Hack Slash Tutorial for Traditional Piecing

In April of last year, I popped up a free foundation piecing tutorial for my Hack Slash star block. I designed the block as part of my quilt font and decided to use it in a quilting bee that I was in. A few of the girls in that bee like traditional piecing, so I drafted up instructions for them as well. I'm happy to share those traditional piecing instructions as a free tutorial.

The directions make a 9" finished block (9 1/2" unfinished) using three fabrics. Two templates are required which are available as a PDF download.  All seams are 1/4" and included in the templates and cutting measurements. Allow extra fabric for fussy cutting or matching patterns.

MATERIALS
- center : small scrap about 3 1/2" square
- star : small piece about 8" x 11" square
- background : small piece about 6" x 12"

CUTTING
Download and print the templates. When printing the templates, first save the file to your disk. Check that your printing scale is set to 100% and measure the test box to ensure the pieces are the correct size. Refer to the the diagram below the cutting list for a recommended cutting layouts.

From the center triangle fabric, cut:
-  two dog-eared triangles with template A

From the star and slash fabric, cut:
- one center bar with template B
- two 3 1/2" x 1 1/4" rectangles for the sides of the center square
- two 5" x 1 1/4" rectangles for the top and bottom of the center square
- four 3 1/8" squares for the star points

From the background fabric, cut:
- one 5 3/4" square for the geese on the sides of the block
- four 2 3/4" squares for the outer corners

CENTER CONSTRUCTION
Center Step 1: Sew the center triangles cut with template A to the sides of the center bar cut with template B. Press the seams towards the triangles.

Center Step 2: Lay out the center unit with the 3 1/2" x 1 1/4" strips at the sides and the 5" x 1 1/4" strips at the top and bottom.

Center Step 3: Sew the 3 1/2" x 1 1/4" rectangles to the sides of the center unit and press the seams outwards.

Center Step 4: Sew the 5" x 1 1/4" rectangles to the top and bottom and press the seams outwards.

SIDE GEESE AND STAR POINTS

The geese and star points for the sides of the block are made using the no-waste flying geese method. I'm not sure who to credit for creating this method as it's been around for a while. It is a fast and fabric efficient way of making geese units. If you haven't used this method before and would like to know more about it, several tutorials are available online.

- Patch Pieces illustrated pdf
- Pieceful Kwilter photographed examples
- McCall's Quilting video
- Flourishing Palms photographed examples

Geese Step 1: Lay the 5 3/4" background square face up on the table. Place two 3 1/8" star squares face down on top of it, aligning one star square to the upper left-hand corner and one star square to the lower right-hand corner. The star squares will overlap.

Geese Step 2: Using a quilting ruler and a temporary fabric marker, rule a line along the diagonal through both star squares.

Geese Step 3: Sew a line of stitching on both sides of the marked diagonal 1/4" from the ruled line.

Geese Step 4: Cut the squares in half along the ruled line, then press the small triangles over the seam. These will be the star points in the finished block.

Geese Step 5: Align the remaining 3 1/8" star squares to the uncut corners of the background. The star squares will over hang the seam line and small triangles. Using a quilting ruler and disappearing fabric pen, mark the diagonal of the star squares from the aligned corner to the overhanging corner.

Geese Step 6: Sew a line of stitching on both sides of the marked diagonals 1/4" from the ruled line. The stitching should cross the point where the star squares intersect the pressed triangles.

Geese Step 7: Cut the pieces in half along the ruled diagonals and press the triangles over the seam to reveal the pieced geese units.

Geese Step 8: Neatly trim away excess seams from the sides of the blocks. The geese units should measure 5" x 2 3/4".

ASSEMBLY
Assembly Step 1: Arrange the center unit, four geese units and four 2 3/4" background squares into three rows of three with the background squares in the corners and the tips of the geese pointing towards the center.

Assembly Step 2: Join the background squares to the sides of the geese units in the top and bottom rows. Press the seams towards the background squares. Join the geese to the sides of the center unit in the middle row and press the seams towards the center.

Assembly Step 3: Join the rows together. Because the seams have been pressed in alternate directions, you should be able to nest the seams between the rows to help with their alignment. After joining the rows, press the seams neatly towards the center.

Sit back and admire your hackslash block!

I'll be adding this block tutorial to my tutorial page soon; there you can find the original foundation pieced version of this block which shows another color placement option. I love to see the projects that you make with these blocks. If you make them and share photos on Instagram or Flickr please tag @badskirt and let me know!