Quattro Stagioni Star

A few years ago I spent a term studying in Rome.  It was a fabulous experience, filled with art and architecture…and food.  Lots of yummy food.  Thankfully I walked everywhere or I would have put on some serious pounds.  To be honest, I didn’t eat that much pizza, since there were so many other things to try, but when I did I often ordered the quattro stagioni, or “four seasons.”  Why settle for one pizza when you can sample four, right?!  When I was playing around with this block today I kept thinking about Rome and the pizza…and the cheese, and the bread, and the gelati, and the espresso, and the suppli, and the cheap wine…suffice it to say that Southern Ontario was feeling a little mundane.

This block is essentially just a basic star with a four-patch centre, but some careful attention to the fabric placement produces a star which appears divided into quadrants.  So pick four different fabrics and then cut the pieces according to the following sizes:

The star points are created using the same method as in the basic star, but be sure that you begin with two fabrics that you wish to have opposite one another in the final star.

Then add the other two fabrics to complete the flying geese.

When you press and square up the four flying geese, you should end up with four geese that each have a different combination of your four fabrics.

Next, lay out your 3-1/2″  squares of foreground fabric in a grid that will work with the star points that you’ve created.  It helps to do this step second just in case you don’t end up with the fabrics in the locations you expected in the star points.

When you sew up the four-patch and press it, it should square up at 6-1/2″.

Attach all the parts according to the process used for the basic star, and you’ll have a lovely, yummy, star!

And I think I’ll be making pizza for dinner tonight…