Patchwork Lone Star Sew Along: Adding the Background and Finishing Your Quilt Top

This is the home stretch of making a Patchwork Lone Star quilt. With your diamonds sewn, you are ready to add the background fabric, bring your star together, and finish with the borders. This is such a fun part of making a Patchwork Lone Star quilt—you finally get to see all those pieces become a quilt top! 

Whether this is your first Lone Star or you've made a few before, I hope you've learned something new and feel more confident along the way. Take a minute to appreciate how far you've come. There has been a lot of sewing to get to this point!

If you missed Part 1 and Part 2 be sure to check out those posts first.

Now let's finish this quilt!

Add the Small Background Triangles

First, lay out all (8) diamonds in their final arrangement so you know which side of each diamond needs the background pieces. You don't want to have to reach for your seam ripper at this point!

Start by sewing the smaller background triangles (B2) to the diamonds. Offset the background piece so it extends ¼″ beyond the diamond.

And yes, I'm going to remind you to pin again! Pinning helps keep everything from getting wonky as you sew.

You will have (4) diamonds with the background triangle on one side and four with the placement mirrored. Check your layout as you go to make sure each piece is facing the right direction.

Press the seams according to your preference. I press mine open to stay consistent with the rest of the diamonds, but do what works for you.

Add the Large Background Triangles

Next, sew the larger background triangles (B1) to the units you just finished.

Before sewing, make sure the bottom edges of the background triangle and diamond unit line up. Keeping those edges even matters when you assemble the next sections, and it helps preserve the point of the outer diamond.

Pin, sew, and press your seams as desired. With the background triangles attached, you are ready to bring your star together!

Sew the Star Together

Start by sewing your diamond-and-background units into quadrants. Line up the center points of each pair, then pin at every seam where the diamonds meet.

Press the seams as desired. I continue pressing mine open to stay consistent with the rest of the star.

Once your four quadrants are sewn, join them into two half sections. But before you do this step, make sure the sides where the 2 diamonds come together at the point is a 90-degree angle. If it's not, then the 2 star halves will not sew together nicely and you may end up with a wavy center. 

This video demonstrates how to make sure your center points come together perfectly. In this video I demonstrate with a single star block, but the steps are the same.

The only difference between the block and the video and this quilt is I recommend pinning at each seam where the diamonds meet to help prevent stretching and keep your seams aligned. 

Add the First Borders

With your star assembled, you are ready to sew on the first borders. Follow the pattern instructions for your quilt size, including the trimming needed after attaching them.

I trim the excess before pressing the border seams, then press them to one side. Feel free to press according to your preference.

Piece and Attach the Diamond Border

For each side of the diamond border, sew five diamond strips together, following the arrangement in the pattern and process photos. I press these seams open to stay consistent with the other diamond strips.

When attaching the diamond borders to your quilt top, use lots of pins. These strips are cut on the bias and can stretch easily, so take your time with this step.

Sew a diamond border to one side of the quilt, trim the excess according to the pattern, and press the seam as desired. Repeat on the opposite side, then attach the diamond borders to the two remaining sides in the same way.

Add the Final Borders

Finally, sew on the outer borders following the instructions for your quilt size.

Then your Patchwork Lone Star quilt top is finished!

You did it! Making a Lone Star quilt is an accomplishment, and I hope you feel proud of yours. From choosing your fabric to sewing those last borders, you've put a lot of care into this quilt.

I'd love to see what you've made. If you share a photo on social media, be sure to tag me so I can see your quilt.

Thank you for sewing along with me. I hope this is the first of many star quilts for you.