looking for block ideas
 

I'm trolling for ideas for a graduation quilt for my foster grandson: He is a refuge from El Salvador who came to USA as a late teen, managed to start and finish high school in two years and now has a full scholarship to Western Michigan State University. He plans on joining the Air Force to fly.
I already bought 3 yards each of Michigan state and the Air Force colors, so I have 12 yards of Gold, Brown, Golden Yellow and an Ultramarine Blue.
I bought yardage with idea of making a Deb Tucker Hunter's Star quilt and now i'm questioning whether that may take too long.
Anyone already made a twin size Hunter's Star using her template, if so how hard is it to work with the trapezoids ?

I usually stick with easier quilts. I think you picked out some fantastic fabrics to make him a quilt. Good Luck.

I believe you can paper piece a Hunter's Star. That may reduce the pressure a little, if you are comfortable with that approach.

Here is a fantastic Hunter's Star made with just 3 shapes, no inset seams or "Y" seams. I made this one very quickly. It is very worth the price. No need of templates or anything!

http://www.janetleighquilts.com/my-patterns.html

You can make a Hunter's Star with half square triangles.
Here's a tutorial: http://www.cascadequilts.com/2011/02/hunter-star-tutorial.html


Also, I checked Deb's tutorial here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UNiJu7ccjQ. The Trapezoids shouldn't be difficult to sew, but the technique is generally a bit more of a pain than half square triangles, plus involves more waste (which is my pet peeve ;-) ).

If you want the more straightforward way, use HST. If you want to think a little harder, Deb's technique isn't much harder to sew, but would be much easier with her tools.

The nice thing about doing HST is that you can change up the blocks a bit by doing different darks and lights in each HST. You can do this with the trapezoids too, but with the trapezoids, it makes more sense (to me at least) to change the fabric per star, rather than within stars.

Good luck.

I made a small table topper using Deb Tucker's template. It was very easy to use, seams matched up, and I don't remember a lot of waste.

I have her Hunter's Star but have not tested it. I have used several of her other rulers and would expect I high degree of accuracy with simple construction if it's anything like her other products. Have you tried making a test block or two from scrap fabric? You should watch her video on YouTube. She strip pieces the blocks.

Jenny Doan has recently published her version of Hunter's Star and it looks very doable, as hers usually are. I don't believe there is a special ruler or template involved. Your fabrics and the theme for this young man sound just perfect. Let us know what you decide.

I made a 10 inch 60 x 70 Hunter's Star with Deb's ruler. Very easy once you get going, the seams match perfectly and there was very little waste.

Just a note. You said you bought Michigan State fabric. I hope you bought Western Michigan fabric. They are different.