Floating Star Block using Tri-Recs ruler
 

Several people were interested in my floating star block. Here are the measurements and directions to make a 12 1/2 inch block. The first picture is of the Tri-Recs ruler set.

You will need to cut 8 Tri-units and 8 pairs of Rec-units. For the Rec-units, cut two layers of fabric at the same time, right sides together, so that you have a left and right piece for each Tri-unit.

I like to oversize my units so that I can trim them precisely. I started with fabric 3 3/4 inches wide.

Floating Star continued
 

The center portion of the block is made up of one 6 1/2 inch square and four 2 1/2 inch squares. Draw a line diagonally across the 2 1/2 inch squares and sew to the corners of the 6 1/2 inch square. Press and trim, forming a snowball block.

Floating Star continued
 

Notice the little notch on the Recs-units? It is very important and makes lining the pieces up very easy. Lay a Recs-unit on a Tri-unit making sure to align that little notch. Sew and press. I have found the best way to get the points to line up in the next step is to press the seams of one unit to the outside and press the seams of its partner to the inside.

Because I oversized my units, they now must be trimmed to 3 1/2 inches square. The point of the triangle should be at the quarter inch mark on the ruler and centered --in this case at 1 3/4 because that is one half of 3 1/2 inches.

Floating Star continued
 

Now it is on to sewing the pieces together. First, take a pair of the Tri-Recs units and snuggle the points together. Stitch. I found that there seemed to be much less bulk if I pressed this seam open. Once all the pairs are sewn together, add a 3 1/2 inch square of background fabric to the top and bottom of two pairs. Sew the other two pairs to the top and bottom of the center snowball block. Then add the two side pieces and that's it--you're done!

thanks for taking the time to share the way to do this

Love these....thank you for the details and the taking the time to share...

Beautiful block! Thanks for sharing!<3

Wonderful, thank you for sharing your tutorial

Just did not look far enough. Found the instructions and can't wait to make the block and will all the scraps I have will definitely be making a whole quilt.