With Blockheads being a star-themed quilt along this year, I was beginning to wonder when we might see a good old fashioned Ohio Star star block in the mix. Thanks to Deb Strain of DebStrain.com, I didn’t have to wait long. Simply called, “Ohio Star,” her MBH5 block contribution for week #9 of Group Two, is just that. Deb says that since she’s actually from Ohio, the Ohio Star block has always been one of her favorites. She tries to use it in her designs as much as possible, which makes it even more of an obvious and easy choice for the series.

In case you’re not familiar with the style, the Ohio Star block is a nine-unit pattern made up of simple squares and quarter-square triangles. Historically, these blocks were popular among pioneer quilters because they are great way for beginners to master quarter-square triangles. Ohio Stars also allowed the quilter to be frugal by using leftover scraps to create stunning and unique looking blocks, despite being an easy pattern to make. The simple design allows you to create many different intricate looks just by switching up your color combinations. Or, if you want to get really crazy you could take it a step further by fussy cutting your favorite fabric to suit the center block. The choice is yours! Ready to give it a whirl? You can get the full pattern and instructions for “Ohio Star” on the Blockheads 5 Main Page by clicking the link below!

If you’re following along with me, please note that I made a couple of small changes to the instructions for this block because as you know, I prefer to avoid unnecessary trimming when I can. By cutting units exactly the size that I need to begin with (rather than oversized as the instructions suggest) I am able to skip trimming all together. These are the changes that I made:

Fabric wise, for my blocks I’m using Bella Solid Silver (9900 183) for the background of my quilt, and Bella Solid American Blue (9900 174) consistently throughout the entire thing. For any additional colors I’m using a combination of the soft, muted collection of Bella Solids that we put together for this project called “Sundown,” along with a new playful and vibrant Bella Solids collection called “Cozy.” Both collections are available for purchase on our website by clicking the buttons below!

Considering the sizable stack of things that I’m working on at the moment, it’s kind of nice to have a quick, simple block that I can bang out in no time this week. Ticking a “to-do” item off the list always feels good, especially when I know there’s more on the way! This Friday we will not only be welcoming blocks for Week # 38 in the Twilight Stars QAL series, but Clue #2 of O’ Say Can You Sew – Two is also scheduled to release. Are you ready??? If not, you better find a way to make room in your schedule for a little stitch time because Friday will be here before you know it!

Need something to watch while you get caught up? I just so happen to have the perfect solution! Tune in for my next LIVE show tomorrow – Thursday, February 29th, 2024 at 1:00 p.m. on my STITCH with Lisa Bongean YouTube channel by clicking the STITCH icon below! The girls and I have some fun things planned to celebrate the LEAP year (which miiiiight just result in a few extra prize give aways), plus I’ll be giving you an update on what’s going on with the upcoming Black Star Flower Farm and Liberty Gatherings BOM’s. Then directly following STITCH, we’ll switch over to the CommentSold studio to see what Jess has in store for us (at appx 2:15 p.m.). You can watch using the Primitive Gatherings CommentSold app, or by visiting our Primitive Gatherings Facebook page “LIVE Videos” area. Enjoy the rest of your day, get some stitching done, and I will see you then! ~Lisa