted fat 1/8s. You can also go through your fabric stash and look at what larger cuts of fabric may work in a scrap project and cut those into fats for use throughout the project. If you want your background fabric all the same, I estimate about 1 1//2 to 2 yards will cover making nine blocks.

Let’s get started with the first week’s block!

Block of the Week – Block 1

My first block is made up of two easy to piece, traditional quilt blocks. I love traditional blocks but also like to add a twist in, like combining them. The eight-pointed star and the churn dash combined makes a cool block!

I liked it so much, I decided to make a version with a dark background. If you do this too, you’ll end up with 18 interesting blocks!

You can find the free instructions for this block here: 2026 BOW Block 1.

Block History

Since this is a fairly easy block to construct, I’ll share some block history about each element of the block. 

Star: First up, the star portion of this block. This design is often referred to as a sawtooth star. It’s one of the most common and easiest to make. It’s made with one large center square, four flying geese units and four small squares.

It is also known by other names like Eight-pointed Star, Evening Star or Variable Star. Because women in the west often shared patterns but didn’t know the original name, they would many times rename it with one they liked. That’s why a lot of traditional blocks are know by more than one name. How many other names can you find for this simple pattern?

Churn Dash: The Churn Dash is one of the oldest block designs. It dates as far back as 1800. Since it was an easy pattern to learn, new quilters often learned to piece by making this block. It is thought the name derives from the perimeter of the block resembling a churn and the center a “dash” (the stick that was used) to churn.

What makes this an easier block to construct is it’s mostly straight seam sewing. It’s made up of a plain large square framed by two strips on each side, one the color of the “churn” and the outside one the background color, often the same as the center. Finally, the corners are anchored by four half-square triangle squares.

Final Thoughts

Some final thoughts for the beginning of this Block of the Week sew along. If you want to, just make the nine blocks and have a small wall hanging or large table topper. You can also make two of each, maybe with different backgrounds like I did, and end up with 18 blocks. With some creative sashing, you can end up with a nice lap size quilt. If you decide to make a bigger quilt, make 3 or 4 of each block for a larger scrappy sampler.

The main thing is to have fun!

That’s it for this week. Enjoy making block 1 and come back next week for block 2.

Happy Quilting!
Deanne