Carpenter’s Wheel QAL
The Inspiration
The original inspiration came from this antique quilt in the book Quilts: The Fabric of Friendship on page 16. The block is known by many names and one is the Carpenter’s Wheel. Some of the other more common names include Star of Bethlehem, Carpenter’s Star or Double Star* (*according to Barbara Brackman’s Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns.
Join in at any time making one or as many as like of this block. I’m going to make one giant block for a good size throw quilt. But I will explain how to make the block in 2 other sizes. Experiment with block size, if you like, to make your own. Or follow along with the instructions I provide.
You may post your progress in the BW Flickr group.
This is a mock-up of one giant block in EQ.
Here’s a button for you to download to your computer and post on your blog. Right click on the image and choose “save image as”.
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STEP 1 – How to draft a LeMoyne Star (the center portion) if you want to play around with different sizes.
STEP 2 – 3 Different size options – 1 giant 63″ block ~ 4 medium size 33 3/4″ blocks ~ or 9 smallish 19 1/2″ blocks ~ with yardage suggestions. You decide.
STEP 3 – My fabric choices using my stash.
STEP 4 – Rotary cut the diamond shapes. You will need 32 diamonds.
STEP 5 – Cutting the background pieces.
STEP 6 – The secret to sewing Y-seams. A couple of extra tips when sewing a bias edge to a non-bias edge.
Hi. I'm Anita. I like vintage textiles, old houses, fresh bread, and dinner under the pergola. And... I like making things. Thank you so much for visiting!
Bloomin' Workshop 
Just got back to internet land after moving, and I find out you have a new quilt along! Yay! My sewing machine should arrive (with the furniture and other less important items) in a couple of weeks and I will be ready to start!
I am considering using the large one block Carpenter’s Wheel for the back of my medallion quilt and just adding borders to make it big enough. That would help use up my rather large supply of Civil War fabrics….hmmmm
I HAVE MADE THIS PATTERN USING HSQ’S IT’S BEAUTIFUL!
Never done a carpenter wheel. I’ll join you but using the medium size.
Hello Anita,
Very proud to tell you I finished my carpenter’s wheel. It is the first time I piece all by machine. May be I made it too quickly, but when I began, following your instructions, I couldn’t stop. It was very funny to do.
Thank you. Now the top must wait because I have several patchworks waiting to be quilted. I’m absolutely unable to quilt by machine, I do this by hand…and it is terribly long.
Ready to join next time.
Helena
[…] owe the pattern to Anita and her wonderful instructions as part of the Carpenter’s Wheel QAL. I didn’t keep up with the quilt-a-long, but I knew I wouldn’t when I started. I wanted […]
So I’m new to this…what is a quilt along?
Where can I get this pattern? Thank you
To be able to make the carpenter wheel big enough for my queen size bed, how can that be done? My pattern is the same as yours at the top of this page.
You could make 4 rows of 4 blocks for square quilt and then add enough borders to make it the size that you want.
Or, you can make a half-square triangle version. It is easier to resize the blocks with that method. Here is one that is 24″ square. http://www.quilterscache.com/C/CarpentersWheelBlock.html
Otherwise, it takes math to resize the blocks to other dimensions. I use Electric Quilt to redraw blocks because it is so much easier than trying to figure it out on paper. http://electricquilt.com/online-shop/category/electric-quilt-7-eq7/
Hope that helps!
great quilt looking forward to making it
where can I get this pattern
thank you for your reply, will post my quilt when I finish it
Have you tried to do the Carpenter’s Wheel Without Y seams yet?
I just wanted to thank you for leaving this available after so many years. I was looking for this exact information for a project this year in 2022. It is well written and understandable. Good job!