Postage stamp quilts are always a visual feast – and this Postage Stamp Star quilt block is no different.

The Fat Quarter Shop is hosting a round-up on this block and asked me to join in. Of course, I said yes.

You can find out how to download the free PDF pattern for this block over at the Fat Quarter Shop.

If you’d like to make a complete quilt from these blocks (either crib, lap, twin or queen size) then I’d highly recommend you purchase their full pattern*. All the hard work has been done for you for less than $6!

And if you’re a fan of quilt kits, this pattern has also been kitted out by the Fat Quarter Shop. You can find it here.

My Postage Stamp Star Quilt Block.

Here’s the low-down on my block.

I was keen to add an additional colour to my Postage Stamp Star block, so I swapped out the “G” rectangles in the pattern for a different fabric (this AGF squared elements).

I chose another AGF fabric as my light solid – a low volume grid pattern. This exact print is a little old, but there is a very similar one by AGF here. In fact, it would be even more clever at disguising mistakes than the one I used.

Yes, there are always mistakes! My seams wouldn’t match up here without a tuck. But because of the fine pattern on the fabric, the tuck looks a lot smaller than it is.

Here’s a mock-up of the block in a small quilt. I think the additional colour fabric is a bit of fun, creating a slight plus sign in the centre of the block.

Alternate Postage Stamp Quilt Options

The original version of this Postage Stamp Star block is made in just 2 colours. I was keen to see what it might look like inverted, or with 3 or even 4 fabrics.

The original layout has the light colour as the dominant fabric. This could easily be inverted to have the dark fabric as dominant to give a striking quilt:

Here it is with the extra colour in the “G” rectangles. Quite a different look!

Choosing fabric colours wasn’t hard, except for the fact that there are so many fantastic options.

You could go as bright or as monotone as you like. Here’s a bright, happy option:

Rainbow Postage Stamp Quilt Ideas

I couldn’t help myself. I had to mock-up some rainbow Postage Stamp Star block options. They are so much fun and really pack a punch.

First up, let’s keep it very buttoned down with charcoal and white checkerboards and just a hint of rainbow:

Not bad, right? Just one extra colour per block.

I think this cool fat quarter bundle and this warm fat quarter bundle would give tons of beautiful rainbow fabric options.

So if that’s one colour per block, how about we use 2 instead?

Wahoo, now we’re talking! We’ve invited all the colours over and we’re having a good time.

And just for fun, let’s take it up another notch and get rid of that quiet, unassuming light fabric altogether:

Woah, party time! All the colours! This version comes with a cigarette and some aspirin for the next morning.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my interpretation of the classic Postage Stamp Star block, I certainly had fun exploring options.

Don’t forget, you can get your free copy of the block pattern here. You can also purchase the 4-size quilt pattern for this design at the Fat Quarter Shop here, or the quilt kit here.

And last, but not least, to stay up to date with all my quilt patterns and tutorials such as this one, make sure you sign up for my emails here!

* affiliate links. If you do purchase through one of my links, thank you so much for choosing to support Bonjour Quilts. This helps pay the costs to host this site 🙂

If you caught my last post you’d know that I’ve just released a new quilt pattern called Scrappy Lattice.

The pattern comes in 5 sizes (baby, lap, twin, queen, king) and has two different block sizes to offer more choices for scrap reduction. There are instructions for using scraps and also for fat eighths (baby and lap) and fat quarters (twin, queen, king).

I’ve made a yellow and white version and a navy and white one as well.

I was also lucky enough to have two testers put the pattern through its paces. They sewed two very different versions which both look fantastic.

Pattern Tester Versions

First up, Cynthia sewed a version in teal with black sashing. (You can find Cynthia here on Instagram – she is into everything crafty and has some fantastic projects in her feed.)

Cynthia says it reminds her of stained glass and I have to agree with her. There are a lot of “busy” prints in here but the dominant teal and the strong sashing pull it all together beautifully.

Next is Kalynn lovely version in red/white fabrics also with black sashing.

Again, the black sashing keeps all those wayward scraps in line to make a high impact quilt. Beautiful!

Scant on Scrap?

But what if you haven’t got a lot of scraps in the one colour?

Well, you have a few choices. There are some awesome scrap bags that can be found on Amazon*. And I challenge you to resist these cuties on Etsy!*

If you have a pretty good start of a scrap collection you can supplement it with fat quarters. That’s what I did with my navy quilt – it’s about half scraps with the rest cut from a variety of fat quarters from my stash. And of course, you can just make the quilt completely from FQs – the pattern includes instructions for that, too.

Another good option is to use fewer scraps in ALL the colours! That’s what I did with this super scrappy quilt here:

I arranged my scraps into a colourful quilt with fun diagonal stripes.

The Scrappy Lattice quilt pattern has several colour-in sheets so you can design a layout that works for your own particular scraps.

I provide 3 alternate layouts in the pattern for lap/twin sizes (with cutting requirements) and this rainbow quilt is one of them.

I even pieced some smaller bits of fabric together (see the dark green) to make this one. It’s so good to be able use up every last bit!

The Scrappy Lattice quilt pattern gives you loads of options for reducing your scrap pile and reducing your FQ stash.

If you’d like to sew a scrappy quilt of your own, you can find the pattern here in the Shop. Happy sewing!

*affiliate links