Sawtooth Star

About this block

This is a nine-patch star: one large center square, four flying geese units forming the points, and four smaller corner squares. It's one of the oldest star blocks in American quilting, dating back at least to 1884, when it appeared in Farm and Fireside magazine, one of the most widely circulated farm publications of the era. It carries several other names, most commonly Evening Star and Variable Star, since patterns spread by word of mouth among quilters who often didn't know a block's original published name. In African American and African Nova Scotian quiltmaking traditions, this same design is also known as the North Star, a name tied to its use as a directional symbol pointing toward freedom. Oral tradition also ties this block to the Underground Railroad quilt code.