Free 3 yard Quilt Pattern: Amish Star (2024)

Sew a beautiful Amish Star Quilt Pattern with just 3 yards of fabric! 3 yard quilt patterns are easy to sew and super popular. If you have three 1-yard pieces of fabric in your stash and are feeling creative, let’s sew a quilt. The Amish Star Quilt Pattern from SewCanShe is a 50” x 50” throw quilt pattern with big Amish Star quilt blocks.

This blog post has been converted to anoptionalPDF that’s optimized for printing. Find ithere. The free Amish Star 3 Yard Quilt Pattern is included in the blog post below and is totally free to read, print, and sew! Just hit CTRL +P on your computer to print. The Optimized for Printing PDF download for $3 is totally optional. Did you know you can get ALL the Optimized for Printing PDF files organized in a library for you to access anytime you want?Check it out.

What size quilt does 3 yards make?

Most 3 yard quilts are throw quilts or lap quilts because they don’t require a lot of fabric. This pattern would also make a darling baby quilt with 3 yards of fabric. Since this type of quilt isn’t very big, you can finish your quilt quickly and give it as a gift or use it in your home. Because of the size, throw quilts like this one are easy to quilt on a domestic sewing machine. This Amish Star quilt pattern teaches shortcut methods for sewing half square triangles and flying geese units. It is great for beginners.

You’ll have enough fabric to finish the quilt top including 4 blocks and 2 borders PLUS a double fold binding. More fabric is required for the quilt back.

If you love to use your AccuQuilt fabric cutter like I do, I’ll share the optional cutting die numbers to make this pattern Accuquilt-friendly. Using an Accuquilt is optional, but I love it! See all my Accuquilt-friendly quilts. Look under the cutting dimensions below for a list of fabric-cutting dies you may use instead.

Except for the strips, all of the dies I used for this quilt were in the GO! Qube Mix & Match 12″ Block set.

How to Choose the Right 3 Yards of Fabric

All my 3 Yard Quilt Patterns make it really easy to pick your fabric. First find a beautiful ‘focus fabric’ in your stash or at your local quilt shop. This should be a fabric that really sings to you – or that makes you think of the intended recipient of the quilt.

In the example above, I wanted a traditional looking blue and cream colored quilt, so my focus fabric is a medium blue print with small pink and white flowers. I pulled it from my fabric stash and I can’t tell you what it is, sorry!

After you have chosen your focus fabric, choose one coordinating fabric that is lighter and one coordinating fabric that is darker. Both of my coordinating fabrics are Moda Grunge Basics.

Wouldn’t this quilt pattern make a beautiful baby quilt too? The focus fabric in the quilt above is the a floral print in the Hibiscus Collection by Riley Blake Fabrics.

If you follow these instructions for choosing your fabrics, you can’t go wrong, and you probably already have 3 fabrics in your stash that will make a beautiful quilt.

Amish Star Free Three Yard Quilt Pattern

This free quilt pattern includes instructions for an 18” (finished) Amish Star quilt block. There are only 4 quilt blocks in this quilt, which is another reason why it is so quick to sew!

The finished throw quilt is 50” x 50”. It’s perfect for snuggling on the couch or donating to Project Linus or another worthy organization.

Important note: This pattern squeezes as much as possible out of each yard of fabric. The width of each piece must have 42” of usable fabric. Most fabric printed in the last 5-10 years will work great because it’s 44” wide, including the selvages so it is 42-43” wide after you cut off the selvage. Please measure the width of your fabric pieces before getting started to make sure and follow the cutting charts below carefully.

You will need:

• 3 one yard cuts of fabric (a main focus fabric, one darker fabric, and one lighter fabric)*
• a rotary cutter acrylic ruler, and mat
• sewing machine
• thread (I suggest thread matching the lighter fabric)
• ironing board and iron
• pencil or fabric marking pen

*Note: You may need a few inches of extra fabric if you are using an AccuQuilt fabric cutter.

To sew the quilt top into a finished quilt, you will also need:

• 3 1/8 yards of backing fabric (or enough to piece together a 55” x 55” quilt back)
• a piece of quilt batting at least 55” x 55”

Cutting:

Fabric A is your focus fabric. From this fabric, cut:

• 4 squares 6 1/2” x 6 1/2”
• 16 squares 4” x 4”
• 16 squares 3 7/8” x 3 7/8”
• 5 binding strips 2 1/2” x 42” (or your preferred width of binding)

Optional Accuquilt cutting instructions:

• The 6 1/2” squares may be cut with die 55000 (in the 12” Qube set)
• Instead of cutting 4” squares and 3 7/8” squares, cut 64 3” finished HST triangles with die 55703 (in the 12” Qube set)
• The binding strips may be cut with the 2 1/2” strip cutter die 55017

Fabric B is the darker fabric. From this fabric, cut:

• 4 squares 7 1/4” x 7 1/4”
• 16 squares 4” x 4”
• 16 squares 3 1/2” x 3 1/2”
• 4 strips 4” x 42”

Optional Accuquilt cutting instructions:

• Instead of cutting 7 1/4” squares, cut 16 6” finished QST triangles with die 55726 (in the 12” Qube set)
• Instead of cutting 4” squares, cut 32 3” finished HST triangles with die 55703 (in the 12” Qube set)
• The 3 1/2” squares may be cut with die 55701 (in the 12” Qube set)
• The border strips may be cut with the 4” strip cutter die 55085

Fabric C is the lighter fabric. From this fabric, cut:

• 16 rectangles 3 1/2” x 6 1/2”
• 16 squares 3 1/2” x 3 1/2”
• 5 strips 4” x 42”

Optional Accuquilt cutting instructions:

• The 3 1/2” x 6 1/2” rectangles may be cut with die 55724 (in the 12” Qube set)
• The 3 1/2” squares may be cut with die 55701 (in the 12” Qube set)
• The border strips may be cut with the 4” strip cutter die 55085

Quilt Piecing

Use a 1/4’’ seam allowance and a regular stitch length such as 2 – 2.5.

How to Sew the Amish Star Quilt Block

Make 32 Half Square Triangles (HST’s)

1. Use the pencil or fabric marking pen to draw a diagonal line across the wrong side of all of the 4” Fabric B squares. This is a cutting line.

Place the 4” Fabric B squares right sides together with the 4” Fabric A squares. Pin the squares together.

2. Sew 1/4’’ away from the cutting line on on both sides of the line.

3. Cut each piece in half diagonally along the line. Open and press to make 2 half square triangles (HST units). Trim each HST to 3 1/2” square. Repeat to make 32 HST units.

If you are using AccuQuilt-cut fabric pieces, sew 32 fabric A 3” HST pieces together with 32 fabric B 3” HST pieces.

Make 16 Flying Geese Units

1. Use the pencil or fabric marking pen to draw a diagonal line across the wrong side of all of the 3 7/8” Fabric A squares. This is a cutting line.

2. Place two of the 3 7/8” Fabric A squares right sides together on a 7 1/4’’ Fabric B square, aligned with opposite corners. The squares will overlap and the drawn lines (from Step 1 above) should make a single diagonal line across the larger square.

3. Sew 1/4’’ away from the drawn line on either side. Cut the piece apart along the line.

4. Fold back the smaller triangles and press. Place another 3 7/8” square right side down on each piece, aligned with the remaining corner as shown. Stitch 1/4’’ away from the drawn line on either side.

5. Cut apart the pieces along the line. Fold back the triangles and press to make 4 flying geese units. Trim the flying geese units to 3 1/2’’ x 6 1/2’’.

Make 16 pieces.

If you are using AccuQuilt-cut fabric pieces, sew 2 fabric A 3” HST pieces together with a fabric B 6” QST piece to make a 3 1/2” x 6 1/2” flying geese unit. Repeat to make 16 flying geese units.

Assemble the Amish Star Quilt Blocks

1. Arrange 2 HST units together with one 3 1/2” Fabric B square and one 3 1/2” Fabric C square as shown above. Sew together in 2 rows. Sew the rows together to make a corner piece.

Make 16 corner units.

2. Sew a flying geese unit to a 3 1/2” x 6 1/2” Fabric C rectangle as shown above. Make 16 pieces.

3. Arrange 4 corner pieces and 4 flying geese + rectangle pieces together with a 6 1/2” Fabric A square as shown.

Sew together in 3 rows. Sew the rows together to make the block.

4. Square the block to 18 1/2” x 18 1/2”, if desired. Repeat to make 4 Amish Star blocks.

Assemble the Amish Star 3 Yard Quilt

1. Arrange the 4 quilt blocks 2 rows. Sew them together.

2. The expected length of the side border pieces is 36 1/2”. I highly recommend measuring the quilt top and cutting all border pieces the correct size. See how to cut the correct size quilt borders. Cut and attach the side borders using the 4” wide Fabric B strips.

3. Sew the leftover pieces from the strips that you used for the side border pieces to the two remaining inner border strips. Press the seams open.

4. The expected length of the top and bottom border pieces is 43 1/2”. Measure your quilt and cut 2 strips for the top and bottom border. Attach the top and bottom border pieces.

5. Piece together the five 4” Fabric C strips to make an outer border.

The expected length of the outer side border pieces is 43 1/2”. Measure your quilt top with the inner border first and cut the strips the required length. Attach the side border pieces.

6. The expected length of the top and bottom outer border pieces is 50 1/2”. Measure your quilt and cut 2 strips for the top and bottom border. Attach the top and bottom outer border pieces.

Finishing the Amish Star Three Yard Quilt Pattern

1. Cut or piece together a 55” x 55” piece of quilt backing fabric and make a quilt sandwich with the backing, batting, and top.

2. Baste together with fusible batting, pins or basting spray.

3. Quilt as desired. Straight line quilting or cross hatch quilting with your walking foot would be fast and easy.

4. Sew together the 5 binding strips from Fabric A and bind using your favorite method. This is my favorite quilt binding method.

xoxo,